Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Reluctant Incabus
SERIES: Alvin Alonso’s Secret Files #1
AUTHOR: Alex Woolfson
PUBLISHER: Cinnamon Roll Press
LENGTH: 263 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 10, 2025
BLURB:
I’ve always been afraid of the monster inside me. Now I might have to finally unleash it.
I was born an incubus, a literal soul-sucking sex demon. But I’ve deliberately never fed, so I don’t have any powers.
Still, that doesn’t stop an arrogant fae prince from blackmailing me into stealing a magical watch from a creepy San Francisco mansion.
Turns out, the artifact contains Collin, an all-knowing spirit with serious golden retriever vibes who looks like a cute twentysomething guy my age. If I can keep him from the fae, he swears we can be together—even physically—without anyone getting hurt.
The wrinkle? He’s also being hunted by bloodthirsty vampires who need the watch to end the world.
And my only ally? A smoking-hot monster slayer who’s all “touch him and die” whenever I’m in danger but who would most certainly kill me if he ever discovered what I was.
I’ve spent my whole life trying to be good—and okay, maybe dreaming of someone who could make me feel less alone. But to save Collin and stop the apocalypse, I’ll have to feed.
And once I taste a soul, there might be no coming back.
The Reluctant Incubus kicks off the MM urban fantasy duet Alvin Alonso’s Secret Files. There is a cliffhanger in Book 1—but don’t worry: Book 2, Incubus Vampire Slayer, will be released on the same day. You will be able to binge the whole story, all the way to Alvin’s deeply satisfying HFN
REVIEW:
To look at Alvin, one would think he’s nothing special. However, he keeps a monster force at bay by not feeding it. It’s a battle, but he bears it. That is, until he strikes a bargain with an elf, which leads him down a path of obligation, discovery, danger and something else.
The Reluctant Incubus is a good story, but my issues lie with its technicalities, which made it, for want of better phrasing, heavy on the eyes. Among other things, the typeface, linespacing, and length of some paragraphs made it challenging to read, requiring frequent breaks. My copy was a pre-publication manuscript; therefore, some of these things may change by the time the final version is published.
The story is told in the first person from Alvin’s perspective. The writing paints vivid pictures with words that leave clear, detailed images. I’ve already mentioned some technical issues, but others include the excessive use of brackets. With a bit of sentence restructuring, these are entirely unnecessary. A side effect of stories told in the first person is that they often contain a lot of internal rambling. Portions of these ramblings are relatable and entertaining. But occasionally, these include extra information that distracts from the scene, reducing its impact. Finding an excellent, ball-breaker of a pre-reader is like gold dust. They might tell authors things they don’t want to hear, but all novels benefit from their sometimes-brutal feedback – and this novel would profit from such a person.
Alvin is a likeable, good, and extremely self-deprecating person, frightened about what he’s capable of. He doesn’t want to hurt people. Even in his unpowered mode, he can sense magic; he also has an active imagination fueled by fact and fiction. For much of his life, he has been in willful denial about many things. His mother, being a powerful piece of work, is largely to blame for his state of mind. During the narrative, Alvin is dragged out of the Egyptian river and into the world of ‘I can do this’ with the preface of ‘I don’t have much of a choice’.
Alvin’s new state of living has him going with gut feelings, then second guessing them. He’s in a world with a steep learning curve and lots of questions that need answering. Trust of himself and those around him is a bumpy road. Yet beneath it all Alvin has a strong will and willingness to do the right thing.
The more I read, the more the tossed salad of events became more organized. However, there is a way to go, so I am looking forward to book two.
RATING: 
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