Apprentice to the Villain

I am thoroughly enjoying this series! Book #2 is just as entertaining as book #1. I give it 4.5 stars but feel it deserves to be rounded up, rather than down. It's just lots of fun!

This second installment picks up right where #1 ended, with Evie Sage needing to figure out how to get Massacre Manor back to rights with the Villain back at its helm. I don't want to say more, in case you haven't finished book #1 yet LOL.

In this book Evie shows a little more of her not-so-nice side, which had already begun to show itself at the end of book #1. Frankly, I love the ruthless side of Evie. LOL This book also reveals a key new character (I'm not going to say more) and provides more secondary plot development with HR manager Becky. I really like show more how each character is fleshed out more in this book, and loose ends regarding Evie's family start coming together. Evie and the Villain's slow-burn romance finally looked like it was going to take off, but then the reins get pulled again. Frustrating, but appropriately so, I must admit.

As with book #1, this one is full of laugh-out-loud parts -- I mean, Evie is just so funny! And although the story moods swing sometimes too rapidly across swashbuckling adventure, gore, innocent sweetness, heartbreaking emotion, humor, and smoldering sexiness, that's just par for the course for this series, and I am totally along for the very entertaining ride. On to book #3! show less

This was fun! Few books could motivate me to head to the store on the publication date to pick up a copy and this was one of those books. It took me a while to get through the book but I think that has more to do with my life than the story within these pages. I had a great time going on this journey with Evie, the Villain, and the rest of the gang.

Rennedawn appears to be in trouble and Evie, the Villain, and their friends are determined to protect the kingdom. We learn more about Evie’s past and get to know her family better in this installment. The characters in this story are so full of life and it is always great to see them work together to meet a common goal. Evie and the Villain have fantastic chemistry and oh, how I wish they show more would act on it!

I would definitely recommend this book to others. The humor worked into this story is incredibly well-done which was a big plus for me. I enjoyed watching Evie and the Villain work together to save their friends and their kingdoms and can’t wait to tackle more of their adventures in the future. show less

audio fiction, 2nd in series, to be continued... (12hr 40m)

loads of action in this sequel, with the will-they-or-won't-they of Evie and the Villain taking a backseat much of the time to their magic-filled adventure in collecting what they need to take down King Benedict (who is the actual bad guy). There are also lots of developments with the supporting cast, family members that reveal secrets, etc.

another fun story with lots of cute moments; I liked the first one more, but if you've enjoyed it already you won't want to miss the sequel (and probably the forthcoming third installment as well).

Banter for days! The first book sucked me in completely as Evie Sage becomes the assistant to an ”evil” villain. This book picks up right where the other left off as Evie is finding her own strength, and the villain is struggling with his new feeling. The supporting characters are just the chefs kiss on top. The 1st when was obviously fresh and original and this is more of the same, but I say that in a good way. The characters show growth. It’s not wrapped up at the end & I’ll look forward to reading more.

“A tragic inheritance, seeing your mother’s flaws crop up within yourself and having the awareness to know it but no idea how to stop it.”

Every issue I had with “Assistant to the Villain” remains, and they've multiplied. All difficulties are resolved with hugs, smiles, or kind words, mostly from the protagonist. She is again relentlessly touted as charmingly cute, rather than the annoyingly dim cardboard character the text actually portrays.

I can see people enjoying this, particularly as a comfort read bulwark against a world where being kind doesn't actually fix everything immediately. It's simply just not my kind of thing. I want to read about believable characters, in a credible setting.

Good but lots of twists and turns and characters. Love the humor, hate the parents, very slow burn with a grumpy sunshine feel. There's no follow through with the spy which makes me antsy and deaths are glossed over so that the feel like a video game, unreal. Also I keep thinking this reminds me of a fairy tale or two or three but not quite, which niggles at the mind. Of course I went straight into the next book in the series.

I gave the first book 3 stars because while it wasn't great it had some charm. But this one? All the good things from the first weren't in this one, and the bad things only got worse.

The relationships all felt so forced and stagnate, I don't think anything developed further from any of the first. I stopped caring about the love/crushes when it just never led to anything in all 337 pages. The 4 POV's and comically short chapters felt like whiplash, and I was getting so annoyed by any tension being ruined be "humor", just for it to lead to nothing either way and the problems were solved ten seconds later.

I dragged my way through this, and legitimately wanted to cry that after 337 pages we were no closer to anything than at the end of the show more first. I honestly was rooting for Fluffy to eat them all, I would have cheered. show less