The Neurospicy After Dark Archive

• Human cop × demon
• Supernatural K-9 unit
• Established couple
• Forced proximity
• Reluctant supernatural roommates
• Found family
• Protective MMC
• Competent FMC
• Paranormal mystery
• Hidden enemy
• Someone is watching
• Touch her and suffer
• Chaotic investigative team
• Demons behaving badly
• Dark humor
• Emotional-support snacks
• The pet may or may not…be a demon

• Supernatural violence
• Threats against a found family
• Stalking and surveillance
• Manipulation by an unknown antagonist
• Crime and police investigations
• Dangerous confrontations
• Demons and other supernatural beings
• Adult language
• Dark humor
• Romantic and sexual content
• Potential injury and peril
• References to previous supernatural trauma

Readers should consult the author’s complete content-warning list if they need more detailed guidance.

Kelly “Chuck” Charles survived one demon-related catastrophe and understandably assumed that should fulfill her lifetime quota. The universe, however, has apparently decided she needs more character development.

Chuck is once again juggling police work, supernatural crimes, increasingly questionable K-9 unit decisions, and Malachi’s infuriating habit of looking far too pleased with himself while wearing his human form. Their already unconventional life becomes even more chaotic when Chuck and Malachi reluctantly agree to take in another demon who may be able to help them investigate a growing danger.

Someone is watching their unusual little found family and manipulating events from behind the scenes. As the attacks grow more personal, Chuck and her supernatural companions must determine who is being targeted—and why. Naturally, their investigation involves covert operations, questionable choices, emotional-support snacks, sarcastic commentary, and the objectively terrible idea of releasing multiple demons into an active case.

Once again Trista Ricketts embraces in her novel What to Do When Your K-9 Adopts Another Demon a delightfully absurd premise promised by the title but still giving underlying conflict and danger its weight. Similar to its predecessor, this book blends paranormal mystery, romance, police work and found-family chaos into a story that I found knows exactly how strange it is guaranteeing that I had an excellent time reading this book as a result.

The comedic effect of the plotline really comes from its characters and the increasingly ridiculous circumstances they find themselves in and not the romantic or emotional feelings pasted over the plot. Chuck is attempting to conduct a legitimate investigation while being surrounded by supernatural beings with extremely different interpretations of teamwork, restraint, and appropriate K-9 behavior are. I liked that beneath the humor there was a genuine threat i.e. someone is deliberately moving and manipulating the characters around quite rudely like chess pieces and the uncertainty that comes with that created a lovely steady current of tension for me.

To me this is a lighthearted and fun paranormal romantic comedy that can really make readers laugh at one disaster after another.

She is once again the voice of human reason…allegedly.

The previous demon related disaster is still shaping how she responds to new threats, her exasperation in this book felt like an extremely justifiable reaction to me. In my opinion she has already accepted far more supernatural nonsense than should be reasonably be required at this point in her life.

I continued to enjoy the sharp contrast between police officer professional versus the wildly unprofessional supernatural creatures surrounding her. She may be the closest thing this found family has to “adult supervision.” I liked that she was fully capable of participating in and creating her own bad decisions in this novel, it made her a lot more relatable. Her dry internal narrative and reluctant if sometimes strained affection for her chaotic found family gives her genuine relatability.

He is smugness in an inconveniently attractive human form…most of the time.

He continues to be an ongoing threat to Chuck’s patience.

The smugness that emanates from him creates much of the playful friction between them however I appreciated that there was more to him in this novel once again than supernatural confidence and sarcastic provocation. He has truly invested in Chuck, their found family (CHUGLET!) and given over to his protective instincts creating behavior with emotional substance. He gets a little off course since he doesn’t always express his love and loyalty in conventionally human ways but his actions reveal how seriously he takes the responsibility of the people he has claimed as his.

I loved that he is powerful enough to be genuinely intimidating if he wanted to be, yet much of what he spends his time doing is complicating Chuck’s investigations, testing her restraint, and behaving like the supernatural definition of “technically, you never told me not to.”

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, I guess.

They continue to thrive on wit, banter, reluctant cooperation, trust building with delicious tension like dynamic being created by two people who know each other well enough to know exactly what buttons to push to elicit a reaction.

Their differences produce comedic friction, but  also make them an effective team. Each possesses strengths that the other lacks, and their connection feels stronger because they must repeatedly choose to trust one another despite coming from fundamentally different worlds.

I enjoyed that while Malachi’s human form added a more openly romantic and physical layer to their dynamic, particularly because his smug behavior suggests he knows precisely what he is doing. Even so, their relationship is not built on attraction alone.

I was happy to read that rather than resetting the relationship for the sequel, the story appears to explore what happens after two people have already survived the impossible together i.e. the teasing becomes more familiar, the trust carries more history, and the danger now threatens something they have built together. Such a lovely way to write a relationship sequel.

The found family may be the true beating heart of this book. This is not simply a group of characters working the same case; it is a collection of humans and supernatural beings who have become emotionally responsible for one another…whether or not everyone is willing to admit it.

It was when the additional demon was added that destabilized an already unconventional group, the newcome potentially useful to the investigation but did not automatically equal trustworthiness. It created a large part of the tension within this story and I was here for it. An author needs some way to shake up a found family that has stabilized to make the read worth it. Ricketts delivered.

I found that the threat felt more personal in this book, the characters are no longer just protecting themselves but they now have something precious to together making the book an urgency of concern beyond merely finding the villain, etc.

• Continued wonderfully absurd supernatural K-9 premise
• Chuck’s dry humor and exhausted competence
• Malachi’s dangerous but deeply entertaining smugness
• The banter between all characters in particular the leads
• The found family made up of humans, demons, a Nephilem, and a Chuglet!!
• An unseen antagonist who makes the danger feel increasingly personal
• Emotional-support snacks being treated as a legitimate investigative resource!
• A sequel that expands the supernatural family and raises the stakes

Sometimes Chuck gave off way to much irritation & frustration with Malachi, it would make me shake my head and wish she would laugh, let it go and move on. She added way more stress to herself than she needed during this already stressful situation.

Malachi also needs to adapt a bit more to being in the human world. He is way to otherworldly and smug at some points that he is annoying, making me related to how Chuck give off the irritation vibe.

New readers must read the first book. If not, I would say new readers will feel as though they arrived after the strangest (and possibly most important) team-building exercise in history. Chuck and Malachi already have history, and the existing found-family relationships carry emotional context established in the first book.

The large supernatural cast and deliberately chaotic tone may also require some adjustment. The rapid mixture of crime-solving, relationship development, new supernatural lore, banter, and escalating bad decisions can make certain moments feel busy.

Finally, readers looking for a dark, frightening demon story may find the comedic approach lighter than expected. The danger is real, but humor remains a major part of how these characters experience and survive it

• The plotline continues an existing relationship rather than beginning from scratch.
• The book intentionally blends genuine danger with ridiculous supernatural humor.
• Police work is filtered through an urban-fantasy world rather than presented as a strictly realistic procedural. If you’re into strict police procedural types…maybe don’t read this.
• The cast includes several types of supernatural beings and an unconventional K-9 unit…if you have any kind of police working type dog (Malinois, German Shepherds, etc) …this might give you weird vibes…
• Contains mature language, violence, dark humor, and romantic or sexual content.