Cassie and Luke are not perfect. Not together and definitely not alone, but throughout this story we see them become better versions of themselves, the best versions of themselves really.

Cassie is post-grad and struggling to decide what she wants to do with her life. She's supposed to be spending the weekend taking care of her family escape room business, and that's what she plans to do. Until a real life honest to goodness Satan worshipping cult turns up and uses actual magic to solve her hardest puzzle. Now, she's got a whole new set of puzzles to solve.

Luke has never lived up to his father's potential. Granted his dad is Lucifer and the bar is high, but Luke just isn't interested in acquiring souls and anything involved in maintaining them for eternity. When his dad sets a deadline, Luke sets out to meet the goal. When the cult at the escape room summons him for his help to find a powerful weapon, he tries his best to adhere to the letter of the law without letting them have in.

These are the circumstances Cassie and Luke meet as and they set out to stop the cult and get their hands on the Spear of Destiny, they journey through the earth and hell to find what they need to prevent a holy war happing and destroying all life on earth.

What I lived most about Cassie and Luke was their banter. Gwenda Bond is so good at banter. She always does a good job of making her characters individuals with unique interests and Cassie is wildly smart with a very specific set of useless trivia and a lot of it is related to hell. Aside from her smarts and snark, Cassie is so up for pushing past her fear to do the thing that's right and scares her.

I'm already excited for book two because I am hoping Luke gets a chance to develop more fully and we can see more about what he thinks and feels rather than what the people of hell want from him.

Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond 3 stars

This is the first book that I've read by this author. The premise sounded like fun; Callie is looking after her mom's escape room visit and unbeknownst to her, rents out one of the rooms to a doomsday cult. One of the various props in the room is a grimoire that actually works. The cultists try to summon an executive level demon and they get Luke (a trainee). The cultists get their wish and off they go to find a sacred object to bring about the End of Days. Callie feels responsible and tries to stop them. Luke can't seem to leave Callie alone, so he comes along for the ride. Is the world doomed, you have to read the book to find out what happens.

I was hoping for a rollicking good read with plenty of snark and some rom-com thrown in. I didn't get it, instead I got angst, uncertainty and a seriously smart woman with the ability to parse words like a lawyer. I think this book would be more in the New Adult territory rather than Rom-Com. If there is a sequel, I could see myself giving it another try.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC.

I knew I would like this book from the minute I read the blurb. I have been having a stressful couple of weeks, and I needed a book to make me laugh. And oh boy, did this book do that.

The synopsis for Not Your Average Hot Guy was pretty simple. Callie was left to run her mother’s escape room business for a weekend while her mother went out of town. Everything was supposed to go smoothly until the first group showed up. They turn out to be a cult who steals a grimoire, kidnaps Mags and Callie, and summons a demon. That demon turns out to be Luke Morningstar, the son of Lucifer Morningstar and Lilith (yes, that Lilith). What does that cult want? Well, they want to bring about the apocalypse….which Callie is against. So when Luke offers his help, Callie doesn’t hesitate to accept it. With the clock ticking, Callie and Luke rush to stop the cult. But Luke has a secret plan that he didn’t mention to Callie, and his growing feelings for her are threatening his goal. Will they be able to stop the cult from starting the apocalypse?

This book was fun to read. I giggle snorted during the entire book (and outright laughed in certain spots. Does MaHGA ring a bell….lmao). As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I needed a book like this due to my last few weeks.

I loved Callie. Her no-nonsense attitude and, most of all, her acceptance of everything that happened to her were remarkable. Plus, she didn’t hesitate to stand up for anyone she thought was wronged, and she had an excellent snarky attitude. I loved her interactions with Lucifer, Styx, Lilith, Mags, and just about everyone in the book.

I liked Luke, but he came across as almost too wishy-washy at the beginning of the book. It was not what I expected for someone who was the son of the Devil. But, as the book went on and as his character grew, I began to understand why the author wrote him that way. By the end of the book, I was 100% on team Luke.

Luke and Callie’s romance was very quick (think a day) and very much Instalove. But instead of making me roll my eyes, I ended up loving it.

Luke and Callie do have sex in Not Your Average Hot Guy. What I enjoyed about this is that the author decided not to make a big deal of it. One chapter ended with them going into the bedroom, and then the next was them getting ready to grab (aka steal) a globe that shows what is going on on Earth in real-time.

There is so much I could cover here, but I feel it would lead to a possible spoiler. I do want to address one thing: The Harry Potter references. I am not a huge Harry Potter fan (never pretended to be), but even I thought the comments about JK were a bit sus.

The end of Not Your Average Hot Guy was pretty funny. I got a laugh over the pygmy fainting goat named Cupcake. I also loved Lucifer wasn’t done meddling in Callie and Luke’s relationship.

I would recommend Not Your Average Hot Guy for anyone over the age of 16. There is language, violence, and sexual situations.

I was obv drawn to this because of the cult aspect, and I'm a fan of Gwenda Bond's YA books (and her former podcast about cults!) The book itself wasn't totally my cup of tea, like I understand that it is a romance novel and this is the point of it, but it was hard for me to get into the super hot demon falling in love at first sight with the random human escape room operator.

It also felt like the bureaucracy of Hell and the humor there owed a lot to Good Omens but in a way where I just like, wished I was re-reading Good Omens.

But I think readers who are more into paranormal romance in general, and who are less concerned with the worldbuilding details, will probably enjoy this more than I did.

Also it was nice to include a nonbinary best friend character although that character's side plot overall didn't...do a lot for me?

This was a really cute romance with some fantastic characters. Callie is at an impass. Done with school, it’s time to think about the rest of her life…. what exactly will she be doing? She feels rudderless, not knowing which direction to turn ( a feeling I am sure many can relate to). The weekend with Mag should be just the distraction she needs- really, how hard is it to keep an eye on an escape room business? When a crazed cult comes in… pretty hard. Not only has one of her props been stolen but she and Mag are kidnapped because this creep seems to think she is some sort of world savior? Not great…. but what if there’s no one else that can do it? When they summon the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen and you find out that he’s a demon and the enemy? Par for the course. We have ridiculous scenarios and first rate flirting as two sides race for the item that could end the world… or maybe save it?

Luke is an interesting character to me. He feels like he’s the worst demon- he’s never even gotten one soul! Now he finds that dear old Dad has put a time-limit on his existence- gather at least one soul in two days or die. Failure is not an option. Meeting Callie, though… he wants to be beside her, help her as much as he can without losing everything. And if they win he’d get the cultist’s souls… right? Everybody wins. The more time he spends with her, though, the more he wants… well, more. Can the literal Prince of Hell attract the best girl he’s ever met? I loved his character growth through the story. Callie grew too, but I feel like Luke changed more. At first he was pretty, but boring… lazy- almost cliché. You see more and more of his heart, his conscience, and his strength as he fights beside Callie.

For the most part this was a cute, fun story with decent chemistry. I will say, though, that there were some drawbacks for me. (Keep in mind that I am most likely not the target audience). I often felt like Callie was depicted as way more immature than she ought to have been at her age. Her reaction to finding out about her best friend being in a relationship seemed over the top- betrayal? Mostly because they didn’t tell her immediately… but still. It seemed like a bit much. Wording and choice of phrase also seemed juvenile at times, like they were supposed to be much younger than they were- or maybe just really inexperienced? These things could get frustrating. All in all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for ages 15-17. There’s a small amount of sexual content and physical flirting, but it’s not over-the-top. It was good, and I will be looking for the next book if only to see if there’s more character growth. For me, this was a three star book.

⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!

Sadly this book wasn't for me. I was really into the premise and the setup of the story, but I found the humor misaligned with mine--does anyone really use a phrase like "geek fu?" I found the plot to romance ratio tilted very much in the plot direction. And I'm getting to the point where I really can't abide by novels that delve into Harry Potter fandom. I suppose there's still a chance it could be edited out for the final draft, but we've known for a while now what JK Rowling stands for, and if you don't want to edit out completely unnecessary dialogue about it, it shows evidence of being stuck in a mindset I'm not interested in spending time with. That all said, I'm always interested in paranormal romances that aren't super dark, so I'm glad this book exists even if it's not catered to my tastes.

I thought this would be a fun read to get me into the spooky mood, but this was ultimately a let-down. Not Your Average Hot Guy follows Callie, a recent college grad who is stuck working at her mom's escape room, and Luke, the son of Lucifer who struggles to live up to his father's expectations, as they team up to stop a cult from destroying the planet.

I really struggled to get through this one. Callie was a little too quirky and Luke seemed way too sweet to pass for the son of the devil. Plus the insta-love did not work for me at all. The upside is that it's a quick read and the plot moves pretty quickly. I think this could work if you're in the mood for a quick, fanfiction-y type read, but it ultimately wasn't the story I was hoping for.

Thanks so much to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy!

This was a cute story but not quite what I was expecting. The book was slow to start and then things just kind of escalated. Once things picked up, I was interested. I am only giving this 4 stars because 3 1/2 isn't an option.

Girl teams up with bad boy to stop a satanic cult from destroying the world but doesn't know said bad boy is actually the Prince of Hell? Sign me up!

It was the synopsis that dragged me in and while it wasn't wholly what I expected, it was still an enjoyable, funny read. The characters were overall interesting, but I didn't love them entirely and felt like they could've had more depth. Callie was a bit all over the place and her reactions to several things felt either confusing or rushed. Luke felt a little too one-note and fell flat for me on more than one occasion.

The story, too, felt a little rushed and vague in a few places. Suspension of belief is certainly required for any fantasy read, but it could've made some of it a little more believable (especially in terms of timing). Still, the humor was unexpected and I loved the references woven throughout. I'll definitely be reading more from the series when it releases!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

I really loved this! I liked the characters, character growth, and I cannot wait for the second one.

New to me author and I am glad I found her! This is a light and sweet adventure that i am glad i was able to read. Cant wait to be able to visit again!

Hilarious, exciting and so imaginative! What a unique and interesting story. It's definitely not what I expected. It was a great surprise. A twisted PNR with lots of laugh out loud moments..

Not Your Average Hot Guy wasn't exactly the storyline I was expecting. It was a little more light and fluffy than I anticipated. It was a paranormal romance with a good dose of humor blended in.

Callie and Luke were complete opposites - - perfect examples of good and evil. However, they had so many similarities in other respects. Needless to say, they were a perfect match even if they seemed unlikely. I actually liked both of their characters. The author did a nice job of defining the characters and connecting the reader to them.

Unfortunately, I did feel like the book read more like a young adult novel. It had a great deal of potential to be a strong entry if the author had maintained a strong New Adult viewpoint. That was probably my biggest disappointment where this book was concerned. Everything else flowed fairly well.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I really struggled to finish this book. It just wasn't that good to read. The writing is okay and the story is a fun idea, but the execution just wasn't enjoyable. The characters are just too immature.

Callie finds herself in the very center of the possible end of the world, working alongside the son of the devil. Luke is handsome and charming… and a demon… and that attraction is pulsing between them, much to Callie’s dismay.

This book is cute and funny. This is such a fun paranormal romance. I have only ever read darker paranormal romance and to read this, which is lighter and quirkier, was great.

Not Your Average Hot Guy is a paranormal/fantasy rom-com that is a quick, funny and sweet read.

While managing her family's Escape Room business, a cult kidnaps Callie and her friend, Mag to help them summon the demon and use them as gifts for the demon. Unexpectedly, the demon the cult ends up summoning is Luke, the son of Lucifer. Luke is in a bind and ,with the help Callie, is hoping to save the world from the apocalypse.

I loved the relationship journey between Luke and Callie. Luke is so sweet and is struggling with his task that he came to complete. Callie loves all things occult and is excellent at solving puzzles but is struggling with her feelings for Luke as he is the son of Lucifer.

I really enjoyed this sweet, closed-door, opposites attract, paranormal, romantic comedy. I cannot wait for The Date From Hell!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This was just a breath of fresh air after reading a few books that were slower and more intense. Callie is a recent college graduate who is working for her mother's escape room business while she figures her life out. She's in charge for the weekend while her mother is out of town, and an odd group of Plague-masked people come in for a round in one of the escape rooms. It turns out that they're a cult and they want an antique grimoire that Callie got in an estate sale and has been using as a prop in one of the rooms, but which actually happens to include a real spell for summoning a minister of Hell. So they do, and they end up with Luke, son of Lucifer and Lilith, who is young and hot and kind of a screw-up by Hell's standards. He and Callie are drawn to each other and they end up going on an adventure to stop the cultists who are trying to incite Armageddon and it is totally ridiculous but very fun and silly. There's a bit in the epilogue that makes me hope there will be a next one in the series, because this was just what I wanted going into Halloween season.

This books premise sounded a bit insane when I first read it. But I am happy to report that this book which on its face is about a girl who helps run an escape room business and the son of the devil stopping the apocalypse is filled with humor, wit, excellent characters, interesting plot twists and a healthy dose of romance. This book felt like a combination of Good Omens and The Da Vinci Code. You have religious artifacts hidden in foreign countries, solving clues, but all tied into an escape room business and two young adults trying to figure out their place in the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like intelligent characters, dual point of view, puzzles, snark, romance, and a touch of magic and the supernatural definitely give this book a whirl. I can't wait to see what the next book in this series has in store for Callie and Luke.

OMG this book was AMAZING!!! The story sucks you in and you never want it to end!! I already want a book two for their story. Loved it. It had everything you want from a story. Humor, love, danger, adventure.