A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon

Hawley delights in her humorous and romantic paranormal debut about soul bargains, self-fulfillment, and family dysfunction. Mariel Spark grew up in the shadow of her mother, Diantha, the matriarch of an extremely powerful line of witches. Diantha is unimpressed by Mariel’s innate nature magic and demands Mariel practice summoning spells. This leads to baker Mariel flopping a spell to summon flour and instead summoning Ozroth the Ruthless, a demon renowned for raking in mortal souls. This would be terrifying, except Oz recently accidentally acquired a mortal soul and feelings himself, which soon revolve around Mariel’s smile, generous curves, and adoration for all things that grow. Due to some supernatural fine print, Oz can’t leave until he’s made a bargain for Mariel’s soul, which Mariel is not about to give up, so to explain his lingering presence to her friends and family, the pair agree to claim they’re in a relationship. As they grow closer, they come to understand each other’s heartbreaking histories and become determined to fight for their love. Hawley ably navigates life and love among toxic family members, fantastical chaos, and small-town politics—with some steamy scenes and plenty of dad jokes along the way. This is a treat. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Mar.)