Three Mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie

Three Mages and a Margarita (Guild Codex Universe, #1) (Guild Codex: Spellbound, #1)

by Annette Marie

Meet Tori. Sassy redhead, ex-waitress with an attitude, and human bartender of a magic guild. Three Mages and a Margarita opens the hilarious and heartwarming Guild Codex series.

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.

Reviewed by funstm on

3 of 5 stars

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Solid 3.5 stars. Well written urban fantasy with likeable characters and interesting plot. Tori was bold and snarky. I liked her well enough but there wasn't quite enough character development - we don't really get enough of her backstory until the end and I'm not sure I really connected with her specifically. I liked the boys, they were funny.

I'm not holding my breath for the romance. I really hate love triangles. And harems. Reverse or otherwise. But Tori and Aaron and Ezra (and the tiniest bit Kai) were flirty rather than serious - it was easy enough to ignore. But that's my pet peeve rather than a judgement of this book. I've read the Steel and Stone series by this author so I know she's more than capable of weaving a love triangle in the least offensive way possible. I just really hate them. I'm more of a soulmate kind of gal.

I liked the boys and Sin and the rest of the characters - although there's not a whole lot of character development for any of them. But there is a lot of plot. The plot was good and I liked the world building. The alchemical aspect was cool and I hope there's more of it in further installments. I liked Aaron freely admitting he was only saved thanks to Tori and that he was comfortable enough to give her credit where due. I liked Tori's willingness to jump into the fray even while seriously outgunned. I wanted to see more of Justin and the history of his relationship with Tori as well. I'm curious to see how much he knows about the magical community and what notes Tori and him will compare.

While this is urban fantasy, I would categorise it as what I've been calling 'light urban fantasy'. It's not as crass, it's not as sexual and is more fit for a young adult audience. There's not enough fantasy to just label it plain fantasy but it's not dark enough for full on urban. Hence 'light urban fantasy'. It also makes it easier to endure love triangles because it's harmless flirting rather than serious action.

Overall solid effort, can't wait to read the rest of the series.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 28 July, 2020: Finished reading
  • 28 July, 2020: Reviewed