Three months ago, I landed a job as a bartender. But not at a bar–at a guild. Yeah, the magic kind.I’m not a badass mage like my three smokin’ hot best friends. I’m not a sorcerer or an alchemist, or even a wussy witch. I’m just a human, slinging drinks like a pro and keeping my non-magical nose out of mythic business. Seriously, I know my limits.So why am I currently standing in a black-magic … standing in a black-magic ritual circle across from a fae lord?
Somewhere behind me, my three mage friends are battling for their lives. Somewhere near my feet is the rogue witch I just knocked out with a stolen spell. And I have about five seconds to convince this very angry sea god not to shmoosh me like a bug.
I’m pretty sure this wasn’t in the job description.
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THE GUILD CODEX: SPELLBOUND
Three Mages and a Margarita (#1)
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri (#2)
Two Witches and a Whiskey (#3)
Demon Magic and a Martini (#4)
more
I never know what to expect with Annette’s books and I absolutely love that! This was another wonderful installment to this fantastic world that she has yet again created! I was hooked from the very first page and read the whole book in 4 short hours! I love Tori so much and all her friends! I can’t wait for the next book! Hurry up April! <3 <3
Two Witches and a Whiskey
The Guild Codex: Spellbound, Book 3
By: Annette Marie
Narrated by: Cris Dukehart
This continues the great series with more of Ghost, an accidental binding to a Fae Lord that is slowly killing her, a fall out with her brother, and more awesome magical situations!
The narration continues to be excellent!
Addictive, Intoxicating and spellbinding, this set of books always leaves you wanting more and reaching for the next part of the storey. Not just a Fabulous set of books but this series by Annette Marie is an Addiction!!!!! I loved everything about this series of books and just couldn’t put them down, fantastically written with stunning and captivating characters, Multi layers of sub plots that are easily followed and wonderful action with romance. A must read for so many reasons. I am sure you will love these books as much as I did.
It gets better and better
An absolutely phenomenal series that gets better with every book in it. I love angsty characters, the love, the family… It comes with every thing a great should.
Amazing delighted fun
“Fine, you’re an evil bastard. But you’re still a good friend.”
His mouth twisted. “We’re not friends, Tori.”
“Yes, we are.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Hey Kai!” I said brightly. His eyes narrowed immediately. “What?” I demanded, wounded by his wariness.
Faint amusement touched his features. “Tori, if you don’t want to seem suspicious, don’t act so sweet and sugary.”
Another great book! I loved it. Tori is once again fighting to survive because she risked herself to save another being. I love how these books are written. Tori, Ezra, Kai, and Aaron are a well oiled team. Tori has Zak she can call for help now as well. She finally is where she belongs and knows it by the end of this one and I love it!
I enjoyed the book. This one had me a little on the edge of my seat wanting to see what was going to happen next. I stayed up way too late to finish it, thankfully I didn’t have work the next day! I liked Tori, she was funny & snarky -for the most part. A few times, she was too snarky or over the top. The 3 guys (Aaron, Kai, & Ezra), were great in this book, I’m getting a better feel for them. I really liked the reappearance of The Ghost/Zach, he’s my favorite character in this book, hands down. I kind of was hoping it would develop into a romantic relationship for him & Tori, but it looks like we won’t be seeing him for a while again. I have to say, all the books so far, don’t really read as romance. She has a few moments where she gets a little flutter over any one of the 4 guys (I’m not sure that it’s just because they are all supposed to be such great looking guys), & I think maybe this is the one, but nothing really happens, other than the flirting. Great series.
4.5
Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited
Quick-tempered bartender Tori Dawson is a human slinging drinks at a guild for the mythical magic users in town. Well, until the MPD find out and fire her ass. No humans allowed. Pfft. But until then, she’s happier than she’s ever been and earning more money than she ever has. Too bad it’ll eventually end. Or will it?
Tori’s slide into the magical mythical world gets a little deeper with each book. This time she gets mixed up in a nasty business involving disappearing lesser Fae and an attempt to bind a powerful sea Fae Lord. Whoa, boy. There’s danger galore and humor as well as great characters. And the ending is pretty awesome. I love it and I’m looking forward to more of Tori’s adventures with her guild friends.
Annette Marie is the proverbial pot of gold: an author who consistently delivers high quality well written, well edited, grammatically correct, original, entertaining stories. She invites you into her worlds and you never want to leave.
Every time I finish one of her books, my first thought is to read it again, to savor the characters, their development, and their relationships. The relationships developed in her books, both friendships and romantic, develop gradually, revealing layers and connections that strengthen over time. She creates people, not tropes.
Her plots are strong, complex, and keep you riveted. The worlds she creates are internally consistent and vividly imagined.
I realize this is a generic sort of review, but I plan to leave it for all her books. From the Red Winter series (mythic Japan); to the Steel & Stones series, including Piper and Ash, and the Lyre and Clio books; and the Guild Codex series, now including the Robin Piper demon-training: I have yet to find anything less than pure enjoyment, and great respect for her talent.
The best in the series yet! I absolutely loved it!! Full of sass, suspense, action and a whole lot of entertaining fun! Like the others in the series I had a hard time putting this book down. I really enjoyed learning more about the characters especially my favorites Kai and Zak!!
I received an Advance Reader Copy at no cost from the publisher/author. This review MAY contain spoilers.
Oh, this series delights me ever so much! I truly wish that it would never end. This series has it all! Scenes that will make you laugh out loud, high stakes, magic, a grip of handsome mythic men to drool over, and a heroine that has no superpowers but can still kick ass with the rest of them.
I am so glad that Annette Marie decided to go the route of episodic episodes for this series. While elements from each book crossover to the next in the series, each book has a self-contained plot. While there is enough information planted into the books to leave some mystery and plot points to grow on for future books, there are no cliffhangers. Marie is a truly skilled plotter. Her stories take on a life of their own. The construction of her stories is always incredibly clever and the basis of them is always unique. It is what I have come to expect from her stories and I have never been disappointed. I love that I never know what to expect from the plot and that I am always surprised by the outcomes.
The world-building is much the same as in the first two books. The world itself is set in our own world, but with a secret, underlying magic world underneath. I am really enjoying the interesting magic system that Marie has created for this series. We get to explore some more of the rules and exceptions to that magic system in this book.
The characters are the absolute best! They are so easy to love. They have perfect chemistry and they feel like a family. I love the deep underlying aspect of friendship in this series. The characters care so much for each other and will go to great lengths for each other in this sometimes dangerous mythic world. There is also a large aspect of family or found/chosen family. The guild is a family for those that are members and Tori has been lacking in this department for most of her life so the guild becomes that for her as well. The characters are all written with enough mystery about them and their pasts to make you wonder what the missing pieces are and how they may fit into the story in later books. I liked that Tori was going through some deep personal emotions. She has to face her fears that if she should lose her job at the guild then her new friends would be lost to her as well. She faces her abandonment issues from her past with a little help from Ezra. I liked seeing more of Kai in this book. A look at his past was awesome. I liked that Zak returned in this book. I love his character and this book just cemented my love for him. I also liked the parts with Darius. He is the leader of the guild and he is as sharp as a blade and has a big heart. I liked the tender moments with Ezra. Aaron is trying to decipher his relationship with Tori. And I liked the introduction of new characters that kept things interesting. Bottom line, Marie can write characters like no one else. They are always complex with unbelievable chemistry.
There wasn’t as much romance in this book. Tori and Aaron are trying to sort out their feelings for each other, but I don’t want to get into it much because…spoilers. Let’s just say that I wasn’t surprised by anything.
This series is certainly addicting. I definitely recommend this series to fantasy lovers that enjoy fast-paced plots, an original story premise, and characters that will make you laugh out loud. It is ever so easy to fall in love with these books. I can’t wait for the next installment of this series, Demon Magic and a Martini, which comes out in April! (Oh god, it feels like forever!)
In this story, Tori seems a bit morose at times. She’s hiding from MagiPol and afraid that she’s going to have to give up her life with the Guild as a result of being on MagiPol’s radar. She’s feeling pretty down about being ‘only’ human. While taking a break from her job as a bartender for the Crow and Hammer, she inadvertently signs the Guild up to help a witch coven investigate the loss of several small fae from their territory. The resulting adventure, and some surprising twists to Tori’s personal life and identity (no more details, don’t want to spoil the book!) make this, the third book of the Guild Codex, just as fun and engaging as the first two books of the series.
(trying to do a spoiler-free review here)
Every one of the Guild Codex books have been great, but this one wins (so far!). The action is fast-paced but never feels forced. The character interaction has only grown more intense over the books, with friendships made and growing, or conflict coming up in unexpected places.
I’ve hoped for the ending of this book since book one, and I’m so glad it’s finlly happened!
Absolutely amazing!!! as always… this instalment to Tori’s journey just stole my heart, epic fight scene, loveable enthralling main characters, hatable bad guys you want to die, brilliant story amazing plot twists, this just made me laugh out loud as well as well up on more than one accession. It was written so well you felt Tori’s whole journey like you where right there with her… catching your breath and waiting on the outcomes right next to her. JUST AMAZING!!!!!
I just love jumping into a book in this series, and this latest addition, the third, was the best yet. Tori is still being hidden from the MPD, and now it looks like she might never be able to go back the Guild as it’s being investigated by two members of the MPD. I just felt so much for her as she was worried she’d lose her friends and boyfriend. However, we know that wouldn’t happen! Not only was the plot fun and engaging, we get to see things happen that needed to happen (hmmm, what could I mean by that?!?) and characters were added along the way (yay!). Along the way, Tori comes to a realization about Aaron which threw me for a loop in a good way. I love the way the author dealt with this. (Can’t say much: spoilers!) And, the end of the book is just a great way to bring Tori into the fold, as it were. I loved this latest in the series, and I have a serious case of “give me the next one NOW!” I highly recommend this book and series to those who love well-written urban fantasy with terrific characters. I was provided an e-copy which I voluntarily reviewed.