To Hell and Back by H.P. Mallory (Lily Harper #3)

4 Stars

In the third book Lily senses that something is wrong with Tallis and goes to find him.  What she finds is “Donnchadh” (not sure of the spelling, but this is the warrior that inhabits Tallis) is in control of Tallis.  It takes Lily waaaay too long to figure out that Tallis isn’t in control.  I knew it almost immediately and maybe the author was hoping to cause some suspense here, but it just makes Lily seem daft.  I still really enjoyed this scene as it shows Lily being resourceful and in control.  Eventually we get our Tallis back, but only right before Lily must leave for her dinner with Alaire.  You can imagine that Tallis is none too pleased about this news. 

Lily ends up getting another mission while she is already in the Underground City and makes her way to the Toy Store.  I remember from book 2 that Lily’s friend Saxon (from the gym) said it was his least favorite place.  Tallis and Bill both seem to enjoy themselves immensely there.  I will admit I am not really sure how it fits in with the rest of the Underground City, except maybe the author needed an excuse to put some sexy ladies in Tallis’s path to make Lily jealous.  There ends up being more drama than usual while Lily is in the Toy Story and what is left over of the book leaves Lily almost dying (more so than is typical for Lily).  Alaire ends up being the problem and conveniently the solution.  Through this Lily learns some stuff about Tallis that may end their friendship. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I hope I don’t have to wait too much longer to read the next one.  We got a lot more alone time with Lily and while I don’t always agree with her logic I can see where she is coming from in making her decisions. 

The Underground City by H.P. Mallory (Lily Harper #2)

4 Stars

In the second book in this series it takes up right where the first one left off. I mean, exactly! The same exact scene. Bill and Lily are back at their apartment from their first mission to the Underground City. Tallis has shown up and wants to continue Lily's training with her sword. She isn't long into her training when she receives her next mission. This one will take Lily to the Sewers, which is another "circle of hell". Tallis knows another shortcut which takes the group through pipes containing poo water. They retrieve their soul most easily, but find themselves summoned by Alaire.

Alaire is leader of The Underground City and bad news all the way around. He has some sort of fascination with Lily and meeting Lily only cements this weird interest.   On the way back through the Dark Wood, Tallis takes Lily and Bill to a pub/inn type place and proceeds to get “blootered”.  Lily and Bill wake up to find themselves abandoned in the Dark Wood.  Lily’s next mission takes her to the “prison” level of the underground city, but she must do this alone as Tallis has not shown his face yet.  Overall, her first trip alone (well, Angel Bill is there, but he’s not much help) is actually pretty successful, however, Lily will finds there are far reaching consequences to some of her actions in the Underground City. 

Overall, I loved this book.  I started the third book right away and had to keep going back to separate the second and third books in my head for this review.  We get to know both Lily and Bill better.  Bill is a character that grows on you the more you are around him.  He is quite protective of Lily and that is endearing.  Little by little we learn more about Tallis.  Not all of it is good, but one can certainly understand the attraction that Lily feels towards him.  One thing that keeps coming up with him though is that he obviously has a lot of self-loathing and whenever he is around Lily he pushes her away and talks about how bad he is.  The discrepancy with Tallis is that whenever he is around Alaire he defends himself and doesn’t think he is the same caliber of evil as Alaire.  Once Tallis is out of Alaire’s presence though Tallis is back to talking about how evil he is himself.  You can’t have it both ways Tallis!

Better Off Dead by H.P. Mallory (Lily Harper #1)

4 stars

I was sure I was interested in this series based on the description.  Lily Harper dies in an accident, but isn’t supposed to die.  Her guardian angel, Bill, who is an alcoholic, was MIA at the time.  As recompense she is offered a job as a retriever of misplaced souls.  Even starting the beginning of the book I wasn’t sure I was going to continue (I am not a book martyr who continues reading books when I have no interest!).  Lily described herself as short, overweight, and unattractive.  She also is prone to quoting self-help gurus.  All this did not add up to someone I wanted to read about.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not perfect, but I like to read about heroines who are physically attractive.  Unlike our heroine, I do not read books for self-discovery or enlightenment.  I read books for escapism.  However, this issue gets fixed and in a way that Lily maintains those things about herself that are endearing.  Even her quotes became something I looked forward to as they weren’t all just self-help quotes, but more inspirational quotes from a lot of historical figures as well. 

So Lily gets offered a pretty cushy job (or so she thinks) as a soul retriever.  We meet the absentee guardian angel very quickly as he is assigned to be her guide on her first mission.  This mission turns out to be in The Underground City (think hell) and she soon learns it is more of a suicide mission than a rescue mission.  She ends up finding more help in the broody Tallis Black who has a host of his own secrets.  And the rest of the story follows Lily and crew on her venture into The Underground City. 

I actually enjoyed this enough to start reading the second book right away and to buy the third book as well.  Bill, who I thought would be annoying, actually grows on you and Tallis who is initially and intermittently extremely rude starts to show some depth of character.