A Demon's Soul

Vice College for Young Demons #4.5

by Marie Mistry

The Syndicate is defeated, but Nelly’s troubles have just begun.

The Strange God now walks the world in a stolen body after being stuck in the shadow realm for eternity. He’s claimed a new name, a new life, and a new mate—her.

Nelly should be focusing on coming to grips with her new reality, but instead her bargain compels her to follow him to his icy fortress in the mountains. Playing house with an arrogant deity who has no idea how toasters work is difficult, but the more time they spend together, the more Nelly realises all is not what it seems.

Because the Strange God has been keeping secrets…

Genres: Demons, Paranormal, Magic, Why Choose, Fantasy, Menage

218 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2025

About the author

Marie Mistry is a reality challenged reverse harem romance author whose books are full of pirates, magic, and spicy adventures. When she's not writing, you can usually find her curled up with a game or a book and a large cup of tea. She lives in a wonky cottage in Kent with her other half and a super sweet German Shepherd named Meg.

She'd love for you to join her Facebook reader group: Mistry’s Inc where she hangs out daily: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mistr...

Or check out her website: https://www.mariemistry.com

Reviews

[Marie Mistry]

Nelly's bonus novella.

[T D.]

Are you seriously telling me that a deity, a being that created all demons, ended up with someone like Nelly? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Nelly, in fact I like her character, but, well, she's a weak demon in terms of power that didn't even have a gift while the Strange God is an immortal being thousands of years old and with a power that surpasses any demon on earth, the most powerful being of all. Such a character should have a partner who is just as strong and powerful as he is and, unfortunately, Nelly is not. In couples with such different power dynamics there will always be problems and that in a relationship seems horrible to me. Anyway, I think this is just my opinion that no one shares.

[Alice]

It was a nice expansion with Nelly's romance with the resurrected Strange God, but I wasn't a fan of the plot or romance. Both seemed rather hurriedly put together, and the Strange God/Neo was a dick for the majority that I felt there needed to be more groveling for a HEA. Matteo was sweet, but he showed up so little that I didn't feel like there was a satisfying romance to warrant their mating either.

Romance: 25-year-old personal assistant Lust Desire demon FMC with...
1. reincarnated 3000+-year-old dark god MMC
2. resurrected ~100-year-old Wrath Cruelty turned Protection demon MMC

[Shelley]

I'm so glad there was a novella dedicated to Nelly and what happened after the Strange God spirited her away! It was a quick but enjoyable read, action packed with conflict, betrayal and ultimately a HEA that could make even the hardest heart melt. Which is just what Nelly deserved. I also loved the disability representation in this story, particularly in the spicy scenes. As a disabled reader it means a lot to see it done well!

[Silverlining2k6]

I liked this, but I think it should've been a duology. One book was not enough to fully bake this storyline.

[tatertot]

Definitely could have benefited from being longer. The story felt fairly rushed but still enjoyable

[Steph]

3.5

[Rara]

Short and sweet, but we just spent (almost) 4 books loving Enzo and to not get an ON PAGE reunion between him and Matteo was such a WASTE. The rest of the story was fine with Nelly getting her happy ending, but honestly we didn't get to spend enough time with her in the original series for me to be THAT invested in her story this time around.

[Charlotte]

I'm irritated at myself that it took me this long to read this one. I honestly didn't really care about Nelly in the main books, so I wasn't that excited about this, but I'm really glad I read it now. My only complaint is that I would have really liked to see more of Enzo and Matteo interacting, especially their reunion.

[✨✨ Claire✨✨]

A very cute and recommended additional novella to read after completing the series!
This covers Nelly and the Strange Gods journey slightly overlapping the end of the final book, explaining why lilith fainted in the hospital when she visited Nelly and continuing on from there....

Its a great addition and is really recommend reading it as it adds an addition HEA for the remaining, single, unmated twin. So again, just tying up loose ends!

A good few Twists still in this and an additional HEA for another member of liliths Harem!

At the end of this there's also a tiny extra epilogue of liliths life 30years later showing a small glimpse into each mated groups life as it is then. Nice long term HEA!!

[Aaira]

Ive always found the ending of the series to be quite unexpected. And like the ending, Marie Mistry never fails to add an unexpected twist to this sequel as well. However this would have been perfect as a fully formed book given that one of her mates is none other than the Strange God himself and the other is Enzo's former dead twin, Matteo. So many possibilities. I still enjoyed seeing a wrap up of all the events leading up to this but it really could have been a 400 page standalone. But I wont say no to glimpses of Lulu and Lilith

[fäer]

Nice.

This last little story was a fun ride. It was nice to know more about the Strange God, his past and who he was as a person, but I couldn't help but feel like there was so much missing. A lot of the scenes didn't really make sense with a few Neo/Nelly scenes we had already read in the last Vice College book and the flow and the pacing of the story wasn't that good either, but it was still enjoyable and interesting enough to make it an ok book overall.

I wanted to like this more, but oh, well...

[nath ᥫ᭡]

fell short tbh i was expecting more everything

[heather krym]

This was my favorite book in the series. I absolutely loved the ending!