Warping Minds and Misdemeanors by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen

4 Star

Kit Morris had no idea what he was until he joined a guild.  If only he had joined a different guild he wouldn't be screwed.  He's wanted by Agent Lienna Shen for conning people out of their money.  Agent Shen needs him to get his former best friend.  She is willing to cut a deal if he helps.  He may be saying he's helping but he's really looking for a way out to save him self.  That is until he sees the true consequences of what his former friend is trying to do.  Will his change of heart come in time?

This is a spin off of the original series and I enjoyed it a lot.  It does help to have read at least a couple in the other series as the world building is all in those books and not this one.   I really enjoyed the process Kit went through from I need to rescue myself to I need to rescue the world.  The pacing was good in this book.  I didn't want to stop listening to it to do other things.  It will be interesting to see where the series goes.   

Audio Book: 4 Star

Loved Iggy Toma.  He did a really good job with keeping the story moving for me. Even faster paced he brought nuance and character to the people who was speaking for.

Book 1 The Guild Codex: Warped

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Slaying Monsters for the Feeble by Annette Marie

3 Stars

Robin and company are back looking for how to release Zylas so he can go home.  Robin is also trying to track her uncle down before the bad guys since he has a book that might help.  She has to do all of this while dealing with an increase of Vampires in the city that need to be taken out.  Robin will need to deal with all of this while keeping her secret.

 

This is a very weak 3 stars for me.  I found Robin to be very annoying.  She just whined throughout the whole book.  She is so weak and can’t defend herself…oh woe is me I can’t protect myself.  She kept going on about it but never took steps to change that.  Robin also seemed to not understand that Zylas didn’t have the same morals as she does so when he says he would kill someone she threatened not to help him.  This broke trust and she couldn’t understand why he was so mad at her about this.  The other big issue was personality of characters shifted.  In the first book the uncle was a major dick that you hoped would get his comeuppance well in this book he’s a shadow of himself.  He’s all about handing the book over to his niece and just wants to be a family.  Characters can change but you have to explain or show why the shift happened otherwise you confuse your readers.  I was also confused by why Zora was able to threaten Robin with exposer.  The head of the guild knows everything so why not go to him.  Instead they set the next book up to her being monitored by Zora.  It disregards plot points from the first book.  The book also felt like it took forever to get to the point and I struggled with getting through it.  It was a little disappointing since I really liked the first book.  I still will check out the next book since I already bought it but I will wait to see if I like that one to buy the fourth book.

 

 

Book 2 Guild Codex: Demonized

Alchemist and an Amaretto by Annette Marie

4 Stars

Tori and her boys are heading to Aaron’s parents estate for Christmas.  What should have been a relaxing vacation after all the chaos turns into another case for them to solve.  Students are being injured on the grounds by a mystery force and it needs to be stopped.

This book had a bit of a pacing issues.  It was slow getting into the mystery part of it and then it was rushed at the end to wrap it up.  I had to reread part of the end to get all the nuances.  I did enjoy the story.  At one point Aaron was being a dick and he got called on it and actually apologized for reverting back to the person he didn’t like.  I also liked seeing the story progress to explain more of the ARC of plot with Ezra.  I still really enjoyed reading it and I want to read the next ASAP to find out what is going to happen next. 

Book 5 Guild Codex: Spellbound

Demon Magic and a Martini by Annette Marie

5 Stars

There’s a demon loose in the city and the guild will need to work with the other guilds in the city to end the terror.  Tori and her friends will need to work together to keep secrets from those who would ruin their life. 

The story takes up where the last book left off.  It had good pacing.  There weren’t any lags in the story.  There was some overlap with another one of Annette Marie’s books but it didn’t repeat what was in the other book so it didn’t frustrate me at all.  I really like the progress we saw in the relationships as well as finding out new things about each of the characters.  I can’t wait to read the next book to see what else is going to happen with the characters.

 

Book 4 Guild Codex: Spellbound

2 Witches and a Whiskey by Annette Marie

3.5 Stars

Three months on the job and things are working out nicely for Tori until the Magical Police come into the Guild House one night.  All of a sudden Tori’s life changes drastically.  She can no longer hang with her friends or work for fear of being discovered.  How will she find a way to keep her job and the people she’s come to love from getting into trouble for letting a non-magical being into the Guild.

I didn’t like this one as much as the last couple of her books.  Tori seemed less sure of herself in this book and it was a little frustrating.  The author also keeps saying these books aren’t reverse harem books but this book seemed like it was shifting that way.  If it is then I am fine with that but that isn’t what she keeps saying.  The story also had a bit of a pacing issue.  It started off slow for me but it did pick up and the rest of the book was good.  Nothing in this book makes it so I don’t want to read the next book in the series but I was a bit frustrated with it.

 

Book 3 of The Guild Codex: Spellbound

Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie

4 Stars

Robin was forced to move in with her uncle’s family after the death of her parents.  She was given three rules.

Rule One: Don’t look at the demon

Rule Two: Don’t listen to the demon

Rule Three: Don’t talk to the demon

She proceeds to ignore all of these rules and accidentally forms a pact with a demon.  Now she has to figure out how to free the demon from her without anyone in the magical community finding out they are bound like they should.

There were some pacing issues with this story for me.  There were a couple times it was a little slow and I was wanting it to move on already.  Part of that might be because this book overlaps Dark Arts and Daiquiri and has similar scenes but from a different perspective.  Overall though I loved the story.  I also love Annette Marie’s writing style.  It flows nicely with parts being serious and parts being super funny.  I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series to see where this spin off series is going.

Book 1 The Guild Codex: Demonized

Dark Arts and Daiquiri by Annette Marie

5 Stars

Kai, Aaron, and Ezra talk Tori into being bait for a highly sought after mage.  The mage takes the bait and absconds with Tori.  Leaving the 3 mages in a panic trying to track her down.  Tori finds out things aren’t quite as they seem and she’s going to have to figure out how deep she wants to go to straighten things out.

This book was so funny.  It literally starts with Tori negotiating with a fae for her apartment.  He isn’t interested in sharing and she’s desperate for a reasonably priced place to live.  I loved the interpersonal relationships and the inter play between her and the rest of the magical community.  Like the fact that her form kept going missing and no one would fess up to where it went just because everyone wanted to keep her.  I blew this book so fast and couldn’t wait to start the next book.

Book 2 Guild Codex: Spellbound

Chase the Dark by Annette Marie

3.5 Stars

Piper Griffiths only wants to be come a Consul.  That was her plan until her house explodes.  When she is excused of being in on the theft she goes on the run with the incubus Lyre and Draconian Ash.  They have to find who broke into her home and find the stolen artifact to clear her name.

I picked this book up after finishing one of Annette Marie’s other books.  I have loved everything else that I’ve read by her and I figured this would be right up there with them.  This book had more issues for me.  I felt the pacing was off and there needed to be more world building.  It seemed like there were action packed parts and then parts that lagged and then it would speed up again.  I found I kept putting the book down because of the pacing issue.  I will still read the next book and am hoping the pacing gets better.  Plot points were pulled out to explain things and it was frustrating to have something suddenly be introduced to explain a plot point.

Book 1 Steel & Stone

Three Mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie

5 Stars

Waitress Tori has recently lost her job.  If not for her brother’s couch she would be on the street.  While looking for another job she stumbles into a bar where she is told anything goes.  No matter what the customer does she can give it back without reprisal. She thinks the guild is weird but she can give as good as she gets.  It’s not until the next day that it’s discovered that she is 100% human and should never have been in the bar to begin with.  However, they are so short staffed that they are willing to let her work on trial basis. 

This book was amazing.  There was so much humor in the book but it was also series.  I loved the Tori. She had no shits to give and wasn’t willing to put up with anyone.  The title makes it sound like a reverse harem book and it isn’t.  There may or may not be a love interest but by the end of the book there wasn’t anyone.  I loved the fact that no matter who had magic Tori played a pivotal part in bringing down the bad guys and saving the distressed person.  I cannot wait to read the next book.  Highly recommend this book if you like urban fantasy.

Book 1 Guild Codex: Spellbound