(by Kimberly Lemming)
I was late on reading this romance book club pick (seems to be a theme for me), but I’m glad I did get to it eventually. This was an entertaining romantasy romp, which was apparently exactly what I was in the mood for. At the start of the book we meet our narrator, Cinnamon, who just wants to enjoy her quiet life as a spice farmer. She’s glad not to have been picked for the heroes’ party, where four humans are chosen to battle hordes of demons (who are normally trapped in a frozen wasteland in the north but somehow escape every fifteen years). She’s partying with her best friend and the rest of the town when the revelries are briefly interrupted by a huge crashing noise. On her way home, one of the town ne’er-do-wells tries to mug her, but she laughs it off and tries to chase him through the forest instead. Which is when she stumbles upon a big guy trapped under a pile of tree branches next to a rock slide, which seems to have been the source of that giant crashing noise. The guy, it turns out, is the demon of the title. He nearly murders her (though he doesn’t seem to want to—he gives her a head start by telling her to run) but she makes her way back to her parents’ house and thinks she’s all set. Except the demon—whose name is Fallon—shows up the next morning with a story that changes Cinnamon’s entire worldview and sets her off on a quest she definitely didn’t sign up for. Adventure and romance ensue, and while I sometimes found the writing style (especially certain moments of dialogue) a little clunky, it was fun enough that I didn’t really mind/I was happy to just be along for the ride.
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