Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Read by Em Eldridge
Publication Date: August 8, 2024
Summary from Goodreads:
NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. -Mgmt
Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome, evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat . . . out-of-evil-office.
But Rennedawn is in trouble, and all signs—Kingsley’s included—point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies . . . including their nemesis, the king.
Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, his nefarious works, and maybe the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.
It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so . . . so . . . delightfully fun.
But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?
Confession:
This is a review for the second book in a series and therefore may contain spoilers for the first book. Proceed at your own risk.
This was such a fun and enjoyable read that I just couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed this second book in this cozy romatasy series as much as the first, and much like when I read Assistant to the Villain I was laughing and giggling the whole way through. I absolutely loved the addition of two more points of view as well, but I still wished they had chosen to use more than one reader for the audiobook.
Em Elridge does a great job with the narration of this book, especially with the role of Evie. She just really portrays Evie well, with her droll wit and sarcastic comments, with the perfect voice. She also does a nice job with the other female characters in the story, but needs to work on differentiating the male voices a little bit more. It was sometimes hard to tell the men apart when they were all speaking to each other.
It was so much fun watching Evie become more confident in herself and taking control of her growing powers. There is still a bit of a mystery surrounding her powers throughout the books and how they relate to the villain’s own powers, but it was still fun to watch them grow with her confidence.
Trystan, aka the Villain, also shows a lot of growth in his emotions and his feelings for Evie. We learn more about his past in this story and more about how he became the Villain and why. He is still grumpy and moody, but does show glimmers of a happier person when he is with Evie. I loved some of his scenes with Lyssa, Evie’s little sister. I will remember that tea party scene forever I am sure.
I just adored Lyssa and found her to be as fun and engaging as in the first book. I would totally want her as a younger sibling. She was cute, adorable and totally devious at times.
This book added two more perspectives to this story. I loved Becky’s perspective and storyline. She is the head of HR and is Evie’s nemesis in the first book. We find out more about her past and how she came to work for the Villain in this book, and I just loved her. The other point of view is also delightful, although I don’t want to spoil anything by telling you who it is. Just know that it is a great addition to the story.
Everything that I loved about the first book, the romance, the setting, all of the great witty banter between all of the characters is back in this story and totally delightful. The pacing of the story is fine and the story of Evie’s search for her mother was done well with lots of interesting characters helping her on her way. There are lots of twists and turns and some blind alleys too, but it all comes out well in the end. I am so looking forward to the next book.
If you enjoyed the first book in this series, then you will certainly like this one as well. If you have not yet started this series, then get going. Especially if you love cute romantasies with adorable and lovable characters.
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