Review: Acca by Christina Bauer

Acca by Christina Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 6 months, Myla's life has been changed completely. Now she is preparing for court to try to get the Acca leader in prsion, while also getting ready for her wedding to marry the love of her life, Prince Lincoln.

But the 3 days to get there has a lot of obstacles. One, Aldred keeps stealing the one thing that Lincoln and Myla have to defeat him in court, and each time it is taken, they have to figure out where it is and retrieve it before Friday at 5pm. Then, Aldred is looking for Lucifer's coin to open up Hell and get Armageddon through...again. He's a thorn that keeps on growing in Myla's life.

Then they have to go to Earth to find both missing items, and act like a teacher and a student. But the things they see on that island would make anyone worried, so now they have to make sure the humans are safe before they go to court.

And to top everything off, both Lincoln and Myla's people hate the other one, and they have to get over that hurdle to be able to rule both worlds without a huge fight on their hands.

So it's safe to say that life for Lincoln and Myla will never be boring. Let's just hope they are able to make it down the aisle.

Such a great novel full of funny lines, kickass scenes, and lots of scheming and figuring out the next step. I very much love Myla. She is awesome and amazing and I want to be her friend. I also love how much she has opened up now that she's with Lincoln, and how confident she has become.

I am so so so frustrated with Lincoln's parents. They are spinless turds who just need to retire and live life with one another on an isolated island and never return. I thought his mother was cool, but the way she lets things get away when it comes to her husband is just terrible. They are supposed to be king and queen of their people, yet they are so blinded by things in their personal life that they cannot possible take care of their people. I am so glad Lincoln will be the new king because he cannot possibly be worse than Connor is right now.

I'm so excited to see what happens in the next book. I definitely recommend this series! :)

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Review: Scala by Christina Bauer

Scala by Christina Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After Myla found out who her real father is, her whole life changed forever when she discovered she was the Great Scala. Having an arch angel as her dad means her genes qualify her for the Scala job, whether she wants it or not. And after being powerful enough to send Armegeddon back to Hell, she is now ready to tackle whatever else comes her way.

But since Lucifer's Orb is in Purgatory, she can`t send souls to the afterlife. The Orb is forcing her to send all of the souls to Hell, whether they deserve that destination or not. Now, Myla is holding a strike and refusing to send ANY souls to the next life until that Orb is found and removed. Sounds resonable enough, except that there are MILLIONS of souls that come to Purgatory a day, and there is only so much room to store them while Myla and her team look for the Orb.

Then, if that wasn't enough, Lady Adair - the "Scala Heir" fake, is still trying to take everything that Myla has, including her boyfriend Prince Lincoln. Adair thinks that Myla stole everything from her, so now her soul mission is to find a way to get it all back. So she is making Myla's life miserable by trying to prove that she can't be the right Great Scala because of the situation with the souls being crammed into the Towers, about to explode.

When Myla realizes the dire situation she is in, Lincoln decides to stay in Purgatory for a short while to help with the problems that keep occurring. But they didn't account for how desperate Adair was, and how far she was willing to go to get her perfect life.

Myla may be losing her powers, but her determination and strong will can get her through this...right?

Again, such a great installment to this series! I'm really enjoy this storyline and seeing just how strong Myla is internally, as well as how much of a kick ass fighter she is! I also love seeing her with Lincoln - those two are just made for each other!

I was able to figure out what was happening with Adair way before the reveal, but that's okay because it just added to the story. Seeing Myla struggle with different situations just shows that she is the best choice to be the Great Scala.

I'm so excited for the next book and to see what other issues will come up for Myla to concur.

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Review: Angelbound by Christina Bauer

Angelbound by Christina Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Myla just wants to fight in the arena 24/7. As a quasi-demon, she is amazing at kicking ass and she loves the thrill when she wins a fight. Sadly, she still has to go to school for her senior year to get placed in a job afterward. She's not too worried about it now, because she's hoping to be a fighter.

And every time Walker, her ghoul, comes to take her to the arena, Myla just gets more and more excited. Even though lately, not all of the summons she has is to fight. There is a power struggle going between Armageddon, the self made ruler of Purgatory, who should be in Hell since he's a demon, and Verus, the angel who does not want these evil souls to come to Heaven. And because of this power struggle, the structure of Purgatory is breaking apart piece by piece.

Myla also seems to be in the middle of this struggle, even though she has no idea why. When her mother allows Verus to give her dreamscapes about her mom's past, Myla realizes that all those times she asked about who her father is was something she may not want to know now.

And as if that wasn't enough, she is also dealing with the arrogant High Prince Lincoln who thinks she is scum in Purgatory because she is a demon. Myla is all for hating Lincoln, but lately she's starting to think it may be more than hate she feels for him. In fact, it may be the completely opposite, which is just ridiculous.

Life for Myla is about to be turned upside down, and she's going to have to figure out how to deal with all of the changes, or be defeated by the evil minds in Purgatory.

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! Why have I been prolonging reading this book?!? Well, because it's a series and I wanted all of the books, but that's not the point. The point is that I really really really liked this novel! It's so unique from other books out there, and from the ones that I've read, and the author did an amazing job describing and creating this new world for me to live in :)

Myla is amazing. Seriously, I want to be her friend. I can be her and Cissy's friend, right? Well, maybe not Cissy as much because she is such a drama queen, but she is completely loyal to Myla, so I could deal with her.

The sass that Myla has is just ridiculous and I'm always hoping that she will back talk someone every page I read :) And she is so brave. She goes to the arena ready to fight, but she also has to be in the presence of Armageddon, which is no joke to do.

Then the tension between her and Lincoln just flies off the chart!! There was so many feelings that Myla was going through and she just couldn't figure out why she was feeling that toward a guy who was obviously resenting Myla's existence.

I so loved this book and I'm very glad that I have most of the books in the series so I can dive right in and continue reading about Myla's grand adventure, now that everything has changed for her :)

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Review: Duty Bound by Christina Bauer

Duty Bound by Christina Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Lincoln, High Prince, is having a rough go at things lately. He has to leave his homeland to stay in Purgatory, because an angel requires them to. Then he has to be around demons daily, which he usually kills them - so his self restraint is being tested. He has to deal with Aldred's incompetence of leading his army, because eventually he will have all of his soldiers killed with his terrible calls. Lincoln has a plan to fix that, but it could end very badly. And now he's obsessing over a quasi demon who is keeping the doxies out of his horse stable. Out of all of this, the girl is what is on his mind over and over again. Which is silly, since Lincoln wouldn't be caught dead being attracted to a demon, right?

Life for Lincoln has always been tense - with being in line to be the next King - but right now, he's just trying to live minute by minute and figure out what is the right choice in every event.

This was a great novella! I actually read this after Angelbound because I knew it was written after the first book, and I wanted to get a feel of the world Christina Bauer created before going into a short story about a main character. And I'm so glad I did, because it gives me a whole different perspective of Lincoln! I can't believe how much he thought of Myla before he even met her! It makes every conversation between them so much better in Angelbound!

Lincoln takes on a lot of responsibility, and I can't believe what happened between him and the Accra tribe - Amazing! He is one stubborn and stern headed person, and I now know that him and Myla belong with each other.

Plus I loved being able to see him with his parents - it gives a lot of perspective to their relationship as son/parents and as husband/wife. You can tell that his mother wears the pants in their relationship :)

I'm so glad this story was created and the reader got a chance to dive into Lincoln's head :) I can't wait for the rest of the series that I'm about to dive into!

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Review: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Violet, Klaus and Sunny have always had a pretty good life. Granted, Violet is the oldest and she is only 14, but for the most part, the three of them were happy and comfortable.

But then something dreadful happened - their parents died in a fire at their house when the three children were at the beach. Since then, everything has gone downhill fast for the three children, and their story is full of terrible things that they have to endure.

Because of their parents will and their wishes, they want the kids to be raised by a family member. But they wanted them to be in the city where they grew up. Unfortunately, there is only 1 of their very very very distant relatives that lives in the city, and his name is Count Olaf. An illusive actor who is very strange and, as the children find out, very cruel.

Now Violet, Klaus and Sunny have to figure out a way to live with Count Olaf. It doesn't help that Count Olaf is very upset that he can't get to the fortune that is waiting for Violet to become 18, either. So he makes their life miserable by having them do chores, make dinner, and other grueling work.

But when they find out Count Olaf's plan to get to the children's money, that's when they really understand the terrible situation they are in, and now it is up to Violet and Klaus to find a way to leave Count Olaf's care.

So, I thought that I had read this book before, and I believe I did, but I think it was so long ago before I had Goodreads, so I haven't put this on my read list yet! But now that I have read this, I find myself needing to read the whole series, which I know I haven't done yet because the last books weren't even published back then.

I have to say, this may be a short book, but there is so much terribleness in here! Those poor children have been through a horrible ordeal, and then to have to deal with Count Olaf? I would have run away from his house and fending for myself on the streets honestly. And with how book smart Klaus is, and how inventive smart Violet is, I think they could have made it on their own!

I seriously was so mad at Count Olaf's idea to obtain the fortune of the children. I was sick to my stomache, and honestly cannot believe that this is geared toward children with the content that was discussed. And how poor Sunny was treated?

I feel like these children are going to grow more hardened by the end of this series, but more smart and will hopefully find a way out of their predicament on their own instead of waiting for the lazy adults to figure things out.

I am so glad I re-read this novel for bookclub and I'm very excited to dive into the series to see what other horrible things these three siblings will escape from!

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Review: The Boy I Grew Up With by Tijan

The Boy I Grew Up With by Tijan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this eARC. This is my honest review.

Channing has been the boy that Heather grew up with and has fallen in and out of love her whole life. She can't even imagine loving anyone else, because Channing is the guy for her.

Except he is in sketchy things with his crew - things that put Heather in danger. She can't keep getting mixed up with his business, which is why they have been on again and off again so often since high school.

And as much as Heather loves Channing, one of them needs to change their life. The question is who will make the sacrifice, and will it destroy their relationship if they have to change theirselves completely?

I was super excited to get this book, because I have been dabbling in Tijan's novels lately and have really enjoyed them. I think my only 3 stars for this book is because I was a bit lost when I started it. I knew it was a spin off of the Fallen Crest High series (which I have - just haven't read it yet) and I think that is what was wrong with my lack of emotional ties with this book. I know it's a standalone, but I think I could have gotten a lot more out of it if I had already read the previous series.

Plus Heather and Channing were getting on my NERVES. I get that life is complicated and rough for them, but for god's sake, if you want to be together then figure it out! Otherwise, get over it!

So I'm very happy that they got to the figure it out stage, even if it was a bumpy ride...

Overall, I'm glad I got a copy of this book, and I think it's going to convince me to read the Fallen Crest High series - finally! I'm very thankful that I received an eARC to get a glimpse into this world that Tijan is famous for!

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