That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming: A Spoiler Free Review

Working Title: Looking for a silly, sexy escape from reality? Lemming has you covered.

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After pouring out my anger and fears in last week’s post, I needed an escapist read. While there aren’t too many romantasy books that can also be shelved under humor, Kimberly Lemming’s That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon fit the bill. I adore comedy, but I’ve found as a writer its difficult to get someone to laugh out loud by reading a page. Successful comedy relies on timing and tone, two elements that are difficult to control through the written word.

Lemmings succeed to make me LOL for real.

The cover on the Orbit edition from 2024 is also fantastic. All the stars for the positive representation of a beautiful, curvy black woman with fabulous pink hair and her horned hottie demon. Not sure what’s going on with his shirt—it appears to be only sleeves—but the absurdity of his garb fits the tone of this novel perfectly.

The first installment of the Mead Mishaps series introduces FMC Cinnamon “Cinn” and her family, all of whom grow various items on their family farm. Cinn, like me, enjoys a good drink and having fun with her friends. While stumbling home after one-too-many, she runs into a rampaging demon, MMC Fallon.

What follows is a quest-type adventure that would appeal to Dungeons and Dragons players and Ren Faire aficionados alike. Upon learning that the village’s goddess is actually an evil witch/litch, Cinn agrees to ally with Fallon and attempt to set society’s wrongs to-rights. Hijinks ensue. Moments of danger are intertwined with some mouthwatering cajun-styled meals, seasoned with a heavy dose of lust.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming

Romance: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4 out of 5 hot peppers.

🗡Enemies-to-lovers

👹Monster romance

☠Touch her and die

Worldbuilding/Fantasy Elements:

✨ Magic

👿 Demons

🧙‍♀️ Witch-like sorceress called a litch

🤬Fake swears

Trigger Warnings: Light BDSM, dubious consent (dub-con), and slavery

The Romance: Adult Themes for an Adult Audience

Despite the cute cover and silly premise, this book is for mature audiences only. Readers who do not enjoy spicy scenes that incorporate small amounts of pain best steer clear of this title.

But if the idea of a massive demon dong does it for you…

🤣Oh my god, I’m laughing again thinking about what I read.

Guess I’m a freak, because I kept turning pages. With that said, this book has a lot more in common with romance than romantasy per se. Lemmings really shines when it comes to writing a sexy encounter, and the romance arc is complete by the end of the story. Future installments feature other characters first introduced in this plot, which is how the romance genre presents series. Additionally, much of Cinn’s internal growth happens pretty early in the narrative, giving it an insta-love vibe.

The Worldbuilding: Second-world Fantasy Lite

While TTIGDaSAD is set in a secondary world complete with its own map, there is neither a learning curve into any magic systems nor deep political machinations. I think that is this story’s strength. There are times a reader needs an easy to digest story, something to help them unwind from the day and/or the emotional trauma inflicted upon them by Rebecca Yarros.

This is the book you’re looking for. Cinn’s hometown village is written as if it was inspired by a Renaissance Faire down in the bayou. The monsters are all familiar. The magic works. The langague is modern.

Sidenote: The second book in the series is called That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf. I’m old enough to be the Queen of RR, dear readers. I had to google yeet. Other old folks out there: it means to throw. It can also be used as an exclaimation.

As noted in trigger warning above, parts of the narrative deal with slavery. The tone of this book is light, and so for some folks the inclusion of slavery was upsetting. That is a fair criticism, and that portion of the book led some people to look less favorabily on Cinnamon and Fallon. However, as I already said, look at the title and the cover art.

If you are looking to read a magical realism/fantasy lite title that explores the horrors of slavery from the perspective of an African-American, I highly recommend The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

My Favorite Silly, Sexy Quote:

“I could die from this. They’ll have to write “fucked into oblivion” on my tombstone. But glory, glory, what a hell of a way to die.”

Final Thoughts:

This book was fun! If I want to read something serious, there are lots of news articles and political Substacks to keep me busy till the end of time.

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