Hell of a Husband by Marilyn Barr is a Trick or Treat Bonanza pick #freebie #paranormal #romcom
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    • Oct 31, 2023
    • 5 min read

Hell of a Husband by Marilyn Barr is a Trick or Treat Bonanza pick #freebie #paranormal #romcom



Title: Hell of a Husband


Author: Marilyn Barr


Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy


Book Blurb:


They're a match made in hell...


Spamato the demon of email mischief is suffering from obsoletism. He's working around the clock to create email mischief for mortals but his plans are always derailed by the quintet of social media demons. Obsoletism means he burns in the Pit of Eternal Damnation and Spamato will do anything to avoid his fate. If only he could find a sucker willing to take his place...


Rachel's career as a corporate embezzler comes an abrupt end when she falls off a building while evading police. They may send her to hell, but that doesn't mean she'll fall in line...not when the line leads to the punishment rooms. She slides into hell's server room and right into Spamato's trap.


Spamato has his sucker but can he stand aside and watch Rachel fade into obsoletism, or has one of hell's demons caught feelings for a newbie? Will Spamato reverse the deal and if so, what will he offer instead?


Excerpt:


“Now to our next couple,” Algorithmo pulls me from my thoughts. He’s holding Rachel’s hand again. She’s shooting me worried looks, so at least we are on the same page. His attention is bad news. “Am I performing a double wedding?”


“No!” I shout as Rachel pales. The Supreme Demon will ruin this for me and scare her into his arms if I’m not careful. “Rachel is the apprentice to the Spamato position, not me. I mean, she’s not mine in that sense.” I wave at the wedded couple to explain myself.


Until this moment, I hadn’t considered marriage as an escape. Life without creating mischief on Earth would be boring, right? It’s up to the couple to create things to occupy their time, make each other happy, and…gulp…join the retirement community. I can’t do that! It’s starting over! When I became Spamato, I built my internet community from scratch. My minions were lonely hackers who reveled in MSDOS commands and strings of Turbo C++ lingo. Oh no, my minions! Will my replacement respect them as I do? Rachel would, but another soul might not. Will they terrorize my underlings like other demons who get drunk off power, or will they manage my competent demon spawn with a loose leash? A ruthless demon would destroy all I have built. I owe them Rachel’s semi-fair leadership.


“Perfect,” Algorithmo says with a wide smile. “Rachel, do you agree to step into Spamato’s role when he deems you are ready and assume all the responsibilities and repercussions of being the Demon of Email Mischief?”


My skin itches. My horns lay on my forehead like lead weights. This is the moment of truth. If Rachel agrees to this, she will take my place in the Pit of Eternal Damnation or anytime I see fit. I’ll reincarnate or have a villa to myself in the retirement community…I think. Come to think of it, nobody has received their final sentence and reported back to this ring of hell. What are the alternatives to the Pit of Eternal Damnation? Everyone is double-crossing and triple-crossing one another to get this reward…but what is it? Does it exist? Sweat beads along my spine. What if they are in the Pit of Eternal Damnation anyway?


That slaps with what I know of hell—to work for a goal that exists in rumor alone.


“Yeah, yeah, where do I sign?” Rachel asks with the ego of a newbie to hell. This is what I was counting on. So why aren’t I giddy? A rock coalesces in my chest as she skims the scroll, he presents in front of her. At least she doesn’t trust his words to match the fine print. With a shrug, she takes the quill, suspended before her face. “No ink?”


“Blood oath.” I hate the dejected tone of my voice. Algorithmo raises an eyebrow at me but for once, keeps his opinions to himself. He must see an angle to owning Rachel’s soul with this document or at least a chance for him to make mischief for her…maybe for us. How could I have anticipated I’d feel sorry for conning someone into taking my spot? This isn’t my first day in hell!


She pricks her finger, collects the bead of blood onto the tip of the quill, and draws a cursive ‘R.’ “What do you mean by repercussions? Is it referring to daily duties or termination of employment?”


“You made your mark. No returns, refunds, or remorse,” Algorithmo says before vanquishing the quill and scroll.


“That’s not fair!” Rachel lunges for Algorithmo, but his magic knocks her on her butt.


“This is hell,” he says with a chuckle. “Where were you promised fairness?”


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):


Free Download with Subscription to the Monthly Strawberry Rumor Mill!



If you could dress up as anything or anyone this Halloween, what or who would it be and why?


With the resurgence of The Little Mermaid, I’d love to dress up as Ursula the Sea Witch, but not just any sea witch costume. There are costumes with giant animatronic tentacles. It would be a blast to control my outfit with a remote control. We live in a forest, so our neighbors put together stations between houses to light the way for trick or treaters. I’d have a giant cauldron at my station with dry ice, her song from the movie playing on a loop, and crafted electric eel sidekicks. I’d give out seaweed cracker packets with the candy too. This idea has grown so elaborate, it might just come true…


Explain why your featured book is a treat to read:


Hell of a Husband is a tongue-in-cheek take on what a slightly evil person would experience in hell. Spamato, Inkjeto, X-formerly-known-as-Tweeto, and the rest of the demons are parodies of our technology and their glitches. Sometimes it’s fun to be mischievous and enjoy the free pass from the “trick” part of “trick or treat.” Rachel the Embezzler is a morally grey heroine who commits the ultimate betrayal in hell—she falls in love. I’d say sparks fly when she gets cozy with Spamato the Demon of Email Mischief, but they are surrounded by flames at all times. This spicy romance is hotter than…well…hell, but ends with a happily ever after that proves love conquers all…everywhere.


Giveaway –


One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon gift card



Open internationally.


Runs October 1 – 31


Drawing will be held on November 1.



Author Biography:


Marilyn Barr lives in the wilds of Kentucky with her husband, son, and rescue cats. She has nine books with The Wild Rose Press in multiple romance subgenres from sweet, new adult romance to erotic, fantasy romance. She loves to place monstrous characters with hearts of gold in historical romances and her historical, paranormal romances have won the Crowned Heart Award, 2nd place in National Excellence in Story Telling (NEST) Contest, Imadjinn Award for Best Paranormal Romance, and Grand Finalist for the InD’Tale Magazine’s RONE Award.


When engaging in the real world, you can find her with the Kentuckiana Romance Writers, volunteering with her son’s Special Olympics teams, or dancing around her kitchen. She is a sucker (haha) for cheesy horror movies, Italian food, punk music, black cats, bad puns, and all things witchy.


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