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Why did no one tell me about Witchblade? Okay, it's a little hooky but really, kick-ass heroine and tormented dark and sexy "hero" What more does one need?

When did the ideal woman go from this pin up image by Gil Elvgren to these "Best Dressed" in Vogue??

Suzanne Collins "Mockingjay"

I'm going to try hard not to give away anything about Mockingjay but I'm assuming you've read the first two books so be forewarned (spoiler alert).

In case you haven't read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, what are you waiting for?! It's a dystopian story about a young girl whose sent to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games where 24 teenagers battle to the death in the arena.

When I read The Hunger Games I was struck by the skill with which the book handled so many different ambiguities. Does she "love" Peeta or Gale, what does "love" mean as it applies to each of them? Where are the moral lines between survival and retaining your humanity? While we condemn the Capitol viewers for their interest in the Hunger Games, isn't the pace and violence and uncertainty one of the things that keeps the reader reading this book? Not only is the book brilliant but it's riveting and you can't help but fall in love with the characters making it readable on many different levels.

Catching Fire was terrific but I think most noteworthy for being, really, a very decent middle book. That's not easy to do either.

Mockingjay completely lives up to this entire series. The brilliance of the first book lies in what it didn't resolve. I worried that in a third book, where you certainly expect things to be resolved, there was no way to not be disappointed. Ms. Collins, I'm impressed. The book effectively and logically ties up a lot of issues, but dives even deeper into war and how one retains one's humanity under impossible circumstances. Wow.

And no. Not gonna tell you which boy. But I will say, both live and so in the end, she does have to choose. :)

Young Adult dystopian novel 2010: 18 of 5 decapitating lizard mutts.

Sadie Callahan "Lone Star Woman"

When I admitted to my kids that I choose this book cause I liked the cover they explained that you really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover because some really good books might have lame covers. Gotta love it.

Lone Star Woman is a book about Jude, the only child of a West Texas ranching dynasty who has spent her entire life making herself ready to inherit the ranch. The only time she rebelled against her father and grandfather was when they choose a fiance for her, and even then she dated him for six months before finally breaking it off. What she somehow fails to know is that there is no way in hell that her Dad and grandfather are going to leave the running of the ranch to her because she's a woman.

Brady just had a bad divorce (shallow cheating wife whose father makes his life hell in the courts) leaving him broke and worried about his nine year old son. He inherits a spread that's all run down that borders the much larger Circle C that Jude lives on. He hires on as a ranch hand to the Circle C and eventually gets offered the general manager job that Jude has been waiting for her whole life.

The writing is a bit clunky. The characters motivations are not always understandable. And the book sort of ends abruptly with a unnecessary near death and rescue. But, if you like the Texan fantasy life and the cowboy fantasy character, it's kind of fun. Not the best book, but definitely not the worst either.

Contemporary Texan Romance 2009: 3 of 5 Stallion Teasers.

PS. Since so many romance covers feature strategically placed swords and such I have to give a shout out for the awesomeness of the "Turquoise circle marks the spot" on this one.

Marjorie Liu "The Fire King"

I was digging around on Alpha Hero's and came across a recommendation for The Fire King and since I had tried a book by Ms. Liu in the past and not been excited about it, I was intrigued.

Okay for you not so into fantasy readers out there, I will admit, the book is about a three thousand year old chimera (offspring of two shape shifters of different breeds) who is awakened when his tomb is discovered. Since his kind have long died off the only person in the world who can communicate with him is a telepathic who when in the presence of a native speaker, can understand and speak any language. Okay, okay, either you can read this genre or you can't. If you can, this is a well crafted story.

Our hero is very Alpha, but humbled by something bad in his past, our heroine is a terrific blend of scared but does what needs to be done in the moment who has also been scarred by life but still retains some trust in the goodness in people (beings, whatever. :)

The story is tight with good pacing of the downtime and the action. The secondary characters are a little distracting as this is clearly a book in a continuing series and furthering the series seems to drive some of the descriptions and plot. But overall, very good fantasy romance with both a terrific hero and a great heroine.

Fantasy Paranormal Romance 2009: 4 of 5 tri-breeds.