The Carnival of Magic multi-author series of paranormal/fantasy romances is back for a second run with some authors returning with all new stories or sequels, and some authors joining in for the first time. Liv Rancourt’s The Villain Who Wasn’t is actually a sequel to The Accidental Necromancer (her entry in the Subparheroes series), taking one of that book’s secondary characters – the villain (of course) – as a main character and giving him a redemption story.

When The Villain Who Wasn’t begins, polymorph Micah Jenkins is leaving behind the last five years he’s spent living as Corbin Blande. Corbin wasn’t a nice person and did some seriously awful shit – but as we quickly discover, he had been coerced into those acts in order to ensure the safety of his five-year-old daughter. Micah (which isn’t his real name either, but it’s how he’s referred to throughout the story) made a living as a petty thief until his thievery brought him to the attention of Seth Damyan, a demon who wanted to make use of Micah’s very rare shifting abilities, and threatened his daughter’s life in order to get him to do his bidding. Micah was to complete seven tasks, each one nastier than the last – and now he’s done the final task, he’s out.

With every trace of Corbin disposed of, Micah makes his way to the cluster of hunting cabins he owns, intending to rest up and lie low for a bit while he works out what to do next and how to do it while not attracting Damyan’s attention. Shapeshifting really takes it out of him so he spends most of the next few days sleeping, but when he get gets up a few evenings later, he’s dismayed to notice a truck parked next to one of the other cabins on the site. Micah rents out six of them through a management company but always retains one for his exclusive use, and although he doesn’t really keep tabs on the rentals, he’d nonetheless hoped he’d be here alone. Observing quietly from his porch, he watches as a four-footed form slips out from the other cabin and heads into the trees. A werewolf. Huh. So that’s who’d be out in the middle of nowhere before tourist season. Micah heads back to bed and crashes out again – waking to the realisation he’s got even more company, because the single truck and occupant have now turned into several cars and an entire extended family of werewolves on a visit for the weekend.

Anders Montgomery, beta of the Elwha pack, thought he had booked all the cabins on the remote site, and is not best pleased to discover that he and his family are not as alone as they thought they were going to be. Making a first shift is a rite of passage carried out in the presence of family members only, and this weekend, his fourteen-year-old niece is going to experience her first shift and pack run. Anders approaches Micah, explaining that they’ve booked all the cabins for a private retreat and tells him he needs to leave – but Micah refutes his claim, telling him that his cabin is never booked out and that Anders has made a mistake. Anders is kind of sorry to have got off on the wrong foot with Micah – he’s good-looking and intriguing, and Anders certainly wouldn’t mind getting up close and personal with him, but insists he’s not supposed to be there. It’s only after he’s checked the paperwork that Anders realises that Micah is right. Their brief encounter also alerts Anders to something else – Micah doesn’t smell quite human. Anders hopes that means Micah won’t bother them during their run that night, but the pack Alpha isn’t so sanguine and orders Anders to find out whatever he can.

As Micah and Anders circle each other warily, sparks of attraction ignite between them, leading to a night of hot and satisfying sex. Micah neatly side-steps telling tell Anders who or what he is, but Anders is no fool; he knows Micah is running from something and has come to the cabins to lie low. Micah doesn’t deny that – and is surprised when Anders offers him a place to crash if he needs it. It’s tempting, but Micah still has an evil demon to evade and can’t bear the thought of putting Anders in harm’s way. He sneaks out of the cabin while Anders is in the shower and doesn’t look back… until he learns Damyan is looking for a way hook him in again and realises he’s going to need help if he’s ever going to be free of him.

Once Micah and Anders are reunited, their relationship progresses quickly from hot hooking up to both of them realising they’ve found their mate (even though Micah isn’t a wolf and it’s very rare for a wolf to mate with a non-wolf) – so we go from insta-lust to insta-love with hardly anything in between. I liked that Anders is supportive when Micah finally shares the truth and wants to help him to get out from under Damyan’s thumb once and for all, and I liked that Micah’s realisation that he wants to be with Anders helps him decide that he wants to be a better person. Anders is so busy looking after everyone around him, but doesn’t have someone to take care of him – maybe Micah can be that person when all this is over.

Each book in the series includes at least one visit to the titular Carnival of Mysteries – and as usual, the advice it offers is enigmatic and doesn’t seem particularly helpful at first. But Micah is finally convinced to stop trying to outrun his past and that he needs to try to make amends. To this end, he turns himself in to SPAM (Special Processes and Management – introduced in The Accidental Necromancer), the organisation tasked with policing the supernatural and paranormal, in the hopes he can do both those things, and get some help with stopping the demon.

From this point (about two-thirds of the way through), The Villain Who Wasn’t becomes a kind of two-series mash-up, and the tone shifts somewhat as new characters and locations are introduced and SPAM becomes the driving force behind the narrative. To be fair, the author provides enough information about what Micah did as Corbin to ensure the reader isn’t completely lost, but the pivot is somewhat jarring. I was pleased with Micah’s decision to do the right thing, and the resolution is imaginative and exciting – but overall, the first half of the story feels stronger and more original while the second feels overcrowded and a bit rushed.

I always enjoy a good redemption story, and The Villain Who Wasn’t definitely ticked that box. The author takes the time to present Micah as someone whose life-choices weren’t the best and to show that he’s not a wholly bad person despite the things he was forced to do. However, Anders is less well-rounded, and the romance jumps from zero to sixty too quickly for it to have been entirely convincing. I enjoyed the book and plan to read more of the titles in this series, but the lack of romantic development and the change of tone in the second half mean I can only offer a qualified recommendation. If you’ve read The Accidental Necromancer, perhaps it might work better for you than it did for me.