DEMON BREW Book Review

Demon Brew¹ (book 1 in A Hazardous Gem series) by Christina Hagmann, eBook, 145 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Selling your soul has never tasted this good. Rion Run dreams of seeing her name on the cover of a bestselling book, but her problem is she doesn’t know how to espresso herself. When a serendipitous reading at the devilishly hip new coffee shop, Demon Brew, catapults her into the spotlight, she experiences the bitter cost of her fame with a double shot of bizarre. Now, Rion must decide if she should risk everything for foam—er, fame.

BOOK REVIEW: I went back and forth with this one on if I was really enjoying it or not. Mostly because of the way Rion was acting but then I had to remind myself that while we don't get an exact number, we do get a little hint that she is skipping college while everyone else she went to high school with is going to college. That means the way she is acting is way more normal for a person that is about 18 to 20 years old. Since this is a novella, things move pretty quickly but at a really good pace. Nothing seemed rushed...except for the way Rion felt for another character but then again she is in that 18 to 20 range when feelings happen fast.

I love that this is centered around a coffee shop. Being from Seattle where there are at least half a dozen coffee shops within spitting distance of every corner, these have a special place in my heart. I definitely appreciated that any intimacy didn't go farther than making out. With the character being such a very young adult, that's not the kind of thing I want to read about. She still very much acts like a high schooler which makes me think she's closer to 18 and not ready for what happens with that type of relationship.

Overall this got a 4.5 out of me. I rate with my gut and I'm not entire sure what could have made this a solid 5 star but I very much enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the next book coming out soon. I think the only reason for knocking it down was because I had to keep reminding myself of how young Rion is. Some of the things that she says and does is something anyone would say that is in a relationship HOWEVER not necessarily something you would do for someone you went out with once.

4.5/5 Stars

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