The Date from Hell: A Novel

by Gwenda Bond

Overview

"The apocalyptic beach read that everyone needs." - Alix E. Harrow, Hugo Award-winning author on Not Your Average Hot Guy

In The Date from Hell, the sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy, New York Times bestselling author Gwenda Bond brings the journey of Callie, Luke, and their friends to a wonderful close. This is another laugh out loud, action-packed romantic adventure you won’t want to miss.

After saving the world and stopping the apocalypse, Callie and Luke are looking forward to a quiet, romantic weekend together. When you’re human and dating the Prince of Hell, quiet moments are hard to come by. But their romantic weekend in Hell takes a turn when Lucifer tasks Callie and Luke with chasing a wayward soul around the world. If they can prove it’s possible to redeem a soul, Lucifer will allow the two of them to make some changes in Hell.

But this wayward soul, Sean, doesn’t have any interest in being redeemed. Instead, now that he’s back on Earth, he’s decided to take a leaf out of Callie and Luke’s book and wants to find the Holy Grail. Now Callie, Luke, and their friends—and enemies—must race Sean around the globe on a Grail quest and bring peace between Heaven and Hell before they can finally (maybe) get around to that date.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250771766
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Series:	Match Made in Hell , #2
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	218,748
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

GWENDA BOND is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the Lois Lane and Cirque American trilogies. She wrote the first official Stranger Things novel, Suspicious Minds. She also created Dead Air, a serialized mystery and scripted podcast written with Carrie Ryan and Rachel Caine. Not Your Average Hot Guy is her first romantic comedy for adults. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in Publishers Weekly, Locus Magazine, Salon, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. She has an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and their unruly pets. She believes she may have escaped from a 1940s screwball comedy. She writes a monthlyish letter you can sign up for at her website, and you can also follow her on Twitter.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Gwenda Bond

"Delightful mythological elements and laugh-out-loud humor make this a light-hearted, feel-good paranormal romcom. Mature teens will enjoy the Hell mythology, adventure, and humor as well as the twentysomething characters who are still trying to live up to parental expectations." - Booklist

“Bestselling YA author Bond makes her adult debut with an entertaining paranormal rom-com and duology launch. The result is fun, light, and funny.” —Publishers Weekly

"Fun, funny, hot, and heartfelt: Not Your Average Hot Guy is The Good Place but 20% nerdier and 200% sexier. The apocalyptic beach read that everyone needs." - Alix E. Harrow, Hugo Award-winning author

"I never knew the Apocalypse could be so much fun! I absolutely loved spending time with these characters, and in this world. Even if it is almost ending." - Kat Howard, author of the Alex Award-winning An Unkindness of Magicians

From the Publisher

03/01/2022

This is Bond's sequel to 2021's Not Your Average Hot Guy. Picking up nearly where they last left off, Callie and Luke are trying to figure out how to make their relationship work. Luke is still heir apparent to Hell, and Callie doesn't know what her future holds. An excellent researcher, she discovers that there may be a loophole for souls spending their eternity in Hell. Callie and Luke set out to prove that they can rehabilitate a soul for a second chance. The soul in question proves to have secrets of his own, and Callie and Luke decide once and for all where they belong. VERDICT The adventuresome spirit of the first book continues in the sequel; the characters don't experience as much growth as one expects and tend to read as younger than they are. An enjoyable follow-up for fans of the first; recommended to be read in series order.—Claire Brown

Library Journal

2022-03-02
In the sequel to Not Your Average Hot Guy (2021), it’s once again up to bookish Callie and devilish Luke to avert disaster of biblical proportions—this time by locating the legendary Holy Grail.

It’s been a few weeks since Callie saved the world from the apocalypse with the help of her boyfriend, Luke—son and heir of Lucifer himself—but she’s far from used to her new normal. Balancing the mundanity of her daily responsibilities at the family escape room business with her jaunts to the underworld is proving difficult, especially now that Callie believes she’s finally found her life’s purpose: giving lost souls a second chance at redemption. Luke is sure Callie’s scheme to alter the rules of Hell won’t go over well with his father, but Lucifer agrees—with a catch. If Callie and Luke can save a soul of his choosing within three days, he’ll allow the experiment to go on. But no one ever said making a deal with the devil was easy. Sean Tattersall, Lucifer’s chosen wayward soul, is a charming swindler with one mission: to find the Holy Grail and bring about Heaven on Earth. As the trio—along with a cast of old friends and enemies—travels Europe in search of the Grail, the truth of Lucifer’s intentions comes to light, setting off a series of events that will change Callie’s and Luke’s lives for eternity. Bond’s humorous take on the trials of Heaven and Hell takes on a more complex tone in this sequel, with the addition of Arthurian legend and more in-depth characterization. A subplot of romantic angst between Luke and Callie is unnecessary, and the novel’s conclusion—no doubt the setup for a third book—feels too neatly wrapped.

Fans of supernatural romps will enjoy Bond’s latest otherworldly adventure.

Kirkus Reviews