Definitely not average! This is a very unique story line that Gwenda Bond had to have had as much fun writing as I did reading. With her mini vacation from her family spoiled by a trip from a cult, one young woamn must figure out how to stop the end of the world from coming too soon. Definitely a 5 star ride!!!!

2.5 stars

This was fine, sort of fun but perhaps a little boring or bland in some areas. It works as a thematically appropriate fall/spooky read for the Halloween season, but I wanted to love it more than I did.

Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where supernatural romcoms are popular.

I'm loving the swell of supernatural romance we have releasing lately, and Bond's first romance is fun, unique, and sexy!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

This is a really cool premise but the actual book just doesn't follow through on the premise in any way that I find particularly interesting. I'd be interested in future work by this author, however.

This was a fun romance book that takes a different approach to what makes a hot guy "Hot".

After a satanic cult shows up at Callie's family escape room business, everything goes wonky. They want to use one of the props to summon the devil's right hand man, and then take over/destroy the world. But instead of a mean red fighting machine, a hot guy in a leather jacket comes through the spell. Callie is getting more than she bargained for, but that might not be so bad.

I am not usually one for romantic comedy, but the laughs were earned with this one. For fans of romance and maybe the TV show Lucifer?

Not You Average Hot Guy has a lot of sexy fun in a madcap kind of way. I am digging lighthearted fantasy titles like these that don't take themselves too seriously, especially as the market is oversaturated with super dark fanatasy. Looking forward to book 2.

This was a very average book. It had a really cool premise but at certain points really dragged on. Most especially the ending which had maybe three or four endings. The characters were a bit one dimensional and the sun story line of the brother/best friend was a throwaway just added for more drama I guess?

I finished it so that’s saying something! The ideas are solid just needed some more editing. I did like that it had non-binary rep and addressed certain problematic situations surrounding transphobia.

Despite being excited for this title on a few different levels, I was unable to fully connect with Not Your Average Hot Guy the way the author intended. I enjoyed the concept of an apocalyptic romance between the devil's son and a human girl looking for where she fits in the world after college; the opening chapter immediately pulled me in and gave me reason to root for Callie and her story. I felt the same way about Luke's first chapter as well, finding his voice quippy and sharp, and the contrast between his irreverence and the high-stakes plot was very enjoyable. However, though Callie and Luke were interesting characters to me on their own and I was sold on their physical chemistry, I found the elaborate plot muddled the characters' connection on an emotional level. About halfway through the book, I found myself having to go back and re-read passages I'd accidentally zoned out through because I was struggling so much to connect. I wish one or two smaller elements of this plot had been dropped in order for the author to fully invest in and flesh out the larger plot points, including the romance itself. This book felt a bit jumbled, and I had to put it down without finishing it. I hope that someday I'm able to pick it up again and give it another shot.

Book source~ NetGalley
DNF@20%

Callie and her friend Mag are running her family’s escape room when a group of occult members come in and steal a book as well as kidnap Callie and Mag. They summon a demon and Luke shows up. Luke is the son of the Devil himself and he has to do…something or other he doesn’t want to do. Except Callie. He’d love to do her. And as teh Prince of Hell he usually gets what he wants. Ugh

I requested this book thinking it would be a cute, funny, steamy, paranormal romance. I was wrong. The characters are predictable, especially Luke. What a tool. The dialogue is stilted and the world bleh. I kept trying to read this, but just had to give up at 20%. Others may find it fun though.

I don't know if I missed part of the blurb online or if I forgot or WHAT, but this was not at all what I was expecting out of this book. It's almost like A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Twilight. Yep, you read that right. That's not saying it was bad because I enjoyed both of those series. But wow, not what I thought. Callie was set to spend the weekend working at her family's escape room with her best friend and her brother. But, a cult showed up to the escape room and ended up trying to summon the devil. Well, instead of Satan himself, they get Luke, the literal son of Satan. Of course, this is a paranormal romance so you can kind of see where things are headed with these two characters.

I normally would not read a book like this but since I started, I wanted to keep going. It was pretty good, if only because of the ridiculousness of it. I continually texted my best friend, "You will not believe this..." So overall, it wasn't really my style, but I can confidently say it's a good book. I'm just not into fantasy. Well written and if you like fantasy or paranormal romance, I'm sure you'll enjoy this as well.

3.5 stars rounded up four

Here's the thing, I've never done an escape room, but I reallllllly want to sp that aspect of this one caught my attention right away. Are there parts that are little bit out there? Yep, but that's part of the appeal. This was an unbelievably imaginative, but fun romance between Luke (the son of Satan) and Callie (the escape room creator). As they go on their quest to stop the satanic cult you'll find yourself rooting them on.

Quite fun, very unique - the story is very engaging, but I just had a little bit of trouble with one of the main characters at first. Still, I enjoyed this a lot, it was a very good summer read!

A action packed read from beginning to end and so hard to put down. Emotional roller-coaster filled with witty and engaging charters, heart racing twists and thrilling turns. Awesome reading.

Not Your Average Hot Guy is such a great book.
The title is a nod to how cute.
The Prince of Hell Luke is failing at his job miserably. No souls, no wings, awful student.
Enter good girl, Callie. And a cult dead set on apocalypse.

The book offers romance, action/adventure and more.
Author Gwenda Bond takes her time setting up the lore of the Underworld, but that time pays off with an action packed story where the world is on the line.
A little myth, a little romance, Lord of the Rings thrown in for fun.
I’m looking forward to the next book is the series!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Overall I found myself enjoying this book. I loved how Callie pushed through all of her anxiety and was able to do what she needed to and felt confident in what she was doing. She wanted to help save the world and surprisingly having Luke beside her for most of her helped reassure her and showed her that she could do it. I found it fascinating to see how Bond wrote Hell and the structure of it and how Callie a human was able to survive in it without being harmed (mostly thanks to Luke). Callie and Mag's friendship while a good one, did have its ups and down especially on the days that this happened in because of how high stress it was. Mag's secret she had been keeping though while understandable was still hurtful and did seem to be just to create a little bit more conflict and stress out Callie even more than she already was considering she was dealing with saving the world already, on top of going to hell, oh and ya know having a crush/romance with the literal Prince of Hell! Having said that though I don't think it harmed the story itself just seemed a little unnecessary for that secret to happen when we didn't really know much about those two characters at all because the story was focused on Callie and Luke.
Callie and Luke's dynamic was one that surprised me because at first I did not like Luke he seemed very pretentious and woo is me. He grew on me though and his reasoning for certain things was understandable, still a bit full of himself though. I did like how he was always supportive of Callie and tried to protect her as much as possible while also needing her to do the majority of the work.

I can see myself continuing this series as I did enjoy Callie and I'm curious to see what happens next.


(Read a combo of a finished copy and the arc copy)

Great concept. Overall, I liked the characters and storyline, and I LOVED the historical occult tributes throughout the book. There were some great laugh-out-loud scenes and the potential for romance, but things seemed to fall a little flat between Callie and Luke. The plot and the characters stand for themselves, even if the romance doesn't have much spark.

OMG, THIS BOOK. I honestly didn't do the greatest job of reading the blurb before I picked it up, so I wasn't expecting the *actual devil* to be in this book. But I absolutely loved it. The romance was fun and the story itself was even better. I can't wait to read the next in this series!

I wish I liked paranormal romance more than I do. The fact that it was dual POV helped with the story, which had a good idea but was not properly executed. I think there could have been more development with the character and plot.