Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I am always excited to add another fantasy book to my shelf. Entangled Publishing is women-owned and taking the fantasy world by storm with Fourth Wing and now Assistant to the Villain.

Synopsis

Evie Sage had to drop out of school to help with the finances since her father is ill. Unfortunately after an altercation, she ended up quitting her job and is freaking out about how she is going to make money to support her father and sister. She works hard to keep her sister in school and make up for their missing mother. She is walking home one day in the woods trying to figure out a plan when she stumbles into The Villain .' He is trying to flee the King's Royal Guards and she ends up fleeing with him. He offers her a job as his assistant with generous pay, so she takes him up on it.

After months of working for the Villain, Evie is getting used to dangling heads and violence. But the Villain's plans keep getting messed up and they start to think that one of his employees is leaking information to the King. Evie tries to help the Villain narrow down his suspect list, but they are not having any luck.

There are many attempted attacks on the Villain and his team, but they are not getting any closer to finding out who is responsible. The longer they work together, the more Evie’s crush on the Villain grows–but she is convinced it is only one-sided.

In the end, the traitor is no one they ever could have ever imagined.

Review

When I went into Assistant to the Villain, I knew to expect a YA fantasy. However, it is advertised as an adult romance fantasy novel. The only thing “adult” in this novel is the cursing. Even though it was very YA, I really enjoyed it.

The story was told from both the Villain and Evie’s perspectives. There was a “Mr. Darcy” moment that had me swooning and getting me more excited about the potential romance. Their banter was fun and I always love the grumpy / sunshine trope. I wish there had been a little more longing and a few more stolen glances between Evie and the Villain, especially since it was advertised as an adult romance fantasy novel.

Overall, my favorite part of this book was the last several chapters. The ending was wild and I did not see it coming. I am really looking forward to book two and reading about what Sage is going to do next. Like most readers who will be continuing with this series, I also hope that there is a little more romance in it.

Read if you enjoy:

-YA fantasy romance

-Grumpy/sunshine

-Workplace flirting

-The Villain

-Crazy twists

-A good cliffhanger

I have had friends love this novel as well as some pass on it, let me know your thoughts on Assistant to the Villain!!