Blog Tour & Giveaway: Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized #1) by Annette Marie

Taming Demons for Beginners
Annette Marie
(The Guild Codex: Demonized #1)
Published by: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Publication date: September 13th 2019
Genres: New Adult, Urban Fantasy

Rule one: Don’t look at the demon.

When I arrived at my uncle’s house, I expected my relatives to be like me—outcast sorcerers who don’t practice magic. I was right about the sorcery, but wrong about everything else.

Rule two: Don’t listen to the demon.

My uncle chose a far deadlier power. He calls creatures of darkness into our world, binds them into service contracts, and sells them to the highest bidder. And I’m supposed to act like I don’t know how illegal and dangerous it is.

Rule three: Don’t talk to the demon.

All I had to do was keep my nose out of it. Pretend I didn’t find the summoning circle in the basement. Pretend I didn’t notice the shadowy being trapped inside it. Pretend I didn’t break the rules.

But I did, and now it’s too late.

—
From the author of The Guild Codex: Spellbound comes a new series that will plunge an unprepared young woman into the darkest magic of the mythic world.

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My Review:

10 out of 5 Stars!

Genre: Another-World, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense, Urban Fantasy, Witches--

Robin is so in over her head and battling being overwhelmed by depression and loss. She is currently living with her uncle and his family until he releases her inheritance from the death of her parents, but most importantly she wants her treasured family heirloom of her mother's grimoire. Even though her family was part of the magical community, Robin was always taught not to practice magic of any kind, that it would only hurt her. Well, Robin is surprised to find out that her uncle and cousins are actually demon summoners and have a mysterious demon trapped in their house, a demon that won't speak or interact in any way with them. Robin may have no idea what she is doing but somehow she ends up making a deal with a demon...

If not for the pain, I might’ve doubted my memory. A demon had thrown a cookie at my face? Hands down the strangest thing that had ever happened to me.

Robin was a totally different kind of character than I feel like the author has created before. Usually her female main characters are pretty tough and no nonsense, able to take care of them self in any situation and completely resilient. Well, the Robin we meet at the beginning of the story is none of those things. Instead she is sweet and soft, with no real talents besides baking and researching, completely out of the loop when it comes to magic, demons and protecting herself. I was not sure how I was going to like her since I usually favor the kickass heroines the author normal creates who can handle their own conflicts. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I like Robin and her fluffy, happy self. She was aware of her flaws and tried to compensate in other ways and to work on things that she could fix, she had no issues admitting she was wrong or that she needed help which is strength it it's own way. Also that girl was surprisingly tough, taking a beating (multiple times) and never cracking even while I cringed while reading about her said beatings. The two important side characters, Zylas was equally scary and entertaining, but with a unexpected sweet side and Amalia was a surprising addition to the team that I full love.

He thought my cookies were better than a fruit he’d killed to eat. My hands, submerged in soapy water, paused. I’d have to make sure no one ever tried to take food from him. It sounded dangerous.

As a side note, Robin bakes a lot in the book which had an unfortunate side effect of making me hungry for sweets the entire time I was reading the book. The way the cookies are described was mouthwatering and I want the recipes STAT- ok, that is a lie, I want someone to come bake the cookies for me. I can understand why a particular deal might be struck for some cookies...

Overall this was another great installment in The Guild Codex world and I am so excited by the potential crossover the story hinted at. You can read this series by itself but I highly recommend reading it in combination with the other Guild Codex world books. Actually to be fair I recommend all the books by this author, and know that you will get an action packed read with great characters, random pieces of humor and some intense magic.

Author Bio:

Annette Marie is the author of Amazon best-selling YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, and romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter. Her first love is fantasy, but fast-paced adventures and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it's not quite that bad) 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.

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