Introduction
Published in August 2026 by Emily Rath, Devour Me is a why-choose paranormal romance that smushes all of the best tropes into one novel. It’s the first of a series, and the cliffhanger ending has everyone scratching for the second release.
A Summary
When Birdie—an aspiring historian and mere human — is faced with being homeless for the next few months or working with her best friend’s grumpy uncle, the choice is clear. However, the island may not be what it seems as the uncle’s odd rules start to make more sense.
Jasper has never let a human work for him before, but when he isn’t presented with many other options, he has to surrender himself to fate. He knows he is being watched, and as the leader of his coven, he has a duty to protect everyone around him even at the cost of his life. Until one night he is attacked, and somehow saved by the same human he didn’t want to hire.
Dàinn is bound to Ludmilla, and he is starving for the souls he needs to survive. When he is set to take Jasper’s soul, it is the tastiest he has had yet, but when the impossible happens, he finds himself obsessed with the one that survived. And the one that managed to stop him.
Writing Style
Devour Me contains 3 POV’s, each in first person. The prose has a constant sexual charge to it throughout, which makes it light and easy to read, but it isn’t present enough to take away from the other aspects of the plot. The switches between the perspectives also make it feel easier to read, and the chapters themselves are quite short.
My Thoughts
So far, September 2026 has not been the best reading month, but Devour Me gave me the hope I needed to push through and not go into a month-long reading slump.
This was the first ‘why choose’ book I have read in 2026, and it just hit in all the right places. I adored the fact that all of the main characters had their own POV. It allowed each of their personalities, morals and flaws to get fleshed out early enough in the story to feel complex as we moved into the latter half of the book.
This book does have insta-love, which I usually don’t enjoy, but it truly worked for the story it was trying to tell and still kept me entertained. I think if Rath had tried to implement a slow-burn romance into the mix, it would have felt overwhelming and too difficult to keep track of as you delve further into the plot.
Rath also did an amazing job at making sure all of the characters felt unique, which I was concerned about because there are a lot of different characters. I could safely name and describe every member of the coven, their husbands, the villains and random side characters that appear once, simply because the way they are all brought into the story is distinctive.
I also found it so funny that everything had a vaguely sexual undertone which worked really well for worldbuilding (oddly enough) and it manages to maintain that throughout the entirety.
Also, I cannot do a review talking about the sex scenes in this book. I believe Rath needs an applause for how well she did these. It’s an MMF, but it doesn’t feel like both men are fighting for the woman at all, which has been my experience in the past with these types of books. It does a good job at establishing the nuances of the feelings the characters have towards each other, and the sex scenes just reinforce this.
The worldbuilding itself is well-done. I have no complaints about the magic system or the different existing species.
Overall, it’s just a great book if you want something funny with spice, lore and the paranormal.
Is Devour Me Spicy?
Yes, Devour Me contains plenty of sex scenes, including multiple kinks and a whole lot of voyeurism.
Spice Level - 4/5
Recommendation
I recommend this to everyone who needs some spice but is sick of the typical romantasy smut. This book mixes a gothic atmosphere with a small coastal town setting in the most perfect way.
