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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.
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.
1785 Reviews
3.5
𝓈𝒽ℯ𝓁𝒷𝓎𝒻𝒶𝓎𝓎
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“Rating: 3 stars
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Tropes:
🌙Witch/Demon
🌙Enemies(?)-to-lovers
🌙Forced proximity
🌙Fake dating
🌙He falls first
🌙Mutual pining
🌙Narcissitic/semi-abusive parents
🌙Found family
🌙Supernatural community
🌙Third act breakup
🌙Ecological/Climate change coded
Mariel was prophesied to be the most powerful witch in centuries, but she hasn’t done much to live up to that expectation. She is exceptionally talented in earth and plant magic, but to her old-fashioned and legacy family, that’s nowhere close to enough. They belittle and mock her, as do the rest of her supernatural town, and it’s created something of a complex. She can’t get a single spell outside her plant magic right. When attempting to summon flour one day for a recipe, she accidentally summons instead a demon, Orzoth the Ruthless, for a soul bargain. He can’t leave until she agrees to terms—anyterms. But she’s too savvy to give up her soul for any reason, and “Oz” is stuck hanging around at in obnoxiously close proximity under the cover of being her new boyfriend until she changes her mind or finds a way to send him back to the demon plane. Oz himself isn’t the demon he’s cracked up to be—instead of ruthless and cold, he’s surprisingly in touch with his emotions and desperate to regain the reputation he’s lost in his world by striking this bargain. So desperate that he’s willing to participate in this bizarre fake dating scheme until he can convince Mariel to cut a deal, only to find an almost instant attraction blooming.
This book was cozy and cute and spicy, and started off hitting all the right notes to be an enjoyable read. Just not amazing, and that’s almost entirely down to one reason: the third-act breakup. I was vibing along with this novel in so many ways; I loved the banter, I loved the chemistry between the two MCs, their relationship with each other and all her friends and her crappy family was just beautifully executed and yet not overdone. I really thought this would be a 4-star for me, even despite the somewhat juvenile attitudes and dialogue between characters supposedly in their late twenties and thirties. But then we get to the “big reveal,” where it’s found that the rot being set loose in the forest is due to demon magic. Without a moment’s thought or hesitation, our FMC Mariel immediately whirls on the boyfriend she’s been professing her love to and screwing every second of the day and screams, “You lied to me!” Despite the same man telling her he would never lie to her, despite him having told her everything about himself and his past and his situation, despite him never once having given her any indication whatsoever that he would even consider doing such a thing, she instantly loses all faith in him. And when it’s revealed that he was being framed and she was wrong, she’s forgiven for her lack of faith in the blink of an eye. Worse, she’s told “there’s nothing to forgive.” YES, THE FUCK THERE IS. Ugh. I just hate these situations and tropes. It all but entirely spoiled my enjoyment of the story, especially when everyone just moved on from her colossal fuckup like nothing happened, all sunshine and rainbows. Nah, bitch, you need to do some groveling. That man had done nothing but spoil you, confide in you, and talk you up, giving you nothing but confidence in yourself, and at the first test of trust, you don’t even let him speak? Mm.
So yeah, clearly I had issues with this book that set me back a little bit, but it was still fun and enjoyable for the most part. I’m still debating on reading the sequels tbh.”
Likable charactersEasy to readFunny writingImmersive settingMagical setting
Mayrillien
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BecksTheWreck
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Likable charactersFunny writingOriginal writingFast-pacedComicalRomantic
fireandash
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Evie Davies
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“I really did enjoy this book. It was good pacing and I liked how the romance was the focus but it also covered the whole issues with the forests and protests. I really liked the character development and the supportive boyfriend vibes. Massive aura from him. Ending seemed a little convenient and I could see it coming but sometimes that’s nice when wanting an easy read.”
About Sarah Hawley
Sarah Hawley is an author of romance and fantasy novels. She was a winner of #RevPit 2018, and her short stories and articles have been published by Hooked, Slackjaw, the Belladonna Comedy, and Points in Case. She cohosts the Wicked Wallflowers Club podcast about romance fiction, which was featured on Entertainment Weekly. Sarah has both a BA and an MA in archaeology.
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