Statistics of Sin: A Quantitative Analysis of Soul-Sale Frequency, Desire-Driven Regression and Crossroads Contractual Practices

by E.M. Ashwood

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2026

About the author

I’m E.M. Ashwood, and I write monster romances with too many footnotes, ridiculous levels of absurdity, and spice levels that could probably Mothman himself blush. My home life is equally cryptid-coded: one dog who moves like a wrecking ball, two cats that double as Halloween decorations, and a husband who keeps me fed when my ADHD brain forgets.

When I’m not writing (Who am I kidding, I’m always writing) I’m either cranking out yet another Star Wars fan-fiction to defend Anakin Skywalker’s honor with my best friend, researching cryptids I’d probably let take me to dinner, or with my nose stuck in my kindle reading about them.

Reviews

[Nicolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up, 🌶️🌶️ spice. This is the third installment in the Mating Habits of North American Cryptids series, and could be read as a standalone but there is briefly a character from the first book and brief mention of characters from the second. (Also I absolutely adore the first two books so I highly recommend reading them!) But back to this one…
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It is a slight turn from the format of the first two, and we have a more human-looking MMC this time around (but he is hundreds of years old and swarthy so that makes up for it). And I mean, what’s not hot about a second-chance romance with the demon you accidentally made a deal with years ago?? There’s also an amazingly loveable hellhound sidekick— where do I get one?! I’m hoping to see more of them in the future; I want to know how Mia’s grad program went! I was surprised by how many emotions I felt while reading this, I was literally ugly crying at one point. Definitely take a look at the content warnings as it is a little heavier than the first two books.
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I received a digital advanced review copy from the author. This review is my honest opinion.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
2/5🌶️

As with all of E.M. Ashwood’s books, I really enjoy the humor, storyline and character development in this third installment in the “Mating Habits of North American Cryptids” series. It’s one of those series that is such a vibe; the dialogue and way she describes things make me chuckle. While it technically can be read and enjoyed as a standalone, there is a prologue and epilogue with Dr. Lila Rhodes (from book 1) and mention of characters from the previous books. Not a dealbreaker if you haven’t read the previous books, but honestly please read them, it’s an enjoyable series. Her FMCs are always someone that I would want to be friends with. They’re hilarious, strong, may have some issues but literally me too, babe. I will say, the back-history of this FMC, Mia, is more serious and can be triggering (physical and mental abuse by stepfather), so please read the trigger warnings prior to reading. So with this trauma, she does have a daddy k!nk (Mia is self aware though, love that), but be prepared for that. If that’s triggering, maybe sit this one out.

Despite an explicit spicy scene pretty close to the beginning of the book, the majority of the book is plot-driven, but when we do get spice, it is very nice. This book focuses on Mia and J, our Demon Daddy slinging deals on the crossroads. Mia unknowingly makes a deal with the devil one night during a hawt tryst with a hottie bartender. Four years later, everything in her life seems to be going well, until she is forced to go back to those crossroads. Mia’s stuck with this demon and now realizes she only has 6 years left in her life. Will she be able to get out of her deal and send the demon away, or will accept her fate with her hot and surprisingly sweet demon?

Content, Trigger Warnings, etc
-Banter
-One night stand
-Forced proximity
-Second chance romance
-Suave yet caring morally grey MMC
-Women in STEM
-Demon Daddy
-Lovable hellhound (ilysm Ophelia)
-Touch her and d!e
-Explicit Spice (3ish scenes)
-Abuse by stepfather (mental, physical, and sexual)
-Daddy k!nk (may be triggering after hearing of FMCs previous trauma)

[balayageandbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I say that I'm obsessed with this mating habits of the North American Cryptids series....I mean I AM OBSESSED!
I did not put this book down...I devoured it.
Much like our MMC likes to do to this FMC...iykyk.
Once again we are dropped back into this crazy little world...we meet our favorite FMC in stem Dr. Rhodes and her beloved mate...Ash...Bigfoot. She is brought in to interview a female, our newest FMC. Dr. Rhoades walks into a bar....and of course we instantly know that this is going to be a wild ride.
And wild it was...from the heart break and trauma this FMC has endured...to the feeling of finally feeling safe....to having the rug ripped out from underneath her....it was all such an incredible read.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to fall for the ultimate villain? Well what if he was this tall drink of demon daddy...who really just wanted to help people...of course only at the minor cost of their soul.
The MMC, Mia does just that she falls for this stranger in a bar that brings her the type of comfort and safety no other male has ever offered her...alonf with some fatal attraction that neither of them can fight.
And the MMC, well he's actually not what you would expect out of a demon...I mean unless you mess with his mate...or his dog...who just happens to be the cutest little hell hound ever! And talk about he falls faster and even harder.
These two have this incredible push and pull...full of banter...and lots of chemistry.
And honestly what more could you ask for than a demon that would literally burn the world down for his mate?
This book had me laughing out loud from the banter.
Fanning myself from all the spice.
And on the edge of my seat from all the suspense.
Like I said this series has me in an absolute chokehold and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extra Hot Demon Dean from Supernatural

Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Darkness:🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
Angst:💔💔💔/5

I was captivated by E.M. Ashwood’s new paranormal romance, “Statistics of Sin: A Quantitative Analysis of Soul-Sale Frequency, Desire-Driven Regression, and Crossroads Contractual Practices.” I loved this third book in the ‘Mating Habits of North American Cryptids’ series. “Statistics of Sin” is spicy, campy, full of tension and banter. It's an enjoyable mix of a nontraditional take on a sinful Rumpelstiltskin and the extra-hot demonic Dean from Supernatural. I loved the continued cameos from previous books, especially the X-Files vibes brought by Lila. (I really hope we get a bonus epilogue in the North California meadow). FMC Mia is struggling to overcome her trauma when she stumbles into a crossroads bar and accidentally sells her soul to a handsome devil. He comes to collect early because he is obsessed with her, leading to a series of dark romance tropes: forced proximity, stalker, touching her and 💀, tension, banter, and tons of steam. The plot was a fun, wild ride, with surprising twists and excellent spice. I can't wait for book 4!

[Brittany Steminist Booknerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

STEM FMC: statistics grad student
This was ok. Same as her other books in the series. It needs another round of serious editing as there are a ton of grammatical errors and wrong words used throughout the book. I think I liked this storyline the most of the three books in the series so far, but I cringed super hard with the daddy kink, especially after knowing her background. Make sure you read the content warnings before you start this book because it’s not great in the beginning.
Since this is book 3, the format of the series may not make sense if you haven’t read the others, but the story itself can be read as a standalone.
For a demon book and how spicy it started out, I was expecting a lot more spice throughout, but it’s really more plot focused. Also, we get no epilogue or resolution on her future. Sad face.

[Aimee C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mia and Jude
What happens when you tell someone your problems and they actually make them dissappear. Did Mia drunkenly sell her soul? Yes she absolutely did but that's just the start of this story.Will she fall for the demon who ended the life of the monster in her shadows?

I couldn’t get enough of Jude and his sassy flirtatious demon self.Mia's mid afternoon naps with Ophelia the hellhound sound adorable.The tension between Mia and Jude after he makes her come back is so thick.Was pleasantly surprised to find Lila and Ash in the beginning of the book. The book was written well and the story comes full circle.And dont forget how hot the spicy scenes are.

[Alex S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was perfect! It is my new favourite!

Dean Winchester demon daddy, deal with the devil, touch her and die. The daddy stuff was a little weird given the trauma Mia had but I still enjoyed it.
Jude was perfect, so protected and such a shit! Mia was basically Sam, all nerdy looking up his lore, with the twist that they were lovers

The characters felt developed and well thought out. I enjoyed the found family aspect. And it was pretty spicy! But not just all sex scenes. I liked that Jude broke down her walls slowly and reassured her

And of course Ash and Lila, I love them so much.

[anidayneow · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was certainly an interesting book that is a part of an even more intriguing series. This is the first book I've read that a part of a series where the FMC is the same but the MMC changes. I don't have a lot of thoughts in general about this book in particular. It wasn't bad. I just feel like I was not part of the intended audience. Different strokes for different folks and all that. The writing style/formatting took some getting used to but that is something superficial and probably won't be a problem for other readers.

[Becca :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright stay with me here… dean winchester but make him a demon and also British. BOOM. This book.

I’m a sucker for a crossroads demon and lemme tell you this book made me stand outside at a four way intersection for a few hours just hopin and praying. JUDASSSSSSS!!!!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The book was great but the spelling/grammatical errors were quite crazy. I didn’t notice that many in the first two books, but I was also reading those quite fast and usually before bed.

[Laura Gibbs · Rating 1 out of 5]

The daddy kink gave me the ick way more than I thought it would.

[Denise O · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Mia goes on a road trip with her friends little does she realise her life is going to be bound to a Demon.

She meets J at bar, which happens to be at a crossroads, she feels a pull towards him, he is charming, hot, sexy and one night of passion leads to her accidentally making a deal with him.

And when she leaves him thinking she’ll never see him again he walks back into her life years after later, he never stopped thinking about her. Her soul is his and he is coming to collect her. Mia didn’t realise she was sealing a deal with a Demon that night and he wants her, he’s been waiting years to claim her.

The more Mia gets to know J maybe he’s not the monster she thought he was, he’ll never leave her and she can be vulnerable with him, she can let her walls down she can finally feel safe. He was all she could about and she wanted him.

And when there’s a threat looming, hunters are coming for J, she will protect him, he has become her home and her family 💕

This was such an amazing read, I definitely think it’s darker than the previous books. The undeniable lust building between Mia and J it’s all consuming, finding your family in a place you’d never expect.I love the elements of the supernatural in the story as well which was different from the previous books.