ARC Review--Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond

 

A paranormal romantic comedy at the (possible) end of the world.

All Callie wanted was a quiet weekend with her best friend. She promised her mom she could handle running her family’s escape room business while her mom is out of town. Instead a Satanic cult shows up, claiming that the prop spell book in one of the rooms is the real deal, and they need it to summon the right hand of the devil. Naturally they take Callie and her friend, Mag, along with them. But when the summoning reveals a handsome demon in a leather jacket named Luke who offers to help Callie stop the cult from destroying the world, her night goes from weird to completely strange.

As the group tries to stay one step ahead of the cult, Callie finds herself drawn to the annoying (and annoyingly handsome) Luke. But what Callie doesn’t know is that Luke is none other than Luke Morningstar, Prince of Hell and son of the Devil himself. Callie never had time for love, and with the apocalypse coming closer, is there room for romance when all hell’s about to break loose?

From New York Times bestselling author Gwenda Bond, Not Your Average Hot Guy is a hilarious romantic comedy about two people falling in love, while the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.

 

 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

 

What led me to Gwenda Bond's Not Your Average Hot Guy was it being likened to Darynda Jones who is one of my favorite authors. While the story did have that sort of light-hearted feel to it with a dose of humor that was about where the similarities ended. Which is not to say a bad thing, it was different from what I expected but still enjoyable!

I would say this book falls in line with New Adult, but could still be called a very mature YA, like on the level with Jennifer L. Armentrout. It's not very graphic in the romance sense, violence and profanity is also not intense, so other than the usual danger and apocalypse setting I'd say this book could be enjoyed by the older teenager as well.

Callie is taking on the responsibility of running the family business escape room while her mom goes out of town. When her customers end up being a cult intent on summoning a demon and then taking her and her best friend, Mag, hostage, things quickly get out of hand. When the cult tries to raise Lucifer's right-hand man, they don't quite get what they expected either.

Luke is Lucifer's son, trying to learn how to be the perfect demon, you could say. He has yet to collect any souls and is being tasked to collect the souls of the cult that summoned him. But then he meets Callie and things change, quickly. Luke has never really been taken with humanity up until now. The cult wants Luke's help in locating the spear that was used to stab Jesus so they can being about the apocalypse and earn Lucifer's favor. Callie is intent on stopping them and Luke is quick to offer his help in the ways that he can...since he's contractually obligated to help the cult out.

Now it's a race against the clock while Callie and Luke try to get the spear before the cult does and essentially save the world. In the meantime, you can imagine what starts to happen between. Feelings start to develop, though Callie is quick to fight them, she's also quick to forget those reasons. It does lean a little towards insta-love, but there is a series of events that lead one to fall for the other, so it doesn't have that eye-worthy quality of true insta-love.

The pacing to this one was evenly met. It's not a fast clipped adventure, nor is it drawn out. But there was just something about the story that didn't really draw me in. I can't quite put my finger on why. I guess perhaps the tone was a little too carefree. It didn't have that serious overture you'd expect from a dire need to literally save the world from ending. The characters had a slightly too laid back attitude when it came to hasting to action.

The characters were even likeable, so I still can't figure out why I wasn't immediately loving this book from the get-go. It was just okay, you know? That feeling you get when you think you're about to dive into a new favorite book, it has all the right elements from your previous favorite reads and what you look for in a new favorite read. Yet when you start diving into the story you just feel...meh.

The ending was decent too. Things wrap-up nicely in a way that could you leave content with a standalone novel or perhaps start us in a new series direction. As of now, it looks like Goodreads is calling this a standalone, but it definitely has series potential. As to whether I'll continue the series if it is in fact one, has yet to be decided. Not Your Average Hot Guy was a cute and cheerful kind of read that made for an entertaining afternoon, but lacked a kind of depth to it to make it a favorite.

 

 

Overall Rating 2.5/5 stars

 

 

Not Your Average Hot Guy releases October 5, 2021