Have you ever read a supposedly fake spell in a fantasy book that turned out to be real?
Released in May of this year, Jessica Cage’s paranormal romance I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend is a fun, no-stress read. As a married lesbian who’s never read a romance novel, I was happy to read Cage’s novel and dip my toes into the genre. This paranormal romance has a healthy dose of silly moments and fantasy fight scenes. With the forced proximity trope, you spend plenty of time with our main character Rayna, but also with her “demon boyfriend,” Metice.
Please be aware, that this book is an 18+ read because of the mature scenes, language, and topics. Though no website shows trigger or content warnings for I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend, some Goodreads reviews list them. Minor spoilers will be included below, but this is primarily a spoiler-free review!
Bestselling Author Jessica Cage has enchanted readers once again with her latest release, “I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend,” recently released!
“The last few projects I put out were heavy. They had dark themes and lots of layers to dig through,” says Jessica. “I wanted to tap into my old dreams of writing a Rom Com. But of course, I had to keep the fantasy element!!”
In this spellbinding tale, protagonist Rayna, the last single friend in her group, finds herself tired of being stood up by her friends and turns to her first love, a book, for solace. However, a drunken decision to cast a spell from her favorite romance novel unleashes unforeseen consequences as she accidentally summons a brooding demon boyfriend, Metice. Now, Rayna must navigate the challenges of severing the magical bond with Metice if she ever hopes to regain her normal life.
Rayna is a witty yet romantically challenged woman, who discovers an unexpected solution to her love life woes within the worn pages of a mysterious romance novel. In a moment of desperate curiosity, she recites an incantation hidden within its paragraphs, unknowingly summoning Metice, a demon with a haunting past and a set of enemies who will hunt her down to get revenge.
As Rayna grapples with her devilishly handsome companion, she soon realizes that her misstep has dire consequences. Metice, burdened by a duty to safeguard Rayna from his adversaries, battles his own tumultuous history while guarding her against dangers lurking in the supernatural realm.
Caught between an otherworldly attraction and the impending threats closing in, Rayna and Metice embark on an exhilarating journey filled with unexpected alliances and forbidden emotions. As they navigate through a whirlwind of magical confrontations and growing affection, they discover that the line between peril and passion is thinner than they ever imagined.
“I wanted to give my readers a break from the weight of topics like familial trauma and systemic oppression,” says Cage. “This project is fun, sexy, and in my biased opinion, hilarious! Even though he’s a demon, it’s a healthy type of love.” Cage continues.
The early heated dynamic between Rayna and Metice sets the stage for a delicious shift when they begin caring for each other later in the novel. I enjoyed the creative world-building and descriptions, especially when the different worlds are detailed. The book also has a lot of incredibly insightful moments, like when Rayna explains the difficulties of dating as a Black woman over thirty. It was refreshing to see realistic adult friendships represented too, even if the big friend group was only spoken about.
Readers who like a witty and sarcastic female main character will love Rayna’s no-nonsense attitude. She holds Metice accountable in more ways than one, but she’s endearingly human in her mistakes throughout the story. Her inner thoughts always provided a private laugh between her and the reader.
Of course, no book is perfect, so even though I enjoyed reading I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend, I have some critiques. The story needed some edits to the pacing; the ending needed more fleshing out, whereas the beginning was a little slow. I wish we could’ve seen more bonding moments with Rayna and Metice earlier, instead of only being told they got closer. The training scene was a great bonding moment, but I wish something similar happened earlier. I also found a few comments by Rayna uncomfortable and was a bit worried about the mature scenes that occurred after alcohol consumption.
Cage does plot twists well, however. I couldn’t have guessed where most of the book was taking me and I really enjoyed the ride. While some of the turns seemed borderline improbable, I think that worked in the book’s favor, considering this is a modern-meets-fantasy-world. I loved the sweet ending and I’m a sucker for a nice callback, which Cage does to bring the beginning of the novel to the end.
Don’t take only my word though, take a look at some rave reviews:
“Whenever I had to pause reading to do something, I was always eager to pick it right back up to continue reading! It was funny, sweet, adventurous, and sexy! I loved how it’s also set in the modern world when they’re not in the fantasy world. It’s a nice change that Rayna is a grown woman, when there are tons of storylines with younger characters in a lot of other books. We see her navigate adult friendships, her career, and dating. Jessica Cage gives us that level of relatability with a good splash of other worldly magical demon goodness.”
“This was a refreshing romance with an older, confident female MC. The minor 4th wall breaks showed that even if we know a decision is wrong, we will sometimes make it anyway. This heroine never once said it was the fault of others for her choices. I didn’t realize how much I love that!”
“It’s incredibly rare that I laughed out loud at ANY BOOK, but from the get-go, I was just giggling. First and foremost, I just want to point out how refreshing it is to get to see a Black Woman as a lead in one of these types of stories. I did appreciate Rayna’s highlighting of why dating is so hard as a black woman and the banter between her and Metice.”
Keep an eye out for an interview with Jessica Cage, asking questions about her writing and I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend. Article to come!
Readers can order their copy through online platforms such as Amazon and directly from Jessicacage.com.
Thank you to Kosi Harris at Kosi@kosiharrispr.com.
Jessica Cage, an International Award Winning of speculative fiction and urban fantasy novels. Jessica is also a USA Today Bestselling Author of ”Djinn Rebellion”, “A Corruption of Gilded Ashes” and “The Eldritch Trials”. Publishing since 2010, Jessica made a name for herself in Indie publishing through consistent efforts and organic growth of her platform. The author of 35 fiction novels and 18 short stories published in different anthologies, she continues to produce stories that give representation to marginalized communities in fantasy landscapes. Jessica added a branch to her career to focus more on helping other authors reach their goals in 2021 with the start of her Caged Writers Group where she offers guidance for new writers, and the launch of her first shared world book collection, Rise of the Elites which gave five authors direct access to Jessica’s audience in a meaningful and lasting way.
