There are two things I’ve always loved about Beauty and the Beast. Number one is obvious: he’s hotter as the beast. And I think it’s pretty clear how that inspired my paranormal romcom monster fucker series. The first book is about a massive werewolf, and the second—the one I’m here to talk about now—is focused on an enormous demon. Though to be fair, I did make sure that he’s huge and hot in both his human form, and his horny form.
And as for the other reason I love Beauty and the Beast:
The curse! The curse that says he has to make someone fall for him—despite the fact that he’s a huge disaster—or he and everyone he adores will be tormented forever! Oh I love that part so much. I love the idea of someone who is grumpy and horrible and doesn’t know how to inspire love in anyone, being forced to somehow make it happen anyway. Maybe even finding it without even trying, in ways he doesn’t quite understand about himself.
It’s always fun when they don’t know they’re wonderful.
And THAT was the big inspiration for DEALING WITH A DESPERATE DEMON.
Jack is ornery, and uncomfortable expressing his feelings. He barely knows how to pass as a person, after spending thousands of years as the immortal enforcer of ultimate justice. Not to mention the son of Satan. But if he can convince the woman he loves to love him back, if he can prove he’s good enough for her, he might get a chance at evading the eternal torment of his life.
There’s just one problem:
Nancy is completely oblivious to the adoration he cannot cosmically tell her about. All he can manage without contravening the curse is get her to tell him what makes her ideal man, and do his best to be it. Though what he doesn’t realise, in between dating lessons and her trying to help her new grumpy friend and lusty feelings neither of them know what to do with, is that this cheery witchy little bookseller is already falling for him fast, exactly the way he is.
They’ve just got to figure it out, before the deadline arrives.
And that is how my latest book came about. I had so much fun writing it—especially the parts where his demon body gets trapped in a car, and they discover her pug, Popcorn, is her talking familiar, and his car that is actually a sentient chariot who hates her. I hope you have fun reading it, too.
Charlotte x
DEALING WITH A DESPERATE DEMON by Charlotte Stein
A Novel
Nancy has just about given up on finding her special person when Jack Jackson—big, scary and the town loser—walks into her bookstore. He’s apparently even more desperate for help in the romance department than she is. And after a bit of gentle persuasion, he finally accepts her guidance in securing his dream girl. Practice dates, lessons in tenderness—you name it, she can teach it.
There’s just one problem: his dream girl might have more than an issue with his dating skills. Because Jack isn’t just a little clueless; he’s actually the demonic son of Satan, from the deepest depths of hell. He’s spent his entire long underlife dragging evildoers to their fates, while really trying not to live up to his Dad’s expectations.
Now, it isn’t just about getting a date with his dream girl. He needs to become a better man to win over the woman he’s been cosmically bound to, in a Beauty and the Beast style pact. If he fails, everyone he cares for will face a terrible fate. Luckily for him, Nancy may well be the witch she’s always tried to pretend she wasn’t. She can save him, he knows it—and she’s starting to know it too. Even if every day spent with him is an agonising reminder that she isn’t the girl he’s fated for.
But as the deadline approaches she’s starting to wonder… Could it be that she’s finally found her Prince? Or is she about to lose her heart to hell?
Romance Comedy | Romance Paranormal [St. Martin’s Paperbacks, On Sale: October 7, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250352354 / eISBN: 9781250352361]
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About Charlotte Stein
Charlotte Stein is the RT and DABWAHA nominated author of over fifty short stories, novellas and novels, including the Library Journal starred When Grumpy Met Sunshine. When not writing deeply emotional and intensely sexy books, she can be found eating jelly turtles, getting way too excited over a million movies and TV shows, and occasionally lusting after moustaches. She lives in Leeds with her family.
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