The Stray Reader

Author:	Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Genre(s):	➡️ Fantasy ➡️ Romance
Series? Series Order: Series Title:	✅ Yes Book 1 Assistant to the Villain
Goodreads Rating:	⭐ 3.92 (66.9k ratings; 13.2k reviews)
Personal Rating: Violence Rating: Spice Rating:	⭐ 4 / 5 Overall 💀 1 / 5 🌶️ 0.5 / 5
Trigger Warning(s):	deaths, mentions of sexual abuse

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🛑 Spoiler Warning 🛑

I might be recounting events, characters, and themes so THIS MIGHT BE FULL OF SPOILERS.

If you’d like to read a review with the spoilers hidden, kindly scroll to the bottom to read my spoiler-free summary in the ‘Recommendations’ section or head to my Goodreads post for a more detailed version with spoilers removed. You don’t need an account to read it. 🙂

BLURB

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain…and their unexpected romance.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With 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 pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

🌟Review (4/5) 🌟

A vanilla villain surrounded by characters as sweet as the caramel on my iced latte.

But like any good, iced caramel latte, the bitterness of the espresso hints an edge and darkness that elevates each character’s personalities and bind them all together creating something exciting yet comforting to taste.

Characters

I can’t get past how much I adore these characters because they’re all so charming and cheeky creating a really fun and comfortable atmosphere.

Evie is such a refreshing female lead compared to how usual fantasy female characters are written recently. Usually you either get a doe-eyed naive lady or an ultra-pessimist of a character that bites everyone’s heads off. Evie is not that.

She’d been called many disparaging things in her life. Alarmingly all beginning with the letter F. Flighty, foolish, forgetful, and, by a strange turn of events, she was finally able to add the final F.

Fucked.

– Prologue

She’s a great balance of an optimistic yet self-deprecating character. I loved the way she interacted with everyone around her. Granted, I had to give a lot of leeway when it came to her interactions with ‘The Villain’ since you don’t really get to get away with a lot of things she’s able to do if your boss is truly evil and doesn’t have a soft spot for you. Plus, I didn’t like the insta-love. I hoped the relationship was built on better foundations but since they never get together in the entirety of the book slowing the process down, I can get past it.

Evie’s enemies-to-friends arc with Becky was so fun because of their daily banters. It’s just like how two officemates who hate but respect each other’s work ethics in a modern world is. Evie didn’t need to be such a pushover or menacing; her comebacks and sarcasm were enough to give her a playful edge. Even when Becky was supposed to be mean, she doesn’t cross a boundary just for the sake of winning.

“Must be nice, to act completely unprofessional and be welcomed back like nothing happened.”

Evie’s eyes rolled back in her head. She looked at Becky, who was standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

“Must be nice to be a judgmental shrew and have that excuse as a facet of your personality.”

– Chapter 24

Tatiana, Blade, Kingsley, and Clare are all also memorable side characters. It is a testament to the author’s abilities to craft a character like Kingsley – a literal frog who can’t speak – and have his playful personality ooze without saying a complete sentence. I’m so looking forward to all their developments in the sequels. I wish Malcolm would have more appearance!

Trystan spared a glance at Kingsley. The frog ribbited as he held up a sign that simply read: BLOCKHEAD.

– Chapter 22

Lastly, for The Villain, I’m quite torn how to feel about his character. While he gives me the butterflies and has great chemistry, he almost fits the ideal morally grey primary character except he’s really not dark enough. He’s clumsy and selective in his villainy. He’s too soft in front of his employees especially when it comes to dealing with Evie despite the narrative claiming that he just kills people when they annoy him. He doesn’t do background checks or assess competence before hiring anyone (I’d actually be more impressed if he knew Blade was lying about his credentials but gave him a chance and Blade proved his competence allowing him to stay). He runs a big operation, but he somehow believes the company won’t last without Evie. He gives his real name without strong reasons (just really careless no matter how you look at it). He’s unprepared for an ambush and really hasn’t displayed any ruthlessness to live up to his reputation. He was disappointingly captured so easily. I really hope he has better character development in the sequels.

Plot

‘Assistant to the Villain’ is a well-paced story written in dual POV. There’s action, mystery, friendships, and family-friendly romance. Serious topics such as deaths, betrayals, and sexual assaults are present but were presented not too grimly that it shifts the overall cozy atmosphere of the book.

It’s a low-stake adventure but the turn of events is still so entertaining and didn’t fail to consistently catch my interest. I’ve also sensed that it dropped plot points that are bound to come up in the next books and it’s great to have something to look forward to.

There are so many minor plot holes (i.e. how Evie’s father kept coming in and out of the castle without the guards catching him, why the male guvre didn’t fight as strong as the female when the latter was in captivity for ten years, why it wasn’t constantly storming in their kingdom if the female guvre has been captive for a decade, why Blade suddenly decided to go to his room despite asking Evie to fetch his book for him, why Arthur was called Arnold twice in chapter 47, and so many more) but at this point I was already under the impression that I shouldn’t take anything so seriously about this book that I had an easy time letting it go. I mean The Villain’s top guards were literally laughing at a bare ass in the middle of a supposedly dangerous mission so… yeah.

But overall, the bigger plot of the book remains unresolved. Unfortunately, yes, it was a bit anticlimactic and this ends in a cliffhanger. But again, I’m not super mad at it. It’s a low-stake cozy read so there’s not much stress in needing the next book right away.

Romance

All right let’s get this out of the way. Spice rating is 0.5 out of 5. There’s nothing explicit here other than sentences depicting sexual innuendos used sparingly mostly to make The Villain blush. However, that’s not a slight. I, myself, like reading the spicy books on occasion but I also love an unadulterated romance such as this. It brings out smiles and squeals that remind me of a first love experience.

The Villain and Evie’s romance is built on witty banters, sarcasm, and teasing which is almost always the best kind of romance to read these days. Again, I wished it was built a little more on friendship, but it is what it is. The pacing still works.

The surprising sideline romance is also something I enjoyed and looking forward to! I hope Tatianna and Clare’s broken romance heals and I wish Becky and Blade’s ‘opposite-attracts’ arc materialize.

Recommendation

This is a great light fantasy book that promises strong world-building without too much lore, lovable cheeky characters, and a wonderful budding romance that would’ve probably rotted my teeth if Evie and The Villain’s moments were given to me in candies.

Grab a copy of ‘Assistant to the Villain’ if you’re looking for a cozy read with enough adventure and magic to inject a thrill in your normal contemporary day.

FAVORITE QUOTE(S)

“When you spend most of your life trying to see the sun, you begin to wish for rain.”

— Evie Sage

“Loyalty was easy to acquire when the only other option was death.”

— The Villain

“A good book often felt like the same comfort as the heat of sunlight brushing your cheeks.”

— Evie Sage

“It was a hard lesson to learn that sometimes it was better to remain lonely than to waste companionship and energy on someone undeserving.”

— Evie Sage

“When it comes to the thing one loves most, it is always better to be trapped together than free and apart.”

— Trystan Arthur Maverine

“I feel like my life keeps happening to me, rather than me living in it.”

— Evie Sage