Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, Bk. 3)
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Overview
The instant #1 New York Times bestselling series returns — a laugh-out-loud magical office comedy that's been a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Best Romantasy and a viral TikTok sensation.
Evie Sage never planned to become the right-hand woman to the most terrifying villain in the kingdom. It started with a job posting that promised light paperwork and occasional beheadings — perfectly reasonable, she thought. Now she's somehow the most wanted apprentice in the realm, with a royal reward offered for her capture on charges of treason (light), magical property damage (alleged), and one very specific incident involving a weaponized scone.
Her constant companion is a crowned, deeply judgmental frog. Her boss is a brooding, sharp-jawed walking disaster with a talent for making her question her life choices. And her five-year plan? Completely unrecognizable at this point.
With a magical prophecy beginning to unravel, things at the office have gotten considerably more dangerous. Assassins keep turning up in the break room. The frog situation is multiplying. And Evie is doing her absolute best to hold everything together — including her dignity, which is hanging by a very sarcastic thread.
She didn't sign up for any of this. She definitely didn't sign up for the feelings creeping in around the edges, either. Being evil-adjacent was never the plan. But then again, neither was falling for The Villain.
"Accomplice to the Villain blends rapid-fire action, witty banter, and heart-stopping twists, delivering a fantasy romance that leaves you aching for more." — Views She Writes
Series Information
Series Name: Assistant and the Villain
Series Reading Order
This series is best read in publication order. The series is ongoing.
Book 1 - Assistant to the Villain
Book 2 - Apprentice to the Villain
Book 3 - Accomplice to the Villain
Book 4 - Adversary to the Villain
Awards and Recognition
2025 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Best Romantasy
Reviews and Author Praise
"A clever, tongue-in-cheek romantasy about workplace opposites attracting."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Maehrer delivers exactly what her legion of fans will be looking for: plenty of shocking twists and, of course, her signature humor. This keeps the series going strong."
— Publisher's Weekly
"This book had me in a chokehold from start to finish."
— The Nerd Daily
"Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer may actually be my favorite book in this series so far."
— GoodeyReads
"Accomplice to the Villain blends rapid-fire action, witty banter, and heart-stopping twists, delivering a fantasy romance that leaves you aching for more."
— Views She Writes
Topics and Key Themes
Narrative Tropes
Enemies to Lovers
Grumpy/Sunshine
Slow Burn
Forbidden Love
Workplace Romance
Key Themes
Prophecy unraveling the status quo — a magical threat forces Evie to question everything she thought she controlled.
Loyalty to a villain — choosing sides when your boss is the monster the kingdom fears.
Chaos as a career path — assassins, cursed frogs, and treason charges were not in the job description.
Feelings as the real danger — surviving the villain's world is easier than surviving feelings for the villain himself.
Identity beyond the plan — Evie's five-year future collapses, replaced by something wilder and entirely her own.
Who is this book for?
Primary Genre: Romantic Fantasy Comedy
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5: Spicy
Open-door romance with balance. You’ll find some on-page intimacy with moderate detail, woven into the story. A sweet spot for readers who enjoy both emotional depth and a bit of steam.
Fans of Raven Kennedy's witty romantasy and The Hating Game's enemies-to-lovers slow burn will enjoy the laugh-out-loud magical office comedy, sunshine-grumpy dynamic, and sarcastic heroine navigating prophecies, assassins, and an entirely inconvenient crush on her villainous boss.
About the Author
Hannah Nicole Maehrer?or as TikTok knows her, @hannahnicolemae?is a fantasy romance author and BookToker with a propensity for villains. She grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania, watching Disney movies in her favorite rocking chair, where she spent hours imagining her own stories, creating entire worlds among the green walls of her living room. She kept her big dreams close as she went on to graduate with a bachelor’s in psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Until one day her aspirations carried her to a small app on her phone that made those big dreams a reality. After developing the viral Assistant to the Villain TikTok series into a book, Hannah watched that world she always dreamed of take form.
Similar Authors
Sarah J. Maas, Raven Kennedy, Nisha J. Tuli
Reader FAQs
The Assistant and the Villain series shares enemies-to-lovers and slow burn tropes with Sarah J. Maas, but sits considerably lighter in tone. The world-building is less dense, the humor is central rather than incidental, and the overall register is comedic rather than epic.
The series is aimed at adult readers and carries a spice level of 3 out of 5, placing it in mature new adult to adult territory. It is not recommended as young adult content. Readers in their late teens may encounter material intended for older audiences.
The fantasy elements are light and used primarily to support the story's comedy and romance. A magical prophecy and recurring assassination attempts raise the stakes, but the world-building does not dominate. Romance readers unfamiliar with the genre should find it easy to follow.
The series builds on its slow burn foundation across all three books, with feelings described in Accomplice to the Villain as increasingly difficult for the protagonist to ignore. The tension and internal conflict remain central to the story's emotional core.
The book contains violence, including assassinations and references to beheadings presented in a darkly comedic context. There is also mature romantic content at a moderate spice level. Readers sensitive to workplace power dynamics in romantic relationships should note that the central pairing involves a boss and employee.
Info
ISBN: 9781649378545
Published Date: August 5, 2025
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Language: English
Page Count: 373
Size: 9.00" l x 6.00" w x 1.00" h
Category
Fiction