Four Shifters and A Stranger & A Damsel and A Demigod by Annette Marie

You all know how much I love the Guild Codex and getting two short stories/novella prequels just makes my day!

Four Shifters and A Stranger by Annette Marie

When a bounty hunting job goes wrong, a mysterious aeromage saves Aaron's life...

Delve into the three mages' pasts in this exclusive Guild Codex short story, available as a free download for subscribers of the author's newsletter.

This is a short novella that shows how Ezra met Aaron and Kai, how they learned his secret, and how he joined the Crow and Hammer Guild!

It's told from the POV of Aaron and getting to peek inside the fire-mages head cemented my opinion that he is an awesome dude who deserves all the nice things.

He may be a hot-headed eejit at times but he has a heart of gold.

I don't know how Annette Marie does it but she packs a coherent and engaging story into a tiny number of pages... It's got character development, action and engages the emotions.

The story could be read by anyone no matter what they know/have read about the series but I think it packs the best punch if you're already familiar with the characters and world... Probably why it's a freebie gift for being part of her mailing list!

If you're a Guild Codex fan, you've got to read it. It's perfect to inhale over a single lunch break.

A Damsel and A Demigod by Annette Marie

Only one thing matters to Kai: getting the job done, and doing it better than anyone else.

But when a beautiful thief crashes his security gig, claiming she's trying to protect the valuable artifact he's guarding, all his careful plans go up in flames. He doesn't believe a word she says—until the item is stolen right out from under them.

Recovering the artifact before the real thief can unleash its ancient magic requires insider knowledge—information the mysterious trespasser possesses. Teaming up with a stranger isn't Kai's idea of smart, but he'll need all the help he can get to take on a notorious rogue and arcane power from the time of the gods.

Originally published in the limited-time charity anthology, Love Potion.

First up, let me say that this can be read as a standalone novella completely separate from the main Guild Codex series. It's told from the pov of Kai and is set a couple of years before Tori stumbles into the Crow and Hammer Guild and the main series begins.

However! This is the story of how Kai met Izza and anyone who has read the GC books is going to want to read this if you have any interest in that particular (apparently doomed) ship...

The story is set during a Crow and Hammer mission. Kai and co have to prevent the theft of an artifact and when it goes wrong, retrieve the artifact before a rogue mythic unleashes untold chaos.

Fun!

It's packed full of banter, action and magic. Romance is firmly on the down-low but the sparks are definitely there.

Izza is different in this novella from the Izza we get to know in the GC series. She's younger, less experienced and just starting out with her guild (Odin's Eye) but the path to how she becomes the Izza we know is laid out clearly here.

The novella left me a little bit sad that we don't get to see her grow into the badass she becomes but happy that we got to see this first meeting with Kai.

It's a wonderful little read for fans of the series and a taster for those who have yet to dive into this world.