Wow, its been a long time!  I received Skyla as part of a goodreads book club and, while I finished it quite a bit ago, I have not had access to my computer to write up the review. I'm not typically a reader of the post-apocalyptic genre, but I did enjoy this story.

After the world is infected with a deadly virus the last chosen of humanity must ascend to the skies to fight for their survival high above the Earth's surface.  Skyla follows a young woman, born a orphan, and abused by the government she grows up hating.  After many hardships she must decide who is on her side and just how corrupt the government she fears has become.

With the writing style being the way it was and the minimal adult themes, this would be a great book for a YA.  There is a fair bit of violence and brutality from both governmental bodies and civilians, so parents be aware of that.  Skyla is a broken and beaten youth, who learns the world is not as she once believed it to be, she grows and matures as the story progresses, and even with her occasional temper tantrums she is an interesting character to read.

It's time for book two, in the Sugar Maple Series, Laced with Magic by Barbara Bretton. This is the second time I've read this book, and I'm excited to have learned that there are two other books in the series that I have never read. Goodreads review.

Sugar Maple is a small town in Vermont based off of Salem MA, from the time of the witch burning. It hides a deep secret, a hotel full of ghosts, a hardware store of werewolves and a knit shop run by a sorceress, Chloe Hobbs.
 
Chloe is a young witch, in love with her human cop boyfriend and dreaming of a future in Sugar Maple.  Until, Luke's ex-wife shows up claiming to hear their dead daughter's voice on her cell phone.  Torn between following the town's people's wishes and helping the child's ghost, Chloe must learn to find the power she controls deep within her and save everyone from destruction.

This installment is still enchanting, while adding an element of drama to it that the first didn't have.  The writing stepped up to fill the pages with comical moments and knit wit and lovers struggles that rounded out the characters more that the first.  Chloe and Luke's romance is still present, but the focus is more on the two characters and how the deal with this struggles they encounter and their willingness to grow from it.