{Mini Review+News+Giveaway} Duty Bound by Christina Bauer @CB_Bauer

Posted December 3, 2018 by Michelle @ Book Briefs in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews, Young Adult / 1 Comment

{Mini Review+News+Giveaway} Duty Bound by Christina Bauer @CB_Bauer

Today we are celebrating the paperback release of four novels (& novellas) from author Chirstina Bauer!

She is releasing books from a few of her different series in Paperback this month, so it is the perfect time to check them out! If you are new to Christina Bauer, here is some more information on the books she is releasing.

Check out more info on the books below, and then I have a mini review and excerpt from Duty Bound as well as a great giveaway!

Duty Bound (Angelbound Origins #0.5) by Christina Bauer
Genre: YA Dark Fantasy

Summary:
“Christina Bauer has blessed us, people! This book, written from Lincoln’s perspective, was simply a treat that I most definitely enjoyed!” – The Reading Life

As the High Prince of the demon-fighting thrax, Lincoln knows he must marry for political gain. Not that he minds. For all of his eighteen years, Lincoln’s been bound to his duty. Fighting demons is his life, and he’s never given romance a second thought. Instead, the High Prince lives for the days when he leaves his hidden realm to fight demons on Earth.

Then, everything changes.

“I call dibs on Lincoln as my book boyfriend and main squeeze.” – Accidental Reader

Lincoln and his nobles become forced to visit Purgatory, the home of quasi-demons (who are mostly human with a bit of demonic DNA). Here Lincoln spies Myla Lewis, a lady warrior who enflames his heart, ignites his interest, and inspires his respect. Trouble is, Myla’s also a quasi. By thrax law, Lincoln must kill anything demonic—not date them.

For the first time in his life, Lincoln wonders if he’ll follow his duty…or heed the demands of his heart.

Don’t miss this prequel novella to the best-selling Angelbound, told from Prince Lincoln’s point of view!

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

 

 

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Moonlight and Midtown (Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #1.5)

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Summary:

Years ago, Elle — never call her Cinderella — escaped her evil step family in order to build a new life for herself in Manhattan. Today, Elle’s awful past is a distant memory. In fact, Elle even attends West Lake Prep, an exclusive high school where regular humans mix with members of the Magicorum, such as fairies, shifters and witches. Although she still must live in hiding from her evil step family, Elle always has found ways to get whatever her heart desires.

That is, until Alec Le Charme. Sure, Alec is the heir to the Le Charme dynasty of high-end jewelers, but he’s also kind, charismatic, and has a knee-melting smile.

“Must-read YA paranormal romance!” – USA Today

Long story short, Elle has fallen for Alec, hard. Unfortunately, thanks to Elle’s evil step family, the Le Charme heir is absolutely off limits. In fact, if Elle and Alec so much as kiss, it will start a magical chain reaction that would end in powerful factions of witches and wizards going to war. As a result, Elle and Alec vow to stay friends, no matter what. Then West Lake Prep holds a masquerade ball. Identities get mixed up and forbidden kisses are finally shared.

Time for the Magicorum to go to war, and for Elle to confront her hidden past in ways she never thought possible.

“Bauer’s unique voice blends magical fantasy, swooning romance, and a bucketful of teenage sass.” – Booklist

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

 

 

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Scythe (Dimension Drift Prequels #1)
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Summary:

A prequel novella to the new series from USA Today‘s ‘must read YA paranormal romance’ author, Christina Bauer.

Truth time. I go to a Learning Squirrel High School. Don’t judge.

On second thought, judge away. Learning Squirrel is one step above attending class in a junkyard. But what do you expect? Everything’s made out of garbage these days. At least, I have my freelance work to keep Mom and me housed, clothed, and fed. How? I’m your regular high school science geek for hire… only my work manipulates space-time. These gigs pay really well, but the government wants people like me dead. Good thing I’m super careful about hiding from their detection systems.

Then I screw up a job. Badly. My house slips into two-dimensional space-time. It only lasts for a few seconds, but the move still sets off about a dozen government alarms. If they track me down, Mom and I are good as dead. Long story short, I need to pay someone off, hide the evidence, and keep us safe.

Unfortunately, that means asking the Scythe for help. He runs the local underground crime scene and has absolutely no conscience. Or I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. It’s hard to think straight when a guy’s that hot in an evil Mafioso kingpin kind of way. More importantly, he’s a crime lord who can conceal my slip-up with a few clicks on his minion’s computer keyboards. But the Scythe has his price. In this case, he wants me to finish a certain dimensional prototype for him in twenty-four hours. I can do it, but it might mean Learning Squirrel High gets blown up in the process. Oh yes, and there’s also my new hot classmate who may or may not be an alien… and he says he’ll do anything to help me.

This job won’t be easy, but I’ve gotten out of worse scrapes. Maybe.

“Bauer’s unique voice blends magical fantasy, swooning romance, and a bucketful of teenage sass.” – Booklist

This new series is perfect for: fans of urban fantasy, action & adventure, cool science, evil corporations, forbidden romance and hot new classmates who may or may not be aliens.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

 

 

37303040Cradled (Beholder #5)

Genre: YA Dark Fantasy

Summary:

“Has romance, adventure, and lots of magical encounters! It definitely satisfied my craving for something exciting!” – Cloud 9 Books

Finally, Elea and Rowan are settling in to their new lives. Trouble is, Rowan is spending a lot of time cleaning up messes from his childhood. And considering the nightmare that was his mother, those are some ugly messes indeed. In fact, the experience is enough to make Rowan vow that he never wants children of his own.

Oops.

“A riveting story with action, love and vengeance…A fantastic read.” – The Not So Public LibraryPerfect for readers who love sword and sorcery filled with magic, necromancy, witches and wizards. This series combines fierce females, paranormal romance and epic fantasy. Enjoy! 

 

 

 

YA Review

My Thoughts

I am completely new to Christina Bauer’s book, so I wanted to pick one of her November Paperback releases that was the start to a new series. So even though, a bunch of the series look awesome, I chose Duty Bound because it was a prequel novella, where some of the other books were later novels in the series. I really enjoyed Duty Bound. It is the prequel novel in the Angelbound origins series, and best of all it is told from the point of view of the main male character, which is such a rarity in YA books. I love seeing a male point of view.

Prince Lincoln’s family fights demons. Lincoln himself is a great character! He is very strong willed but he is easily someone that you want on your side, because he will really fight for what he believes in. Duty Bound did an excellent job of wetting my whistle and making me want to continue on in the Angelbound series. I believe the next book in the series is told in Myla’s point of view, so I am curious to see how that will change my opinion on any of the characters. As it stands, I am very much enjoying this series. It is perfect for fans of paranormal romances. I have been on a demon kick lately when I pick up paranormal books, and this was a great series to dive into. I can’t wait for more. I need to grab the rest of the books ASAP. (And I need to grab some of Mrs. Bauer’s other series as well. I can’t wait to read the Beholder series and the Fairy Tales of the Magicorum series.)

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DUTY BOUND
Chapter One

I am Lincoln Vidar Osric Aquilus, High Prince of the Thrax. My people are renowned as the greatest demon hunters across Heaven, Hell, Earth, Purgatory, and the Dark Lands. At eighteen years old, I’ve killed precisely one thousand four hundred and thirty-seven demons in hand-to-hand combat, more than any other thrax in history. All of which leads to a single inescapable conclusion.
I can make it through this breakfast with my mother.
At least, I think I can.
“You haven’t touched your eggs, my son.” Mother spears a strawberry off her plate. After many years of maternal encounters, I’ve learned to keep my mouth closed in situations like this one. Mother will bring up her true concerns when she’s good and ready.
In reply, I merely maintain her stare. We’ve an odd relationship, but a close one. We’re both natural schemers, so neither wants to pass up a test of intelligence and charm.
“Perhaps you dislike formal breakfasts,” says Mother as she gestures to my tunic.
“I’m fine with wearing royal garb to meals. Rest assured, all my Batman costumes are safely packed away.” As a child, I fought hard to dress as a human superhero. Unlike demon killing, that was one battle I ultimately lost.
“So you say.” A small smile rounds Mother’s mouth. “Those tunics hide quite a lot.”
“True. I’ve a Bohemian Rhapsody T-shirt on under this thing.”
“I have no idea what that is, but I’m pleased to see you turned out so well.”
This morning, I’m dressed in a velvet tunic, leather pants, and tall boots. Meanwhile, Mother looks regal and lethal in her black velvet gown. She has porcelain skin, delicate features, and an all-knowing glare that reduces hardened warriors to mush.
Needless to say, I’m pleased that her glare has softened. I must remember to work Batman into our conversations more often.
For a few minutes, Mother and I continue our breakfast in silence. It would be pleasant, except for the setting. Our new feasting hall is located in Purgatory.
Yes, Purgatory.
This place combines the worst of a rundown human suburb with the best of a rotting Dumpster. The sky is constantly cloudy with two types of weather: rainy and about to rain. It’s part of the magic of this realm that the weather is always dreary. Plus, the sky never reveals the sun or moon, and even if it did, those celestial bodies follow different patterns than they do in other realms.
Closing my eyes, I let my thoughts return to the glittering caverns of my homeland. As a rule, thrax live underground on Earth in the realm of Antrum. For some reason, the oracle angel, Verus, has demanded the royal family—and our noble entourage—move to Purgatory for a short period of time. This wasn’t a popular idea, but the oracle’s word is law, so we arrived here three months ago. Until Verus sets us loose, our days will be spent in tents and wooden halls like this one.
I scan the empty benches around me and sigh. It’s hard being separated from the bulk of my people. Quiet breakfasts like this only make things worse. Usually our feasting hall is packed with thrax sharing breakfast at communal tables. However, today Mother insisted on having a family-only morning meal, which in this case translates into me, Mother, and a half-dozen terrified workers. Father should get here any minute now. I can only hope he arrives before Mother’s temper returns.
As if in reply to my thoughts, Mother spears another wilted strawberry with a vengeance. Looks like her temper will resurface before Father does. Bugger.
“You never answered my question,” says Mother. “You haven’t touched your food.” She spears a grape with such force the entire table wobbles.
“Careful there,” I say. “You’ll bring down the roof down.”
“One perk of being queen. I can bring down roofs and no one says a thing.”
At those words, the half-dozen servants in the room visibly shiver.
There’s no question about the general topic of Mother’s angst, either. It’s always the same issue: the House of Acca. That tribe is the largest and most troublesome of all thrax.
At this point, problems with Acca could fall into one of two categories.
One, Mother might be worried about my impending marriage contract with Acca’s most eligible noblewoman, Lady Adair. If Mother thinks there are problems on that front, she would be sorely mistaken. It’s a business arrangement, nothing more. I’d regret that, but I’m a prince. I always knew I’d never marry for love.
Two—and far more worrisome—would be if Mother discovered my ongoing scheme against Aldred, the dreaded Earl of Acca himself. I’ve many issues with the Earl, but my largest is how Aldred keeps leading his warriors into ill-planned demon attacks on the Earth’s surface. Thanks to the Earl of Acca, hundreds of good thrax meet bad ends every week. I meet with the families of the fallen, trying to provide comfort as their worlds fall apart. So many tears and ruined lives…and all so the Earl can prove his so-called prowess in battle.
It’s outrageous.
Even worse, my parents have forbidden me from doing anything to stop Aldred’s bloodshed. Per some ancient treaty, if I interfere with Aldred’s rights to lead his troops, then the Earl has the unmitigated right to execute me on the spot.
And as every royal knows, execution threats and breakfast do not mix well.

—End Of Excerpt—


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About Christina Bauer

Christina Bauer thinks that fantasy books are like bacon: they just make life better. All of which is why she writes romance novels that feature demons, dragons, wizards, witches, elves, elementals, and a bunch of random stuff that she brainstorms while riding the Boston T. Oh, and she includes lots of humor and kick-ass chicks, too.

Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.

Be the first to know about new releases from Christina by signing up for her newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/CBupdates

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One response to “{Mini Review+News+Giveaway} Duty Bound by Christina Bauer @CB_Bauer

  1. Jen

    I’ve read her Beholder and also Fairy Tales of the Magicorum Series and they’re cute, quick books. I’m glad to hear you liked this first novella book in a series, I haven’t picked up that series yet.

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