Books Like Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer — 10 Cozy Dark Fantasy MF Reads (2026)

Assistant to the Villain runs on one perfect joke: what if the Dark Lord had an HR problem? Evie Sage needs a paycheck, The Villain needs someone to organize the severed heads and the scheduling, and Hannah Nicole Maehrer needs about four chapters to make you root for both of them. It started as a viral TikTok bit and became a bestseller because underneath the office comedy there’s a real romance — slow, loyal, built on a thousand small moments of a scary man being gentle with exactly one person.

The trouble with finishing it (and Apprentice to the Villain after it) is that the shelf it sits on is small. “Cozy but dark, funny but with a body count, romantic but slow” is a rare recipe. So this list comes at it from two sides: trad-pub fantasy that shares the morally-gray-boss DNA, and five picks from our own dark romance catalog for readers whose favorite part was The Villain himself — the powerful, terrifying man who is only soft for one person — and who’d happily lose the cozy filter and read that dynamic at full intensity. Several of the indie five are free with Kindle Unlimited; each book page lists current availability.

5 Trad-Pub Books Like Assistant to the Villain

1. Assistant to the Villain — Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The anchor. If you’re here without having read it: girl answers a help-wanted ad, boss turns out to be the kingdom’s most feared villain, workplace shenanigans and slow-burn pining follow, someone in the office is a traitor. It’s a cozy fantasy wearing a dark fantasy’s coat and it’s enormous fun. The sequel, Apprentice to the Villain, picks up directly where it ends — read them in order.

2. Kingdom of the Wicked — Kerri Maniscalco

Take the girl-works-with-a-dangerous-supernatural-man dynamic and pull it darker. Emilia is a witch hunting her twin sister’s killer; Wrath is the demon prince of, well, Wrath, and the investigation forces them into an alliance neither wants. Where Maehrer plays the villain partnership for comedy, Maniscalco plays it for smolder — but the engine is the same: proximity to a terrifying man who keeps turning out to be on her side. Get Kingdom of the Wicked on Amazon →

3. From Blood and Ash — Jennifer L. Armentrout

The gold standard of the morally-gray-reveal romance. Poppy is a sheltered Maiden, Hawke is her charming new guard, and the less said about what Hawke actually is, the better your first read will be. If your favorite chapter of Assistant to the Villain was any scene where Evie glimpses what The Villain is capable of and stays anyway, this series is that feeling stretched across six books. Much higher heat than Maehrer. Get From Blood and Ash on Amazon →

4. Daughter of No Worlds — Carissa Broadbent

The quieter, more serious cousin. Tisaanah escapes slavery and blackmails her way into an apprenticeship with Max, a reclusive war mage who wants nothing to do with her. It’s a workplace romance in the loosest sense — teacher and student, two damaged people sharing a house and a purpose — and the slow burn is genuinely slow, the way Evie and The Villain’s is. Broadbent writes banter with an ache under it. Get Daughter of No Worlds on Amazon →

5. Fourth Wing — Rebecca Yarros

Less cozy, more dragons, same shape: an institution full of people who might kill you, and the most dangerous man in it choosing, inexplicably, to keep you alive. Violet’s war college is Evie’s Manor office with the safety rails removed, and Xaden Riorson is what The Villain looks like when the book stops joking about it. The megahit for a reason. Get Fourth Wing on Amazon →

5 Dark Indie Picks for Fans of The Villain Himself

Here’s the honest pitch: our catalog doesn’t do cozy fantasy. What it does — extremely well and with the door bolted open — is the thing that makes The Villain work as a love interest. The one with blood on their ledger and one soft spot. The bargain you shouldn’t take from a creature you shouldn’t trust. If that’s the part of Maehrer’s book that kept you up, these five deliver it straight, no cozy chaser. Availability is noted on each book page, and every one has a free first chapter and content warnings.

6. The Demon’s Tithe — Rowan Black (Dark Fantasy Bargain)

Kaelen Ashward is a monster hunter with demon blood in his veins — poured into his open wounds and called a gift, and he’s been trying to return it ever since. Lady Seraphine is the ancient entity who has been watching him far longer than he knows, and the day she calls in the tithe is the day the hunt stops being a job. This is the villain-romance premise with the workplace comedy stripped out and the danger left in — he owes her, she wants more than the tithe, and the negotiation is the romance. The closest thing on our shelf to Evie’s arrangement, played deadly serious and very, very hot. Free with Kindle Unlimited. Read chapter one free →

7. Ruthless Vows — Lucian Gray (Dark Mafia Arranged Marriage)

The contemporary translation of the villain-boss fantasy. Elena De Santis spent her life being useful and invisible to her family — until her father settled a debt by handing her to Dante Marchetti, the most dangerous man in the city, who took her from the house in the dead of night. A short, sharp novella about a possessive, morally unforgivable man whose entire menace reorganizes itself around one woman. (No relation to Rebecca Ross’s fantasy novel of the same title — this is the mafia one.) Read chapter one free →

8. The Hollow Hunt — Lucian Gray (Assassin & Target)

What if the villain’s job was you? Elara Vance has spent two years being invisible — until she witnesses something she shouldn’t and the organization sends a killer to erase her. He takes one look at the contract and gives her a head start instead, then starts protecting her from his own employers — the exact needle Maehrer threads with The Villain’s soft spot for Evie, rethreaded through a knife-edge suspense plot. Of the five picks here, this one has the most of the original’s dynamic: competence, menace, and one exception to both. Free with Kindle Unlimited. Read chapter one free →

9. The King of Tides & Ruin — Draven Moore (Cursed Pirate King)

For readers who want to stay in fantasy. Rourke Thorne was the Empire’s most feared witch-hunter; now he’s the Salted King, a pirate captain turning slowly into living crystal, seven years past the last time he felt anything. Sera Blackwood is a healer who can cure any curse — by taking it into herself — and she’s just been captured by the one man whose cure would cost her everything. This is the pick if Assistant to the Villain left you wanting a throne room with actual dread in it. Read chapter one free →

10. The Heir Apparent — Rowan Black (Dark Corporate Empire)

The villain in a suit. Norah Vane built her boyfriend’s career inside the Blackwood empire — then caught him cheating at his own father’s gala, with the father watching. The revenge alliance that follows pairs her with the most dangerous Blackwood of all, and if Evie had answered a help-wanted ad at a corporation instead of a Manor, this is the book she’d be living in: boardroom instead of dungeon, same ruthless man learning what an exception feels like. Available wide at all major retailers. Read chapter one free →

FAQ

Do I need to read Assistant to the Villain before Apprentice to the Villain?

Yes — Apprentice is a direct continuation, not a standalone. Read them in publication order. A third book in the series has been announced.

Is Assistant to the Villain spicy?

Barely — call it a 1 to 2 out of 5. The romance is a long, warm slow burn and the humor does most of the work. That’s exactly why the second half of this list exists: same dangerous-man-soft-for-her dynamic, heat turned all the way up.

What should I read if I loved The Villain as a character?

Trad-pub: From Blood and Ash for the morally-gray reveal, Kingdom of the Wicked for the demon-prince partnership. From our own shelf: The Hollow Hunt is the closest match for the deadly-man-makes-one-exception dynamic, and The Demon’s Tithe is the closest match for the bargain-with-something-dangerous setup.

Are these indie picks cozy like Maehrer’s books?

No, and we won’t pretend otherwise. They’re dark romance — high heat, real menace, morally gray to pitch black heroes. They’re on this list for readers whose favorite ingredient was the villain, not the coziness. If you want cozy, stick to the top half of the list.

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