Villainy Series (1-3) by A.J. Sherwood.

Our reviewer, Jacquie, believes that this series needs a bit more attention. See her thoughts on the series so far below.

From the How I Stole the Princess's White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy: Miracle 1, blurb:

​What’s a white knight to do when his princess wants to sacrifice a town to barbarians? Go to the famous Black Sorcerer of Grimslock for help, apparently.

What’s a black sorcerer to do when the white knight comes to him for help? Keep him, naturally.

Devan does not approve of this payment plan. Tan does.

Jacquie's Review:

This was first offered to newsletter subscribers as a freebie before it was uploaded to Amazon, where you can read it with KU.

To be fair, I saw there was going to be another serial and jumped at the chance to download it and have never regretted it. The last serial was so much fun and from the first couple of pages of this one, I knew I was in for another funny read.

Tan is a morally gray character. He's super powerful, but his appearance and actions often hide that, so it catches the knight, Devan, by surprise continually.

From the outset, Tan is determined to have Devan and corrupt him, even though it is blatantly obvious that Tan isn't really a problem.

The novella packs a lot into the pages. The romance is a slow burn for sure, but it is worth the read. I laughed so much! Immediately, I went and preordered the entire series.

Rating: 5 Stars

From the blurb for How I Stole the Princess's White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy: Miracle 2:

What’s Devan to do when badly injured? Call on Tan, of course.

What’s Tan to do against the creature who dared touch his knight? Destroy it utterly.

A Necromancer, eight skelebabies, a dark sorceress, and a horrified knight as backup are not as helpful as one would think.

Tags:

Crackity crack Tan and Devan are back, unidentified monsters, Devan goes on a suicidal mission not of his making, Tan is absolutely not okay with this, Wells is a good friend, who regrets coming to check on Devan, the Shinawatra siblings are terrifying, each in their own ways, Bone Daddy, just because you’re a black sorcerer doesn’t mean you’re good at fighting, no forests were burned in the making of this story, but it was a very near thing, newbie adventurers vs the three siblings, the newbs may have wet their pants, black sorcerer, white knight, evil princess, all’s well that ends, reluctant to lovers, hurt/comfort, sharing a bed, who hurt you is basically a marriage proposal.

Jacquie's Review:

So much fun! I'm loving this series of novellas. 

I adore Tan with his love of cats, attraction and flirtation with Devan, and morally gray ways. He's not a bad guy. There are lines he won't cross.

In this installment we get to meet Tan's siblings and they just cracked me up. For a bunch of apparently terrifying black sorcerers, they are surprisingly sweet. Fa has her eyes on Wells, the best friend of Devan that comes to his friend's aid when he fails to check in. Wells should be worried, but no one has the heart to warn him.

Devan is starting to crack. He's warming to Tan slowly and regretting his vow to the crown and I'm here for it. They have an adorable relationship forming.

I'm glad I have the third sitting waiting for me.

Rating: 5 Stars

From the blurb for How I Stole the Princess's White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy: Miracle 3:

What’s Tan to do when he has to reclaim a holy sword he can’t touch? Call upon his White Knight to save him.

What’s Devan to do when he learns the sword was stolen in order to defeat Tan? Save the poor fools from utter annihilation.

Tan is not amused by this quest line. Devan can’t stop laughing.

Tags:

Tan’s turn to need help, what are they teaching these adventurers?, I’m not saying baby adventurers are stupid, but if you put a candle next to their ears their eyes will shine, Tan has all the plans, Devan laughs for the first time, Tan loves it, even if it’s at his expense, Tan is banned from Osedon Conclave, for reasons, Tan disguises himself as a girl, also for reasons, no one likes to be drowned, no one, even magic swords knows who’s boss.

Jacquie's Review:

Another fun installment of this story. There was more focus on Devan this time. I really feel for him. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. His duties are suffocating him, but he feels responsibility towards the crown, yet with Tan, he can be free.

Tan doesn't even have to work too hard to get Devan to soften. Just being himself and allowing Devan to have the freedom to be his true self is enough.

I'm loving watching them fall in love.

The side characters and the whole setup of this world are so good. I'm impressed at how much world-building is squeezed into each novella.

Just a few days to wait for the next one!

Rating: 5 Stars.

The Villainy Series is available to buy as ebooks and to read with Kindle Unlimited subscription. Since they are a series, they must be read in order and you start with How I Stole the Princess's White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy : Miracle 1. Parts 4-6 are available for preorder.