Ethan & Jag Destroy the World by Maz Maddox

Release Date: October 26^th

This book was a delight. Quirky, amusing and sweet all-around. Apart from all the references to blood, guts and gore that is, but that’s what you get when one of the MCs is a demon.

The book is a two-parter, where the first part – Demon All the Way – was previously published, and the second part – Ethan and Jag Destroy the World – is an expansion and continuation of the first story. To me, both parts were brand new, though, and story-wise they melded together perfectly. If Maddox hadn’t explained the division in the preface I wouldn’t have noticed.

As all of Maddox’s earlier stories, this is complete silliness in the very best way.

A nerdy linguist who summons a demon to make his ex jealous? Well of course.

A blood-thirsty but bored demon who’s tasked to play the boyfriend of said linguist? Yes naturally.

Hilarious situations entailing courtship skull collection and flesh-eating flowers that are caused by culture differences? You bet.

Complete and utter havoc caused by a human and a demon falling in love? Absolutely.

Ethan & Jag is written as dual POV which is awesome. Ethan is the very definition of a cinnamon roll, he’s so endearing, but also quite naughty. And it’s hilarious to follow Jag’s inner monologue and his reactions and interpretations of everything human. It’s rom-com at its best.

I flew through the story. Mostly. It’s cute, whimsical, and a very easy read.

However, there were a few things that pulled me out of the story. The first one was pretty immediate, when Jag’s familiar equated the human realm to the US. It’s no biggie, but annoying and easily avoidable. Then there were some contradictions to the back-story of the demon world and their interest in the human realm. Most notably there seemed to be a mix-up between the cause of the mayhem; first it’s the so-called re-taking, then it’s supposedly caused by Jag and Ethan’s shenanigans. And when the upheaval caused by the faulty summoning is solved, it also solves the – initially entirely separate – issue of a potential re-taking. It doesn’t make sense which is a shame. The information and back-story covering the demon realm isn’t that extensive after all.

But in the end it doesn’t matter if the there are some plot-holes. The plot is secondary in this read. It’s all about Ethan and Jag’s interactions and their fumbling and endearing attempts at understanding each other and their infatuation. Simply adorable.

4 stars!

* A free copy of this book was kindly provided by Gay Romance Reviews *