Dealing with a Desperate Demon is the second book in Charlotte Stein’s Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures series, and it’s a gem!

Nancy runs a bookstore in Hollow Brook – a small town where you can only see the supernatural if you are a member of the supernatural community yourself. Nancy is fascinated by scowly Jack Jackson who is often lurking about her shop, Better Off Read. The shop is all book stacks and narrow aisles, fairy lights and chinz, so it’s awkward for Jack, who is about seven feet tall and barrel-chested with huge muscles and a bubble-butt. He’s always frowning at her, too big for the space, gormless and clumsy, and getting in her way – and Nancy is entranced.

On one of Jack’s bookshop visits, the two of them have an awkward conversation – and Jack leaves in the middle of it. Nancy finds the book he was perusing – How to be the Ideal Human Boyfriend – and she’s even more intrigued. She decides to take the book to him, and show him that it’s totally okay to read. She knows where he lives, of course, because this is a small town, so she drives on over, up the path to his cabin in the woods and finds his front door unlocked. Inside his cabin is a revelation; there are VHS tapes of family movies, knitted throws, saggy couches, homely paintings, sparkly lights, and then she notices the very large, nearly naked and embarrassed gigantic hairy man, just out of the shower and standing right in front of her.

More awkwardness follows, and after Nancy leaves, her car is attacked by an unspeakable something and Jack saves her. A friendship of sorts begins with Jack  wanting lessons from Nancy in how to be a good ‘human boyfriend’.  Nancy isn’t put off by his oddness and is even drawn to him because of it; she recalls feeling like an outsider when she was younger, even though, at the time, she had no idea why.

Nancy and Jack go on a few dates – out to dinner, to a drive-in movie as Nancy coaches Jack so he can be with the love of his life. The reader knows who that is – but Nancy doesn’t – until (maybe) it’s too late. At the same time, Jack is helping Nancy to unwrap her own, long-suppressed witchiness. Jack has his secrets, too, and his reasons for courting Nancy are life-and-death for him, so the stakes stay high as they bumble about with their dating lessons and intensifying chemistry.

Apart from the odd monstrous moment, most of the book focuses strongly on the couple and their romance, and it’s very obvious that Jack is pining for Nancy. Nancy’s magic is fun, and her familiar – a little dog called Popcorn – is a delightful addition. The drama and danger is nicely written, but really, it’s all about Nancy and Jack learning their self-worth, and to trust themselves and each other.

I love all the references to ‘human’ behaviour and there’s so much fun in Jack’s take on how to be a human male. It’s very meta – he’s learning how to appear human from reading romance novels and watching romcoms. (His favorite film is Splash.) He drives a big ole truck, but it’s sentient. He wears a plaid, and tries to look the part, but his masculine model is a combination of 1950s gentility and 2000s metrosexuality.

I don’t have any major quibbles, but I’d caution that there is an interior quality to the book’s mood. There are hardly any secondary characters or outside action, and it’s full of domestic detail. Paranormal romance writ small in fact.

This is quintessential Charlotte Stein, but with less heat and more tenderness. It’s still incredibly sexy, and Nancy and Jack verbalise their intimacy, but not to the same extent as you’ll find in some of the author’s more erotic romances. Ms. Stein’s concerns with bullying and the effects of being an outcast are written into both main characters, but these aspects of their backstories are not as intense as in previous novels (including How to Help a Hungry Werewolf). I’m happy to recommend Dealing With a Desperate Demon as a low stakes introduction to Charlotte Stein’s writing, as a way to ease into paranormal romance, and simply as an entertaining and heartfelt read!