Author: Annette Marie
Series: The Guild Codex: Unveiled #2
Publication: January 14th 2022 by Dark Owl Fantasy
Genre: Urban Fantasy
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Rating: 4/5★
I thought I was a useless witch whose only weapons were a switchblade and a mean disposition.
I thought Zak was a rogue druid with waning power and an alluring aura that’s impossible for me to resist.
And I thought my fae familiar was a harmless shapeshifter who chose me because I’m “mildly interesting.”
But nothing is what I thought. Nothing is what it seems.
Including me.
I need answers, and I need them fast—before I sink any deeper in the quagmire of secrets I’ve fallen into.
The Crystal Druid’s. The Winter King’s.
And my own.
With how the first book, The One and Only Crystal Druid, ended I was extremely excited to start the sequel. And I’m so glad that with this book we learned so much more about all the characters. Especially Ríkr. It was nice to know his backstory, where he came from and why he became Saber’s familiar seven years ago as well as why he was in hiding and who he was hiding from.
I was also surprised but pleased that Lallakai was more in this book as well. We’ve seen her in previous Guild Codex books but never for very long and she was always really mysterious as Zak’s fae consort. She scares the crap out of me but she’s hella badass! I hope to learn even more about her in the next book.
As for Saber and Zak… I love them so much. I can’t say there was a lot of romance in this book but there was a whole lot of chemistry and longing. I love that both of them were a little more open towards each other in the book. I also liked that we know what happened to Saber’s parents. It was awful but I’m glad Saber finally has some answers.
I do have to admit that I didn’t love this book quite as much as the first one. Don’t get me wrong I still loved this book but the big villain in this one didn’t really make me think “wow!” you know? So that was a tiny bit disappointing. Other than that I have zero complaints. My favorite thing in the whole book probably was the ending. That last sentence just got me real happy. And as with the previous book a big shout out to Kit’s cameo. I just love that guy.
The Long-Forgotten Winter King is the second book in the The Guild Codex: Unveiled series and it made me love the characters even more than I already did, if that’s even possible. I loved jumping back into the world of druids, fae, magic and mystery. I don’t think I will ever get sick of it. Give me the next book, please!
About the author:
Annette Marie is the author of YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter, and sassy UF series The Guild Codex.
Her first love is fantasy, but fast-paced adventures and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She proudly admits she has a thing for dragons, and her editor has politely inquired as to whether she intends to include them in every book.
Annette lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it’s not quite that bad). She shares her life with her husband and their furry minion of darkness—sorry, cat—Caesar.
When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this, I know how much you were looking forward to it😁 I often find second books in series to be slightly underwhelming, so hopefully book three will get back to the level of book one!
I am glad you are enjoying this series, Stephanie. I need to give Annette Marie a try. Like Tammy, I sometimes find second books underwhelming, but it sounds like this was still a good one.
Longing you say?? I’m in. I’m glad that this was a good sequel. Sequels can be scary, so it’s great that this was a good continuation.
Did ‘longing’ get your attention? 😏
What a nice review. I’m so glad you enjoyed this, even if it’s not as good as the first one.
Love your review! I totally get what you mean about the villain – a part of me is not yet convinced he was that super villain they believe him to be who took out Saber’s parents. I hope something else will still be revealed, and if that’s not the case it’ll indeed be a little disappointing. But everything else was so good. The longing! Kit! Rikr! (yeah, even Lallakai!). Hopefully May 6th will be here soon!
We will have to see and wait. Yes, May needs to hurry up!
I do love me some urban fantasy, Stephanie, and that a character scares the crap out of you? Good stuff. LOL I’ll check to see if my library carries this series.
Let’s just say I don’t wanna come across that character in real life ever 😛
Aaand now I have to get back to her books! It’s been months that I am telling it! 😉
DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT
Her books always look fun!
That’s for damn sure!
I always struggle with the second book in a series. It sounds like this one was pretty good overall, so I hope that the next one really delivers. It is a really cool concept for a series! 🙂
Can’t all be 5 star reads of course 😛
Anything to do with fae and druids — I’m all in. I need to pick up this series! I’d really liked the Demonized series (thank you again for that rec), and I like Marie’s writing.
The Demonized series is still my favorite out of all the series in the Guild Codex world. But this one is good too 😀