Author: Nova B. Quinn
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Dark Romance
Published: December 5, 2024
Pages: 180 pages
Format read: Epub
Triggers: Attempted Rape, Bodily Fluids, Bullying, Choking, Death, Graphic Gore, Violence, Light BDSM, Mental Health Problems, Human Sacrifice, Non-Con, Sexual Assault of a minor. Please check the trigger list!
Quick Thoughts: A whole different take on the Krampus-trope. Such a fun spicy read!
This book was an ARC and given to me for free.
All reviews are entirely honest and my own opinion.
Rating:
Characters:
Plot:
Spice:
“Scars are only skin deep.”
Cherise Bates escaped the Silent Night Asylum one year ago, scarred and with no memory of her past—except for one burning truth: her family was murdered by The Saint, the Archdemon who twisted Christmas into a night of terror. Now, as the holiday approaches, Cherise is driven by one goal—revenge. But The Saint, marking souls for his dark harvest in the quiet town of Lockwood, is captivated by something new. A soul so sweetly wicked it intoxicates him—and it’s Cherise’s. As Christmas Eve draws near, secrets will unravel, identities will be revealed, and their deadly collision may set the stage for chaos.
Will Cherise get her revenge, or will the demon claim more than her soul this Christmas?
When this book appeared on my Instagram Feed I was instantly interested. First, because of the absolutely gorgeous cover. I know, don’t judge a book by its cover, but it definitely is the first thing that draws me in. When I read the blurb, I was sold and immediately requested an ARC copy. It definitely didn’t disappoint! It was so much fun!
Will you be nice, or naughty, for The Saint tonight?
Can I please get my own Christmas demon? I promise I’ve been a good girl. Or a bad girl, just however you prefer it. Because holy shit was Niklaus hot!
The main characters in this novella have a lot of similarities, without being an exact copy of one another. Cherise is absolutely unhinged, having delusions and a severe PTSD reaction. Niklaus, being a demon, is also quite unhinged. But surprisingly, not as much as Cherise. I simply love a Female Main Character that is absolutely murderous. They are my favourite type of FMC and I was all here for it with Sugar & Sin!
While this definitely is an instant-love story, I kind of liked it. Normally that trope isn’t entirely my thing, but Nova made it work quite well in her book. Niklaus is the first one to fall, obviously. And the reason behind this actually makes sense! The issue I usually have with instant love is that there is no flavour around it, there is no reason for the characters to instantly fall for one another. That definitely was not the case with this one!
Sugar & Sin is a novella, only 180 pages long. While it is one of the longer novella’s I’ve read, I still went through it quite quick. I only needed one evening to steam through the story of Cherise and Niklaus. With this being a novella, it also lacks the chemistry and build up that full-length books have. So if that is more your cup of tea, you’re not going to find that in this book. There was a certain amount of chemistry, but it was nowhere as deep as it would have been if this was a full length book. Honestly, I personally think this should be expected from a novella. After all, there are only a small amount of pages to the story. So I think this shouldn’t reflect on the end-rating.
The double point of view definitely lifted this book from a 3 star read to a 4 star read for me. If we had only stuck with Cherise’s POV, I would have missed a certain flavour and depth. Niklaus’s POV provided this, and it balanced out the book so much more! The spice rating, however, is a full five chilli peppers. There isn’t a smut scene every other page, but there are more than plenty to leave someone hot and bothered!
You are so fucking sexy. Make me bleed for you, Cherise Bates.
Also, can we talk about this ‘improper use of candy cane’-thing I’ve been seeing around so much this season? I think it deserves to be a trope on its own. And why do I find it so hot? I didn’t know that getting fucked with candy could be a kink, but yet here we are.
Please take the trigger list serious with this novella. It is there for a reason and it delves into pretty dark themes.
Good bits
Bad bits
- An Insta-love I actually liked
- Candy-Canes
- Unhinged FMC
- A good balance between spicy scenes and story line
- Jumps around a little bit when there is background revealed
Thank you, Nova B. Quinn, for allowing me to ARC read your book! I absolutely loved it. If you love a bit of monster fucking, improper use of candy canes (I definitely declare this a kink now) and unhinged FMCs, then this is a quick and easy read you should add to your TBR!