Assistant to the Villain

 Assistant to the Villain (2023) by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Synopsis [from the back of the book]:  With an ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So, when a mishap with Rennedawn's most infamous Villain results in a job offer--naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don't find evil so attractive, Evie. But just when she's getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat...and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn and someone wants to take the Villain--and his entire nefarious empire--out. Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work...and ensure he makes them pat. After all, a good job is hard to find.

I can confidently say that if this hadn't seemed like the most reasonable choice for this particular prompt in the bonus round of the Book Challenge by Erin (where, if I want to fulfill the bonus round I have to read a book selected by someone else...and the someone elses' tastes in this challenge have very little in common with mine)...then I doubt I would have ever picked up this fantasy meets romance meets mystery. The synopsis sounded pretty good. But I was pretty under-whelmed. The romance is not really all that. It's more like a high school crush. There's very little character or world building going on here. Beyond being told that Evie is an "innocent" and must work to support her family, we really don't know her at all. Beyond the fact that we know that The Villain (aka Trystan) became a villain because he has some sort of vendetta going on against the king, we learn very little about him or the backstory to why he hates the king's guts so much until about 10 pages before the end of the book. It would have been nice if we had gradually learned some things about these characters along the way. I wanted to root for Evie and her adventures with Trystan, but it was very difficult to get into the story when I didn't feel like I knew them at all. And...where exactly are we? Is this an alternate, fantasy earth with unexplained magic (we never really know how or why the magic works; it just does)? It really could be any medieval-type fantasy world. The final disappointment was the cliff-hanger ending. Seriously? You take us through 300+ pages, telling us basically nothing about the main characters until the last few pages and then you leave us teetering on the edge in order to make us read/buy the next book? Do I want to know what happens next? Kindof--especially if we're actually going to have some real story and action and character-building. But not if we're going to have to wade through 300 more pages just to find out a teeny, tiny bit more about these people. And I don't think I'm going to take a chance that the next book will be more interesting and engaging over a longer period of time. ★★

First line: Once Upon a Time...It was an ordinary day when Evie met The Villain.

Last line: Or become one trying.
****************

Deaths = 2 stabbed (more killed, but nameless)