The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

I love Rick Riordan. His books are terrific. If you haven't read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series you need to. This series, The Lost Hero, is a continuation of the Percy Jackson series. You have some of the same characters such as Annabeth and later on I'm sure Percy will play a big role as well. Our new main characters are Jason, Piper, and Leo. Our main character is Jason who can not remember who he is, but he has an uncanny knowledge of Roman gods and fighting. Piper is an Aphrodite daughter, but does not dress or act like it at all. Leo is a fire user whose mother died in a fire when he was younger.

Spoiler: I really liked this book because, yes, it does continue the Percy Jackson story, but Percy is no longer the one big hero. All the Gods have silenced themselves from the demigods and Jason is given a Quest to save Hera who has been taken prisoner. Jason and Leo each have had multiple personal visits from Hera throughout their life. I mentioned before that Jason is very knowledgable in Roman Gods and that's because he was born from Zeus when he was in the form of a Roman God. Thalia is his sister, but she was born from the Greek form of Zeus and since Zeus had two children from the same woman, Hera was given Jason as her champion since she never has demigods to complete her requests. So why didn't we hear about Jason before, well, there is a second demi-god camp that houses all the Roman kids, however, this camp is never known to camp Half-blood or vice-a-versa because when the two camps get together there is a terrible war between the two. Percy has been switched with Jason to try to get the two groups to work together to save the word from an even greater evil than the Titans. I'm sure we will hear Percy's side of the story in the second book of his adventure in the Roman camp and we're assuming without his memory as well. So exciting.

Last Sacrafice by Richelle Mead

It's always sad when another good series comes to an end. The final chapter of the Vampire Academy Series was worth the wait. Rose was left in the last book being accussed of murduring the queen and is now stuck in a white cell and going crazy not being able to do anything. Her friends and father are working tirelessly to find the truth, however, things change when her trial date is set in two weeks. This time, her friends stage a wonderful break out and Rose and Dimitri find themselves on the run with one crazy lead to find Lissa's secret relative and the person who really murdured the queen.

SPOILER: So I did not find Rose so infuriating like in past books since she has suddenly grown up and realized how precious life is and that you can't just run into situations without some sore of plan. Of course, her and Dimitri really don't have set plans, but things work out. Dimitri is still struggling with forgiving himself for being a Strigoi and he and Rose are at an understanding that there is no love between them and so Rose is still hooked up with Adrian. I love how Dimitri and Rose finally get back together, but you feel so sad for Adrian. I wish that Richelle Mead had tied up some loose ends at the end. Yes, Dimitri and Rose still are guardians guarding Lissa and Christian, but still able to continue their relationship, however, Adrian's heart is broken and you terribly wish for a happy ending for him. I also wanted to see how Christian feels towards Rose and what really happens to Eddie, Mikhail, Sydney, etc... Their future is left unknown with how Rose's escapade has affected their life adn whether they are happy with it. All in all a terrific series definately worth reading.

The Husband Tree by Mary Connealy

So I just realized that this is actually the second book in the Montana Marriages series. The first book is Montana Rose and the last is Wildflower Bride. I don't think you really need to read them in order since I read this book and figured there had to be a second book since there is a side story that has nothing really to do with the rest of the book. So Wildflower Bride will be about an white girl brought up by an indian tribe and a white man falls in love with her, but she is promised to another indian. You are left in the book with the white indian girl being kidnapped by white trapper and saved by the man that falls in love with her who returns her to her tribe.

Anyway, so back to the original book, The Husband Tree. I wasn't so sure about this book, however, my mother/father-in-law book read this book and loved it. So I figured why not, it's short. It has some subtle humor and matter-of-fact phrasing instead of the flowery, lovey type writing a lot of romance novels have. I would consider this a slight romance novel, but not the heavy kind in any way. Belle Tanner has an issue keeping her good-for-nothing husbands alive and after burying her third husband she is through. She has 4 capable daughters who must help her cattle drive 100o cattle through a treacherous trail before winter sets in. Her youngest is only a baby and is strapped to her back through her trip. She hires Silas, a wandering wrangler who swears he's done with women after almost being forced into a marriage by gun-point. He has no idea he's going on this cattle drive with only girls, but finds himself in love with the family. A pleasant, short read for an afternoon.

The Pirate Ruse by Marcia Lynn McClure

Yes, it has been a while since I have read one of Marcia Lynn McClure's romance novels and had forgotten how simple, but enjoyable some of her books can be. This is one that I have entertained the thought of eventually buying. One of the few of her many short books that she has.

Cristabel Albay has found herself abducted and prisoner on a ship which is being overthrown by pirates; and of course, another pirate ship has arrived and the captain of this ship insists that if she wants to live she's to jump overboard with him and swim to his ship. Trevon Navarrone is one pirate that is known for being a little more kind than other pirates and Cristabel will take her chances with him. Not so much a humorous book, but a tale of piracy, traitors, and kidnapping, The Pirate Ruse is set differently than most of McClure's old western books. Trevon and Cristabel of course find themselves in love, but must overcome ghosts from their past.

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

This is the third book of the Study series and was a good ending to this series. I have to admit that Yelena had some very irritating attributes this book that you just want to shake her and tell her to stop being so selfish and untrusting. She just would not listen to Moon Man or anyone else and insisted on taking everything into her own hands. How annoying. She could have prevented so many distressing and horrible times if she just took the time to find out her strengths and how to handle her role as a Soulsaver. It was surprising to find out who the real traitor/bad guy was at the end since you are led to believe the last couple of books that it is purely Ferde, but you'll be surprised who the leader behind everything really is. Valek plays a role as always, but more of an outside role and you see a little more hurt and worry from him this book than the cold, hard person in the previous books. Past characters are also brought back and play some major roles in the plot as well. Definately a series that I would suggest to others.

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

The second installment of the Study series, this book was better than Poison Study. Poison study kept you on your toes as you anticipated the day Yelena will get poisoned or killed by her enemies. This book Yelena is being reunited with her family and her brother who beleives she is a spy from Ixia. She is also learning to master her magic and learn what her specific skill is. Someone is kidnapping young girls and doing horrible things to them before killing them. Yelena saves one young victim and must save the last victim before all is lost while once again watching her back from people who believe she really is a spy and try to kill her and Valek. Yes, how could we go through this story without Valek showing up to rescure Yelena and help her save the day once again.

The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner

My husband picked this book up a couple weeks ago since it was pretty cheap and he thought it looked like something I might enjoy reading. Pretty much it is about a couple 12-13 year-olds that start recieving mysterious letters that have clues that they have to figure out. They tell them the day and time they have to do some strange movements and say a magic word in order to save lives from something terrible. This first book of the 13th Reality series is all about the clues and how Tick (our main character) and the others try to figure out all the clues while also escaping from some strang occurances. The very end we actually find out what their mission is and a glimpse at what the series will be trying to accomplish. Not my first pick of books to read, but not one I would dismiss either. I'll eventually read the whole series when I've got nothing else to read.