Book Review: Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Basic Book Information
Publication Date: August 5, 2025
Series: Assistant to the Villain #3
Genres: Adult // Romance, Fantasy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Open door scene)
Quick Thoughts: Accomplice to the Villain was a highly ancticipated read for me. While I appreciated Evie's character growth and the romantic tension, I found the book difficult to fully enjoy due to too many POVs and mostly filler content. The multiple perspectives focused heavily on side character romances rather than advancing the main plot, making the story feel slow and uneventful until about 90% through. While it might work for superfans of the series or those wanting a lighter audiobook, I think this series would be better suited as part of a trilogy rather than extending the series further.
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Familial Estrangement
Parental Abandonment
Grief
Violence (Including Murder)
Death of Parent
Blood & Serious Injury
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Multiple POVs
Prophecies
Fairy Tale Setting
Charming Side Characters & Found Family
Talking Animal Companions (Kind of) 🐸🪧
Multiple Romance Arcs in One Story
What is Accomplice to the Villain About?
Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain…and their unexpected romance.
REWARD OFFERED: Apprentice to The Villain wanted for treason (light), magical property damage (alleged), and one incident involving a weaponized scone (accurate). Frequently seen with a grumpy frog (crowned, judgmental). Answers to “Evie” or “Stop that.”
Evie Sage didn’t mean to become the right-hand woman to the kingdom’s most terrifying villain. One minute, she was applying for an entry-level position that promised “light paperwork and occasional beheadings,” and the next, she was knee-deep in magical mayhem, murder plots, and an entirely inappropriate crush on her brooding, sharp-jawed, walking disaster of a boss.
Now, with a magical prophecy unraveling, assassins showing up in the break room, and a suspicious amount of frogs wearing crowns, Evie has to figure out how to survive her job without setting the kingdom on fire—or her dignity, which is hanging by a very sarcastic thread.
Being evil-adjacent was never part of the five-year plan. But then again…neither was falling for The Villain.
A magical office comedy with grumpy bosses, snarky frogs, and definitely-not-feelings.
Initial Take
I really enjoyed Assistant to the Villain and Apprentice to the Villain. They were my go to recommendations when someone wanted something lighter and funny while still staying in a fantasy world. I went into this book excited to see more of the hilarious characters, the charming fairytale-esque setting, and get more answers on their quest to save Renedawn.
Accomplice to the Villain Review
There is a lot I loved about Accomplice to the Villain — mostly the beginning and the end, but there's still plenty of hilarious banter, a good found family vibe, and interesting storylines in between. Evie's character growth is more prominent here than in the other two books, and I loved seeing her transform even more into a charming villainess. And the yearning and tension between Trystan and Evie? Check and check! This book has both.
However, I just couldn't find myself fully immersed in the story. I think a lot of this stems from it being told from too many points of view and the content being mostly filler.
We have chapters from Blade, Becky, Gideon, Clare, The Villain, Evie, and Kingsley — that's seven POVs!
The side character POVs mostly covered their own romances (Blade/Becky, Clare/Tatianna, etc.) with a dash of side quests related to the main plot. Since none of the side romances were main storylines before, I wasn't invested in seeing the relationship growth up close. I'd rather have heard about them through Evie, Trystan, or even better, Kingsley, and kept the relationship details off-page.
The main attractions are, of course, The Villain and Evie's relationship and the plot to save Renedawn, which at this point uncovers more of Kingsley's story. We could have gotten away with these three POVs, plus maybe Becky or Blade for plot purposes.
With seven POVs and around 350 pages give or take, there's just no way to make readers care about everyone’s relationship status and move the plot forward in a meaningful way.
Even with all the jumping between POVs, the book was pretty uneventful until about 90%. The characters split up on side missions, which I was initially excited about because I love a good side quest adventure. However, each and every scene dragged on with every minuscule detail while barely advancing the main plot until the end. Not every book needs to go at a breakneck pace, but this book moved so slowly that it made me wonder if this series would have been better off as a trilogy.
So, should you read Accomplice to the Villain?
Overall, I think this could be a good read if you're a super fan of this series, are really invested in seeing the side romances through, or if you're looking for an audiobook that doesn't have a really complex plot.
The next book will still be on my TBR, but I don't think it'll be a "must read on release day" book.
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
Accomplice to the Villain FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
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No, Accomplice to the Villain is the third book in the Assistant to the Villain series.
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As of the writing of this post, the publication date of book 4 in the Assistant to the Villain series has not been announced yet.
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Yes, in order to understand the plot and all the character backstories, readers should read Assistant to the Villain and Apprentice to the Villain before reading Accomplice to the Villain.
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Romance.io considers Accomplice to the Villain 3🌶️, which means Open Door. An open door scene is when readers are present but the author does not go into explicit detail.
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The spicy scene in Accomplice to the Villain is chapter 75. It’s an open door scene using euphemistic language.
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Many readers say the Villain & Virtues Series by A.K. Caggiano reminds them of Assistant to the Villain.