Three Mages and a Margarita

The Guild Codex: Spellbound Series, Book 1

By: Annette Marie

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

Broke, almost homeless, and recently fired. Those are my official reasons for answering a wanted ad for a skeevy-looking bartender gig. 

It went downhill the moment they asked me to do a trial shift instead of an interview - to see if I'd mesh with their "special" clientele. I think that part went great. Their customers were complete dickheads, and I was an asshole right back. That's the definition of fitting in, right? 

I expected to get thrown out on my ass. Instead, they...offered me the job? 

It turns out this place isn't a bar. It's a guild. And the three cocky guys I drenched with a margarita during my trial? Yeah, they were mages. Either I'm exactly the kind of takes-no-sh-t bartender this guild needs, or there's a good reason no one else wants to work here. 

So what's a broke girl to do? Take the job, of course - with a pay raise. 

Make sure to check out the companion series, The Guild Codex: Demonized, available now, and The Guild Codex: Warped, coauthored by Rob Jacobsen.

©2018 Annette Marie (P)2018 Tantor

Enjoyable and fun

Not epic but a light fun magical read. Nothing made me roll my eyes which is an accomplishment in itself, no over flowery romance or stupid dialogue, just light quirky characters with a fun story, nothing mind bending or surprised but pleasant with laughs.

No spoilers

This is the first book I've listened/read by MS Marie and I liked it a lot and will try more of her books. This one was full of action through out, suspense and some laughs no flat spots in the book moved along nicely. I wouldn't say it was a must read but it was entertaining and I will be reading/listening the next in the series. As far as the narrator MS Dukeheart she did a fantastic job loved her voice. She brought this book to life did the voices of all the characters very well. Without hesitation i will listen to any book read by her. Highly recommend the Audible and it's a nice price too. After you read this series try M.L Ryan Corsedon series or Deborh Dunbar Imp series both very good but read this first and enjoy like I did.

Fluffy Fun for the Win

The normal pattern is that our hero is a supernatural in a human world who saves the day, this time around its a mortal who stumbles into the supernatural world and whilst not quite saving the day, does seem to use her own mortalness to help out.
It is a cute story and I'm looking forwarding to more.
#fluffyfun #mortalhero #supernaturalbar #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Damsel in Distress with hot guys

I am not into female characters evolving only around men, the damsel in distress story is too old school for me and there are too many books now that try to force multiple love interests to one girl instead of developing her as somewhat individual character its this constant protect the female vibe. The narration was very good but the story sucked.

Like it was written from a playbook

Trite, simple and shallow. That is the story, the characters, the MC and well... the whole thing. I could not believe how dead linear the progression of the story was or how ridiculous the MC was. "Oh, look, I'm a super hot and hot-headed ginger who has ZERO skills or self-control but everything bad that happens to me is someone else's fault and not because of my own choices in life and OH YEAH, I have no powers but I'm constantly saving the lives of these three totally hot guys who are SO into me right now". Not even books that target adolescent boys are this trite.

Young Adult or Teen level story. Basic writing

Just a straight forward story of a young woman who is mouthy and has poor judgment and has no critical thinking skills and who is focused on young men and needs to be protected and rescued by the same young men. Plain writing with few interesting descriptions, observations, or plot twists.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

It is sooo hard now days to find a good book where the Heroin is not whinny or waiting on a guy to save here. And let me tell you this book is amazing! I loved every second of it. The MC is not one to let people push her around, nor is she one to just stand by and let the guy do all the saving. She is smart and has a lot of attitude, and a bit of a temper. But this book has you smiling and laughing and rooting for her to kick butt. She does not have "gifts" of her own so she is a human helping mages and let me tell you that she is doing a fantastic job doing it.

I am already excited to get the next one! This is a fantastic series!

Also the narrator was perfect for this series. Just the right tone for all of them and you can tell everybody apart which makes the book play like a movie in your head. I definitely recommend this one!

Ok

I’m not a fan because she is pretty much just a boring human and need her mage friends to protect her based on the title I thought she would have some unknown magic and be strong but nope I am not a fan of boring weak heroines in a paranormal book. I didn’t finish listening after the part where one of the guys had to babysit her and others had powers all she can do is yell and punch them in the face

Teen Urban Fantasy

When the cosmos puts a mundane amoungst the mystics, she finds a home, a place to be, happiness. The main character has something... critical thinking ability, like Sherlock Holmes, as well as a willingness to put herself in harms way for the peeps she cares for. An excellent trait. This was a satisfying read, no over the top hot and humping...

Thin tale

Very thin plot with the lone non-magical person being the lone non-witless person.

An Excellent Listen

This book was a blast, plain and simple. Great story, interesting characters and some really funny moments. I've already picked up the second, and hoping its just as good as this one.

Brilliant!

I love the story. I love the mc. I love the fact she kicks was and saves butts but also needs a bit of saving . Looking forward to new adventures!

An Action-Packed Story To Kick Start The Series!

Annette Marie is a new-to-me author, I must confess to being a bit weary as she is a well respected YA author and I usually avoid YA like the plague, but I quickly found myself really enjoying this book.
I liked her writing style and I found this story easy to read. The prose and pace used was good: the tale never felt rushed and came without any dreaded information dumps or slumps.

I downloaded the ebook for free using my Kindle Unlimited subscription and used my Audible credit to add the narration. Cris Dukehart is a new-to-me voice actor and as a narrated book, I was impressed with her performance; loving the pace at which she read the story and her slight tonal adjustments for the dialogue. I think the narration encapsulated Tori's character and the feel of the story brilliantly. I would definitely buy books narrated by her in the future.

Three Mages and a Margarita had all the aspects that I look for in a great story: intelligent writing style that’s easy to read, main characters with depth of personality that I can like and believe in, depth of character in the supporting cast, believable background story and setting and a balanced mix of relationship, tension, action and mystery. I loved the fact that the mystery and conflict was satisfactorily concluded by the end of the book while still leaving enough threads and interest to tempt me into getting the next book.

I would recommend this book to fans of mystery stories who enjoy adventure within an urban fantasy setting and don’t mind a bit of bloody action and a sprinkling of romance thrown in.

Missing Something.... Powers

This book had great potential however I couldn't help but wish the lead character had some powers... I know this is what the author was going for... a human surviving in a non human environment but frankly it was boring. The story around how she ended up getting a job in the guild was also weak. Much better stories out there.

Omg !!!

I absolutely loved this book and the characters, the book was full of action and made me lol alot ,not good when in public, but who cares 🤣🤣 can't wait to listen to book two !!! Highly recommend.

Perfect escape

I really liked the escapism this gave me. Easy to listen to and couldn't wait to hear it again

Fun, funny, and captivating

Chris Dukehart does a stand up job of captivating the MC's essence. (the only issue I have with her performance is sometimes she pronounces words in a weird or unfamiliar way "quay" as "kway" instead of "keee" for example).

Tori is hilarious. I love her grumpiness and her stubbornness. Her character shines through in her every decision.
Actually, all of the characters stand out wonderfully. They're so individual and interesting and dynamic.
The story itself is fun, and interesting. I spent a lot of my time in heart-pounding tension or grinning ear to ear.
I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy, especially hidden magical worlds.

lovet it!

i could not stop laughing at the awesome characters and fun story. im realy looking forwardto the next one.

Great Read

Great book to listen to to while sitting in the summer sun. Good story, keeps you intrigued, nothing too heavy to have to concentrate on.

Surprising little gem

This author is a new to me, I have not read or listened to any of her work before, but after listening to this, I will definitely be listening to/reading more.

Tori is a hot headed redhead who has had 6 jobs in 8 months and gets fired from them due to her temper. The story starts with a customer looking to get their meal for free, but Tori's having none of it, she ends up getting fired. She trudges home to the apartment she shares with her cop brother.

She looks for another job and comes across an advert for a bar maid. She goes to the bar and she's given a trial shift, during which she throws a margarita at a customer. Instead of getting fired, she's given the job.

However, things are not what they seem - it's no ordinary bar, but a bar for magicals, and she's human, a human that is unaware that magic exists.

Tori's a great character, full of snark and spunk, says what she wants and often lets her temper get the better of her. And she's not afraid to step in and help her new friends out when needed, despite not having magic like them.

I liked the narrator, she told the story well and made it enjoyable to listen to.