That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Mead Mishaps, 1)

This book is pure joy! I can't remember the last time a book made me smile so much. It is fast paced and instantly engaging. A riot of adventure and hot hunky sexiness. The character development and world building are both great. There is even some powerful subtext about slavery. And the naughty bits... Even those were tantalizing.

I don't remember reading ever being so fun. I absolutely devoured this book.

So, the instant that I heard this book was available in KU I ran to read it, and boy am I happy that I did. Instantly I fell in love with the characters. Cinnamon, with her sharp mind and tongue, and quickness was the best. And let me say now that I loved that when Fallon was in danger, she never stood back and waited helplessly, she was always in the middle of it -- Even to Fallon's chagrin. She was a spunky delight throughout the entire story.

Fallon on the other hand, was just as great to read about. His witty banter and quick comebacks, made this story even more fulfilling. I was happy to know that he knew right away that Cinnamon was for him, especially after she hit him with the cinnamon stick that brought him out of his mindless fury. The world that was built in this story was so good and believable, and every character that was introduced made it the best.

So, a little bit about the story.... Cinnamon is a spice trader that lives on a farm with her parents, that oddly enough grow cinnamon. She's content living her life simple, and then runs into a man that she saves. She finds out that he's a demon, and when he tries to k!ll her, she runs and protects herself by smacking him with the cinnamon and running into her house. Fallon is a demon that is looking for a way to take out the fake goddess that has convinced humans that they are in danger from demons and used them to to hunt demons. When he figures out that cinnamon, the spice, is a trick that releases demons from the hold that the goddess has demons under that makes them blindly attack people, he forces Cinnamon to help him destroy her. So, they set out on a quest to destroy the chalices that embody Myva's heart, but they are scattered across their world. Along the way they pick up some more friends, and wayward demons that complete their crew.

Kimberly Lemming did a phenomenal job in this story, and all of the hype behind it was correct. Read this story now, don't wait!!

I started this at 1:30AM because I couldn’t sleep and thought maybe a few giggles might help - I finished this book at 5:25AM because I got SO MUCH MORE than just giggles.

This is the story of Cinnamon, a human who lives in a medieval-esque land that is MARVELLOUSLY built up throughout the progress of the story. Yeah, she’s a spice farmer (her brothers are Cumin and Chili, which is an example of the tongue in cheek humour) and she has to use a torch to navigate in the dark - but she has access to pink hair dye!! This is such a hilarious mix of fantasy with modern vernacular that it’s constantly turning phrases on their nose! So Cin meets a demon.

During the story, we find out that “demon” is really just a synonym for not-human - because a demon can be a dragon, a werewolf, a vampire, an ogre, a centaur, etc. The world building is PERFECTION. The reader is never bogged down with lengthy backstory because we’re told information when it’s actually relevant to the story.

Cin and Fallon (the demon who she broke out of a mind feral curse using a branch of cinnamon) go on a wild adventure (which she never wanted to go on) to kill the quasi goddess lich witch who’s been keeping pretty much everyone enslaved for generations. More characters come into play, all of them diverse, and all of them HILARIOUS. There’s a city full of enslaved demons that is burned to the ground, there’s two bickering inn owners with dialogue that is worth every letter, there’s a pirate ship with ten orc’s/ogre’s that assist with cooking “because they don’t have fur” and just… so much.

How do I describe a book that was SO MUCH MORE than I was expecting in the absolute best way? How about a pros and cons list?

Pros: Fantasy, medieval but modern, strong FMC, possessive but respectful of choice MMC. Hilarious, tongue in cheek, constantly sassy. Cons: The world building is SO GOOD that I almost wish this book was written in a more… expanded way? Or a more traditional, heavy way. Like, I genuinely want more levity so that the twists of the plot have more emotional impact. Is that a real con? That being so flippant of fantasy genre rules meant there was less of the meat to dig into? Cracking jokes every other paragraph was hugely entertaining, but it meant that there were certain sections that didn’t resonate because a like later, they were joking again.

I want more of this world. The demons being freed, allowed to be full sentient beings - the humans of the world finding out everything they’ve believed for generations is a lie - the Chosen One being rendered useless!!

(Honestly, that was the only plot point that felt a little contrived - Pricilla was used to illustrate how much Cin didn’t want to be Chosen and then she showed back up at the end to display an average person figuring out they were wrong… I sorta wished her character arc hadn’t been the straight path directly to “blonde dummy and nothing more”) BUT it’s a very little complaint cause REALLY:

Honestly. Do yourself a favour and read this!!! You won’t regret it!! I’m off to read the next one and everything else this author has ever written. 10/10 story, 6/10 spice. (Not because it wasn’t spicy but because, like the rest, it didn’t take the spice all that seriously so it’s light hearted even when it’s being “dark”)

The absolute best book I’ve read in a long time. I loved every minute of this wild ride. Cin was funny, cute, and bad ass. Fallon was so so soooo sexy. I also fell in love with a demon while reading this book. And the sex scenes were 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 dragon flame hot 🥵

And I liked the action. The side characters were lovely. The quest was violent and scary, I really want this to be a Netflix series!! Can’t wait for the next chapter.

This is my new favorite author❤️💕

I don’t have anything bad to say. I loved this book hands down! All of the characters were likable and Fallon was a complete heart throb. I think the only thing I have to say that can be seemed as negative is that I wished the final battle scene had included the demons actually being shown in an all out war because I live for that sort of thing 🤣🤣🤣, but I can live without it! Because this book was that enjoyable for me. I laughed out loud so much, I’m sure my friend thought I was crazy. I read this book on kindle unlimited, but I’m gonna go ahead and buy the physical copy of this book because why the hell not!!! This just may be my absolute favorite book atm. Kimberly Lemming did her thing with this and I’m looking forward to reading the following two sequel books. She just made me a fan.

3.5/5

This book is for the fans on insta-love. It was nice and fluffy, with no real drama. If you’re into comically written books, this romance will be up your alley as well. And it’s very spicy!

I liked this book for the sake of reading a fantasy romance that didn’t have lots of angst or drama. Like I said it’s fluffy. However, we lost some stars because the humor was a tad bit immature for me and I like to actually see characters fall in love with each other. I like witnessing the ups and downs and coming together after resisting the temptation. This book was kind of just like - book we’re a couple. It was a fun read and I will probably read the next one but this definitely isn’t a deeply written sonnet or impactful romance connection.

The Mead Mishaps series is a lot of fun, not a lot of deep fun mind you, but fun. That Time I Got Drunk And Saved a Demon is the first in this series, and one I’ve read at least twice now. Cinnamon is enjoying a celebration when she walks home (intoxicated) and ends up, you guessed it, saving a demon.

The story and world in these books is really thought out. Something that you really don’t see a ton in indie published novellas that are romance focused. This is High Fantasy with magic, fun creatures, spells, etc. We focus primarily on the characters and their romance but Kimberly Lemming has put a lot of thought into her world. That’s the biggest draw for me, besides the ridiculous banter these books have.

The writing and banter is very modern, very steeped in the now of our current day language, but it’s light and the story is fast paced so unless you just can’t stand that type of language it’s not off-putting. She also does a great job lightly touching on heavier topics like consent, freedom, and slavery.

This book, for me is a lot of fun with a lot of good memories attached. I am more than willing to reread it and pick up the subsequent books (multiple times). It’s not a super in-depth, deep, heavy fantasy but it’s light and funny and a good one sitting type of read.

P.S. Full transparency, I skimmed the sex scenes, I find those in general to be very cringe so go somewhere else for thoughts on that.

3.5 Cinnamon Sticks out of 5

I received this as an ARC on Netgalley. This book was cute, but the millennial lingo took me out of the story at times, especially in the beginning. I don't want to hear modern slang, even in a cozy low stakes fantasy romance. If you're creating a high fantasy world, please don't have "Pillage and Chill" as the name of a bar, I don't want to think about Netflix when I'm trying to imagine a made up charming village. That may not be a annoying to some people, but to me, it was just weird. The naming convention was inconsistent as if the author couldn't decide what they were trying to do. Why did you name all of your MC's family after spices and then have the dead member named after a fruit? There also seemed to be a lot stereotypes for people of color that felt like they toed the line of being not ok. The male MC literarily says "Foolish rabbit" as in "Foolish rabbit, tricks are for kids" and it just took me way out of the intimate scene. The author also couldn't seem to decide where this book takes place, at times it gave "deep south of America" and then all of a sudden there were hyenas and gazelles. Sometimes, I couldn't decide if this truly was high fantasy, or if it was supposed to be set in modern day with demons and werewolves, etc, so inconsistent were the setting vibes. Overall, I finished it, and the romance was a cute typical feel good romance with well written spicy scenes. I'll probably read the sequel to see if the author smoothed out her writing and also to continue the story.