Assistant to the Villain

Assistant to the Villain, Book 1

By: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Narrated by: Em Eldridge

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn's most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don't find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she's getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat . . . and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work . . . and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

Contains mature themes.

©2023 Hannah Nicole Maehrer (P)2023 Tantor

Critic reviews

"In this audiobook, Evie Sage is navigating financial challenges and takes on the role of assistant to a notorious villain, diligently managing office tasks and supporting his exploits.... Em Eldridge's narration adds a subtle depth to the characters. Eldridge's voice work...plays a role in making the audiobook a compelling journey into the captivating world of Evie and her enigmatic employer." (AudioFile)

Good book but I wish it had a different narrator

The story is entertaining but the cadence of the narrator is distracting to the point I almost stopped listening several times. It’s like she doesn’t know where the inflections belong.

DNF the narrator is horrible

It’s like asking a 15 year old to read in class and not a well read 15 year old.

I am interested in the story but can’t stand her voice and her cadence it’s just awkward and she pauses inappropriately.

Fabulous story with an okay narrator

So the story is really good. If you’re already know the author from TikTok, you’re getting exactly what it says on the tin. Ends on a wicked cliffhanger, but excited to get more books.

Unfortunately I don’t love the narrator. I was able to get past her wired inflections eventually, but I wouldn’t be upset if they changed narrators for the next book.

Cute Story if You Kerp an Open Mind

It was a cute story I enjoyed. It is hard to place a time period for it as it seems all over the place. Ends on a huge cliff hanger almost as if she had a deadline to meet and just quit writing.
Like many, I struggled with the narrator, almost giving up in the first 10 minutes. However I turned the narration speed up to 1.1 which helped immensely!

Could not finish with this narrator.

I should have downloaded the books versus the audio version. The narrator’s inflections makes this story sound like Siri was reading it. Even Siri has better tone inflection.

Good story, awful narrator

3.5 - I feel like I would have enjoyed this story more if the narrator was different. She read the story as if it was an episode of ABC’s Earth Odyssey with Dylan Dreyer. At some points I even questioned if it was AI because of the odd pauses and pronouncing every syllable of a word. I think it was an effort to be clear but that’s not how a romantasy should be read. The ending left me wanting more so I’ll definitely read the next book but I’ll opt to get the ebook instead of the audio if the narrator is the same.

Beautiful story, clean, funny, super cute 😍

I loved it. You can't help falling in love with all the characters, The story is great, apt for very young readers, a villain with good reasons to be, a strong female character, so many other great and fun characters and a great narrator...can't wait for book 2.

Something new

I lean more toward high fantasy but this was a fun change of pace. I really enjoyed the characters and found myself shocked a time or 2 when the plot took a twist. Overall a great book!

Exactly what I needed

Assistant to the Villain is the debut novel by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. Some of you may have seen her mini-series on TikTok, which inspired this book. I have been talking about it a lot recently, as it was one of my most anticipated books this year. It definitely lived up to my expectations and came at just the right time because I needed a book like this.

The story follows Evie, a young woman who desperately needs a job to support her sick father and young sister. When she is offered a job, she doesn't hesitate. The only catch? The position is as an assistant to none other than an enemy of the kingdom, the Villain of Rennedawn himself. The Villain wants to sabotage the king and is known for hanging his victims' heads from the ceiling.

The story is told from both Evie's and the Villain's perspectives, which gives us a better understanding of them. Evie is a compassionate woman with a big heart. She is loyal to her family, friends, job, and boss. The Villain wants to be feared by everyone, plans schemes against the king, and is determined to maintain his evil empire. When someone tries to take the Villain out and destroy his empire, he and Evie must find the spying rat before it's too late. The story has everything I wanted and expected from this book - a slow-burn romance that is funny, witty, heartfelt, emotional, with a betrayal, and even a frog with a crown (Kingsley is one of my favourite characters, not only because I have a weakness for frogs). Of course, since this is a fantasy book there are magical creatures and items; and magical abilities ( I hope we will get more information about it in the next book, since we didn't get many details on its working in this book).

To sum it up, I enjoyed the book immensely, and like I said, it was exactly what I needed. I had so much fun I devoured it in one day. I usually switch between the book and audiobook - and the narrator did a great job. And with the end like that, I need a book too ASAP.

Nothing felt completely thought out.

From the continuity to narration, so many things took me out of the story. The world building and setting felt all over the place. So much of the character development was brushed over. It felt like a bunch of fan fiction snippets strung together and given new character names. And don’t get me started on the narration…

So many things made me go “that makes no sense” or “this feels like something you’d see on the internet” or “why did she read it like that” it was hard to get through the story because of it.