Accomplice to the Villain By Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Accomplice to the Villain is another fun and entertaining book in the Assistant to the Villain series.

Favourite Quote: 

Attempting to stay away from Sage was akin to a horror spectacle he’d seen performed at a theater a few years prior: bloody, awful, and forcing him to question his ability to make sound decisions.

Book Synopsis: 

REWARD OFFERED: Apprentice to The Villain wanted for treason (light), magical property damage (alleged), and one incident involving a weaponized scone (accurate). Frequently seen with a grumpy frog (crowned, judgmental). Answers to “Evie” or “Stop that.”

Evie Sage didn’t mean to become the right-hand woman to the kingdom’s most terrifying villain. One minute, she was applying for an entry-level position that promised “light paperwork and occasional beheadings,” and the next, she was knee-deep in magical mayhem, murder plots, and an entirely inappropriate crush on her brooding, sharp-jawed, walking disaster of a boss.

Now, with a magical prophecy unraveling, assassins showing up in the break room, and a suspicious amount of frogs wearing crowns, Evie has to figure out how to survive her job without setting the kingdom on fire―or her dignity, which is hanging by a very sarcastic thread.

Being evil-adjacent was never part of the five-year plan. But then again…neither was falling for The Villain.

Review: 

I simply adore this series. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and just so entertaining to read. We are now into the third book in the series and the stakes are getting bigger and more dangerous for our rag-tag gang of villains. Overall, I thought this was a great book and the story continues to entertain me. It’s a fun, fast read, and even though the danger/race-against-the-clock element is ramping up, there is still that fun, quirky lightness to the story. The one downside for me was the continued bouncing back and forth to various characters’ POVs. It’s a bit of a pet peeve for me. I hate it when I am constantly switching from one character to another character’s POV, and like with most fantasy series, as the series progresses, the more POVs you find yourself in. I personally miss just being in Evie’s and Tristan’s POVs.

Setting aside that minor pet peeve, I loved the direction the author is taking us in. There is a major plot twist/cliff hanger at the end of the book. It wasn’t necessary that much of a shocking twist; I had guessed what might happen earlier on. But I still loved the way the book ended, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one. One of the things that I am super glad about is that this book is still not taking itself too seriously. Yes, there are still slightly heavier moments sprinkled through the story, but overall that weird quirky sense of humour and pure fun bonker-ness is still front and center. I love the dialogue, especially between Evie and Tristian. It’s still just as fun, befuddling, and sweet as it was in the first book. Evie continues to wreak havoc on Tristian’s world, and I am truly a fan of an exasperated and befuddled hero. All the characters continue to grow, and as the series progresses, the secondary characters’ story arcs become more closely connected to what is unfolding in the overarching story arc. The secondary characters add a fun richness to the story.

The budding romance between Evie and Tristian continues on its slow, slow, sloooooow burn crawl. If you are looking for a fantasy with a strong romantic plot, then this series might not be for you. I truly thought that by the third book in the series, there would be at least some sort of established romantic relationship between Evie and Tristan, but they are still dancing around and hesitating to take that first real step. They have kissed, but that is it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good old-fashioned slow burn, but even my patience is starting to wear thin on the romance or the lack of romance going on between Evie and Tristian. That is why I am shifting this to a fantasy with a sub-romance storyline instead of calling it a romantasy.

Accomplice to the Villain continues to find ways to make its readers laugh while taking them on an epic adventure.