Perfect sequel to the next book in this series!! The Date from Hell wrapped up some questions that the last novel had and still had me guessing what is going to happen next?! I am in love with Callie and Luke's relationship in Hell. I can see an authentic relationship forming by Gwenda Bond, with these characters. My hope is that there may be some drama ahead with this relationship, so that it will keep me on my toes and wanting more. I LOVED the twist. The twist that this book had, I did not see it coming. Can we get an AMEN, when that happens?! Definitely giving this book a 4/5 stars. Can't wait till Gwenda Bond comes out with the next one in the series!

This book made me laugh a lot, which means it's considered a winner in my eyes. I hate comparing books to other books and a series... but that's exactly what I'm going to do. Sorry ;)

So, I definitely preferred the first book in this series. While, yes, this one was funny, the plot definitely lacked in some areas. However there weren't any issues major enough that would make me want to dissuade you from reading it.

This was such a joy to read! If you love parodies or the show Lucifer, this is a great comedic imitation of literature like Dante’s Inferno or the mythological romances of Hades and Persephone. It’s the second book in the “Match Made in Hell” series, but an entirely different adventure. You have all the same great characters, but this time Luke and Callie try to redeem the souls of hell, all while bringing their relationship to the next level. Funny, endearing, and quirky, this is one grand adventure I thoroughly enjoyed!

Callie and Luke decide to redeem the lost souls of hell, but before Satan will allow them to change the rules, he puts them to the test with a little game. Satan sends them on a whirlwind trip to find and save the soul of Sean, a crook who has no desire to be redeemed. Callie and Luke just want to go on a date, but they end up finding more about each other on their mission then they ever thought possible.

These books are just pure fun! I really enjoy the quick pace of the plot, the character descriptions, and the quirkiness of the events surrounding an escape room business. Another delightful and fast-paced read by Gwenda Bond!

Although I loved the first book the second was just ok. Still love the humor but the romance lost some of its spark.

Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond was a sleeper hit for me last year, so I was looking forward to reading the sequel, The Date from Hell!



Callie and Luke (son of the Devil) are back and have been dating for a few months now. They have a romantic weekend ahead of them, in which they plan on taking their relationship to the next level… 



Too bad Callie’s mom and the Devil have other plans in mind for them! Callie’s mom is expecting her to pull her weight at the family escape room business, while the Devil puts Callie and Luke on a 72 hour quest to see if the residents from Hell deserve redemption!



This was a fun romp! I loved seeing Callie and Luke working together again and the cool places their quest takes them to!



If your looking for a light hearted, fun romance- grab these books! Though they appear to be a duology, you can read the latest release with out reading the first. BUT I highly recommend reading other- they build upon each other and they are quick, fun reads.


I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from St. Martin’s NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Blog link: https://pinkcowlandreads.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-date-from-hell.html

#TheDateFromHell #GwendaBond #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

I really enjoyed this book! This was just as fun (if not more so) as Not Your Average Hot Guy. I loved getting to see where all of the characters had ended up and getting to go on another adventure with them. This book also gave a deeper look at the Guardians which was fun.

I LOVED Sean and figuring out his motivations. And that twist at the end was perfection! What a great way to wrap up this duology.

It was great to visit Callie and Luke again. The story takes a bit of a left turn. I went with it, but I could see some having issues with it. Maybe better editing would have helped. As usual, Callie and her booksmarts save the day. Not sure I liked the ending.

The first book kept me smiling, the sequel was equally as enjoyable. I love the writting of Gwenda - she's got lovable characters, great quips, and a plot that is enjoyable!

Laughing all the way, this was a quick read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys comedy in their reading!

Do you wish Dan Brown books were sexy and full of pop culture references? Do you like your religious artifact stories with comedy and kissing? Have I got the books for you!

Gwenda Bond’s books are always The Most Fun and her madcap fantasy romance duology is no exception.

First up, NOT YOUR AVERAGE HOT GUY:

Callie is a recentish college grad with no particular direction in life but a great love of books, learning, and creepy religious lore. She also works at her mom’s escape room. When Callie designs an immersive culty room and puts a book in it that is ACTUALLY an arcane artifact, cultists come to claim it and try to use it to release a demon on earth to bring about the end times. But instead they summon Luke, the super sexy prince of Hell. Wackiness ensues as Callie and Luke must team up to find the Holy Lance (that’s the Spear of Destiny for you The Librarian fans) and keep it from the cultists (who don’t actually know that Luke isn’t the demon they were trying to summon). To do so, they travel through painful demon magic, bopping around the world in a way that would make an Indiana Jones map look like Charlie Kelly’s conspiracy board.

Because you know how romance works, you know that they figure it out and get a Happy For Now. It’s important that it’s a HFN because a Happily Ever After wouldn’t leave room for the sequel:

THE DATE FROM HELL

Callie and Luke are happily dating now and they have an amazing date planned. But they also have a bit of a revolution planned: Callie wants to petition Lucifer to reconsider the damnation of people like Agnes, a 12-year-old girl who really probably should not have been sent to hell and certainly isn’t an adult by modern standards. Lucifer agrees to a meeting — on the day Callie and Luke are scheduled to have their big date. Which also happens to be the same day Callie is supposed to be helping her mom with a big escape room event to raise the money to make repairs after the mess she and Luke got into in NOT YOUR AVERAGE HOT GUY. Lucifer says that Callie and Luke have 72 hours to prove that they can redeem someone who deserves to be released from hell. The person he chooses is Sean, a lost-Hemsworth-brother-type/international art thief who oh, by the way, is a Grail seeker. More wacky hijinks ensue, more traveling by map, and more Arthuriana than you can shake Excalibur at. (Excalibur isn’t in the book to my recollection, by the way.) I briefly found myself thinking for a moment, “How wild is all this Arthuriana just happening in Callie’s real life?” before remembering that OH YEAH HER BOYFRIEND IS THE PRINCE OF HELL.

Because it’s a romance, it ends with a tidy Happily Ever After (leaving Gwenda free to work on other romances like MR. & MRS. WITCH). Callie figures a lot of stuff out, so does Luke, and they get to be together, yay. (And if you consider that a spoiler, romance probably isn’t the genre for you.)

What I loved:

So many things! But here’s a partial list:

- The meticulous attention to detail with respect to all the mystical artifacts
- Callie’s supreme nerdiness
- Detailed Escape Room stuff
- Pop culture references aplenty (Wondering if you share Callie’s opinion on Season 4 of Veronica Mars? Read THE DATE FROM HELL to find out!)
- The love that radiates from Luke whenever Callie Callies all over the place - seriously, I haven’t read this much warmth in a romance novel since I don’t know when (because warmth is different than heat)
- Lilith. I just love her, okay?
- Porsoth, a polite Owl Pig Demon who is a bit stuffy but can get scary when necessary
- The affection Callie has from her mom, her brother Jared, and her bff Mag (who uses they/them pronouns and nobody ever makes it a thing)
- What Gwenda does with Arthur and Guinevere, can’t say more or it’ll spoil you but big ONCE AND FUTURE graphic novel vibes

I can’t think of them all. If this isn’t a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is: My whole family is going through a rough time right now and it makes it hard for me to immerse myself in a book. I would often read a chunk of THE DATE FROM HELL and then step away from it for a few days, but I ALWAYS CAME BACK. There are a lot of non-mandatory things I’m abandoning in life right now, but this book kept me returning.

What I need to warn you about:

I really can’t think of much. I guess if you don’t like people being playful in stories about holy artifacts maybe skip these?

What I wanted more of:

I can’t think of anything here either. Everything was exactly what it needed to be.

Who should read this:

People who like Indiana Jones AND Sabrina (the Harrison Ford version). People who don’t know what to do with themselves and want to see somebody who also doesn’t know what to do with themself succeed at stuff. People who want a romance that is hot but not explicit. People who wished their were more badasses who were badass for reasons other than their ability to engage in combat (Callie is a badass and no one will convince me otherwise). People who need more fun in their lives.

Highly recommend.

Book: Not Your Average Hot Guy
Author: Gwenda Bond
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: October 5, 2021
Pages: 320
Age Range: Adult
Source of Book: Library Book

Book: The Date from Hell
Author: Gwenda Bond
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Pages: 336
Age Range: Adult
Source of Book: ARC via NetGalley

A cute "let's go on a date but save the world first" book. There's a lot of adventure in this one while Callie and Luke pine for each other, waiting to just be able to spend some alone time together. This definitely kept my interest and had me laughing but I felt like this was less romance and more adventure, which I enjoyed but wanted more romance.

I absolutely loved being back in Gwenda Bond’s hell with Callie and Luke! This was another fun and entertaining new adult read by Bond. Would definitely recommend to fantasy and new adult readers! Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for this advanced ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This is the follow up to “Not Your Average Hot Guy”, where Callie finds a portal to Hell and ends up dating the Devil’s son Luke. This time, they need to redeem a soul in order to make some changes in Hell’s policies. Unfortunately, Lucifer has picked the most unredeemable soul out there, and our couple is having a hard time.

I liked their relationship and the romance between them. The ending went a little too far in my opinion. You have to suspend belief to get into these books but the ending was kind of far fetched. At the same time, I thought how much fun another sequel would be! 3.5 stars.

Blurb:
“After saving the world and stopping the apocalypse, Callie and Luke are looking forward to a quiet, romantic weekend together. When you’re human and dating the Prince of Hell, quiet moments are hard to come by. But their romantic weekend in Hell takes a turn when Lucifer tasks Callie and Luke with chasing a wayward soul around the world. If they can prove it’s possible to redeem a soul, Lucifer will allow the two of them to make some changes in Hell.

But this wayward soul, Sean, doesn’t have any interest in being redeemed. Instead, now that he’s back on Earth, he’s decided to take a leaf out of Callie and Luke’s book and wants to find the Holy Grail. Now Callie, Luke, and their friends—and enemies—must race Sean around the globe on a Grail quest and bring peace between Heaven and Hell before they can finally (maybe) get around to that date.”

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed the read but I felt like there was too much going on. It did not hold my attention as much as I expected but I think it was a fun story

I read the first book in this duology last year, and just revisited my review. I feel pretty much the same about this one - it was an enjoyable romp but I would have appreciated a bit more character development and depth. I liked the couple of new characters who were added since the first book, and I really liked how everything wrapped up at the end. It was a satisfying ending.

This is a Paranormal Romance, and this is the second book in the Not Your Average Hot Guy series. I have read and reviewed the first book in this series before picking up this book. I do think that you should read the first book before reading this book because there is a lot of information in the first book that ties into this book. I do not read a lot of Paranormal Romance book, so please keep that in mind. I picked up the first book thinking it was just a romance not knowing it was a Paranormal Romance. I really enjoyed it, so I had to keeping reading this series. I love the characters and the action/drama in this book. The twisted at the ending I really did not see coming. There is more of this book that takes place in Hell, and I enjoyed the characters that lives in Hell. This book honestly gives me a feel of Phoebe and Cole from Charmed. I just think this book was a fun read and a cute take on good and evil. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (St. Martin's Griffin) or author (Gwenda Bond) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

A super fun continuation of this new adult, dual perspective paranormal romance series. In this book Callie and Luke get tasked by the Devil (Luke's dad) with saving a soul in exchange for a favor. Full of adventure, power swapping, more Escape room adventures, a great cast of secondary characters and new found family. I really enjoy these characters and can't wait to see what happens in the next book! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!!

The Date From Hell is the sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy and picks up where we left Callie and Luke. This book was a fun read. Was it as good as the first book in the series? Personally, I thought it fell a little but was still a fun read. It was good and had laugh out loud moments. If you enjoyed the first book you would enjoy the second one. 3.5

The Date from Hell is the sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond. It picks back up with our leading characters and the challenges that Callie is facing dating the prince of Hell. Callie wants to make changes to the underworld by offering souls a second chance at being good. Lucifer agrees to give her a trial run to prove her idea can be successful. However, he's made it so they have very little chance of succeeding. He's also trying to break up Callie and Luke to force Luke to take his rightful place as his heir.

This is a seamless sequel, the story, and characters all feel cohesive from book 1. In this one, there's a lot of stress on the differences between Callie and Luke and what kind of future they could have together. Bonus, this is also slightly steamier than the first because Luke and Callie take their relationship to the next level and there's an open door intimate scene.

Overall, The Date from Hell was another fun adventure following Callie and Luke, along with family and unlikely allies, go on a quest against the clock for the legendary holy Grail.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Date From Hell is the second book in the paranormal romance series Not Your Average Hot Guy. If you're looking for a fun, action-packed adventure that will keep you laughing you have to pick up this duology.

I feel like it would be so much fun to be friends with Callie and Luke. Callie is so relatable because of her love for books and extravagant libraries. Luke seems kind of cocky and charming but also has a huge soft spot for people he cares about. My favorite part of this series has to be the characters and the way they banter with each other and work together; it's just so much fun!

You also get some Hell politics which was really interesting while also learning about the balance between Heaven and Hell in this world. The world-building was a nice addition to the relationship elements of the story and I loved learning more and more about it. On top of that, there were a few plot twists that really surprised me. Typically, I am relatively good and figuring out the plot twists before they happen but I was completely caught off guard more than once.

If you enjoyed Not Your Average Hot Guy you have to pick up The Date From Hell because it has the same feeling and atmosphere as the first book but it's even better. This book was the closure I needed for Callie and Luke's story and I definitely enjoyed it.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Spice: 🌶 Half a pep

Blurb: Luke (Prince of Hell) and Callie made a deal with the Devil in order to give a soul in Hell a second chance at life. Except the Devil challenges them to save a soul that is irredeemable. Will they be able to prove that some souls deserve a second chance?!

This book was cute but it was not the book for me. It’s the sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy, which I did not read 😬 However, I found that this book was still relatively easy to follow despite not having read the first book.

What I liked:
- It’s a cute easy read
- Towards the end of the book, you really get sucked into their search for the Holy Grail.
- Luke is not your average Prince of Hell…He is pretty much a cinnamon roll. This may be different to how he is portrayed in the first book 🤷🏽‍♀️

What I didn’t like:
- The pace was too slow for me. Things start to get interesting after the 80% mark.
- There were so many moments that made me cringe 😬 It’s a cute read but too cute for my taste and especially for a book about Hell 😂 Maybe I’m just too into dark romance
- Spice isn’t always a necessity in romance but it’s definitely a bonus. It was one of the aspects in this book that made me cringe and how the topic was discussed.

Overall, it was an ok read for me. If you like a cute romance with an adventure, then this book is for you 💕