This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Dark Arts and a Daiquiri

A magic user called The Ghost has been abducting teenagers from the magical community. When Aaron, Kai, and Ezra begin to investigate and find no leads they ask Tori for help. Dressed up as a tarot card reading runaway, Tori becomes the Ghosts’ newest bait. But before the boys can capture him, she’s teleported away. Finding herself on a farm in the middle of nowhere, with no backup and no way for the boys to find her, Tori has to find her own way home. But not before she rescues the girl she promised to help.

Now that book one developed the world and Tori’s character, Dark Arts and a Daiquiri dives into what it’s like to take on a guild mission. And true to Tori’s style, she ends up in the middle of it all. But this time there is a deliciously morally gray character called The Ghost. A figure most mage guilds back away from the minute they find out he’s involved in a job. Given the choice to turn tail and run, or take a chance to save someone, Tori walks headfirst into danger and finds herself abducted.

Survival with The Ghost is nothing Tori imagined it to be. He may be a powerful caster, but he has his own moral code. One that does not allow harm to come to those he deems innocent and under his protection. Yet with one wrong move, he’ll have no problem adding Tori to his victim count. And of course, he is an extremely attractive man. One whose pretty face can cause the perfect distraction in order to gain the upper hand.

As Tori navigates how to deal with The Ghost, readers are given a glimpse into her past. While hints were dropped during book one, readers will experience full flashbacks of Tori’s not-so-happy home life growing up. And it will fit the pieces together of who she has become as a person, and why she is so set on saving the girl abducted by The Ghost.

Dark Arts and a Daiquiri is another fast-paced ride with a great blend of characters. Adding in The Ghost upped the ante and forced Tori to meet a host of new magical creatures. And witnessing Tori navigate the dangers of magical battle as a human never grows old. She has to be quick on her feet and intuitive. I’m looking forward to the next adventure! ( )

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick takes post, the point of which is to catch up on my "To Write About" stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness..
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For book 2 to remove our non-magical bartender to a guild of Magic Users from the Guild Members for the majority of the book is a pretty gutsy move. I'm not sure it was the right way to go, and I'm not sure it was successful. But it was gutsy.

The story was...okay, I guess. It really didn't do a lot for me, but the last few chapters—pretty much when Tori reunites with her friends made the whole thing worth it. And the Dresden File hat-tip was fantastic.

I'm still in on this series/group of series, but I bet when all is said and done, this'll be the one to forget. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Guild Codex: Spellbound series. I borrowed this through Kindle Unlimited. There are going to be seven books total in this series. There is also a sister series to this called Guild Codex: Demonized that weaves in and out of the Spellbound timeline but features different characters. Previous to reading this I have read and enjoyed all of Annette Marie’s other series.

Story (5/5): I loved this book even more than the first one. In this book Tori is asked by her three favorite mages to serve as bait to lure out a dangerous rogue mage. What follows is a crazy adventure that Tori could have never imagined or predicted. And yes, there are dragons.

Characters (5/5): I absolutely love Tori, she is a normal girl in a crazy situation and really only has her hot temper, sometimes bad attitude, and occasional magical gadgets to get her through things. I love the three bad-ass mages she has befriended. The addition of some new rogue mages (and one super hot murderous rogue mage in particular) really added a lot to the series. Then there were the dragons!!! Tons of amazing characters in this series.

Setting (5/5): Much of this story takes place in a completely new setting which I won’t talk about because of spoilers. While I continue to enjoy the crazy atmosphere at the pub, I really enjoyed this new setting as well. I love that we got to meet so many new types of fae creatures.

Writing Style (5/5): I love Marie’s writing style, it's fast-paced, easy to read, and contains a lot of humor too. Marie does an amazing job with characterization and action/fight scenes. I love her creative plot ideas and how the story pulls me in and keeps me reading.

My Summary (5/5): This was an amazing continuation to this series, I absolutely loved it! I love the fast-pace, fun characters, and creative story in this series. It’s so much fun to read and just a perfect light urban fantasy read. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book in this series. ( )

4.5

Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited

Tori Dawson is working as a bartender at the Crow and Hammer. But it’s not just any bar – it’s a guild. For magic users. And she is human. Completely human. Not a lick of magic in her. However, she can earn some money there while her employment paperwork makes it through the red tape that is the MPD before they kick her human non-magical ass out the door. It’s while they are waiting that her three mage buddies decide to ask her to help them with a job. They want to use her as bait for a high value bounty named The Ghost. A little uneasy, but trusting in her magical friends, she agrees. And that’s when things go spectacularly south.

Tori, oh, Tori. The things you get yourself into. Book 1 was entertaining and book 2 does not fail in that aspect. There’s humor, hotness, magic, and danger. Plus, a new character is introduced – The Ghost. He’s quite an interesting guy and totally yummy. I love the story, the characters, and the world. I’m practically breaking my arm patting myself on the back for finding this gem of a series. Highly entertaining and just what I love. Stay tuned for Book 3’s review! Because I completely devoured each book that’s out there. A literary glutton? Who, me? ( )

Dark Arts and a Daiquiri
The Guild Codex: Spellbound Series, Book 2
By: Annette Marie
Narrated by: Cris Dukehart
This has lots of twists and turns. Nothing is as it seems. Great plot. Love the characters. I hope the new character comes up in later books.
Great narration! ( )