Clara’s Verdict
Meg Anne and K. Loraine – the writing partnership behind the original Mate Games series – return with Deal with the Demon, the first entry in the Pestilence sub-series and the opening chapter of a romantic situation involving a vampire princess, a purple demon with a particular set of negotiating terms, shifter twins who own a bar in Alaska, a cursed hacker with boundary issues, and the woman’s estranged vampire husband, who has some strong feelings about being left. This is precisely what it sounds like, and it is written with sufficient self-awareness, genuine wit, and craft to be very enjoyable if you are in the market for it. The authors know their audience, they respect their audience, and they deliver what they promise without apology. J.F. Harding narrates with the considerable skill this kind of material demands.
About the Audiobook
Roslyn Blackthorne is, technically, dead. Having faked her death to escape a loveless and genuinely dangerous marriage to a vampire duke, she urgently needs to disappear somewhere her husband cannot trace. The solution – summon a demon – seems reasonable under the circumstances. Pan agrees to conceal her and establish a new identity in Aurora Springs, Alaska, in exchange for two things that are considerably more intimate than her soul. The complications begin almost immediately: the town is not the quiet backwater it appears, people start dying in suspicious circumstances, and Roslyn’s new life proves rather less invisible than advertised.
This is the first book in the Pestilence series and includes the prequel novella Promised to the Night, which provides useful context for the world-building within the Mate Games universe. Familiarity with the original Mate Games series enhances the experience – there are callbacks, world-building references, and tonal continuity that reward existing readers – but new readers can engage with this as a standalone entry point to the universe. The tone is self-consciously playful: the authors include a content warning in the synopsis that reads essentially as a manifesto, itemising “grumpy dukes with a penchant for pain, purple demons with fancy body parts, nosy hackers with boundary issues, angsty wolf shifters who like to share, sword crossing, and plenty of group activities.” They are not exaggerating. The writing is sharper than the premise might initially suggest, and Roslyn is a protagonist with genuine agency and a dry wit that makes the considerable chaos around her feel earned.
The Narration
J.F. Harding navigates the demands of the full-cast duet narration style with evident confidence and range. The material requires conveying everything from menace and tension to comedy and considerable heat, often within the same chapter and occasionally within the same paragraph. Harding manages the tonal shifts without making them feel jarring or inconsistent – a more demanding task than it might appear. The eleven hours and twenty minutes pass quickly, which is the most reliable indicator that a narration is working in service of the story rather than competing with it. For fans of the paranormal romance and why-choose genre, this is a strong production that does full justice to the authors’ evident delight in their own world.
What Readers Say
With a 4.4 rating from listeners, Deal with the Demon has found an enthusiastic and appreciative readership. “The summer of 2022 gifted the world with the first Mate Games series,” one UK reviewer opened, before describing the genuine anxiety of returning to a beloved fictional universe. Her conclusion was entirely positive. Others awarded five stars for “epic start” and praised the ending’s ambition: “Damn! That is a hellova lot to unpack. I can’t wait for the next instalment. I love morally grey characters that you can’t help but fall for their damage.” One reviewer’s response was almost entirely composed of star ratings across multiple categories – story, heat, heart – all at five, which is a form of criticism I found refreshingly direct. The snark in the writing attracted specific praise: “Exactly my vibe.”
Who Should Listen?
This is for readers who like their romance supernatural in setting, their protagonists possessed of genuine agency and wit, and their love interests in sufficient quantity to be statistically improbable. The why-choose format – multiple love interests, no obligation to select one and exclude the others – is well established in paranormal romance, and this series handles it with more humour and character consistency than many comparable titles. Existing Mate Games readers should come here without hesitation. Newcomers to the genre who want something with genuine wit alongside the heat, and who can appreciate a purple demon as a romantic prospect, will find this an enjoyable entry point.
Clear content warnings apply – this is adult paranormal romance with explicit content, not a gentle country house mystery. Listen to Deal with the Demon on Audible UK and find out exactly what terms Pan negotiates for his services.
