The Alchemist and an Amaretto by Annette Marie
# 5 Guild Codex: Spellbound
Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy
Published: 10.11.19
Pages: 342
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format: ebook
Source: library borrow
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
As a guild bartender, I can handle pretty much anything—mages, sorcerers, witches, the occasional demon. But show me anything family-related and I'd rather run for the hills. It doesn't even have to be my family.
So I have no idea why I thought spending the holidays with Aaron's mom and pop was a good idea.
Meeting his famous parents is already terrifying enough, but I've got a bigger problem. Students of his family's renowned mage academy are being attacked on the grounds—and somehow no one has seen a single assailant? Unexplained tracks litter the nearby woods, rumors of forbidden alchemy are circulating the campus...and Ezra has been acting strangely since we arrived.
Something deadly is brewing in the shadow of Sinclair Academy, and the longer we take to uncover it, the more dangerous it becomes. But no matter the risk, we'll protect the students.
And Aaron's parents too, I suppose. If we have to.
Sophia Rose's Review:
Home for the holidays is a concept that gives Tori the hives and particularly since the said home is Aaron’s elite, powerful magic-wielding parents and their prestigious academy guild. But even the most confident mythics can get rattled when its not Santa paying them a visit, but a pack of feral werewolves of an unusual strength and cunning.
Annette Marie’s Guild Codex universe has become a wondrous imaginary world that I can’t wait to return to time and time again. The latest, The Alchemist and the Amaretto, fifth in the Guild Codex: Spellbound sub-series and eight in the Guild Codex universe departs from the mean streets and Crow and Hammer of Vancouver for a lush island magical academy setting and the world Aaron grew up in.
Building on the books that have come before, The Alchemist and an Amaretto is not a good place for newbies to begin. At this point, Tori is struggling to gel her brother’s hostile attitude toward her magical guild friends and found family with all that she has come to love and hold dear. She’s a newly made non-magical member of the guild though she packs a punch in her acquired magical objects collection and growing knowledge in being a combat mythic with her best friends and teammates, Aaron, Kai, and Ezra.
Speaking of them, the friendship is not uncomplicated as she and Aaron tried dating, but decided they were better as friends, Kai’s serial dating life when he actually loves one woman and his powerful criminal family want him to marry for a business connection to another guild, and Ezra’s big secret about the demon in residence inside him that is slowly overpowering him and will eventually take over. But, Tori’s growing attraction for Ezra is what keeps her twisted up and off balance the most.
Good thing a distraction in the form of panic over visiting Aaron’s classy family and their academy guild for the holidays, keeps her distracted. Sin is going to visit her sister who is attending there and Tori gets to see first hand the life Aaron turned his back on for a relatively obscure guild and work as a magical bountyhunter. His parents continue to push and maneuver to get him back in his world, the mages of the guild are gossips and backstabbers, and the elite world of magical people there is disrupted by a growing threat in the grounds.
Feral werewolves are attacking students and anyone who goes near the woods. People are disappearing- and getting infected. Someone dear to Tori, in fact. Time is of essence to get to the bottom of it all and a talented alchemist and druid might not be enough.
I love how each book continues to expand the world of this series. The unique take on werewolfism is explored as is the power of alchemy. Tori has been working out with the guys in physical combat drills and combining this with her belt of magical objects. She still feels intimidated by what she doesn’t know and others with powers, but she is slowly yet surely learning, growing, and particularly, growing in confidence that she belongs and is part of the team.
I saw quickly enough who was behind it all and even why, but there was also a twist to it that I think ties into the growing sense of forces at work behind the recent adventures Tori and the gang have been facing that is running parallel to what her rogue druid friend and even the rookie MPD team of Kit and Liena are investigating in their sub-series storylines.
Tori is also confronted with a painful revelation just as she is learning that its okay to put herself out there and try for a relationship. The one person she wants to take a chance on has reasons why they can’t give her any hope. I’m cheering on stubborn Tori to find a way.
So, another engrossing urban fantasy adventure for Tori and her friends leaving me as eager as ever to press forward with the Guild Codex Universe series.
Author Bio:
Annette Marie is the best-selling author of over thirty books, including the expansive urban fantasy series The Guild Codex, epic urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, and romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter.
A 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist in Fantasy and an Amazon Charts Bestseller, Annette has sold over 2 million books. Her books have been translated into French, German, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian, with readers coming back again and again for her addictive blend of fast-paced adventure, tantalizing forbidden romance, and unforgettable characters.
Annette lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it’s not quite that bad) with her husband and their furry minions of darkness. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in her garden or an art project while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.
To find out more about Annette and her books, visit www.annettemarie.ca
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
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