The Alchemist and an Amaretto (The Guild Codex: Spellbound #5)

Ms. Marie’s books are a guilty pleasure for me. Full of action, a little mystery, and some pre-teen romance. So two out of three isn’t bad. Still fun to read. Except by book five, you can drive a semi around in the plot holes. A great magic academy that does not and can not do a thing until four twenty-something teenagers arrive to fight the bad guys. Ms. Marie turns the formula crank on these without doing a lot of thinking about the plot. I don’t mind that much but please don’t ignore it completely! Also remember that twenty somethings do a bit more than pant at the sight of the opposite gender. It is ok, even 12 year olds know all about it these days.

Im going to start at the very end before I go back to the beginning
So we have a intro for book 6#
MPD agent Kit Morris is ON ZAKs FARM
the 3 people who gave Tori crap when she first came there are dead. Oh and a touch clairvoyant found the shoes that Tori left. You know, the ones covered in dragon blood?! And that sexist prick of a talking skull is now permanently silent. Dont you just love how some things work out?
I cant wait for book 6!!!!

Back to the current book.
Im not gonna lie. It really wasnt as good as the pervious books.
I couldnt wait to read it. On October 11th I set my alarm for 1am, 2am, 3am, 7am and finally the book was up for grabs. I read it before my shift when I was suppose to be sleeping. Then I got disappointed. Its now almost midnight the next day and I finally finished it. Not because I couldnt find time, but because it just wasnt that good.
There was nothing specific to pinpoint, just the pace of the story I guess?
So The Sinclair Guild is a bunch of backstabbing hyenas.
The Sinclair Parents really shouldnt be parents when its clear their only child is just an accessory.
Ezra is an ongoing problem. That got worse.
Kai is Kai. As always.
Sin really needs better taste in men. Seriously.
You have a pixie following you around with mistletoe and you still cant get laid. Yeah your love life is definitely cursed.

I swear this series is getting better and better! I need it to be January, NOW! Demonized is fun and all, but I LOVE Tori!

We start with fun action, before the gang + Sin heads off to Aaron’s parents home (AKA THE Sinclair Academy). Unfortunately, things are not what they seem and well, everyone gets hurt in this book.

Tori also really gets to kick ass too!

The story villain is a little overly done in fantasy novels, but the book was good enough that it didn’t loose a star for it.

Action, a look into an elite (snobby) Mage school, and Aaron might loose himself to his old ways time and again. Then there is Ezra… and his demon.

The BIG reveal at the end will make you bang your head against the wall wondering WHY you choose to read a series that’s not finished yet. WE WANT MORE!

Wow, this author really knows how to suck you into her stories. The initial entry into this series threw me since Tori is human. Annette Marie didn’t cave in and make her the savior of the world with awesome cosmic powers. Tori is an amazing heroine because she acts. Maybe she’s not thinking things through enough, but she’s the person you want at your back when things are dicey. The author really knows how to create all of her characters. The villains are properly villainous and the heroes have enough flaws that they aren’t two-dimensional goody-goody types. I love that in past books, she made the Crow and Hammer guildmaster and his immediate crew mature but totally badass. And then she threw in The Ghost in the second book. I am in love. When Tori kept pushing all of his boundaries with her usual lack of sensitivity, I had the most laugh out loud moments of any books in the series so far. This particular book was Ghost-less, but was a great development of all the main characters. Wherever Tori ends up romantically, I accept the author’s decision on development, but I am very much looking forward to the next book and reading more about my personal favorite druid.

4.5 stars This one went in a lot of interesting directions, and just added to the world Im already in love with.

I loved getting to see more of the dynamics between the boys, and a glimpse at their past through the academy (Aaron and Kai in particular). I ended up learning a lot about Aaron, and my heart hurt for him. Sometimes I think its more brave to constantly fight against your nature than to just be a decent person to begin with.

The wolf stuff was crazy! I will admit I had the correct suspicions early on as to who the bad guy wasas well as piecing together the hints about the addictiveness.

Tori made me want to smack her a wee bit in this one. In so many ways she has grown SO MUCH over these books shes stronger, she generally goes for help instead of going it alone, shes just knowledgeable. But dammit Tori! When it comes to her friends, she still makes some dumb decisions that are going to backfire. I mean, I guess well see, but

As with the boys, I loved seeing more of Sin as well (though now I have no idea how you spell her name). It was awesome to see more of the alchemy sides, and to get to know more about her in general (her family dynamic, her shyness, etc). I love that Tori has that girlfriend to confide in.

As per usual it was an action packed book, with lots of internal development as well as overall world development.

As an aside, Ms. Dukehart let my Canadian heart down though she pronounced toque as toke instead of two-k. *sigh* I wish Americans knew what this was, this is the second narrator who has let me down. Either that or Canadian authors are going to have to put it in their pronunciation guides.

I also ended up buying the Kindle version so I could read the short story included in the back what a great introduction to the 3rd series in this universe! There was a solid level of mystery, and the story was a great introduction to Kit and Lienna. Kit is hilarious. This story made me more anxious for the next Spellbound book as well!

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