So, this novel picks up right where Assistant to the Villain left off except you’re smack dab in the middle of Evie’s escape plan. Within the first twenty ish pages, everyone is back at the manor and a ton more happens after that. The things that I liked most about this novel is the fact that there was more world building, a lot more in terms of plot, and so many cute/awkward interactions between Evie and Trystan. 

So, basically, this novel is a lot about the evil that King Benedict is doing and how it’s impacting everyone’s magic. Also, a TON about Evie’s family and her part in Benedict’s evil plans. Really there’s not much more to the book than that even though a lot happens, but I can’t say more without giving too much away. 

I read a lot of reviews for this one on Goodreads and it is, in my opinion, genuinely better than the first novel. Most of the problems that I had with the first novel was the world building and the lack of… direction? It felt too whimsical. With this one, though, I actually knew what we were being guided towards and it didn’t feel like a quick frolic through the fields as we all pick daisies. We were still picking daisies (which is so much fun in this book, by the way – metaphorically, of course), but we were picking daisies with purpose. The plot was so much stronger in this novel because we finally find out what really is going on in the kingdom and what Trystan and Evie need to do to stop it. There were so many fun scenes and times where Evie literally charmed her way out of things (it was cute and totally refreshing). Not only that, but we get a ton more in terms of backstory and world building. 

With backstory, you learn a lot more about Kingsley (I knew we were gonna get some awesome backstory there, I was just waiting for its fruition!), you get more about Becky (and a slight romance for her – definitely slow burn), and and anddddd you get so much more about Evie, Trystan, and the kingdom. Those three are the ones I wanted to know more about the most. 

Just a heads up for all of my fellow readers, there’s legit no spice in this. There are a couple of fantasies courtesy of The Villain and Evie’s own personal thoughts, but other than that, there’s nothing. And it’s kind of… refreshing. I really appreciate that there’s not smut every other page and just fun villainy and straight up pining. Boy do they pine. Like, I get that they don’t think the other likes them, but at what extent do they just admit that they like each other? This whole book is a lot of back and forth of “she doesn’t deserve this life/I’m not good enough for her” and “he definitely doesn’t like me/I’m just his assistant!”. It was a little exhausting at times, but never not fun. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and I actually rated it higher than the first one. There is more plot, more backstory/world building, and generally, more fun. Evie and Trystan are still pining after each other, and we also get a few other cute romantic subplots. Absolutely no spice, but a cute, villainous romance all-in-all. I have already pre-ordered my copy of Accomplice to the Villain :). 

Source: Personal Copy

(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)