Assistant to the Villain (Bk. 1, Special Edition Hardcover)
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Overview
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller that took BookTok by storm, Assistant to the Villain is a wickedly funny romantasy where office politics get a whole lot more dangerous.
Evie Sage needs a job. Not in a casual, browsing-the-listings kind of way — in a her-family-depends-on-it, no-other-options kind of way. So when a chance encounter with the most infamous Villain in the kingdom of Rennedawn somehow results in a job offer, she says yes. Obviously. A girl has priorities.
The work is unconventional, to put it mildly. Severed heads hang from the ceiling. Eyeballs turn up underfoot. The staff is involved in what can only be described as random mayhem and terror. Evie takes it all in stride, because she is nothing if not levelheaded — and the benefits package is excellent.
The real problem isn't the dungeon. The real problem is her boss. He is terrifying, temperamental, and — this is deeply inconvenient — undeniably attractive. Developing a crush on an Evil Villain was not part of her employment agreement, and Evie knows it. She just can't seem to stop.
But something far more serious than her inconvenient feelings is brewing beneath the surface. Someone inside the Villain's empire is working against him, and the threat is growing. With his entire nefarious operation on the line, Evie realizes that keeping her job might mean saving the operation itself — and the man running it.
Part office comedy, part dark fantasy, part slow-burn romance, this is the story of a sunshine assistant, a brooding Villain, and one very complicated workplace dynamic.
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Romantasy and a Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2023
Series Information
Series Name: Assistant and the Villain
Series Reading Order
This series is best read in publication order.
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
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Romantasy (2023)
Mid-Continent Public Library Best Books (Adult Fiction – 2023)
Barnes & Noble's Best Books of 2023
Topics and Key Themes
Narrative Tropes
Enemies to Lovers
Grumpy/Sunshine
Slow Burn
Forbidden Love
Workplace Romance
Key Themes
Loyalty tested by moral ambiguity — working for a Villain forces Evie to redefine what good and evil mean.
Competence as intimacy — Evie earns her brooding boss's trust one impossible task at a time.
Danger hiding in plain sight — a traitor within the Villain's empire threatens everything Evie has come to protect.
Survival dressed as practicality — Evie's darkly funny pragmatism masks genuine stakes for her family's wellbeing.
Power and unexpected tenderness — the kingdom's most feared man is undone by one levelheaded assistant.
Who is this book for?
Primary Genre: Romantic Fantasy (Romantasy) – Enemies-to-Lovers Office Romance
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ 2/5: Light Spice
Behind closed doors. Tension builds to intimacy; scenes fade to black—brief and non-graphic. Chemistry is there, without the details. Want a hint of heat without anything overt? This is it.
Fans of Raven Kennedy's witty banter and slow-burn fantasy romance will enjoy the laugh-out-loud humor, enemies-to-lovers tension, and charming sunshine-meets-darkness dynamic between Evie and her brooding Villain 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. When she’s not creating bookish comedy skits about Villains and Assistants, she’s writing to Taylor Swift songs. Her biggest passions in life include romance, magic, laughter, and finding ways to include them all in everything she creates. Most days you can find her with her head in the clouds and a pen in her hand. tiktok.com/@hannahnicolemae
Similar Authors
Jennifer L. Armentrout, Raven Kennedy, Nisha J. Tuli
Reader FAQs
It leans strongly toward romance. The fantasy kingdom of Rennedawn provides atmosphere and stakes, but the emotional focus stays on Evie's relationship with her boss. Readers who prioritize character dynamics over world-building will feel at home here.
Assistant to the Villain shares Armentrout's slow-burn tension and strong-willed heroines but leans more comedic. The tone is lighter, the world-building less complex, and the humor more prominent throughout — closer to office comedy than dark epic fantasy.
The book is written for adult readers but sits at a low spice level, making the romantic content mild. The dark humor and workplace satire are broadly accessible, though the target audience is adult romantasy readers rather than young adult.
The story includes comedic depictions of violence — severed heads, workplace mayhem, and a dungeon setting treated with dark humor. The tone is satirical rather than graphic, but readers sensitive to death-adjacent imagery should take note.
The humor carries the story, but genuine emotional weight runs underneath it. Evie's financial desperation and growing loyalty to a morally ambiguous employer give the comedy real stakes. Character growth is present, though never overshadows the lighter tone.
Info
ISBN: 9781682816349
Published Date: September 16, 2025
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Language: English
Page Count: 350
Size: 9.25" l x 6.25" w x 1.13" h
Category
Fiction