Review: Three Mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie

Three Mages and a Margarita
(The Guild Codex: Spellbound #1)
by Annette Marie
Publisher: Sept. 14. 2018
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:

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 ***hole right back. That’s the definition of fitting in, right?

I expected to get thrown out on my ***. 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-*** 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.

This was a fun book. Tory is down on her luck, crashing at her brothers, and just lost yet another job because she couldn’t play nice with the customers. On the hunt for a new gig, she finds an ad for a bar. The only thing is, it’s not just a bar, but a guild for magic users.

Tory clearly has no clue what she’s gotten herself into. On the other hand, the guild has no clue that a human just waltzed into their bar. Mainly because theirs a spell over the building that keeps non-magic users from entering. However, Tory is clearly stubborn and driven enough to get a new job, that she bypassed all the spells and pushed through into the building. She finds herself in a whole new world, with three protectors who are tasked to keep her safe.

The world the author did a great job building this magical world without overwhelming the readers or making it feel like complete fantasy. I liked that there was a core group of characters and not just one player, or a duo romance. In fact, this almost felt like a reverse harem. She’s got three protectors, all of which are hot and mysterious. Now, I’m not one for love triangles or love squares… but there wasn’t actually any romance in this story. There were just little nudges and nuances that hinted at the possibility of there being a romance in the future… but I’m not sure which guy that will be.

This was a fun book to listen to. I’m not one for audiobooks, but this held my interest and I was able to pick it up after weeks of not listening to it and knew exactly what was going on. I look forward to listening to the next books in the series.