My Demon Romance

My Demon Romance by Aurora Ascher was a funny, extremely spicy introduction to the Hell Bent world. This short novella is Book 0.5 in the series and tells Eligos and Natalie’s story while establishing some of the rules, dangers, and supernatural conflicts that become important later.

Natalie was easily one of my favorite parts. She’s independent, impulsive, sarcastic, and completely unapologetic about writing romances between human women and monsters. I liked that she didn’t let other people’s opinions make her ashamed of what she enjoyed or the career she had built for herself. She also wasn’t afraid to ask for more when her relationship with Eligos stopped feeling casual. She knew what she wanted, believed she deserved honesty, and expected him to give her enough information to make her own choices.

Then there’s Eligos, a powerful Duke of Hell who has grown bored with the existence he has been living for thousands of years. He’s arrogant, dangerous, sarcastic, and entirely too accustomed to getting his way. Natalie immediately challenges him, and their first interaction quickly establishes the kind of relationship they’re going to have. Their banter was entertaining, their chemistry was intense, and neither of them seemed capable of behaving reasonably around the other.

What worked best for me was watching Eligos realize that his dissatisfaction with his life wasn’t something he had to continue accepting. He begins questioning the rules controlling him, what he actually wants, and whether he has enough freedom to change his circumstances. His emotional development is occasionally messy and involves some very questionable coping mechanisms, but it made sense for a demon who has spent thousands of years believing he isn’t supposed to care about anyone.

I also appreciated that Natalie didn’t immediately handle every supernatural revelation perfectly. She needed time to react, but she was willing to reconsider her first response once the shock wore off. More importantly, she refused to let Eligos decide what she could and couldn’t accept without giving her the opportunity to choose for herself. That distinction mattered, especially because Eligos’s possessiveness occasionally drifts toward deciding he knows what will happen whether Natalie agrees or not.

The worldbuilding gives readers a useful introduction to the structure of Hell, the rules demons are expected to follow, what happens when one goes rogue, and the role of the Hunter. It doesn’t explain everything, but it establishes enough to make the larger series easier to understand. Mist’s appearance also gives the ending additional meaning once you know where his own story eventually leads.

The spice is frequent, highly explicit, and earns all five peppers. Natalie and Eligos waste absolutely no time putting their chemistry to use, and the intimate scenes include dominant behavior, demon-form sex, public sex, possessiveness, and plenty of detailed sexual content. Nobody should pick up this novella expecting a shy little prequel with a few suggestive kisses. 😂

What kept My Demon Romance from earning five stars from me was the compressed pacing. Natalie and Eligos move from an impulsive encounter to a life-changing emotional commitment very quickly. I believed their chemistry and enjoyed them together, but I wanted more time watching the emotional relationship develop between those major moments.

I would have especially liked more of their conversations, the ordinary time they spent together, and Eligos gradually learning how trust, vulnerability, and partnership actually work. His emotional transformation is one of the most interesting parts of the story, and giving it more room would have made the relationship feel even stronger. The possessive aspects of their relationship also would have benefited from additional time exploring the difference between Eligos claiming Natalie and Natalie actively choosing him.

That didn’t take away from my enjoyment. I had fun with their banter, loved Natalie’s personality, and enjoyed watching an ancient demon experience the deeply inconvenient realization that he had developed feelings. I simply wanted more of the story and relationship than the short-novella format had room to give me.

The story contains physical violence, murder, an attempted sexual assault, possessive behavior, and explicit sexual content, so readers should check the full content warnings before diving in.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely, especially to readers planning to enter the Hell Bent world. I recommend reading My Demon Romance before My Funny Demon Valentine if you want to follow the series chronologically. At the very least, read it before Mistified, since Eligos and Natalie appear there as an established couple and knowing their history adds more meaning to that story.

My Final Verdict: My Demon Romance gave me strong chemistry, entertaining banter, an independent heroine, a possessive Duke of Hell, explicit spice, and an introduction to the larger supernatural world. The relationship and Eligos’s emotional development moved faster than I personally wanted, and more time with both would have pushed this to five stars. Still, it was a fun and worthwhile introduction to the series that made Eligos and Natalie’s later appearance much more meaningful.

Final Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars | Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 5/5 Peppers

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