Series Name: Glimmer Falls, # 2
Astaroth wasn’t a massive man, certainly nowhere near the size of the werewolf, but when he looked like this, territorial and pissed off he seemed…
Dangerous.
And damn if Calladia didn’t like that.
She felt the urge to beat her head into a wall. Curse her miserable luck to get stuck with a demon who looked like her every fantasy come to life.
A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch is another fun and swoony magical romp by Sarah Hawley.
Calladia Cunnington knows she’s rough around the edges, despite being the heir to one of small-town Glimmer Falls’ founding witch families. While her gym obsession is a great outlet for her anxieties and anger, her hot temper still gets the best of her and manifests in bar brawls. When Calladia saves someone from a demon attack one night, though, she’s happy to put her magic and rage to good use . . . until she realizes the man she saved is none other than Astaroth, the ruthless demon who orchestrated a soul bargain on her best friend.
Astaroth is a legendary soul bargainer and one of the nine members of the demon high council—except he can’t remember any of this. Suffering from amnesia after being banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn’t know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the muscular, angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch who saved him hates him so much.
Unable to leave anyone in such a vulnerable state—even the most despicable demon—Calladia grudgingly decides to help him. (Besides, punching an amnesiac would be in poor taste.) The two set out on an uneasy road trip to find the witch who might be able to restore Astaroth’s memory so they can learn how to defeat Moloch. Calladia vows that once Astaroth is cured, she’ll kick his ass, but the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth . . . and maybe she doesn’t want him to recover his memories, after all.
This book was fun, spicey, and oh-so addictive. I loved, loved, loved Sarah’s debut novel, A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon. It was one of my favourite reads from last year. So, to say I was excited to get my hands on the next book in the Glimmer Falls series would be a bit of an understatement. Overall, I loved this book and how different the story was from the first book. For those new to the series, you could read this book as a stand-alone; Sarah does a great job bringing her readers up to speed. But I would highly recommend reading the previous book first because it’s fabulous and would enhance your reading experience with this book.
A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch is an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, road trip… sorry, I should say going on a quest love story. Astaroth and Calladia meet at the end of the previous book when Calladia is protecting her best friend Mariel from Astaroth, who wants to take her soul. Calladia ends up beating Astaroth and sends his ass flying out of town. In this book, Calladia stumbles upon Astaroth, who is about to be killed by an unknown demon. Calladia is appalled that Astaroth is back in town but quickly realizes the demon has lost his memories and has no idea why someone is trying to kill him. She decides to bring Astaroth home with her, and that decision is the beginning of Calladia and Astaroth’s quest. This story is fast-paced and has a fair amount of action scenes in it. Calladia and Astaroth find themselves neck-deep in trouble almost right from the beginning. I loved the whole quest aspect of the story. It allowed readers to explore and learn more about the magical world that Sarah has created. It added a lot of fun and excitement to the overall story.
Calladia is the complete opposite of Mariel (the MC from the previous book). She is bold, loud, and loves fighting. But like Mariel, Calladia has a very strained relationship with her mother, who disapproves of Calladia’s lifestyle choices. Spending time with Calladia’s character was interesting because she has two opposing personalities: one that is confident and violent and another that is insecure and lost. Throughout the story, these two personalities constantly battle with each other. Calladia’s journey is not only learning to open her heart to love but also realizing that she is amazing and doesn’t need to change. I really adored Astaroth’s character in this book. In the last book, he was a complete and utter asshole, but you saw this glimmer that told you there was more to his character than what meets the eye. Astaroth has amnesia and spends the book trying to remember who he is and why someone is trying to kill him. As he is trying to remember, he is also reflecting on the choices and relationships he had in the past and realizing that maybe being this cold, ruthless demon is not the way he wants to live for the rest of his life. I just loved how British and high-maintenance he was. Watching him on this quest was delightful, especially when he had to go camping.
The romance is fun and spicy. I loved the scenes when they both realized that they were attracted to each other and the utter horror they felt because they were attracted to the enemy. Calladia and Astaroth are delightful together. Their banter and wit were on point, and I loved how they kept each other on their toes. I also adored the fact that even though they were enemies at the beginning of this book, they still had this natural urge to protect each other. This is an open-door romance, which means fans of spicy romances will love all the dirty talk and sex scenes that are in this book. Things heat up pretty quickly when these two finally give in to those feelings.
A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch is a satisfying romance with lots of fun chemistry and an adventure you won’t soon forget.
Thank you, Berkeley Publishing, for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
