The Date From Hell
BY Gwenda Bond
Rating: 4/5 Genre: Contemporary/Paranormal Romance Steam: Cracked Door Scene Publisher: St Martin's Press Pub Date: April 5, 2022 Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book! All opinions are that of my own. Available: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop
The Date From Hell Synopsis:
In this hilarious, romantic sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy, Callie and Luke’s date is thwarted when Lucifer gives them three days to redeem a soul.
After saving the world and stopping the apocalypse, Callie and Luke are looking forward to a quiet, romantic weekend together. When you’re human and dating the Prince of Hell, quiet moments are hard to come by. But their romantic weekend in Hell takes a turn when Lucifer tasks Callie and Luke with chasing a wayward soul around the world. If they can prove it’s possible to redeem a soul, Lucifer will allow the two of them to make some changes in Hell.
But this wayward soul, Sean, doesn’t have any interest in being redeemed. Instead, now that he’s back on Earth, he’s decided to take a leaf out of Callie and Luke’s book and wants to find the Holy Grail. Now Callie, Luke, their friends—and enemies—must race Sean around the globe on a Grail quest and bring peace between Heaven and Hell before they can finally (maybe) get around to that date.
In The Date from Hell, the sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy, New York Times bestselling author Gwenda Bond brings the journey of Callie, Luke, and their friends to a wonderful close. This is another laugh out loud, action packed romantic adventure you won’t want to miss.
The Date From Hell Review
Y’all I was so excited to receive this book after finishing the first book. It’s just as fun, outlandish, and cute as the first book. (Yes, this is my suggestion to read Not Your Average Hot Guy before this book.) This book picks up a little after the end of the first book, but we go on a different adventure with Callie and Luke. If you’re looking for an intense, serious read with fully biblical strictness, this is not your book; however, if you’re looking for ridiculously fun book this is your book!
Loves:
CALLIE: I know I said I loved her in the first book, but I somehow love her even more in this one. Maybe because she’s a huge history nerd who loves reading and I somehow super identify with that (ignores history major degree hanging in my room…). But she manages to be just as endearing and sweet as the first book if not more so. Her belief in goodness and kindness just sets this book up so well as she’s dating the son of Hell.
Luke: we get a bit more to the meat and bones of this man in this book. He grapples with serious internal struggles and that’s what really compelled me through this book. The plot was fine, but having Luke figure himself out was really wonderful.
Side Characters: we get a bunch of the same people from the first book and a few others (shout out to Sean–I love you). But in this book they have greater room to stretch and breathe making them more holistic characters. I think that with the enormous amount of plot in the books it takes the two to get a good grip on anyone.
The twists and turns of this book and plot are SO GOOD. I did not see anything coming, personally, because you honestly just don’t know what to expect. Everything was set up so incredibly well and leads into each other. Plus when really anything is possible you can’t even begin to fathom where the outcome will come from or what elements are needed. Seriously amazing.
Meh:
I adored the second half of the book more than the first. I think that’s because the second half is where the book settles. The first half isn’t bad, but it feels off with the pacing.
There are some unclear elements of the plot that don’t seem to fit/end up being ignored. It wasn’t that bad because of just the intensity of the plot being so overwhelming, but it is something that has been nagging me.
Long Story Short
Do recommend reading this book. Yes, I 110000% recommend reading Not Your Average Hot Guy before but if walking into an already moving story is your thing go ahead. This book was a satisfying closure to Callie and Luke’s story (that ending!!!!). I had such a fun time reading this book. It’s so wacky and FUN. I know I keep using that word, but it is! I so cannot wait to continue to read Gwenda Bond books. I’m really coming to love them!
If You Liked This One…
Obviously I’m going to say Not Your Average Hot Guy which is the first in this duology. It is a need to read before this one sorta situation. If a fantastical romance is what you want with a similar feel to the writing I would also recommend India Holton’s The League of Gentlewomen Witches (and also her first book that I have yet to read…). These books have the same light heartedness to them and are absolute JOY to read. Or if you want more theology in your romance (specifically Catholic) then I would hesitantly recommend Sierra Simone’s Priest Series. Note that these are taboo erotica which is vastly different. They have really interesting insight into religion and relationships. (my reviews on the books to come)
Gwenda Bond is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the first official Stranger Things novel, Suspicious Minds. She also clearly escaped from a classic screwball romantic comedy. Not Your Average Hot Guy (out now!) and The Date from Hell (April 5, 2022) are her first romantic comedies, and will be followed in 2023 by Mr. & Mrs. Witch. She cofounded the charitable efforts Creators 4 Comics and the Lexington Writer’s Room, and lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband, author Christopher Rowe, and a veritable zoo of adorable doggos and queenly cats. Visit her online at www.gwendabond.com or @gwenda on Twitter.
