Loki and His Master

Demon Gods, Book 1

By: Rhys Lawless

Narrated by: John York

The trickster god is free, and he's under my command.

When I asked the old witch under Camden Lock for help with avenging my family's murder, I didn't expect her solution would be to invoke a powerful god.

Loki is big, strong, and pissed! Thankfully he can't hurt me because he's bound to me. But the only way he'll ever help me get my revenge is if I help him find someone really important first. The problem is that the more time I spend with him, the less I'm able to resist him.

But I can't let my guard down. He might say all he wants from me is to punch my V-card and end the people who killed my family, but I know he wants something more. And I'm scared it has the potential to destroy everything.

How can a young, meek little witch like me tame a god like him?

Loki and His Master is the first book in the Demon Gods series, a spin-off series set in the Cursed Hearts universe.

Demon Gods is a contemporary fantasy MM romance/urban fantasy series where mythical gods are reincarnated into the 21st century and let loose to destroy, avenge, and fall in love with young little witches. Written in British English with US spelling and grammar.

©2023 Rhys Lawless (P)2024 Rhys Lawless

This was fun

A bit of magic, a bit of violence, a bit of kink. It was fun. I'll check out this author's other series. The narration was decent John York is a professional.

great story

Loki and His Master is the first book in the Demon Gods Book series and what a wonderful way to start. Rhys Lawless pulls you in from the first chapter. Tomasz a shy barista, who you may know from the shared universe of the Cursed Hearts series asks a witch for help avenging the murder of his family. He ends up getting Loki the demon god instead of the spell he expected. These two are perfect together, both of them have such unique personalities that I love. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I loved the narration done by John York. He made each character unique and different. He made the switch between characters seamlessly. I would definitely recommend this book.

Amazing listen!

This is such an amazing start to this new see in a world that I love. I absolutely love Loki and Tomasz! These two are amazing characters and perfect together. I love reading this story but John York definitely does an amazing job with this narration. I fell in love even more with this story. I can't wait for the next.

Wonderful

This was a fantastic story. The characters are interesting and the narration was fabulous. I can’t wait for the next.

Trickster partner

If you needed help from a supernatural being, I don't think the trickster Loki would be your first choice, lol. That's who Tomasz is paired with, however, when he asks for help avenging the murder of his family. He's never really in control of Loki with his witch powers, but he does get under the god's skin in a very different way that ends up binding him with the strongest kind of ties. There's great world building here as we start this series, plenty of action and twists and turns and as always from Rhys Lawless great characters who have some work to do building a relationship. Can't wait to see what other gods we see along with way.

Enjoyable Story

Loki and His Master is Book 1 in the Demon Gods series and set in the Cursed Hearts universe. This is an exciting fast paced story that had me engaged from the very beginning. Tomasz wants to find those who killed his family and Loki is summoned for the job to do his bidding. I found this book to be entertaining and look forward to more in the series. 
Narrator John York does an amazing job in bringing this book to life. He definitely added to my enjoyment of the story. 

Not my favorite

I am a picky reader. I want a story that flows seamlessly. When someone is given a jacket that barely fits in lieu of a t-shirt, but in the next scene he takes off his shirt, it annoys me. Little things like that happened enough that the story didn’t flow well. Both characters were constantly internal monologuing with lust. Loki keeps talking about how he always fell for his masters. It just felt like the author was constantly trying to tell us a back-story when it would have been less monotonous if we were perhaps given flashbacks or even examples. Show rather than tell if it is that important. I can see how fantastic this story could be with more refining, but as it is it’s just not fantastic. The chosen narrator does a very good job. I have to admit I chose to not finish this story about half-way through. It could have gotten better after the half way point, but I just couldn’t go on.

Enjoyable new series

I enjoyed this first book in a new series. It has an interesting mix of gods, mythology, and magic, including a new (to me) kind of witch/magic-user, a whisperer. I liked Tomasz and totally felt his burning need for revenge, but he was just a bit too wimpy and self-effacing. The whole 'I'm so useless' mantra got old fast. That said, I loved the 'partnership' that developed between Tomasz and Loki, although Loki being the trickster god does play Tomasz. I identified the villain/murderer in the story long before the big showdown, but the ending still came as a surprise to me in other areas, especially the way it ended for Loki and Tomasz. I really enjoyed Loki's children, and almost felt I knew them better than Loki, even in the shorter time they were involved. I hope Fenrir is an MC in a later book. I would love to see more of him. So, while there were some hiccups for me, and I never really cottoned on to the idea of calling the gods demons, I am looking forward to the next book. I did love seeing Caleb, Lorelai, and some of the other characters from the Cursed Hearts series, but sometimes the interactions felt a little forced. If you aren't familiar with that series, you might feel a bit lost as to how those characters fit in.

I received a free copy of the audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Best Loki fiction I’ve read in a long time

Everything in this book surpassed my expectations. The way the author unfolds Loki’s character is the best I’ve seen. It’s far more layered and nuanced than other Loki books and it doesn’t downplay his flaws. The other MC is a treat, too. Very likable and smart, but introverted due to his upbringing.

The narration is wonderful, especially Loki’s voice, which sounds exactly how I’ve imagined it. (Okay, yes, it sounds a lot like Tom Hiddleston’s). The story and the plot are new and different. There’s also plenty of well-written and spicy intimate scenes.

10/10 Highly recommend.

Fabulous start to this series

This is book 1 in this series but this is a spinoff from the cursed heart series. However, this can be read without having to have read that series. I never read it, nor have I ever read any books with witches and demonds before. I wanted to expand my typical reading choices and I am so happy I started with this. I was sucked me in from the very intense opening scene and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I could not put this down and finished it in one listen. I did guess very early on who the killer was but I didn't even mind. There were enough other plot twists and surprises to keep me entertained. This was a fast paced story full of excitement, sweetness, action and suspense. I loved every minute of it. I was confused for about 2 seconds why they are called both demond and gods but it was quickly explained that it's all about the other persons perception of them, which makes sense.

I absolutely loved both of the main characters. Loki was super productive of Tomasz and was kind of misunderstood. Whereas Tomasz, despite wanting revenge and determined to go on a murder spree, was actually shy and sweet. I absolutely thought that they were a perfect match and had off the charts chemistry. It is a rather slow burn and their relationship was developed nicely.

There was amazing world building. All of the side characters were fantastic. I especially loved the cat. I hope Fenrir is in another book. He seemed spunky. I am looking forward to reading more.

The only negative thing I can say is that the sexy scenes are rushed. Even ones that mention quite kinky elements, were simply glossed over. Not sure what the point is in adding spicey elements and then not utilize that to the fullest to make the book even better. That's why I took a little off the 5 star rating. It definitely could have used more steam.

This was a pleasure to listen to. The narrator did a fantastic job. He had a pleasant reading voice and expressed all the emotions wonderfully, bringing the story to life. He gave distinct voices/accents to all of the characters that suited them perfectly and made the story very easy to follow.