Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain...and their unexpected romance.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits. With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie. But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat...and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out. Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work...and ensure he makes them pay. After all, a good job is hard to find.

Assistant to the Villain

This was an unexpected love for me so that might be why I like it so much. I bought it because of the cover & sprayed edges and had no idea/expectation. The humor is definitely absurd/silly sometime, but I don't mind it. It's fun & quirky and slow burn. There are many people who are turned off by the writing/humor, but I love it for some reason. It's fun! Found family, grumpy hero/sunshine heroine, slow burn.

Sephirra

Holly 

Evie let go of his hand and placed hers on his cheek. “We're all monsters in the end. At least mine lives in the light." 

“You should tell her what the gold mark is, Trystan,” Clare murmured.

"It's not right to have her agree to something like that without understanding what it is.”

“It doesn't affect her at all," he argued, fearing that the first good thing he'd done in years was an atrociousoverstep. 

He'd sincerely intended to give her the employment bargain, which. if she broke the bonds of his trust, would seep into her body like a poison. He'd only known her a day at the time, so there was no reason to veer down any other path...but then there were her eyes. 

They were so honest, so open. They made him feel...afraid. So many things could happen to her, so many people she could trust who could turn around and destroy her. He'd hated at the time that it mattered, couldn't figure out why this woman with a loud voice and a plethora of energy could evoke such strong protectiveness. 

So instead of the green ink used in employment bargains, he'd Used the gold, because unbeknownst to the public, its main purpose Was protection. It warded against the strongest of evils, and when she'd face them, he'd know. He'd had the same gold ring placed around the CIrcumterence of his biceps. so that when she faced any true thrat or deatn, it would tell him one wav or another. Gold ink was a fickle sort Of magic; it catered to its own rhythm, letting him know in different ways when she needed him. The unpredictability was inconvenient, but it was better than nothing. 

She wasn't light; she was color. Every single one, dancing otherworldly and bright over his unworthy eyes. She was the explosion of the vivid gleams and glows of the world around him, like a constant rainbow, shining not after the rain but during. 

She was everything he never deserved but longed for anyway.

Evie turned around and saw The Villain's black-clad form. His dark eyes found hers, palpable anger there. "Hello, Sage." 

Eyes wide in disbelief, she said, “By the gods, sir! If you insist on continuing to sneak up behind me like that, I'm going to force you to wear a bell." 

When it comes to the thing one loves most, Trystan thought betore running out in the open toward the grate, the sounds of Sage's screaming protests behind him, it is always better to be trapped together than free and apart.

Blade turned to her then, a sly smile on his lips. "If I had a gold piece for every time-“

 A loud smack wrenched through the air, and Blade winced and clutched the back of his head.

With a quick smile, Evie grabbed one corner the cloth covering and yanked. revealing the canvas she’d spent the last hour framing and hanging.

There was stunned silence, quickly followed by the howl of Tatianna’s laughter. A intern walked by with a tray of cauldron brews, caught sight of the newly unveiled portrait, and stumbled into the nearest desk, spilling the cups of liquid everywhere. 

“It’s the boss," Blade said, wide-eyed, biting his lip to hold back a Smile. 

But it wasn't-or it was, just the public's perception of him. Evie had been walking through the village square last night, only to find a cart selling large, hand-painted canvases of the hideous rendition of The Villain for half the price. 

It was the best money Evie had ever spent. 

"It's horrible!" Becky was slack-jawed, her look of horror only Sweetening Evie's little play at revenge on the boss for leaving her out of his most recent plans.

 It looked worse in a larger size, the flaming-haired depiction of the man clearer and the letters in bold at the bottom standing out with perfect clarity. 

THE VILLAIN WANTED FOR MURDER, TREASON, AND GENERAL VILLAINY DANGEROUS.

“I am not afraid of the dark, Sage. I am The Villain-the dark fears me." He let his chest puff out to prove his point, which only made her giggle again.

Her wicked eyes gave her away as she rubbed her chin like one of the older magical specialists. “Sir, do you have a night-light?" 

Trystan shook his head and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, mumbling, “I don't...not have one." The giggle she let out was loud and 

at a pitch that should call the birds to the window, looking for their brethren, but it was adorable, and he hoped she would do it again. 

Romy

"You’re touching my face," he said flatly.

"Are you happy with that decision ?" He raised one dark brow again.

Shayla B

“We’re all monsters in the end.  At least mine lives in the light.” - Evie

 “… If I hadn’t distracted her, you would’ve been an evil pancake.” – Evie

“She smiled, sheepish and a little flattered that he cared. ‘You’re not all bad, are you?” – Evie

 “He looked offended ‘How dare you.” – Trystan

 “… What could he have possibly done to deserve such wrath?” – Evie 

“He stepped on my foot once. Never got over it.” – Trystan

“Benedict had been the first person to look upon Trystan’s face and call him a monster, and it was to be his life’s greatest pleasure to remind the king exactly what that meant.”

afraid of the dark, Sage. I am The Villain – the dark fears me.” – Trystan

“The giggle she let out was loud and at a pitch that should call the birds to the window, looking for their brethren, but it was adorable, and he hoped she would do it again. 

“He wondered if it would scar her for life if he threw himself from the window” 

“The apology came out so fast, and he was almost certain his voice went up an octave, which was not only mortifying but enough to make him want to consider the window idea again.”

“You laughed” – Malcom (The Villain’s brother)

Smiling crookedly, taking a step towards him, she dealt her blow. “Fluffy.” – Evie

 “Fluffy? You looked at me and thought to yourself, 

“Fluffy is a beautiful name. I had a dog named Fluffy once.”

“No wonder you have such a superiority complex. I would, too, if I could see the world from this vantage point!” – Evie 

“I’m hardly taller than the average man,” – The Villain 

“I feel like I’m being carried by a tree.” – Evie

“No. I have a condition where my tear ducts produce an excess of warm, salty water when I’m tired or in distress.” – Evie

“She didn’t know everything about The Villain yet, but she did know that he detested disorganized recordkeeping, almost as much as she hated stray eyeballs.”

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain...and their unexpected romance. ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits. With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie. But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat...and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out. Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work...and ensure he makes them pay. After all, a good job is hard to find.

taylor

I had fun and like the characters, but nothing happens and then everything happens in the last 10% of the book

Sílvia

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, level-headed assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things in General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn's most infamous Villain results in a job offer-naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don't find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she's getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat...and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain-and his entire nefarious empire-out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work... and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find....

Hilarious, slow burn-y and that plot twist!

This is how all fantasy novels should be written!

I love Evie with all my heart and Trystan? What a man!

Kyra

Awesome!!

Hilarious, slow burn-y and that plot twist!

This is how all fantasy novels should be written!

I love Evie with all my heart and Trystan? What a man!

I loved this soooo much. It's so quirky and sarcastic and unserious sometimes and it was such a fun way to see the side of the villain's perspective. 

Tsu 💙

carla thy

This was such a light-hearted magical read it was really fun.

if there is villain in the title, im expecting a good villain. and im so sorry but the villain is a terrible villain. i just wasnt ever afraid of him and did not find him villainesque. also not getting his reasoning for being a villain until the last 10 pages of the book felt kind of bad. because the whole time im supposed to be invested in his vendetta against this one guy and idk why and the acts that he is doing to get revenge arent even villain coded. the other main character and supporting cast also fall really flat. i just felt they were all very vanilla and boring. 

aside from not liking the characters. i also did not enjoy the writing style which is def a me problem. this book def feels ya, but its adult which was crazy to discover. but idk. i just dont enjoy the cringey jokes and dialogue in books.  

alice l

if there is villain in the title, im expecting a good villain. and im so sorry but the villain is a terrible villain. i just wasnt ever afraid of him and did not find him villainesque. also not getting his reasoning for being a villain until the last 10 pages of the book felt kind of bad. because the whole time im supposed to be invested in his vendetta against this one guy and idk why and the acts that he is doing to get revenge arent even villain coded. the other main character and supporting cast also fall really flat. i just felt they were all very vanilla and boring. 

aside from not liking the characters. i also did not enjoy the writing style which is def a me problem. this book def feels ya, but its adult which was crazy to discover. but idk. i just dont enjoy the cringey jokes and dialogue in books.  

turtle

Some books are not for me and this just made the list. The staccato-esque style of writing statement, after statement, only interrupted by slightly cringey internal monologue is something I couldn't stomach for more than two chapters.

Leonie

This is a fantasy book that made laugh out loud and left me hooked. It was so nicely written and I genuinely did not want to put it down.

Lauren Dale

All this book has is banter. No plot, no fleshed out back stories, and the twist was unbelievable. 

Started promising,  but I started to get annoyed by the lack of plot throughout. 

Jenny Engel

All this book has is banter. No plot, no fleshed out back stories, and the twist was unbelievable. 

Started promising,  but I started to get annoyed by the lack of plot throughout. 

𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏

i adored this book with my whole entire lil heart, it was so heartwarming and funny and the tension was on the same level as mr darcy flexing his hand in p&p!

so consider me gobsmacked when i saw how many people have dnf’ed this book on goodreads 😭

let me try to convince you to pick it up, and i sincerely hope you love it as much as me cos the sequel only gets better!!

we’re talking grumpy x sunshine (one of my fave tropes!!), it’s giving cosy romantasy, top notch banter and the chemistry between the villain and evie was 😮‍💨😮‍💨

it’s not a serious high fantasy book, it’s here for someone looking for a fun cosy read that is just pure happiness on the pages! when i realised it was dual pov and we were getting the villains pov, i actually died because his inner thoughts killed me, i personally would love to have someone see me the way the villain sees evie 🥹

i’m hardcore into the villain being the love interest so i need more asap pls! let me know any recs you may have x

p.s. would highly recommend having book two ready to continue straight after finishing!

Larissa Kirchberger

𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i adored this book with my whole entire lil heart, it was so heartwarming and funny and the tension was on the same level as mr darcy flexing his hand in p&p!

so consider me gobsmacked when i saw how many people have dnf’ed this book on goodreads 😭

let me try to convince you to pick it up, and i sincerely hope you love it as much as me cos the sequel only gets better!!

we’re talking grumpy x sunshine (one of my fave tropes!!), it’s giving cosy romantasy, top notch banter and the chemistry between the villain and evie was 😮‍💨😮‍💨

it’s not a serious high fantasy book, it’s here for someone looking for a fun cosy read that is just pure happiness on the pages! when i realised it was dual pov and we were getting the villains pov, i actually died because his inner thoughts killed me, i personally would love to have someone see me the way the villain sees evie 🥹

i’m hardcore into the villain being the love interest so i need more asap pls! let me know any recs you may have x

p.s. would highly recommend having book two ready to continue straight after finishing!

Hatte am Anfang noch eine Leseflaute, weswegen ich gebraucht habe um reinzukommen. Aber ich muss sagen, dass ich dieses Buch vergöttere! Wie soll ich auf Teil 2 warten?!

Jessica

LOL this was funny and not to be taken seriously, I loved it

fris🐝

Scarlett

LIMITED FIRST PRINT EDITION―featuring spray-painted edges, while supplies last. Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain...and their unexpected romance. ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits. With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie. But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat...and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out. Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work...and ensure he makes them pay. After all, a good job is hard to find.

I enjoyed this read so much more than I thought I would, I wanted to read it because I followed the author on TikTok and her skits were amazing, and I’m just so excited to read the next book!

Scarlett 

Ana Flávia

Léa

I heard so many things about it (both good and bad) and actually did not plan on reading it at first but I am glad I picked it up !! It was a bit slow at times and I truly felt like I took the longest time reading most of it.
I ended up really liking it despite the first half of the book being slow !!

One of my new favorites! The character and the plot are amazing! The love story is chef’s kiss and the tension and banter between the two— no words! I need book two NOW! 

Hilda 

This was such a cute fluffy, cozy fantasy. This was my first fantasy like this but I had a good time reading it. It had a keen entertainment value to it that you can’t help but enjoy and cheer for the enemy during your time reading. I really enjoyed all the characters and what they added to the plot, and it did a good job giving me a twist I actually wasn’t prepared for. I had fun with this one and am excited and intrigued for the second one!

Priscilla Stanfield

Mary Lawrence

slooooow burn. Cannot wait for the next book

if u hated this book u just don’t get it like i do

almost dnfed but i ended up hate reading till the end because i was at the 70% mark anyways.

(ridiculous in the worst way - the premise seemed fun and the characters and story had potential but it's ruined by poor writing. i kept thinking about these absurd voldemort & co. fanfics written very cartoonishly on purpose and how most of them didn't shy away from the fact that they were very bad people. this book just didn't work for me on so many levels i don't even want to rant anymore)

(of course, this doesn't mean anything about the people who actually enjoyed the silliness. me not liking something is not a personal attack to anyone, but my mere opinion (and i'm nobody). that being said, may i recommend colubrina harry potter fanfics to you...)

violeta

almost dnfed but i ended up hate reading till the end because i was at the 70% mark anyways.

(ridiculous in the worst way - the premise seemed fun and the characters and story had potential but it's ruined by poor writing. i kept thinking about these absurd voldemort & co. fanfics written very cartoonishly on purpose and how most of them didn't shy away from the fact that they were very bad people. this book just didn't work for me on so many levels i don't even want to rant anymore)

(of course, this doesn't mean anything about the people who actually enjoyed the silliness. me not liking something is not a personal attack to anyone, but my mere opinion (and i'm nobody). that being said, may i recommend colubrina harry potter fanfics to you...)

NEEDED BOOK 2 AND REVENGE YESTERDAY!!! ❤️❤️

Assistant to the Villain

Reviews

Highlights