The Devil She Knows

Happy release week to Alexandria Bellefleur‘s first paranormal romance, The Devil She Knows. I’ve been wanting to read this author for a few years, and I was excited to finally dive in with this sapphic demon love story.

Samantha Cooper has just proposed to her girlfriend Hannah… but after being dumped instead, Sam is in the elevator to her apartment, desperate and distraught, when a demon shows up with an offer. Daphne will grant Sam six wishes, for the small non-monetary cost of Sam’s soul at the end. Sam would give anything to get her life with Hannah back on track, so she signs the contract. But as each wish turns out differently than Sam imagined, it becomes less clear if trying to make it work with her ex is worth it. Maybe, against all convention, the girl of her dreams is the demon beside her.

What I Liked:

• Deal with the devil! I loved the entire premise of this book. Who wouldn’t do anything for six wishes to fix your life? I mean, selling your soul to do so is a steep price… but Sam has a plan, maybe. Like Aladdin getting his wishes granted by the Genie, will Sam be happy once Daphne gives her all her heart desires? And keep in mind that Daphne is no fairy godmother or even a trickster djinn; she’s a malevolent demon, so Sam better be careful what she wishes for.
• Fun and bonkers scenarios. Sam makes a wish, then suddenly wakes up in a life almost completely different than it was before. The first wishes may give you whiplash, and the scenarios are pretty wild. It makes for a chaotic but funny read, though things smooth out much more as the book progresses.
• Learning that Sam may never get what she wants with Hannah. Her ex pretty much summed it up when she dumped her, but will Sam ever be what Hannah actually wants? Can Sam make the right wishes for a happily ever after, or will every new life path end in heartbreak? This sad discovery makes the book more emotional, especially later on, which is to its merit.
• Finding love with the demon at her side. Daphne may seem like a force of chaotic evil—and she is!—but I loved seeing her perspective change with each successive wish she grants Sam. Daphne isn’t heartless, and if anything, she cares more about protecting Sam than either could have expected. Their love story doesn’t really get going until pretty late in the book, but it’s so much sweeter for all the buildup.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Pacing in the first 20% was a bit off. I’ll admit, the first few chapters of the book were a little awkward for me. The elevator scene seemed too long; the whiplash between scenes was intense at first, too. But over time the storytelling smoothed out and ended up being a really beautiful read.

Final Thoughts

The Devil She Knows is a playful yet heartfelt novel. It spends a lot of time on Sam working through the end of her relationship with Hannah, perhaps more than most romances would. But it makes the payoff with Daphne so much greater by the time they do finally get together (despite hellish hurdles to still overcome). This ended up being a wonderful paranormal romance.

I will definitely read more from Alexandria Bellefleur. For a few years I’ve been wanting to read her Written in the Stars trilogy. I’m also excited for her upcoming book, Playing for Keeps, due out in January. I have an ARC of that, so stay tuned for my review of it!

Special thanks to the publishers at Penguin Random House, Berkley, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Devil She Knows here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur
Audience	Adult
Genre	Paranormal Romance
Setting	New York
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	October 21, 2025
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

“A fantasy-tinged sapphic romance with perfect banter.”—People

A down-on-her-luck woman makes a deal with a crafty demon to win back her ex-girlfriend after a proposal gone awry, only to discover the girl of her dreams might be the devil she knows, from nationally bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur.

Samantha Cooper is having a day from hell.

In less than 24 hours, her life has unraveled, leaving her single and with nowhere to live. Adding insult to injury, she’s trapped in an elevator with a gorgeous woman claiming to be a demon.

Daphne is not at all what Samantha expected from someone claiming to be an evil supernatural entity. She’s pretty, witty, dressed in pink, and smells nice. And she’s here to offer Samantha a deal she can’t refuse. Six wishes in exchange for one tiny trade—Samantha’s soul. There’s a glaring loophole in their contract, one Samantha fully intends to exploit so she doesn’t fork over her soul. After all, she only needs one wish to win her ex back.

Hell-bent to gather the last of the one thousand souls she needs so that she can be free of her own devilish deal, Daphne grants each of Samantha’s wishes . . . with a twist, so that Samantha is forced to make another.

As Samantha’s wishes dwindle and Daphne offers her glimpses into the life she thought she wanted, the unlikely pair grows close. Perhaps the girl of Samantha’s dreams is actually the stuff of nightmares, but Samantha and Daphne will have to outsmart the Devil himself if they want a chance at happily ever after.