Hey all, Sam here.
I love getting to talk about books, but I continuously find myself living in places where I’m not around people who read with the same voraciousness I do, so I don’t get to talk about what I’m reading or what I’ve read in my day-to-day life…aside from here on the blog. So it’s always fun for me to get to write up these review posts, because it’s a chance to talk about books with any number of other readers out there in the world, and that’s pretty cool.
Anyway, the book I’m talking about today is one of the ten books I read during the 24 hours of the recently completed Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, and I find myself really wanting to talk about it, which is why I have this review today, instead of one of my NetGalley ARC reviews.
Let’s not waste any more time. It’s time to jump into the review.
Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?
Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.
Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry—if he can strike a bargain with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).
But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle with their opposing goals and maintaining a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions—including love—which will only spell disaster for them both.
My Thoughts
Rating: 5 stars
When I picked this book up, it was right after finishing a book that was a drag to finish, that took me way longer than it should have, and I felt the need to read something that would be light and fun and quirky. I had hopes that this romance focused on a witch and the demon she accidentally summoned would perfectly hit the spot.
I fixed myself a bath, put on some Taylor Swift, and started reading…and within the first few pages I was already laughing. It did not take long at all to get completely and utterly swept away by this book.
Mariel was a fun protagonist, and I loved that she had a fondness for plants and showed a particular aptitude with plant magic, even though she was mostly hopeless with any other magic. I especially felt for her considering how pretty much everyone else treated her because of her seeming lack of magical skills.
Then enter Ozroth AKA Oz…a demon not like the others. Because after a previous bargain went wrong, Oz has been affected greatly, and he feels a lot of feelings that are anything but merciless and demonic.
I loved watching these accidental roommates grow closer, and deal with all the shenanigans that come from fake dating. This was an emotional roller coaster of a tale and I couldn’t stop reading.
This book filled me with such joy and delight. I lost count of how many times I laughed or gasped or audibly or physically reacted to what was going on within the story.
I can also say that I was absolutely pleased to reach the end of this story and discover that there will be more books set in the town, and the next one will follow one of Mariel’s friends, and I definitely have this series on my auto-buy list.
It was fun and adorable and magical and I loved the development of both Mariel and Oz, and seeing them both grow and be able to stand up for themselves and make better decisions for themselves about what they want to do and who they want to be. It was just lovely.
Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
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