Looking for a fun, humor filled paranormal romance with a hot demon? This book is for you! I loved these two characters, their chemistry, the hilarious banter that had me laughing out loud and was perfectly paced for an enjoyable read, without feeling rushed through it. While this is a fun light read, there are still really engaging themes of overcoming our own flaws, improving on our own things to be a better person for those we care about and some redemption of our favorite bad boy! Easily a 4.5 star read, really recommend for those who love fun little paranormal romances but even those new to the fantasy/paranormal space that’s easy to digest.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!

I really wanted to love this one, it truly seemed right up my alley because I love paranormal romances, but this one just felt half baked.

The bones are really good and the concept was great, but the execution just lacked for me. I mean, my favorite character ended up being Popcorn the dog.

The pacing in the beginning is a rather slow, despite not having much of any world building, and the reveal of Jack being a demon doesn’t come until the halfway point.

My biggest gripe has to be that Jack calls Nancy “kid” repeatedly, even after they’ve hooked up. That was so off-putting to me, to the point I almost stopped reading. Also, Jack’s self-deprecating comments get pretty old. There’s only so many times a woman can try to reassure a man that he’s a good guy…

Also, Nancy just comes across as being so oblivious to me. Despite Jack talking about the “normal human way” to do things, she really doesn’t push this any further before the reveal. And then, she never puts 2 and 2 together that she is the girl Jack is trying to woo. Even though he never talks about this mystery woman more than just “a nice girl like you” and then they spend literal weeks holed up in his cabin. It got to be frustrating.

I wish we could have seen more to Nancy rediscovering that she is a witch. It just seemed to get pushed to the sidelines.

So overall, some of the elements were really great, and some were really not.

There’s something so deeply emotional in the way the author writes connection. Every touch, every line of dialogue carries weight and meaning and it never feels forced or overly polished. Just real and tender and sometimes a little devastating.
What I adored most was how intimate it felt. The magic, the curses, the entire cosmic contract thing faded into the background because at its heart, this was always a love story. Two people, deeply lonely in their own ways, slowly becoming everything the other needs. And the writing. It’s so warm and full of personality, with that perfect mix of charm and melancholy. I loved every second of it. It made me ache in the best way.

- Giving me the awe feels because he wants to be loved and to love someone.
- She seeing that he isn’t what others think he is and I love that for her.
- kind of confusing going from her talking to him talking. I found myself going back and forth rereading it a little bit to get the big picture.
- overall it was a cute read.
- I liked that Jack was so head over heels for Nancy.

Dealing With a Desperate Demon is a paranormal romance featuring a plus size FMC. The premise is cute, but I never felt any attachment to the characters which made the romance fall flat. This would be a good find for someone looking for a low stakes cozy romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

I love this story! It was silly and sexy, and magically fantastical. I laughed so often. The writing was the perfect pace to keep me captivated.

I have read one other of this authors novels but I enjoyed this one more, and I think I’d like to read more of her magical realism works.

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC

Oblivious female main characters aren't normally my cup of tea, but I adored Nancy. Nancy owns a bookstore and has some trauma from her childhood. Due to this trauma, she has a hard time realizing her self-worth. She constantly questions herself, but when town grump, Jack Johnson, comes into her store she realizes maybe she can help him. Jack desperately needs dating advice, and Nancy is the perfect person to give it to him. Add a little bit of supernatural and poof, you have one adorable book. It is hard not to fall in love with Jack and Nancy as they find out more about themselves and each other.

Jack Johnson reminds me of Melvin Udall from the movie “As Good As It Gets” — socially awkward, comes across curmudgeonly, and wants to be able to do nice/decent things without thanks or acknowledgement.

There is a lot of humor in this story, especially with Jack seeming so clueless and Nancy struggling to understand why. The circumstances in which Nancy finally realizes Jack is a demon is amusing, especially considering what she experienced to bring about the revelation. And then Jack struggling to understand how him being a demon can possibly be okay to Nancy. And trying to explain why he sought out her assistance in the first place without actually saying it because he is cursed and cannot speak directly about it.

Milk = demon alcohol 😀
The sentient vehicle that plays taunting songs; the numerous literary, musical, and entertainment (TV/movie) references; who/what Nancy is; the power of the written word

This book really struggles with its writing. The story feels underdeveloped and the characters and their dialogue are so so very awkward, disjointed and unrealistic. Their feelings seem to change out of nowhere, which makes it hard to connect with them or care about what’s happening. This lack of tonal control and narrative focus makes it difficult to invest in anything going on. The characters’ emotional arcs feel unearned, their chemistry told rather than shown, and the pacing jumps between awkward exposition and overheated physicality. What should be a slow build or meaningful moment instead reads like a jumble of mismatched metaphors and inconsistent character behavior. It’s definitely a book that misses the mark by a wide margin for me. Thank you to the author and St Martins Press for the ARC!

I personally found this book to be very dry, and extremely repetitive.
I dont need 200 pages of him saying he likes her in a million different ways, and her saying she likes him in a million different ways. I get it, he's huge, hulking, massive, has bear hands, but doesn't have a 6 pack... I dont need that shoved in my face all the time. I get that she is dainty, helpless, niave... I also don't need that repeating all the time.
It's just really dry, too slow paced and bland for me. Sorry.

I enjoyed the beginning; grumpy Jack and bookstore owner Nancy had some cuteness going on, but they are both very awkward. It was cute at first, but the awkwardness and lack of communication go on throughout the whole book, so I was getting annoyed at it. They still had some cuteness together, and I like the scenario of him being a fish out of water or rather a demon out of Hell scenario. He is still really unsure of how humans operate. I do feel like he has been living among humans for a while though, so I’m not quite sure he should still be so clueless. I suppose Nancy is fairly clueless too, so I guess it isn’t above reason that a demon would be too. Nancy is attracted to Jack, but he’s so grumbly, she shies away from him, but she’s finally trying to get to know him better. It comes up that he’s clueless about dating and wooing, so Nancy decides to help him. I was not a fan of the whole falling in love with him but thinking he loves some other girl, so she will help him practice dating and such to woo this other woman; feels too much like Nancy has no self respect. The ending was also rushed. I still liked some aspects of the story, and it is entertaining for the most part. Plus, Jack is a fun character. Overall, an interesting enough read, but the story didn’t quite flow.

This was far cuter and cozier than I was honestly expecting it to be. <I>Dealing with a Desperate Demon</I> is my first foray into Charlotte Stein's writing and I am pretty pleased with it. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Nancy and Jack (for the most part.) There was certainly that comfortable grumpy x sunshine feel at the beginning of it. That trope didn't really last all that long as soon as Jack's character starts getting fleshed out beyond rumors and town prejudices.

Frankly, I really liked Jack between him and Steve, they saved this book. Nancy was fine for a character but her obtuseness became frustrating quickly. It just felt like she was falling for Jack without really paying attention to what was going on around her, including Jack's issues. Steve though, was the perfect character. I am unwilling to go into detail about him or how he's perfect because that spoils things. But I need other people to realize that without Steve, this book would not have been nearly as enjoyable.

The writing is good. The pacing is wonderfully done. I wish there was more fleshing out of the characters and less time spent focusing on "dating practice" because really they just needed to talk through their daddy issues (both of them) rather than making Jack less "monstrous."

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Griffin for the ARC.

Charlotte Stein does not miss. I loved the slight Beauty and the Beast vibes, emotional notes, perfect banter, and fake dating shenanigans. I was especially excited to get a little peek at characters from the previous book in this interconnected standalone (but don't worry, you don't need to catch up to enjoy this one fully!) A perfect paranormal romance with heart, humor, and slow burn to keep you warm through every page.

I don’t think this one was for me, and that’s okay! I found the writing to be veryyy clunky and the characters just weird. I wasn’t able to find them charming like I’m sure I was supposed to. I wanted this to be a fun romcom and found myself board throughout most of it. I think this would have been better in 1st person pov - I think the 3rd person added to the somewhat odd at times writing. The constant repetition of certain words and phrases put me off and it was just kinda awkward to read.

This book was definitely a cozy fantasy. Although it had some fantasy elements with characters that aren’t completely human, it was mostly about this guy being taught how to be human and to date like one, and the woman who owns the bookstore that attempts to guide him in this. It was a quick, cute read with some spice to it. However, the writing style did bother me quite a bit—it was third person, but hardly ever used the characters names, and instead just used pronouns, which was just odd.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise for this book was very interesting and I really wanted to enjoy the book. I think that the writing fell flat for me, it seemed a little flat for me. I also think that the title of the book also being the plot twist in the middle of the book was strange. Was the audience supposed to be surprised that he was a demon? I did enjoy the relationship of the characters and I think the overall idea of the book has a lot of promise, but it definitely needs editing.

Fun cute read. Plot was a little bit predictable., but it was cozy entertaining read. Jack was at times too hard on himself, but he is a demon so maybe that's why he doesn’t think he’s good enough?

Thank you for lending me an advanced copy for an honest review. I thought this book was super cute. I love paranormal romance and Popcorn was the star of the show in this book. The dialogue between main characters wasn't the best but in the end it's a good cozy Fall read. I never read book 1 not realizing until the end this was book 2 so I will definitely pick up book 1 now knowing this. Thank you St Martin's press for the opportunity to read this book!

I enjoyed this read. I love spooky-vibe type of book. This is the second in the series, but i did not read the first one. IMO, this can stand on its own. I enjoyed Jack and Nancy's relationship

ARC Review (Thanks Netgalley!)

As always, Charlotte Stein is a master at writing sex scenes, so naturally the ones in Dealing with a Desperate Demon were hawt! I also found some of the magic elements to be quite funny, such as the truck who communicates its thoughts through what songs it plays.

But ultimately, I did find the story itself to be a bit clunky and somewhat of a slog to get through. I recently read another one of Stein's books, Never Sweeter, which also had a MMC who did not feel worthy of love. This trope feels overused for my tastes.