A review by nmcannon
That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming

adventurous lighthearted relaxing 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

The Mead Mishaps series was a totally random find–the titles and covers stood out like beacons among the many, many emails I receive about books. Desperate to read something as promising as That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon, I requested a purchase of the Mead Mishap series at the library and devoured the series as soon as it became available.

In a fantastical Dungeons-and-Dragons-esque fantasy world, Cinnamon wants to live a quiet life on her family spice farm, eating cheese with her bestie Brie and getting drunk at village festivals. Plans go awry when a (drunken) walk home leads to an encounter with village bullies, which ends with a dragon demon scaring them off, which leads to Cin shoving cinnamon sticks up the demon’s nose. The next morning, Cin’s world is further turned upside down when the demon explains that, yanno the goddess y'all been worshiping? Actually a lich.

AHHH, even writing the summary makes me want to re-read the series. Cin’s fantastical world is fun to an extreme; familiar, strange, and wondrous as the first time I played a tabletop game. The take on demon lore fascinated me. “Demon” is a general term for any number of creature features, such as dragon shifters, werewolves, fox shifters, djinn, stone elementals, and lamia. Most are vaguely humanoid or have a human shape, but not all. Sprinkle in some fated mates and huge gender population imbalance and ya got some lore that greatly encourages interspecies romance.

Lemming didn’t skimp on the romance genre’s main draw: characters. Fallon and Cin receive the most attention, and we get hints at others’ nuances and hidden depths to be explored in other books. While That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon focuses on Black joy (yay!), some story beats hit low lows–the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books reviewer was startled by the amount of violence. I didn’t blink at Cin unzipping a gator, (Among Hellsing, Vampire: the Masquerade, and Devilman, I am Immune). The racism against and enslavement of demons did raise an eyebrow, and I breathed out when I realized Lemming guided the story to address these wrongs. I heavily empathized with Cin’s ongoing negotiation between her desire to be cozy and her desire for justice. It’s hard to decide when it’s time to take risks and when it’s time to stay safe. And what constitutes “safe.” 

Also: the sex was real hot.

If you read any steamy romance this year, please read The Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon and the rest of the Mead Mishaps series. I adore it so much I’m buying my own paperbacks.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Review: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/that-time-i-got-drunk-and-saved-a-demon-by-kimberly-lemming/

My review of That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/579f8033-e22e-49f9-9131-dbd6c2bfe9b2

My review of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c56ae691-87dc-428d-aae3-45af3fbee44e