Hellishly Ever After (Infernal Covenant, #1) by Nadine Mutas 
Series: Infernal Covenant #1
Published by Tantor Audio on December 24, 2020
Genres: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Pages: 490
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Lu Banks
Length: 14 hrs 49 min
Source: Tantor Audio
I received this book for free from Tantor Audio in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Ever held a seance and accidentally trapped a demon into marriage? No takers? Just me? Crap.
Marriage is my idea of hell, at least until the day an unfairly hot demon shows up in my apartment and drags me to actual Hell—as his wife.
I’d honestly rather have a root canal without sedation than marry anyone, least of all a surly—even if damnably attractive—demon, but I’m bound to the contract stupid teenage Me made with Azazel when I accidentally summoned and trapped him into marriage, to be consummated if I were still single at twenty-five.
I’d forgotten all about it.
He hasn’t.
And now he’s here to claim me.
Neither of us is thrilled about this marriage-of-inconvenience, but what I hate even more than the idea of being married...is being ignored. So when Azazel intends to simply park me out of sight and mind at the other end of his estate in Hell, I make it my newly eternal life’s mission to be as much of a real inconvenience for him as possible.
It’s all fun and games, until I find a soul that shouldn’t be in Hell, stumble smack-dab into the middle of a demon family feud…and the banter between me and Azazel turns so hot it might consume me.
Hell hasn’t been this funny since Lucifer.
Zoey thinks she is going to have a lonely 25th birthday as she sits with her sad cupcake. Her best friend is currently in Australia and Zoey has recently moved away from her mom for her new job. But while blowing out her candle, she suddenly finds that she is no longer alone in her tiny apartment. There is a huge (while gorgeous) man in the corner…and are those black wings behind him? Must be a trick of the light.
Except he says his name is Azazel and apparently, he is accusing Zoey of tricking him into a covenant to marry her if she was still unwed at 25. What? I mean, she remembers the Ouija board and finding that old book in her mother’s attic. Hell, she was only 12 and ridiculously thought marriage was important. I mean, what kind of demon can’t get out of contract made with a 12 year old. She wasn’t even old enough to be out after dark, let alone make a binding contract with a demon.
But he says, if she doesn’t fulfill her side of the bargain and get married, then her soul will burn in Hell. So what’s a girl to do?
Except now her lawfully-wedded demon husband is trying to park her in the basement of his gigantic mansion in Hell and pretend she don’t exist. Oh no, buddy, that’s not gonna happen. Especially once Zoey meets her new sister-in-law who finds the whole thing hilarious and wants to make sure Zoey keeps Azazel on his toes. But everything in Hell is based on negotiating for favors, which obviously leads to more favors and more problems. And once the other demons learn that Azazel is hiding a human pet in his home, it isn’t long before news reaches Lucifer and all Hell breaks loose.
This story is so funny. The secondary characters are as entertaining as the main characters: Azmodia, who is Azazel’s sister; Taylor, Zoey’s best friend, even Mephistopholes, a bat-winged cat, who especially isn’t happy when Zoey gets a 3-headed hellhound guard dog with floppy ears and who keep tripping over her own feet.
I was a little thrown off because the narrator, Lu Banks, who I have not listened to previously, has a few characters that sound exactly like narrator Hollie Jackson, and more than once, I checked to make sure I had the narrator right.
I can’t wait for the next book to come out to find out what happens next.
Favorite Scene:
“Don’t cry,” I whispered.
“I thought you were…you were…you were…” Her voice was so broken, I couldn’t stand it. “But, you’re okay. You’re…wait. Are you? Okay?”
I nodded vigorously. “I’m fine, Tay. Really. This form is just weird. That’s all.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Has he hurt you?”
“No,” I said gently.
“But he’s a demon who dragged you to Hell.”
“He didn’t actually drag me so much as carried me. And I kind of went willingly, considering the alternative would have been to burn in Hell as a damned soul.”
She blinked. “Neither of us had a choice,” I explained. “We’re both bound by contract I made back then he’s been…uhm,” I rubbed my nose, realizing once again that I couldn’t feel it.
“What?”
“I mean we had a bit of a rocky start, but now we’re…uhm…getting on good,” I waved my hand, “marital terms.”
Her eyes rounded. “Oh my God, Zoey Elizabeth Williams, you’re having sex with a demon!”
“Shhh.” I made calm down gestures and threw a glance over my shoulder. “Why don’t you yell louder so the whole building hears you. He’s right there on your balcony.”
“He’s here?”
“Tay.”
“I can’t believe you’re screwing a demon,” she stage whispered. “A. Demon.”
“I know it sounds bad…”
“Wait. What does he look like?”
And there was the Tay I knew and loved. “Okay, so you know the demons from Constantine?”
“The movie with Keanu Reeves?”
“Yes.”
She grimaced.
“He’s nothing like that,” I hurried to say. “I mean, there are ugly demon species down there, don’t get me wrong, but Azazel and his kind, they’re descended from fallen angels and they all look the part. All of them.“
She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “So on scale of 1 to Tom Ellis as Lucifer?”
“He’s off the charts. Like not even on there.” I made a pew sound and mimicked a rocket taking off. “Through the roof.”
“And he’s a literal demon in the sack?”
“Tay,” I laughed.
“Just making sure I get the details right.” She wiggled her brows then her face turned serious. “Okay, I’m going to need you to walk be through it. The whole thing. Start with what happened after we hung up that night. I want to know everything.”
———
“Speaking of kinky. You said your demon was here?”
“He’s waiting on your balcony, holding a wake for your dying palm tree.”
“I want to see him.”
“Umm…” I grimaced. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” I trailed off at the expression on Tay’s face. Crap, I knew that look. There was no reasoning with her. She jumped up from the bed, marched over to her closet, pulled out a robe and put it on. Casting me a try to stop me glance, she stomped over to the door, yanked it open and stopped short, her gaze on the balcony.
“Didn’t you say he’s here?”
“Yeah, but he’d invisible.” I whispered behind her.
She fixed me with stare over her shoulder. “Is this a case of I totally have a hot boyfriend but he lives in Canada?”
I covered my face with my hand. “Tay.”
She advanced on the balcony and I hurried after her in a panic. I could see Azazel lounge in his chair still, his head tilted toward the commotion in the living room but judging by Taylor’s roaming gaze as she stepped toward the door, he hadn’t made himself visibly yet. This was going to be a disaster.
“Wait,” I hissed and tried to hold her back, but of course, my hand slipped right through her. Ugh.
Tay stood in the open door to the balcony peering outside. I saw the precise moment Azazel locked onto her. His gaze flicked to mine of her shoulder. “Really?” he raised a brow.
“Is he still here?” Taylor whispered at me. I gestured wildly in all directions instead of speaking.
“This is exactly why you shouldn’t show yourself,” Azezel said.
“Why isn’t he showing himself?” Taylor asked. Lord help me.
“I’m not a party trick,” his voice was a low snarl.
“He doesn’t want to,” I said to her under my breath, hoping my tone conveyed enough warning. Of course, Taylor being Taylor, she totally ignored that warning.
“Why not?” her eyes sparkled. “Is he afraid?”
Oh no, she didn’t. Lightening flashed in Azazel’s eyes. He rose from the chair in one fluid, lethally graceful motion. His gaze fixed on Taylor who still didn’t see him, given her lack of reaction. I jumped right in front of her. My arms outstretched toward Azazel. “Don’t.”
Dark power pulsed from him as he closed the distance. His eyes glowing with an inner fire beyond the swirling quicksilver I’d come to know. Grasping me around the waist, he lifted me with effortless strength and deposited me behind him before I could so much as squeak. Azazel loomed right in front of Taylor now. Shadows writhing about his body. Her eyes darted back and forth, then stilled and focused on him. She sucked in a breath and stepped back.
“You wanted to see me,” he purred. Slack-jawed, Tay stared at him. I peered around him to glance at his face. Good god, he’s amped up the mesmerizing factor of his hard cut beauty to dazzling degree. I wasn’t even looking at him directly and I wanted sink to my knees and worship his masculine perfection. Tay gaped, obviously thunderstruck. He tickled her under her chin.
“Demon got your tongue?” She uttered a sound of helpless awe.
“Azazel,” I ground out and tugged on his arm.
He dipped his head and looked at me from under his lashes. “Did you think I was going to hurt her?”
“I–“
“She’s your best friend and your only confidant. She could be trying to knife me and I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head.” He shrugged, “I’d simply bedazzle her.”
“Like you’re doing now?”
His smile was blindingly brilliant. Taylor sighed. “Quit it,” I hissed.
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