The Alchemist and an Amaretto

Annette Marie

Jan 2020 · The Guild Codex: Spellbound Book 5 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Cris Dukehart

About this audiobook

As a guild bartender, I can handle pretty much anything-mages, sorcerers, witches, the occasional demon. But show me anything family-related and I'd rather run for the hills. It doesn't even have to be my family. So I have no idea why I thought spending the holidays with Aaron's mom and pop was a good idea. Meeting his famous parents is already terrifying enough, but I've got a bigger problem. Students of his family's renowned mage academy are being attacked on the grounds-and somehow no one has seen a single assailant? Unexplained tracks litter the nearby woods, rumors of forbidden alchemy are circulating the campus . . . and Ezra has been acting strangely since we arrived. Something deadly is brewing in the shadow of Sinclair Academy, and the longer we take to uncover it, the more dangerous it becomes. But no matter the risk, we'll protect the students. And Aaron's parents too, I suppose. If we have to. Make sure to check out the companion series, The Guild Codex: Demonized, available now, and The Guild Codex: Warped, coauthored by Rob Jacobsen, available summer 2020.

Ratings and reviews

4.5 stars — This one went in a lot of interesting directions, and just added to the world I’m 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 it’s 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 was…as 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 — she’s stronger, she generally goes for help instead of going it alone, she’s 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 we’ll 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!

About the author

Annette Marie is the author of the bestselling YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, and the romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter, along with the sassy urban fantasy series The Guild Codex. She lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and their feline minion of darkness, Caesar.

Cris Dukehart is an award-winning storyteller who has narrated books in a wide variety of genres, from romance and science fiction to children's literature and autobiography. She can also be heard in commercials, e-learning projects, and corporate narrations.