I received an EARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of this paranormal romance. Anything that has to do with a Prince of Hell you can sign me up. I loved Luke. He was such a funny and great male lead. Callie was also a great character, but I didn't like her as much. She just accepted the fact that a demon was summoned right before her eyes wayyyy to easily for me. It just wasn't that realistic of a reaction. I did not like Callie's friend, Mag, and Callie's brother Jared. They annoyed the hell out of me and I think the thing that involved those two that is revealed is kind of pointless and does nothing for the plot. I am intrigued by the last chapter and what was going on there, so I think I will pick up the next book. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Honestly - went into this one without any expectations. Fully just read the blurb and thought “well this seems wild and right up my alley I can’t wait”.

And it did not disappoint. It was wild, absolutely hysterical and ridiculously cute. Like dumb cute I’m giggling like a little child this is so cute.

It’s unashamedly ridiculous. This book has the vibe of a story that knows it’s ridiculous but it also knows that it had you in its grasp basically from the get go. Escape rooms, satanic cults, the hot son of the devil, a dragon goddess, the almost apocalypse and a dog? Absolute perfection - I loved this.

It’s the perfect pallet cleanser book - great for a quick weekend read or when you’re not really sure what you’re in the mood for but you don’t want anything particularly heavy. It has its moments! But otherwise it was an absolute delight.

This new paranormal romance combines three of my very favourite things: dogs, escape rooms, and magic.

After an underworldly misunderstanding accidentally initiates the apocalypse, a brave brainiac, Callie, must work together with the son of the devil himself, Luke, to save the world from fire and brimstone.

Of course, they get more than they bargained for when their feelings start to get in the way of their quest.

I rather enjoyed this quirky team-up from Gwenda Bond.

The balance between romance and adventure was just to my taste, and although slightly underwritten at times, the lightning pace was refreshing for the genre.

Check it out!

Callie is in charge of her family's escape room business for the weekend, and wouldn't you know it? It's the one time a Satanic cult shows up, steals a grimoire, kidnaps her and her friend, and summons the hottest demon from the pits of hell, Luke.

This is an entertaining read. My favorite thing is how Callie just rolls with it. She thinks about all the books she's read and makes the decision to be a do-er - to face the challenges with all the strength she can muster, keep moving forward and do the right thing.

The romance takes a back seat to the adventure, which is fine. The adventure is what I'm here for. I especially liked when the world widened out and we got more involvement from characters of myth and legend. But I would have liked more... chemistry between Luke and Callie. While I'm interested in the characters individually, it doesn't matter to me that they're together? Which isn't great.

An entertaining and light read about the almost-apocalypse.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Callie just wants to show her mom that she can handle taking care of their family escape room business for the weekend and maybe search for some inspiration on what to do with her life. Luke needs to secure human souls in the next 48 hours or risk the wrath of his father, who just happens to be the Devil. When their paths collide after a Satanic cult steals a spell book from the escape room to summon Luke, this unlikely pair teams up to try to stop the world from ending. With the cult hot on their tails, Callie’s best friend and brother keeping secrets and the weight of Luke’s Father’s expectations on his shoulders, will they find a way to work together to stop the apocalypse?

I absolutely loved Callie’s character; I think she’ll really resonate with anyone who sees themselves as book smart, with a few close friends and family, just trying to find their place in this world. We journey with Callie while she rides the rollercoaster of determining whether or not she can trust Luke, and just how much of a role her innate “goodness” will play in finding her purpose and path in life. Even a demon raised in Hell like Luke can’t ignore how good just radiates from Callie and I really liked seeing his journey and evolution over the short 48 hour period this book covers. I’m excited a sequel has already been announced so I can revisit these characters again next year and see how they continue to evolve.

It’s also a theme with me that I’ll enjoy a book if it has fun side characters and this book did not disappoint. From Callie’s best friend and brother to Luke’s tutor to the family dog to some of the staples of Hell’s population, the supporting cast was colorful, well thought out and really added to the story in my opinion. In addition to the storyline of Luke and Callie’s connection, it was clear how much many of these characters cared about each other, and it was a good grounded, relational element to bring into a story with so much fantasy at play.

I’m definitely not an expert on the occult or other hell-based classic, but the book definitely seemed well research and will informed to me; I feel like I learned some things about different lore and stories!

I’m finding that I’m really enjoying romantic comedies that have a paranormal twist to them recently, and Not Your Average Hot Guy fits right into that mold. If you’re willing to suspend your belief in the “normal” world for a few hours, I think you’ll find enjoyment within these pages.

Hands down one of the most creative books I've read in 2021!

Our Escape Room designer and history nerd Callie gets the surprise of her life when a satanic cult shows up at work on a Friday night with plans to start the next apocalypse. In an effort to stop them, Callie must find and connect the pieces of a holy relic and take a quick trip down under to hell.

The dialogue between Callie and Luke, the one and only son of Lucifer, had me laughing out loud even as they continued to get themselves in one perilous situation after another.

A super fun and unique rom-com that will leave you smiling and wanting more! Can't wait for the sequel.

This is the first time I've read paranormal romcom and I was pleasantly surprised that I did enjoy this one. It played out just like a movie would and I did enjoy this one. Thank you so much for allowing me to read this book.

This was an ok book. I probably had more of a problem with the devil aspect & the cult, so that's on me. If you don't think you'll have an issue with that, this book is for you. It's kind of a fun romcom if I get out of my head with the setting.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I loved these two characters. I'm not usually a fan of instant connections, but Cassie and Luke both are developed enough through the story that it works. I loved Cassie's background in escape rooms and old books because, honestly? They're both really relatable. And Luke with his swagger that doesn't hide his real feelings is just very good. It's fluffy and fun for the end of the world.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review!

This arc was such an exciting, light, romantic read. And did I mention paranormal?? Cover doesn’t give those vibes but when I tell you I enjoyed it so much . It was so fun to read the adventure and romance between the two and when I tell you the title and cover throw you off so much lol. Definitely not what I was expecting when heading into this Book.

This is the type of read where u sit down make some coffee put a blanket around u, listen to some jazz and just read.

I really enjoyed the Gwenda Bond YA books I've read and hoped that I would feel similarly about Not Your Average Hot Guy. To her credit, I have a feeling Not Your Average Hot Guy is definitely a book that people who still read YA and New Adult on the regular may well enjoy because this book is relatively humorous despite having, you know, cults and demons and the literal spawn of the Devil in it. For me, though, this book didn't totally work for me. I still haven't quite sorted out why, if I'm being honest, even though I read this a couple of weeks ago. I guess, for me, I never really understood the connection between Luke and Callie. I felt like it needed to be a little more fleshed out? Like, this book was fun, but I'm not convinced it worked as a romance for me. The banter was good though, for sure.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press/St Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
This was a unique read - I’ve never read a paranormal romcom before (and I probably should read the descriptions better when I request galleys!
The dedication says “For every woman who could save the world, because she learned how from books.” Doesn’t that excite you for the story?,
Callie and her family run an escape room in Nashville which is the perfect venue for Callie to employ her love of puzzles and the occult. After being kidnapped by a Satanic cult who summon an especially attractive member of the underworld, Callie ventures all over with him, trying to prevent the end of the role while also finding some time for romance.
This was a good start to the spooky season, and a departure from my typical genres, but ultimately it fell flat for me. I didn’t understand why Luke was so attracted to Callie, which made it hard to read the chapters from his view (every other chapter).

This book was well out of my usual reading, but turned out to be a fun departure! This was a funny and quick read and Luke and Callie were very likable. This was a closed-door romance (also generally not my preference), but had a lot of sweetness to make up for the lack of steam.

In this book, Callie gets pulled into a cult's plot to start the apocalypse and has to team up with Luke, son of Lucifer to help foil their plot.

Overall rating: 3.8

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, it was such a fun time and I will read the next one when it comes out.

This was a fun, irreverent, fast and funny read. It might give you Lucifer (TV show) vibes. It's light, a little nonsensical, and unbalanced at times, but if you go with the flow, you'll enjoy the ride.

It gets pretty biblical, for better or worse. And has a lot of action, I'd say to an extent that romance is more in the background. The romance is quite insta-love. Also, if you were hoping that the son of Lucifer would be the perfect morally gray character, then you might be disappointed. He is more of the But the romance was cute how they cared for each other.

I loved that escape rooms were such a big part of the book and that it worked perfectly with the adventures they went on.

The side characters were pretty good as well. Porsoth and Bosch were adorable. Would not say no to a lot more of them. I wish I liked the best friend and the brother more but they were a little random and I didn't love the storylines involving them. Though the best friend was nonbinary so yay for that!

The resolution was a bit lacking. The stakes were continuously raised, but then at some point we get towards the end of the book and we got a series of solutions that didn't match the stakes. They were simply resolved too easily in a way that made you think, why didn't they just do this to begin with.

Overall though, it was a fun book with a cool setting. Especially appropriate for October.

Okay so I went into this without reading the description and didn’t realize it was a paranormal romance featuring Lucifer’s son…oops. Needless to say, this wild ride was not what I was expecting at all.

In Not Your Average Hot Guy, Callie is running her family’s escape room when a Satanic cult shows up looking to summon the devil’s right hand man, and they take Callie along with them. Who they get is Luke, Lucifer’s son. He and Callie work together to stop the cult and save the world.

The save the world plot was the focus for most of the book and that took away from the romance. While this book was fast-paced, entertaining, and unique, it didn’t feel like a romance to me, partially because of the plot but also because I didn’t feel super strong chemistry between Luke and Callie. I am interested to see where the rest of this series goes, and I’ll be more prepared going into book 2.

Thanks to SMP Romance and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange of an honest review.

Loved this sweet romantic story.

Callie doesn’t know quite what she wants to do with her life. In the immediate future, she wants to successfully run the family’s escape room business while her mother is away for the weekend. This becomes more difficult when a satanic cult steals a grimoire from one of the rooms, kidnap Callie and her best friend, and semi-accidentally summon Luke, Lucifer’s son. Luke has his own problems, more particularly a fast-approaching deadline to collect souls in order to prove his worth to his father.

▪ This is a romance/fantasy hybrid. I love fantasy, so this was a pleasant surprise, but I imagine that for someone who expects a straightforward romance (the book is in the romance category only), the descriptions of demons and the landscape of Hell may be off-putting. I really enjoyed the mythology and rules Bond adopts for her demons and the satanic cult, they felt at one original and grounded in recognizable myth.

▪ Dan Brown-esque quest. Another pleasant surprise: a not insignificant part of the novel describes Callie and Luke going on the kind of adventure typically described in Dan Brown novels. It’s a lot of fun.

▪ Sweet romance with a bit of heat. It may sound weird to say that the romance between a human woman and the devil’s son feels real and believable, but it does. Both are well-drawn characters, and their attraction feels genuine. Callie in particular is such a great character, an ordinary person who shows so much bravery when confronted with such unusual circumstances.

▪ Queer representation. Callie’s best friend is non binary and this is handled without fuss, as it should. More of this in all kinds of books, please.

▪ Unfortunate mentions of that YA wizards writer, but handled in a satisfying way. The characters have discussions about which Hogwart’s house they belong to, which raised my hackles because of the author of these books being such a transphobe. The presence of that discussion is totally worth it though, but I will not spoil it here. Just a heads-up that it’s there.

This was a really fun read. It went in a lot of unexpected directions that happened to align with the kind of non-romance books I enjoy reading, but I wonder if people who enjoy more down-to-earth romances would be put off. Then again, the clue is in the synopsis: this book stars Lucifer’s son as the romantic lead, so unusual events should be expected.

This story centers around slightly nerdy, but morally good Callie, a designer/operator of her family's Escape Room business and Luke, quite literally the son of the Devil himself.

I have to admit I wasn't quite sure of this novel at first. I wanted to really like it as it was based in the town I went to college in so there were many references/location marks that made me smile. And I am here for some fantasy/sci-fi elements though it isn't my preferred genre. But I have to admit it took me a bit off guard as I thought I was getting a typical rom-com book. This most definitely isn't that. But once you get past the early elements and the groundwork that had to be laid for the story to flow, you will find the chemistry between the Luke and goodly Callie to be not only believable, but adorable, oftentimes hot and something you want to root for!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book definitely got me in the Halloween mood with some of its spooky aspects but over all fell a little flat for me in terms of the plot. I still enjoyed it for the mood that it set for October!

This was the first paranormal romance i have ever read and i have to say i really enjoyed it. I don’t normally pick romances but this was great! I really enjoyed Callie’s character she was funny and witty, and this is the first book I’ve read with a they/them character and i think it was awesome. I felt like the book was fast moving but the characters were well developed. I enjoyed Luke’s character too, he was literally not your average hot guy lol. The plot was great and this book took you through hell ;) very good! I really enjoyed reading how Luke and Callie’s relationship progressed.