Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars 
SERIES: R’iyah Family Archives #1
AUTHOR: AJ Sherwood
NARRATORS: Tim Paige, Greg Boudreaux, Michael Ferraiuolo
LENGTH: 10 hours and 50 minutes
PUBLISHER: Podium Audio
RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2022
BLURB:
One mage: Bel Adams–part demon, gun shy about being rejected by one again, needs a familiar.
One familiar: Nico di Rossi–Army Ranger, needs a change of pace and a new purpose in life, is a golden retriever in human form (though not literally).
Plus one familiar: Garen Dallarosa–Secret Service, part gargoyle, needs his ex-lover Nico back.
One second chance–all for the taking.
REVIEW:
Bel is a powerful Mage. But he’s been damaged by the loss of his first familiar. Because of his power, he needs a human familiar and the first one lasted three weeks. His loss sent Bel down a spiral. Now’s he’s ready to try again. And what he gets? Well let’s just say Nico is unexpected.
Nico is board with his job. He hates being behind a desk. He’s all energy and go go go. So when he’s called as Bel’s familiar? Hell yeah! He’s excited by the whole thing – even though he doesn’t exactly feel like he has the right skill set since he’s offense rather than defense and Bel needs protecting. He calls on his BFF and former boyfriend Garen Dallarosa to train him. Garen has entered the Secret Service after his military career and understands protection.
With Nico and Garen, Bel is able to do his job and be protected. They get called into a crazy job that will require both Nico’s speed and Garen’s strength. But Garen is maybe feeling a little left out since he isn’t magically bound to Bel. Can a Mage have to familiars? Well we’re about to find out.
So there is a LOT going on in this story! Between Bel’s family – both blood and found – and Nico and Garen and all the assorted other players, the cast of characters is large and varied. I really enjoyed the three narrators with Tim Paige doing the honors voicing Nico’s POV, Greg Boudreaux taking the POV of Bel and Michael Ferraiuolo performing Garen, it is an embarrassment of riches with voice talent. All three of these guys are seasoned pros and some of my absolute favorites so I savored every minute of this one. That being said, it is a long listen. The world-building is kind of just starting and I loved getting to see all the different mages, familiars, demons, even hell hounds! It’s a wild ride, but definitely worth the listen. This was actually my first AJ Sherwood book and I’m really looking forward to the next one! Recommended especially for fans of action, adventure, fantasy and three men making it work!
RATING: 
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