When I first read the description of Rhyll Biest’s Hell On Wheels, I’m pretty sure I exclaimed big, “Hell yeah.” The heroine is a princess of Hell, roped into a political marriage in order to try and best her brother, who’s been raging war within Hell’s realms. There is even mention of a demon roller derby bout later in the book. It sounded gritty, fun, and a great addition to the recent great paranormal and fantasy romances I’ve been reading. But ultimately, the inner workings of Hell and the overall environment were too confusing and the romance too uneven to live up to the book’s full potential.

Princess Valeda has been summoned back to Hell for marriage. She’s a knowledge demon with icy powers who also gains power when she learns new things or teaches others. For a period of time, she was living “topside” (in the human world), but was dragged back home for a political, arranged marriage. However, Valeda isn’t sure how beneficial she’ll wind up being because memories of her brother have been hidden away behind a mental wall, and the longer she remains in Hell, confronted by her brother’s presence, the weaker the wall becomes. If the wall falls in her mind, essentially her brain will turn to jelly.

Adriel is known as the Captain of Bloodshed and Slaughter and he’s been on the front lines, battling Valeda’s brother. He’s hoping that marriage to Valeda will give him some insight on how to help win the war, but he’s also cursed. So both Valeda and Adriel have their own secrets and baggage to deal with.

The romance opens with the wedding, so Adriel and Valeda are quickly thrown into a forced proximity plot, as they have to get to know each other while traveling on the battlefield. There’s also a rather large cast of characters, from soldiers serving with Adriel to Valeda’s many sisters. It’s all a little dizzying and I much preferred the scenes where it was just Adriel and Valeda, because it was easier to keep up.

As I mentioned before, my main gripe with the story is the world building, which is the crux of any successful paranormal or fantasy romance. If I don’t know how the world operates, I spend most of my reading time trying to piece together those details rather than becoming invested in the hero and heroine’s journey to happily ever after. A majority of the time while reading this book, I felt like I was missing information or that I had picked up a story somewhere in the middle of the series, where the rules of the world have already been established. For example, Valeda spent time “topside.” When this is first mentioned, it didn’t explain what that meant and I just sort of had to infer that “topside” was some sort of human realm. I wasn’t sure if supernatural beings and humans often coexisted or if it was a common thing for demons to be walking amongst humans. Did Valeda have to camouflage herself? Or was her journey to the human realm somewhat accepted, like a demon spring break? I had no clue and these little moments took me right out the story, which is a shame, because I expect to be fully enveloped in these fantastical worlds in paranormal romance.

Another reason I didn’t enjoy this book was the romance between Valeda and Adriel. I really loved Adriel. Valeda…not so much.

Despite his title, Adriel was a pretty understanding and gentle guy. He understood his new wife was unsure about the marital arrangement and might have some hesitation in going against her own brother. When Velda suffers a nosebleed on account of her mental wall being broken down by questions of her brother, he treats her with care and kindness, letting her rest. All he asks is for her to just help him out and be honest. Meanwhile, Valeda is stubborn and, at first, refuses to let Adriel know that helping him would cause her physical pain and even death the closer they get to confronting her brother. But the entire time, Adriel has given her no reason why he wouldn’t be sympathetic to her problem, or even downright accommodating.

There’s also a lot of repetition in the fact that Valeda called Adriel a “turnip-lover” or “turnip-breath” any chance she can get, a fact that is supposed to high light the class differences between Valeda (Hell royalty) and Adriel (a bastard and a commoner-turned-military commander). The more she uses the insult, the more immature Valeda comes across.

There were still some redeemable qualities to the story, though. See, Adriel, above. He’s a demon dreamboat! I’d also recommend that fans of Kresley Cole to give this book a try. It has that gritty action and snarky, raunchy character mix that Cole’s Immortals After Dark series does really well. I loved hearing about Valeda’s sisters and their unique personalities which reflect their individual abilities and powers. I hope that if this book is part of a series, that future romances focus on Valeda’s sisters because all of them are badass.

Though I was frequently taken out of the romance with my incessant questioning of how the world operated, it wasn’t a complete bust. I’m intrigued by the series, and I will definitely be on the lookout for future releases from Biest. While at its core, Hell On Wheels has a interesting setup, it was the lackluster finishing of the details that left me disappointed and wanting answers.