A great second book, the tension is off the charts! The danger is ever present, and Evie is always smiling! I can't wait for the conclusion to see if my theories are right!

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this sequel as much as the first book.
The story seemed to just meander along, relationships all stagnated and despite a bunch of stuff happening, it still felt like not a lot was actually happening, because there was no real progress of anything. It felt repetetive and unstructured.
I grew pretty bored with it fast and pushed through to get it over with. I probably will not be reading the next book.

Such a fun and interesting fantasy rom-com unlike anything else. This much anticipated follow-up to Assistant to the Villain takes us back into this unique and delightful world and keeps up the banter, adventure and swoon-worthy romance from the first book. A true modern fairy tale. I’m eagerly anticipating the next book.

Please excuse the late review, I had some major life changes that temporarily limited my free time for a couple months!

I loved this sequel though, just like I did the first! This series is sort of like a fantasy adventure rom-com! There are a lot of silly moments, but this story is also full of a lot of mysterious, magicical and heart felt moments as well! I love these characters so much, especially the Villian and Kingsly. Rebecca was very likeable in this book too! After the prohecy her brother contemplated at the end, I am nervous to see what happens in the next book!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

I absolutely LOVED the slow burn, angsty romance between Evie and Trystan. The chemistry between the two is just magical. The fact that they're both protective, possessive and so into each other just makes me smile.

The plot in this one was amazing. I wasn’t sure where this could possibly go from the first book, but it really pulled out all the stops. the last 30-40% really blew me away. I never knew what was going to happen next, I never saw most of the plot twists coming. The quests were also so fun and really kept the story! moving

This is such a fun and heart-warming series. I really enjoyed the first book Assistant to the Villain when I read it last year so was really looking forward to be back in this world. Apprentice to the Villain is another fun and easy read that I found myself enjoying across a couple of cosy evenings. I loved the character and relationship development of the main characters and felt the plot did a good job of keeping this a fast pace entertaining read. There is plenty of humour spread throughout the book and I found myself chuckling along with the drama and antics. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun, cosy fantasy series.

Book review 📚
Apprentice To The Villain by Nicole Maehrer
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

I’m not going to lie; I have had assistant to the villain sitting on my shelf since it released. I’m such a mood reader I’ll just pick randomly. But when I saw the ARC for Apprentice To The Villain, I knew I obviously had to hurry up and read book 1!

Now book 1 was absolutely amazing and I knew it was gonna be hard to beat, as is the case with most sequels. BUT, I can easily sit here and say that book 1 and 2 are on par with each other. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am so glad I pushed myself to read book 1 so I could dive into book 2.

The only way to describe either book is by saying neither of them take “booking” (that is not a word but it’ll do) to seriously. It’s fun and light hearted, it isn’t in your face and overwhelming. They are both so well written, its breathtaking.

There are some added POV’s but it doesn’t take away from the overall vibe that follows book 1. All in all, it was absolutely fantastic and a must read.

As hilarious as it is ridiculous; I love a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This is exactly the type of lighthearted and often silly humour that you would expect from Hannah Nicole Maehrer!

Trystan and Evie have a special place in my heart and returning to Rennedawn has been so much fun! Watching Evie’s character grow has been such a joy and I will always love a good villain arc. I really enjoyed the introduction of more povs and I’m excited to see the story develop for the wider group of characters. I can’t wait for the next book and to see if the prophecy is fulfilled!

I would recommend this to lovers of low fantasy and think it will really appeal to those who might lean into the slightly more gory side of cosy.

I loved this book just as much as the first! Witty and fast paced. It does feel a little young at times but for a ya that is to be expected, but I would love for a little deeper character development, as that felt a little lacking in this one. But overall a great read and I can’t wait for more!

WOW. Just WOW. I loved the first book and wasn’t sure if the second could live up to it but it really did, and surpassed my expectations! It was full of drama and adventure but with the fun and humour sprinkled throughout, which was exactly what I loved about book 1. I read this in one sitting and was so pleased with the way things turned out, and I’m so excited to read more books by this author! Definitely worth checking out this series if you’re a fan of fantasy and/or often sympathise with the villain.

Totally recoomend this book, the 1st was wow this was wow time 10000. At first to be honest i wasn't very interested because i felt the 1st started in such a funny way but i knew i could trust this would be as perfect and it didn't disappoint. If you like a strong woman main character you'll absolutely love this one.

4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early e-arc of this cosy fantasy book. I loved the first one so much that when I saw that a second one was coming out, I was so excited!!! I loved this one too.

Thank you, NetGalley & Penguin Random House UK for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am quite conflicted when it comes to this book. I still enjoyed reading it, as the character dynamics are quite compelling, but it wasn't as great or fun as the first one, and the flaws displayed there only got worse in this sequel.

My main critique is the absolute lack of development the characters face. If you take any of the characters from the prologue and their current versions, the differences are minimal. Once a relationship is established (Villain's and Evie's constant state of simping for each other, the Villain's softness for her sister, etc) it doesn't really change. At all. Maybe Becky and Blade's relationship slightly but you could tell some appreciation has been there from the beginning. Becky and Evie's might be the most dramatic change, but A. it was mostly because they misunderstood each other, and B. This development feels a bit unearned.

Regarding the 'show, don't tell' rule, both books are a prime example of the opposite. It tells us everything. Every thought, every reaction - it cheapened everything about the main and secondary romances, as they are clearly inevitable, and we are just waiting for the final book to arrive for them to finally do what they should've done right from the first half of book 1.

There was no weight to this story. Dead characters keep showing up to the point where I'd just say 'Of course' rolling my eyes and feeling nothing in the process. The characters are all caricatures in a way that is frustrating since the author did try to give them trauma, but the 'show don't tell' issue just makes everything flat since those backstories just appear suddenly rather than feeling like a natural part that's been there all along and shaped who they are.

Evie's characterisation is my main problem here. After two books I still cannot grasp her moral compass, as it seems more flexible than even Simone Biles. She reads like a DnD character - and in all fairness, they all do - to the point when both her good persona and sudden 'yes beheadings are cool, let me do that' persona both feel illogical. I get the whole 'I see no red flags and murder is hot' vibe. It's fun. But both her and Trystan's 'we have good hearts but being a villain and hurting people in horrific ways' characterisations I simply cannot buy. Not without some sort of madness arc.

Had they had slightly deranged personalities, I could've bought it. I'll list some characters here that will show what I mean: Junkrat (Overwatch), Annie (League of Legends), and Jinx (Arcane/ League of Legends). So it can be done.

I still preserve the belief that the whole story and characters would work better as a TV Show since it does read like a script. That way the characters can preserve their inflexible, cartoonish traits, and not need the depth you'd expect from a novel.

I'm still curious about what the next book would bring, but I'm glad it's not out yet, since a break from the author's writing style would be refreshing. Reading the first two so close to each other made the humour fall quite flat in the second one because of the exposure of too much linear humour at once.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I definitely preferred this to the first book. The story picks up where the last book left off and you're thrown right into it. I loved getting to know the characters more and seeing how they interacted with each other. The banter was enjoyable and I found myself laughing a lot through out the book. The one thing I will say about this is the relationship between the two main characters is dragging. It's been two books now and they've just about kissed. At this point either get together or don't, I can't deal with this level of slow burn.

Overall enjoyable but I'm starting to lose interest in the romance.

After falling in love with the first book last year, Apprentice to the Villain is one of my highly anticipated reads of 2024 and I loved it. Not as much as the first book but overall it did not disappoint.
Evie is on a mission to rescue The Villain after the King took him as a prisoner. With help from the Villain’s other employees they plan a rescue mission that freaked me out when I read that Evie was in this strange glass coffin. I thought to myself, no surely not. Like I wouldn’t put it past Hannah Nicole Maehrer to drop a bombshell like that. This book is like an intense soap opera but without the terrible acting and corny plot lines. You have to enjoy it without any preconceived notions. Just enjoy the ride without expectations.
With something happening to the magic in Rennedawn, including the Villain, the race is on for the team to save the Kingdom despite the obstacles preventing them from doing so.
I am really looking forward to the next novel. I found it to slightly be a filler book. Giving lots of information that won’t really be relevant until the series develops further but nonetheless it was a dream reading these characters again as each of their personalities are just a delight to consume.
Thanks so much and apologies for the delay in review!

4.6⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an absolutely delightful ride from start to finish. The slow burn made me want to kick my feet and giggle (particularly the Villain’s chapters), and the general banter was top notch. We had some new POVs, and while sometimes too many POVs take me out of the story, that wasn’t the case here - I loved seeing the different characters (and different developing romances 😏)

Overall I can definitely say this book didn’t suffer from second book syndrome, and in fact I liked it more than the first book - my only complaint is that we have to wait more than a year for the next one! I can’t wait to dive back into Evie and the Villain’s world in the next instalment ☺️

After loving Assistant to the Villain I was excited to be back with Evie and the gang for what was an enjoyable sequel with the same cosy vibes, slowburn pining idiots in love and hilarious side characters. While this didn’t grip me quite as much as book 1 (which was a 5⭐️ read for me!) it was still a fabulous book that was easy to become immersed in and I can’t wait for book 3!

Hannah Nicole Maehrer is officially an auto-buy author for me. Also, can we please protect Evie Sage at all costs? I think it was straight after the first book, Evie was added to my list of fictional characters I wish were real but as I mull over this thought, the whole gang is worthy of high high praise. If there was a .5 star missing for me in the first book then this one has left me floored. I know if I am ever in need of a pick-me-up in the future, this book will be it for me (ironic I know).

If you have not already done so, I would seriously recommend picking up Assistant to the Villain and then immediately reading this straight after. I devoured this read in 2 days - the wit, the banter, the depth and meaning, the plot, the world-building, the characters, everything was explosive in Apprentice to the Villain. I was chortling away in the first half of the book (Hannah, if you are reading this, you are hilarious!! I am such a fan of your writing - special mention to Evie and the Villain's stark contrasting personalities and how their chemistry is so palpable their "scenes" will literally leave you flustered and/or a giggling mess!)

Kingsley was another entertaining favourite appearance of mine and definitely loved the character growth of Becky so much. The insight was so beautifully unravelled, her complexities were justified and so relatable. I can't even pick a favourite moment in the book since I was in a happy place the whole way through although this particular arc, was a definite highlight and I hope to see more of the, um, males with a name beginning with 'R' in Book 3. *Shifty eyes*.

There were poignant moments of gentle vulnerability in the book which often left me choked, and I definitely shed a tear towards the climax - though could that be because I was reaching the end of the book? Possibly. There were sub-romances developing and without any expectation - note: fingers are crossed behind my back - I can't wait to see what we are served up in the next book (gosh, I am already itching to get my hands on book 3, the wait is going to be unbearable!)

This is everything you wanted from an eccentric fantasy, a tale that makes you believe in magic and the notion that anything is possible.

What to expect:

* sunshine fmc x grumpy mmc
* morally grey FMC/MMC
* Forbidden/workplace romance
* slow burn/mutual pining
* Multiple POV
* found family (my heart)
* light-hearted fantasy

Thank you so much Netgalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Penguin and Hannah Nicole Maehrer for the advanced copy of this beautiful book in exchange for an honest, unedited review.

4.5 Stars

Finally Yes!!!! We have book 2 and what a ride it was!

I will forever state that this series is the perfect mix of wit, charm, and a touch of mischief, making it an absolute joy to read. This will forever be my comfort read.

Evie Sage is living her best life as the assistant to the most outrageously handsome (but don't tell him that—it’s bad for his villainous brand) evil overlord.

Evie’s job is anything but ordinary. Between handling the pesky persistence of do-gooders and managing the daily chaos of running a villain’s lair, she's got her hands full. But when The Villain—her brooding, enigmatic boss—goes MIA at the worst possible time, things get complicated. Magic is acting up, the manor is under threat, and their sworn nemesis, the king, is sniffing around. Suddenly, Evie finds herself on the front lines, protecting everything from dark secrets to the entire kingdom.

What’s a loyal assistant to do? Why, learn the ropes of treason, brush up on dagger skills, and maybe even collaborate with the enemy. Evie’s journey from assistant to potential apprentice is filled with hilarious hijinks, clever schemes, and just the right amount of heart.

Hannah Nicole Maehrer delivers a brilliant continuation from the first book, blending humour, romance, and adventure in a way that’s simply delightful and I cannot get enough of it! Evie’s growth as a character is both fun and satisfying, as she navigates the treacherous waters of villainy with a lot of laugh out loud moments.

Apprentice to the Villain will make you laugh, swoon, and cheer for the not-so-bad guys. It's a fun, lovey-dovey escape that has left me eagerly awaiting more. Pre-ordering book number 3 as we speak.

Thank you to the publisher Penguin, The author Hannah Nicole Maehrer and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't wait to read it.
I was so happy to get this opportunity thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.
And next week I'm going to pick up the book at the bookstore because I absolutely have to have it.

Reading about Evie and Tristan again was beautiful. funny and really emotional, I laughed a lot and cried a lot. I loved every single moment, especially their relationship, it was all very unexpected.

This time the book doesn't just follow the POV of the two protagonists but we also find others, this allowed me to get to know some secondary characters better and I really appreciated this choice.

I'm really curious to read what will happen, I have a thousand more questions than the first book o.o help.