Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Assistant to the Villain

Rating: 5/5 stars

Evie Sage is struggling to provide for her ailing father and little sister when a chance encounter in the woods leads to new employment—as personal assistant to The Villain.

I’m not even sure I have good enough words to write a review for this one because truly I loved it so much. It started a tiny bit slow for me because it is unapologetically silly, but then it got deep and touching and badass and swoony and I was 10000% on board.

For whatever reason, I didn’t really expect much romance from this but let me tell you…this book provided a new beloved book boyfriend AND a stellar new couple to ship and ugh it just…it made me so giggly and happy to read?! Again, I don’t have good words but it gave me so many feels and made me so happy and I loved it so much.

Basically…go read this book???? The pretty sprayed edges are also a welcome bonus.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: morally grey men; mysteries but make it a romantasy; unexpected depth

CW: Lots of violence/death/gore/injury; mentions of attempted sexual assault

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bones_jackson's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Nossa, muito fofo e engraçado, amei muito, e mal posso esperar pelo próximo livro, eu quero muito ver ela fazer o circo pegar fogo

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sustainably_lucia's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It was fun to read and the more I think about it, the more I like it. I recommend reading a physical or digital copy of this book. I did not like the audiobook narrator and neither did my book club.

The author is a comedian and it shows. The characters were well thought out and the interactions between them all stole the show. The plot felt a bit chaotic at times but also charming and deep (kind of like Evie). This may have been because I listened to the audiobook and was often doing other things at the same time. I may feel differently when I read the physical version. There is a lot more depth and nuance than meets the eye (or ear) at first pass-through. It is the author’s first book and I feel she will get better at conveying the complex characters and story as the series advances. I lean toward more character-driven stories so I enjoyed this book immensely!

The thing I most wanted to know was The Villain’s backstory which you don’t find out til the end. Until then, the reader has to make assumptions and guesses as to the purpose and plan behind all the murder and mayhem. I also wanted to know what his actual plan was, other than pissing off King Benedict. I hope we get more in the next book.

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racheldonna14's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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kds247's review

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The ending went a little fast and some of the conclusions were questionable due to the incredibly fast wrap up, but other than that this book was absolutely perfect. The main protagonist and the villain were both hilarious alongside the side characters and highly relatable. I enjoyed reading this book very much. I will be reading whatever comes out next.

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dogoodwithbooks's review

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After encountering Rennedawn's most infamous Villain, Evie Sage winds up being hired as his new personal assistant. While she gets used to the office culture and working for a Villain, Evie and the Villain have to work together to find out who is betraying the Villain to the king while fighting growing feelings for each other.

If there's a fantasy rom-com that you need to read this year, Hannah Nicole Maehrer's Assistant to the Villain is the one I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Maehrer is able to grab your attention from the very first page as you get sucked into the world of Rennedawn and form an immediate connection with the characters. I loved how Maehrer is able to create such vivid imagery to describe the story as it plays out as well as the deep metaphors about what it means to be a villain and the multi-faceted aspects of the morally gray. Obviously, this book touches on some darker topics and themes and I would encourage you to check out my content warnings before deciding if this is a book that you would want to read.

I also loved how Maehrer fully develops each character to give them not only their own moment to shine but also to explore their backgrounds and how that interacts with the plot, especially for the side characters (Blade, Becky & Tatianna). Of course, the Villain and Evie are great MCs and I can only say that Evie is one of my most favorite MCs that I have had the pleasure of reading.

Now, can we talk about the romance between Evie and the Villain? Talk about a slow burn fan's delight! You get all the pining, you get all the banter, and the swoon moments when the Villain describes his feelings for Evie. I can't wait for the sequel to come out next year so we can get more of those dynamics between Evie and the Villain.

Overall, I absolutely love this book and I cannot recommend this enough! Assistant to the Villain will make you feel so many things and I look forward to experience it again in Maehrer's future works. If you are looking for an ultimate slow burn romance with so many tropes (grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract, etc.), you need to read Assistant to the Villain.

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