Plus, get a first look at the devilishly sexy cover.
Tami Keehn
Would you trade your soul for a chance at true love?
That question inspired Alexandria Bellefleur to write her next romance novel (and her first paranormal!
Alexandria Bellefleur.Credit:Tami Keehn
),The Devil She Knows,whichEntertainment Weeklycan exclusively debut the cover below.
In fact, she was specifically moved byBrendan Fraser’sresponse to that question in 2000’sBedazzled.
“One of my all-time favorite movies isBedazzled,” the author tells EW.
‘The Devil She Knows’.Berkley
“After rewatching the movie in 2021, my mind was churning withwhat ifs,” Bellefleur continues.
Nowthatwould be a high-stakes conflict.
With thosewhat ifs… the idea forThe Devil She Knowswas born."
“My other must was Daphnes demonic shadow!
“I love a morally gray character, especially morally gray women,” she adds.
She is a demon, but she knows what it feels like to be taken advantage of and duped.
“I love the showLucifer!”
“Hes so witty and layered and impossible not to root for.
Even when hes bad, hes good!
Im always a sucker for complex characters that use humor as a shield.”
“The world-building was definitely new!”
Bellefleur says of writing her first paranormal romance.
“In a sense, it was liberating because I wasnt beholden to real places.
Like, whats the lore here?
How does someone become a demon?'
And I laughed to myself, because obviously the rules were up to me.”
Check out the cover below and read on for an exclusive excerpt.
Hannahs eyes flitted around the room.
Sam, youreyoure kidding.
The color drained from her face.
Sams heart stuttered to a sluggish stop.
is it the ring?
dainty would be putting it delicately, all she could afford.
But it would look so pretty, perfect on Hannahs slender finger.
Is it the Hannah choked on what was either a sob or a laugh.
Her freckled nose scrunched, kickstarting Sams heart into beating again.
That ring is fine.
Hannah thought the ring was fine.
This time, last year, Christmas, Hannah had gifted her an immersion blender.
One with a blade guard and rubber handle and nonstick edge, cordless and easy to operate.
Perfect for pureeing, emulsifying, blending, and blitzing.
It had seen its fair share of use in the months since.
Her favorite protein shakes.
Proposing wasnt entirely out of left field, not some wild whim.
Theyd talked about this, the possibility of it, marriage.
Granted, not in a while but when theyd first started dating.
How, one day, she wanted that for herself.
Embarrassing stuff, honestly, but Hannah had smiled and said shed always dreamed about having a big wedding.
Irrefutable proof that they wanted the same things out of life, that they were on the same page.
I cannot believe youre putting me in this position, had not been among them.
Before midnight, Samantha would be TikToks latest viral sensation, the laughingstock of the internet.
She scrambled back into her chair.
Why dont we table this?
Hannahs voice hitched, broadcasting Sams shame to the entire restaurant.
Publicly, no less.
Unless Im mistaken, that means you want to .
Hannah looked the way Sam feltlike she was going to hurl.
That was generally what a proposal implied.
Marry you, I mean.
And you always said you liked public proposals.
Your Pinterest boards are full of pictures of jumbotrons andand skywriting.
I dont want that.
Thats okay, she said, voice full of false cheer.
A camera flash went off somewhere over her shoulder causing them both to flinch.
A picture for posterity.
As if she had any desire to remember this moment.
What is marriage but a piece of paper, anyway?
A sharp of pang of longing ricocheted through her chest, but she breathed through it.
All she really wanted was to spend the rest of her life with Hannah.
What that life looked like didnt matter, only that they spent it together.
She tucked the ring box away, out of sight like it had never even existed.
Its not marriage, Sam.
Youre not the girl I fell in love with, Sam.
When I met you, you were going places.
Places I wanted to go with you.
You never want to go anywhere or do anything.
Im pretty sure you love those damn cats of yours more than you claim to love me.
Its never going to happen.
She jolted, jumping a little at her name.
She smiled sheepishly and squeezed inside the elevator.
Im a space cadet tonight.
Mrs. Nelson smiled warmly, looking so much like Sams grandmother in that moment that her heart squeezed.
You look tired, dear.
Sam caught her reflection in the elevators smudgy mirror and cringed.
Her face was drawn, her cheeks hollow, her already deep-set eyes heavy.
She looked like death warmed over.
She was pretty sure there were corpses out there that looked livelier than her.
No wonder Hannah didnt want to marry her.
Didnt sleep great, I guess.
She opened her mouth only for nothing to come out.
She imagined saying the words, each imagined confession increasingly honest, vulnerable, nausea inducing.
I proposed, and Hannah said no.
I put my heart in my hands and asked her for forever and Hannah asked me to move out.
She wasnt ready to talk about tonight, because talking about it would make it real and Sam .
That this night was nothing more than a bad dream, a living breathing nightmare.
On vacation, she said, forcing the words up and over the boulder size lump in her throat.
Shell be in Rhode Island for the next few days.
I know this is sudden, so Im not going to ask you to be out by the first.
Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Nelsons loveable Grumpy Bear husband, harrumphed.
Hannah took vacations without Sam all the time.
Humiliating hadnt begun to describe it.
I couldnt get the time off.
The lie tasted sour in her mouth, like bad milk.
You work too hard.
Sam offered up a wan smile.
Not hard enough, apparently.
It was an impossible predicament, a catch twenty-two.
Damned if she did, damned if she didnt.
Someone better than Sam.
Its not my fault you sound like you just crawled out of a swamp.
Si vous ne comprenez pas mon anglais, preferez-vous que je parle francais, Chef?
shed replied, happy to speak in a language Coco could understand.
It didnt matter that the dish shed conceived had earned Glut its first Michelin star.
With a single sentence uttered in French, Sam had made an enemy of Coco.
A grudge like that wasnt easily overcome.
Coco wanted her gone, and she wasnt going to rest until Sam was out the door.
Still, like an idiot, she clung to the hope that Coco would get over herself.
That shed wake up one day and realize that sabotaging Sam wasnt serving anyone.
That shed stop being petty, bury the hatchet, and offer her the promotion.
Maybe Hannah was right.
Maybe Sam was delusional.
You, missy, are coming over on your next day off.
She wagged a finger and wisely, Sam kept her mouth shut.
Bring Hannah if youd like.
That she didnt know where shed be.
Couchsurfing, if she was lucky.
On a bus back to Iberville Parish if she wasnt.
If she was lucky, marry someone nice, someone who loved her as much as she loved them.
Shed never dreamed of more, never imagined more could exist, but then Hannah .
God, sometimes it felt like Hannah just happened to her.
You could be great, but youre too damn nice.
No one is going to fight for you but you, Sam.
Sam sniffled and scrubbed at her cheeks, staunching her tears with a good, hard blink.
What if she didnt just sit around and, how had Hannah phrased it?
Squander all of her supposed potential?
What if she seized it instead?
Maybe Hannah would give her a second chance.
A chance was all she needed.
She just wished
Hell of a night, huh?
She plastered herself against the wall of the elevator with enough force to rattle the mirror at her back.
You scared the shit out of me.
You looked like you were nodding off and I didnt want you to miss your floor.
No, I appreciate it.
Beneath her palm, her heart hurled itself against her breastbone like a battering ram, refusing to calm.
I guess I just didnt .
See you standing there.
She trailed off, cheeks burning, feeling immeasurably silly.
With a gun to her head, Sam would say this stranger was five one?
Point was, what she lacked in height, she more than made up for in presence.
Shitty shoes aside, she, at least, had aimed to dress appropriately for the weather.
Sam cocked her head, brows drawing together.
The weather and the decade.
Unlike the pint-sized puzzle standing across from her.
Crinoline poofed out the swing skirt of her bubblegum pink dress, its sweetheart neckline cut daringly low.
She was impossible to miss and yet somehow Sam had missed her.
Its been a day.
After the night youve had, no one could blame you for being out of it.
Sam froze, heart dropping into her stomach.
The night Ive had?
What do you mean?
That proposal of yours?
Totally went tits up.
Excerpted from The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur.
Copyright 2025 by Alexandria Bellefleur.
No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
