THREE MAGES AND A MARGARITA

Three Mages And A Margarita by Annette Marie
Book 1 in the The Guild Codex series
Narrated by Cris Dukehart
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Three Mages And A Margarita:

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 for 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 jerks, 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-shit 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.

Source: Info in the About Three Mages And A Margarita was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41748044-three-mages-and-a-margarita on 01/05/2020.

Buy Link(s):
 

My Thoughts:

Good start to a new-to-me series!

It started off slow but it picked up about halfway into the book. I like the premise. I also like the way the story is told. What I didn't like is the fight scene where the protagonist just stand there while people around her got beaten up by the bad guys. Makes me wanna scream like, "Pick up the damn frying pan and whack the bad guys with it!". But, other than that, the story building was solid.

The cover art is kind of misleading though, because our heroine is supposed to be human and has no magic. So that light thingie at the end of her fingers in the cover (which I presume is suppose to denote magic) is not true.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (7 hrs and 14 mins listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Meet The Author

About Annette Marie:

Annette Marie is the author of YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, romantic fantasy Red Winter, and sassy UF series The Guild Codex.

Her first love is fantasy, while fast-paced adventures and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She proudly admits she has a thing for dragons, and her editor has inquired as to whether she intends to include them in every single book.

Annette lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it’s not quite that bad). She shares her life with her husband and their furry minion of darkness — sorry, cat — Caesar. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.

Find out more about Annette and her books at www.annettemarie.ca.

annettemarie.ca | twitter | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Cris Dukehart:

A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Cris Dukehart has recorded over 300 audiobooks across genres.

An Audie Nominee and Earphones Award Winner, she lives with her daughter and a hairy white monster dog, dividing her time between a little Post-it Note Cottage in Pennsylvania and a mountaintop house in the Caribbean.

www.crisdukehart.com | blog | twitter | facebook | instagram | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

KEYSTONE

Keystone by Dannika Dark
Book 1 of the Crossbreed Series
Read by Nicole Poole
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Keystone:

Raven Black hunts evildoers for fun, but her vigilante justice isn’t the only reason she’s hiding from the law. Half Vampire, half Mage, she’s spent years living as a rogue to stay alive. When a Russian Shifter offers her a job in his covert organization hunting outlaws, dignity and a respectable career are finally within her grasp. The catch? Her new partner is Christian Poe - a smug, handsome Vampire whom she’d rather stake than go on a stakeout with.

They're hot on the trail of a human killer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. One misstep during her probationary period could jeopardize Raven’s chance at redemption, and her partner would love nothing more than to see her fail. Will Raven find the courage to succeed, or will she give in to her dark nature?

Dark secrets, unexpected twists, and a blurred line between good and evil will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Source: Info in the About Keystone was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33869571-keystone on 07/08/2018.

My Thoughts:

This is a new-to-me series, and I was excited to discover a "possibly" another great read(s)... This is also my first Dannika Dark book so I am not familiar with this author's voice before I started reading this book.

I like the way Nicole Poole reads. It's not aggravating to the ears.

The promise of possibilities in the world building is exciting. There are vampires and shifters and magic. It started with good narrative and believable scenes. Then it was kind of downhill from there.

I do not like inconsistent magic rules. All along the narrative it says that clothes don't change with the shifter. Then all of a sudden Blue flies off as a peregrine and her clothes magically disappear... WTF! If you make up the rules, stick with them! Inconsistency destroys the believability in the story!

After all that moaning, the book wasn't all that bad. It has its moments. However, I do not think I would be buying anymore books in this series.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 3.5
World building = 3.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (10hrs & 15mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

AWAKENED BY FIRE by Erin Kellison

Awakened By Fire by Erin Kellison
Book 2 of the Dragons Of Bloodfire series
Read by Fleet Cooper
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: kindle ebook & audiobook

About Awakened By Fire:

Billionaire dragon shifter and Bloodkin Triad member Warrick Voclain is no stranger to power. But when his trusted steward’s beautiful granddaughter — all grown up and successful in her own right — seems to be using illegal magic in his presence, he is thrown for a loop. And the fact that she’s doing so to protect him? Alarming.

Samantha Vine needs to stay under the radar, or her secret gift will get her and her granddad killed. She didn’t intend for her quick visit home to stretch into weeks in Warrick’s company, but anyone striking at Warrick would also hurt her granddad. Only she has the ability to see what’s coming… though she’ll need Warrick’s help to stop it.

The use of such magic is punishable by death, and Warrick’s position on the Triad requires that he adhere to the rule of law. But the attraction between them is electric, stirring his blood and straining his control.

Adversaries wait in every shadow, and the easiest way to strike down a powerful dragon is to go for the heart… in Warrick’s case, Samantha. With fire and blood, he’ll reshape the world into one that’s safe for her. And those that don’t bend to his will? They will burn.

Source: Info in the About Awakened By Fire was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27802060-awakened-by-fire on 15/07/2018.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed the first book in this series a lot, so of course the second book got bought and read!

This book is a whole lot longer than the first one. Ten hours worth of listening time as opposed to the four hours of listening time with Tempted By Fire. With the first book, I was dazzled with the fantastic world building and marvellous story telling quality. With this one, the novelty kind of started to wane already. I had time to digest and the character development was not as good as I first thought it was. Also like the first book, I like Fleet Cooper's narration, even though, Thane and Warrick now have the same growly voice.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 16 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Dragons Of Bloodfire Series:

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook was downloaded for free, as a freebie item on amazon. The audiobook copy of the book was purchased with private funds. No money received for this review.

THE HIDDEN

The Hidden by Ivy Asher
Book 1 in the Shadowed Wings series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: kindle ebook

About The Hidden:

I am a latent wolf shifter.
Or so I thought.

Then life as I knew it changed in a flash — or more accurately, an electrocution.

I’ve woken up in a strange place, surrounded by strange people who hate me. They’re in the middle of a war, and I look like I belong on the wrong side of it.

If that’s not enough to qualify as a really bad day, I now have wings and a strange animal to figure out, because it turns out that there’s not a damn latent thing about me.

If I want to live, I have to prove that I’m not the spy I’m accused of being. Then I need to figure out how the fuck to get back home before all hell breaks loose. Too bad my animal has zero interest in working with me unless it has to do with the two hot assholes that lead this rebel group.

I’m on my own, in a place I’ve never even heard of, with threats I don’t know how to defeat. And lucky me, I might as well have a rotisserie chicken living inside of me for all the help my newly discovered gryphon is.

Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

Source: Info in the About The Hidden was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47762658-the-hidden on 23/10/2019.

My Thoughts:

This book got bought because I like the premise. Plus, one can never underestimate the drawing power of gryphons! It's almost like dragons! Plus the cover is intersting! And, I like this author's story telling quality and the pace was quite quick. However, I did not like the way the book ended in a whooping cliffhanger! Not to mention that the book did not have much of a plot. In essence this book is just a couple of chapters of a bigger book. That tend to dissuade me from reading that kind of authors. Specially when the next book comes out a year after and by then I have forgotten what the book was all about already plus I have already formed a not very positive impression of the author. Not a good thing.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 2
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 1
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 4
Plot = 1

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

The Author

About Ivy Asher:

Ivy Asher is addicted to chai, swearing, and laughing a lot (but not in a creepy, laughing alone kind of way). She loves the snow, books, and her family of two humans, and three fur-babies. She has worlds and characters just floating around in her head, and she's lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing people who support that kind of crazy.

www.ivyasher.com | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

TEMPTED BY FIRE by Erin Kellison

Tempted By Fire by Erin Kellison
Book 1 of the Dragons Of Bloodfire series
Read by Bernard Setaro Clark
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: kindle ebook & audiobook

About Tempted By Fire:

Dragon shifter Thane Ealdian has waited six hundred years to avenge the loss of his family, and finally a clue has surfaced that implicates an old adversary. Thane will stop at nothing to seek his revenge, but to prevent violence between the clans, the Bloodkin Triad has forced a mediator on him. Some upstart named Emerson Clark...

Emerson is fed up with all Bloodkin and how they've managed to control every aspect of her life. While she doesn’t believe that Bloodkin can shift into dragons — because, really? — she has to admit, they are exceptionally nice to look at. But once the mediation is over, she wants nothing to do with them ever again.

When Thane discovers that the clever and beautiful Emerson is the key to uncovering the truth, he has no intention of letting her go. Although she wants to run, she can’t turn her back on Thane or her intense feelings for him. His quest pulls at her heart, just as his nearness sparks something dangerous inside her. With evil in hot pursuit, sooner or later everything will ignite — the mediation, the shifter within her... and their passions.

Source: Info in the About Tempted By Fire was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25780917-tempted-by-fire on 15/07/2018.

My Thoughts:

Promising start to a new-to-me series.

The world building and the story telling quality were fantastic!! The plot though was a bit thin on the ground. And then I liked the way the narrator gave Thane a growley voice!

At barely five hours listening time, I wouldn't really call this a full novel. However it is a whole lot longer than a novella. Either way, its a quick nice read. Enjoyed the book and would give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Short and sweet.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (4 hrs and 56 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Dragons Of Bloodfire Series:

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook was downloaded for free, as a freebie item on amazon. The audiobook copy of the book was purchased with private funds. No money received for this review.