Accomplice to the Villain

Accomplice to the Villain is the third instalment in Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s Assistant to the Villain Series. The novel is preceded by Assistant to the Villain (2023) and Apprentice to the Villain (2024). The series draws on the tropes of the contemporary romance and fantasy genres to explore themes of good and evil, love and intimacy, friendship and loyalty. The characters are all caught between their innate human desires and impulses, and the fates that have been prescribed for them.

Assistant to the Villain introduces the reader to the fantastical world of Rennedawn and establishes the primary characters, conflicts, and stakes of the series. Written from the alternating first-person points of view of protagonists Evangelina (Evie) Sage and Trystan Maverine, Assistant to the Villain traces the start of Evie and Trystan’s forbidden workplace romance. Evie is working for an abusive blacksmith, but leaves her job to work for Trystan, The Villain of Rennedawn. After a series of adventures, they fall in love. However, just after Evie moves into Trystan’s home, Massacre Manor, the wicked King Benedict apprehends Trystan. The novel ends as Evie is concocting a plan to save her boss and love interest.