I thoroughly enjoyed reading My Funny Demon Valentine!! This was a paranormal romance with humor, spice, and a bit of a suspense. Ash and his 3 brothers escape from Hell to live a different life on Earth. Ash loves music but cannot be a musician because he is a demon. Ash wants to be more than a just a demon and is trying to live a civilian life with his loud, hilarious, protective brothers. His love for music catches the attention of Eve. Eve is also a musician and is trying to discover her true self because she feels incomplete unless she is with Ash…but she doesn’t know his true form yet. They form a bond through music and their compatibility is off the charts. Their relationship exemplifies that you don’t have to change yourself in order for someone to love you, be who you are and those that see you will love you unconditionally. I love the bromance amongst the 4 brothers and Eve being protected by them. I enjoyed the twist and turns that occurred plus I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. Thank you NetGalley for providing me this ARC for an honest review.

This is not the book I would have randomly chosen but I did enjoy it more than expected so I am grateful to Between the Books choosing it as February’s book of the month. I should preface this with saying that demon sex is not a thing I’m into. It edges more towards monster for me and doesn’t hold my interest. I did like the demon characters and I get where the author was going with them being demon and yet more but there were still bits that took me out of the story because this just isn’t my thing. I did like the humor quite a bit. The writing wasn’t always the best and I thought the base of the story could have been more with a bit of tweaking. The characters were the biggest strength and the intriguing group of demons who are different than anything I’ve read are interesting and even though this was a book I liked ok, I am interested on future books focusing on the other demons in the group.

I’ll be honest—this ARC initially caught my eye because of the cover. (Yes, I’m shallow like that, and yes, book covers absolutely matter. Fight me.) But plot twist: the story actually delivered! It turned out to be a fast, funny, and ridiculously sexy read.

That said, it’s not for everyone. If you’re more on the conservative side, you might find yourself clutching your pearls. And that’s fine! Not every book is for every reader. But for me? This didn’t feel dark or demonic at all. If anything, it reminded me of Lucifer—the TV show that I unapologetically adored.

For context, I’m a practicing (albeit slightly deconstructed) Nondenominational Christian, and I didn’t find anything about this story offensive. But hey, your mileage may vary.

If you’re in the market for a cheeky, light-hearted palate cleanser that doesn’t take itself too seriously, My Funny Demon Valentine might just be your jam. It’s quirky, cute, and the perfect Valentine’s read—like a box of chocolate truffles with just a hint of spice. 💕🖤

This audio book was cute. Unfortunately I couldn’t finish. The ARC I received seemed to stop working 89.3. % thought so I don’t know how it ends but I got far enough I’m sure I can pretty much guess.
This book was everything I was expecting it to be. Short and sweet, nothing overly complicated. The MMC is a somebody I would stand behind I enjoyed the fact he had super long hair and a unique curse most certainly made him more interesting.. The MFC is decent enough I didn’t have any complaints. I did found the plot a little predictable with her being what she is and her dad being an angel. I kinda imagined it to be spicer then what it truly was and I’m not mad about it for this short book I found the spice was just enough it played well with the plot. Over all I’d rate it a 3.5

Thanks to the author, RBMedia, and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I was over the moon to be approved literally one day after purchasing a first edition paperback with beautiful Valentines-y sprayed edges (I couldn’t resist!!). The audiobook was perfect because I can hardly bring myself to crack the spines on those deliciously beautiful spredgey masterpieces.

3⭐️ Overall, I think this a cute concept and good story. I enjoyed the primary and secondary characters and found them to be likable and sympathetic. I appreciated that in the context of an ensemble cast, I was almost immediately able to differentiate between the brothers because of distinct quirks/traits. On the flip side of the coin, unfortunately, I felt the characters were really underdeveloped. There was *so much* room for *more.* More depth, backstory, motivation, personality, chemistry. Just more.

In terms of writing style, for me, the tone was a bit too casual. Words were used in grammatically inappropriate but colloquially accepted ways (e.g., “lessen” in place of “reduce”). This was done not only in the context of dialogue, but also in the body of the text, which feels like a red flag. The dialogue was overly simplistic, artless, and periodically crude. You could perhaps sell this as being the nature of the characters if there were more of a counterpoint to it in other characters, or it was present only in dialogue, but there’s not enough tonal variety to make this distinction. This felt like the author’s voice coming through and it made me… uncomfortable? I’m no delicate flower, but when essentially every paragraph includes obscenities, it feels a little over the top? At a minimum, it’s worth exploring the specificity of the language and the extent to which the words are accurately conveying the intended message. There were also some frankly absurd similes and metaphors. One of my favorites: “Her entire female reproductive system lit up like a carnival parade.” First of all, wtf is a carnival parade? Second, no. Just no. While we’re on the topic, the intimate scenes were written in a way that made even the mundane feel crass somehow (e.g., “made out like teenagers with tongues and saliva and shit” WHAT?!). The FMC also got very close to orgasming from an interesting array of activities. Take for example: 1) “She nearly came just from seeing his teeth digging into her ass cheek.” 2) “Just the smooth silky feel was nearly enough to throw her over the edge again.” 3) “I’m close to coming just from picturing your big cock in my mouth.”

The audiobook narrator, Kirsten Lee, did a good job. There were some glaring mispronunciations that I really couldn’t ignore (e.g., pronouncing feral as fee-ral) and inconsistencies in pronunciation that became tiresome (e.g., alternately referring to the character as Bell and Ball). There were several of those standard cut-in corrections, with altered voice pitch and volume, but it wasn’t overly excessive.

Taken together, I liked it, but didn’t love it. I will likely read book 2 because the story is intriguing enough that I want to know where it’s going.

Four demons escape hell with no plan other than to not go back. Ash connects with Eve at a bar over their passion for music. She’s the first human who can see through his curse and likes what she sees. Their lust chemistry is definitely present and she gets pulled into his world of angels and demons.

I felt like the story line with her father felt pretty obvious and I was also not super keen on the insta-love. The found family trope was cute and I liked Eve’s mom and her ability to accept others for who they are…but this made her inability to talk it out with her own husband, after she saw what she saw, to feel out of character.

Fans of the tv show Lucifer would really enjoy this story.

Ａｕｄｉｏｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
3 ☆
Ash, a career as a musician isn't exactly an option. Plus, he's cursed. Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his three brothers escape Hell in search of freedom on Earth. But it's harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tails. Evangeline is just your average human. At least that's what Eva tells herself when, moments after she meets the man of her dreams, she sees him shift into a 7-foot-tall monster. But Ash isn't the only one keeping secrets, and the search for answers reveals a shocking truth that will change Eva's life forever.

Oh, I really wanted to like this book, but it took until maybe 50% before I got into it, and normally I would have DNF'd before then. But I stuck it out and finished it. I can see where people say it's funny. It had some funny moments. But the third-person POV just didn't do it for me and made it kind of hard to get all the feels.

The audiobook was okay. I feel like it should have been dual narration, and it would have been a little better, but honestly, the narrator did a great job bringing this story to life. It was extremely easy to listen to and understand. I listened at 2x speed.

Thank you, Netgellay, and RB Media for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This book was not for me. There seemed to be more spicy scenes than plot yet the spicy scenes were cringey to me. There wasn’t much character development or growth. I know this is a book about demons but still would have liked more character development and growth. The characters seems juvenile and immature which didn’t match the adult themes of the book

This is exactly what I was looking to read for Valentines day, a paranormal romance about a demon who learns to love. I kept picturing the show Lucifer in my head. The demons personalities reminded me of Lucifer and Mazikeen, especially from the later season when they really start to gain more of a conscious.

The plot made about as much sense as Ice Planet Barbarians, but I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed Ice Planet Barbarians (which is a lot, I enjoyed both a lot). However, if you are the kind of person who needs your plots to make logical sense, this may not be the book for you. There was also a part in the 2nd half that was a little info-dumpy, but after that the action really started. I was like 'wow, this isn't just a rom-com?' and my heart began to thoroughly race.

While I really liked this book, I liked some of the side characters more than I liked the main character. I have high hopes that I will like the other books in this series more than I liked this one.

I received an ARC of the audiobook, and while the narrator did a great job, this was the perfect opportunity to do a duet!!! I was confused as to whether or not this book was 1st person or 3rd person because of how quickly the POV's changed. One second I was in the FMC's mind, and the next second I was in the MMC's mind, but the narrators voice stayed the same unless she was doing the dialogue. This was extremely confusing for me, at the beginning. With a multi-POV like this, it almost needs to be duet. Besides, people really enjoy duet and I think it would increase sales... Just some food for thought.

Tropes: spicy paranormal romance, if-i-only-had-a-heart, demon/human romance, demon shifter

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the audio of this book.

If there are demons and a promise that a book will have the sizzling chemistry of the queen Brynne Weaver then sign me up!!

Sadly, the demons in this book are not swoon-worthy at all and discuss females as if they’re pieces of meat. I made it 30% in and had to stop at the phone sex scene. The spice was as mechanical as the narrators performance. I cannot see how the writing will make me like these characters when all I’ve been shown are horny, insufferable demons and an FMC I’m not invested in at all. I really wanted to love this book as the description was so intriguing, but life is too short to finish something that is falling flat on all accounts.

This was such a fun and unexpectedly suspenseful read! I really enjoyed the audiobook.

I received a gifted audio. This review is honest and voluntary.

My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Ascher is a paranormal romance that centers around Asmodeus “Ash” and Evangeline “Eva” who meet at a jazz club. After a random incident at the club, Eva believes she hallucinated seeing demons, specifically Ash as a demon. Little does she know, the man she met is in fact a demon and so are his brothers. We follow along as Ash deals with a curse placed upon him removing most of his senses, while Eva attempts to deal with her infatuation with a demon.

I really enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook and she did well playing each of the characters! I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun I had listening to this. Eva is such a badass and truly became my favorite character of the book. Ash and his brothers are misunderstood, which makes the idea of them being demons so funny. They each have a crutch which I enjoyed learning about because it made them each more human; for Ash its music, so we spend a lot of time in jazz clubs and with Eva and Ash playing music together. I loved the dynamics of the side characters from the brothers to Eva’s parents. Honestly her mom was awesome, and I loved her relationships with the brothers. I enjoyed getting to see how everything wasn’t as happenstances as it seemed at the beginning. Although I was able to figure out the “plot twist” on my own, I still enjoyed the way everything played out. I’ve never read paranormal romance, but I’m interested to see where this series goes.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3-stars

My Funny Demon Valentine was a spicy, fun, and entertaining read. If a group of demons can have a change of heart and see the world through new eyes, there’s hope for the rest of us, right? By the end of this story, you’ll be listening to smooth jazz while wishing for your own goofy group of disgraced nobility from Hell to hang out with.

The audiobook was easy to listen to and follow along with. I never felt lost and found myself naturally visualizing the characters and settings as I listened to the narration.

I really appreciated the themes of music and art as anchors of the human soul and how these themes were stitched throughout the entirety of the story. The pacing was little choppy at times, especially after what felt like the climax of the book but I imagine the ending set up opportunities for future stories for the rest of the series.

Thank you Recorded Books and Netgalley for the audiobook ARC!

Super fun and spicey! I REALLY appreciated that there was not a miscommunication trope in this story. It has insta-lust, but I felt it was appropriate given Ash is the lust demon. The story was very action packed and the spice was well written, I had a great time!

WOW! This was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t stop listening. I was hooked from the first minute! The narration was wonderful. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook.

This was so much fun!

'My Funny Demon Valentine' is about a cursed Lust Demon and Prince of Hell , Asmodeus, who after 3000 years of no-one who is attracted to him noticing him , finally he gains the attention of the extremely talented musician Evangeline.

Shocked - he finds this human to completely captivate him more than just the sexual chemistry. However, he and his demon brothers are on the run from Hell and sweet Evangeline has been caught up in the middle. There is also the question of why can she see him through the curse and what does this mean for their relationship?

This had POV from multiple characters and the narrators were great. Look forward to reading more from this series.

I received an ARC of the audiobook for My Demon Valentine to listen to and review. The narrator, Kirsten Leigh did a decent job at bringing the book to life. I don’t think my issue was with the narrator so much as it was with the writing style, or perhaps a little of both. Many chapters left me entirely confused as to what character was speaking. Some chapters are from the point of view of the FMC’s parents or side characters and I would get lost knowing who was talking in a scene because it wasn’t disclosed well in the writing and the narrator sounded pretty similar for all her character voices.

Aside from that, the story was alright. I liked the idea of the plot but it just felt very rushed overall. There wasn’t enough build up of a backstory or romantic tension for me to give it 100% of my attention. While the story was fun and the spice was frequent, it was over much too quickly.
This is a story of instalust for those that like that trope

Would i recommend? I would, it was a quick and light read but I wasn’t invested enough personally to want to continue.
Plot 3
Writing style 3
Spice 3
Thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for the ARC audio to listen to.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Eva and and thought that she was enduring as a FMC. The world building was fun and modern. I really liked Ash. His relationship with Eva was super sweet and I loved how protective he was of her. The brothers were absolutely hilarious, their quips to each other had me giggling out loud. They were so protective of each other and even though they didn't show it in the majority of the book, it really shined when it mattered. I liked the little twist at the end and liked that it slid more pieces into place. Side note Eva's mom Jackie is my favorite character in the whole book. And I felt bad for the way that things turned out for her. The audio is what I think really made this book for me. The narrator did a glorious job of bringing this story to life. I can't wait to read the next book.

Really tried with this one but it just wasn’t for me. The humor just didn’t hit for me and that really ruins a romcom for me.

The narrator was good and did her best with the source material

I received an advanced listening copy of this book for review. This is my own opinion. Thank you to Netgalley and RBMedia for the opportunity to review!

<b>Genre:</b> Paranormal/contemporary romance
<b>Tropes:</b> I don’t even know…demons x human? Musicians? Grumpy x sunshine
<b>Spice Level:</b> 3/5. It’s not suuuper descriptive and it’s tame, but there are multiple spicy scenes.
<b>Content Warning:</b> blood, knives, swords, angels vs demons, lying family member/partner


Gosh okay. I requested this on a whim, purely because the title amused me.

Yall. It was so dang CUTE and I never expected that from a book about big scary demons escaping hell?? Eva and Ash have an instant connection over music, and though Ash thinks he’s just in it for the sex, it’s obvious that he catches feelings immediately.

I think what made this book five stars for me was the entire cast. All the brothers are so funny and adorable, even though they’re supposed to be all scary and whatnot. Meph especially. I can’t wait to see them all get their happy ending.

I really enjoyed this and definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of this sort of lighthearted paranormal contemporary romance.

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series!

Thanks again to Netgalley and RBMedia!