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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
2-stars. This book was disappointing. I have had people recommend The Other, a series by the same author, but I am not impressed with the plot, world or character building in this particular book.
It featured a museum docent, Ella Harrow, who was attacked in front of a gargoyle statute, late at night in the museum where Ella was employwed. The magic in Ella's voice awoke the gargoyle statute, and the guardian responded to her need for rescue.
Kees explained to the scared Ella, that he was guardian and e had been in a sort of stasis until he was needed. Somehow, her internal magic roused him and now he was flesh again and ready to protect.
She trusts him and he flies her to her 2nd floor apartment, which baffled me because he seemed to know the city well enough to navigate it. Then, her couch AND her apartment fit this huge gargoyle with wings. I had a little trouble with that, but I believe the gargoyle had a cloaking spell, so others didn't see his wings, tail etc. Maybe it also including some shrinking abilities.
Kees and the other 6 guardians protect the world for evil demons. They were divided up into separate regions and assigned to a particular warden, who is their source of information. Kees asked Ella to help him locate his warden who used to live in the Paris area. When they managed to locate the Warden's guild, Kees found out that the demons they had banished had returned. Ella's magic had summoned him back into action. Complicating his duty was his new found attraction to Ella.
I will just say this: I had all kinds of issues with this one. But at the end of the day, this book was slow paced and dialogue was boring. I just did not enjoy anything about this story because both heroine and hero were uninteresting to me. I didn't like it so I am not sure I'll read the sequel.
It featured a museum docent, Ella Harrow, who was attacked in front of a gargoyle statute, late at night in the museum where Ella was employwed. The magic in Ella's voice awoke the gargoyle statute, and the guardian responded to her need for rescue.
Kees explained to the scared Ella, that he was guardian and e had been in a sort of stasis until he was needed. Somehow, her internal magic roused him and now he was flesh again and ready to protect.
She trusts him and he flies her to her 2nd floor apartment, which baffled me because he seemed to know the city well enough to navigate it. Then, her couch AND her apartment fit this huge gargoyle with wings. I had a little trouble with that, but I believe the gargoyle had a cloaking spell, so others didn't see his wings, tail etc. Maybe it also including some shrinking abilities.
Kees and the other 6 guardians protect the world for evil demons. They were divided up into separate regions and assigned to a particular warden, who is their source of information. Kees asked Ella to help him locate his warden who used to live in the Paris area. When they managed to locate the Warden's guild, Kees found out that the demons they had banished had returned. Ella's magic had summoned him back into action. Complicating his duty was his new found attraction to Ella.
I will just say this: I had all kinds of issues with this one. But at the end of the day, this book was slow paced and dialogue was boring. I just did not enjoy anything about this story because both heroine and hero were uninteresting to me. I didn't like it so I am not sure I'll read the sequel.
Ella is not normal like everyone surrounding her. Ella possesses psychic ability, but one she keeps under wraps. Ever since her parents died in a fatal accident that she believes is her fault in her failure to keep a tight leash on her powers, she does everything possible to hide them, even from herself. One evening while working at a museum, she is attacked, and a gargoyle statue comes to life saving her. Kees is a guardian in the shape of a gargoyle, keeping demons away. His duty is to protect and destroy evil, but then he is awakened by a woman's cry, and every protective instinct he has goes into overdrive. He never expected to be put asleep for hundreds of years, or that he would yearn for this woman who fires his blood in a way he has never felt before. Ella is shocked to discover that certain gargoyles aren't normal statues, they are guardians, and the world is in trouble. That Kees and his fellow guardians are the only ones that stand in the way between evil demons and humanity. It will take Kees and Ella working together to destroy a enemy that seems to surround them on all sides, will they be able to rely on each other and their abilities, to survive the coming battle on the horizon or be destroyed?
I was able to obtain a copy of this ARC through St Martins Press via Netgalley. I only received this a few weeks ago, and after reading some amazing reviews, I knew I had to pick it up. I love shifter romances, and I was intrigued by the "gargoyle" theme this author has going here. The story starts out tame and normal, where nothing abnormal ever happens right? well, the story quickly escalates into a fierce battle of good vs. evil. After Ella gets attacked, Kees stays by her side, with a full Alpha Male personality calling her "Mine" whenever she attempts to get back to her normal routine. Kees is very old and has lived for centuries, and so he is bound to cause complications for a modern day woman right? Well their relationship is tested when evil stalks them, and as they search for aid in helping Ella develop her powers more, they start to realize how dire the situation is. That they, currently, are the only ones that have a chance to defeat the demons that are intent are destroying every guardian and mage out there, that are fighting to protect humanity. The story line is quite full of suspenseful scenes and dramatic action that heats the blood. Danger is around every corner, and my heart just went out to Kees and Ella for not getting much of a break. I enjoyed seeing the intense tone to the plot that kept me on the edge the whole way through.
Now let me talk a bit about the characters involved in the story. The two main characters, Kees and Ella, are wonderful together. From beginning to end there is a sizzling desire that you feel from the first moment Kees has been awakened. Kees is somewhat unique as far as shifters go, since he can turn from a stone beast to a gorgeous hunk of a male in a instant. He is from a older time, so has strong possessive traits especially when it comes to the one woman that matters more than life to him. I have to say that Kees definitely raised the heat meter sky high. There wasn't anything I disliked about him. He adapts quickly to modern life and I love the way he compromises with Ella time from time, but at others, their fights could be catastrophe at times--but enjoyable at the same time. Now Ella....how do I describe her adequately enough or how much I liked her spunk. One of my favorite aspects of Ella as the heroine is the inner strength she has, but her vulnerabilities that shine through and make her so real to the reader. Ella is the perfect mate for Kees, strong and capable, passionate and full of zeal for life. She brought such zest to the story and I enjoyed the sparks between this couple that never seemed to end. They also seemed to be a solid fighting couple too, especially considering what a novice Ella is.
Overall a surprisingly intense paranormal romance that will set you on a roller coaster of delights, twist and turns, dangers around every corner, and a plot guaranteed to give you a thrill of a adventure!! Hold tight, because Heart of Stone will give you a ride of a lifetime of two people that have discovered a fierce love while battling the greatest evil that threatens the destruction of the world!!!
I was able to obtain a copy of this ARC through St Martins Press via Netgalley. I only received this a few weeks ago, and after reading some amazing reviews, I knew I had to pick it up. I love shifter romances, and I was intrigued by the "gargoyle" theme this author has going here. The story starts out tame and normal, where nothing abnormal ever happens right? well, the story quickly escalates into a fierce battle of good vs. evil. After Ella gets attacked, Kees stays by her side, with a full Alpha Male personality calling her "Mine" whenever she attempts to get back to her normal routine. Kees is very old and has lived for centuries, and so he is bound to cause complications for a modern day woman right? Well their relationship is tested when evil stalks them, and as they search for aid in helping Ella develop her powers more, they start to realize how dire the situation is. That they, currently, are the only ones that have a chance to defeat the demons that are intent are destroying every guardian and mage out there, that are fighting to protect humanity. The story line is quite full of suspenseful scenes and dramatic action that heats the blood. Danger is around every corner, and my heart just went out to Kees and Ella for not getting much of a break. I enjoyed seeing the intense tone to the plot that kept me on the edge the whole way through.
Now let me talk a bit about the characters involved in the story. The two main characters, Kees and Ella, are wonderful together. From beginning to end there is a sizzling desire that you feel from the first moment Kees has been awakened. Kees is somewhat unique as far as shifters go, since he can turn from a stone beast to a gorgeous hunk of a male in a instant. He is from a older time, so has strong possessive traits especially when it comes to the one woman that matters more than life to him. I have to say that Kees definitely raised the heat meter sky high. There wasn't anything I disliked about him. He adapts quickly to modern life and I love the way he compromises with Ella time from time, but at others, their fights could be catastrophe at times--but enjoyable at the same time. Now Ella....how do I describe her adequately enough or how much I liked her spunk. One of my favorite aspects of Ella as the heroine is the inner strength she has, but her vulnerabilities that shine through and make her so real to the reader. Ella is the perfect mate for Kees, strong and capable, passionate and full of zeal for life. She brought such zest to the story and I enjoyed the sparks between this couple that never seemed to end. They also seemed to be a solid fighting couple too, especially considering what a novice Ella is.
Overall a surprisingly intense paranormal romance that will set you on a roller coaster of delights, twist and turns, dangers around every corner, and a plot guaranteed to give you a thrill of a adventure!! Hold tight, because Heart of Stone will give you a ride of a lifetime of two people that have discovered a fierce love while battling the greatest evil that threatens the destruction of the world!!!
I really enjoyed the supernatural aspect of this book. It was much more than just a romance novel which I appreciate, there was actually a supernatural mystery thriller type feeling to this book. The copy I received was an uncorrected proof and it had many grammatical and spelling issues which I hope were corrected in the final version.
Someone is killing Wardens and members of the Guild of Light. They are who protect the world from evil rising and taking over but there has been new movement and larger pockets of evil rising. When this happens the Guild usually sends a Warden to wake their secret weapon, the Gargoyles or Guardians who were created to destroy the darkness and keep the evil 7 from rising. This time there are no Wardens willing or able to step forward and it is a untrained powerful woman who wakens the Guardian. As they try to find out why or how this happened and how to find the other Guardians they have to dodge forces trying to hurt them, and memories that threaten to drown them.
This was a good read. It really kept my attention and I was really drawn to the whole story line. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Someone is killing Wardens and members of the Guild of Light. They are who protect the world from evil rising and taking over but there has been new movement and larger pockets of evil rising. When this happens the Guild usually sends a Warden to wake their secret weapon, the Gargoyles or Guardians who were created to destroy the darkness and keep the evil 7 from rising. This time there are no Wardens willing or able to step forward and it is a untrained powerful woman who wakens the Guardian. As they try to find out why or how this happened and how to find the other Guardians they have to dodge forces trying to hurt them, and memories that threaten to drown them.
This was a good read. It really kept my attention and I was really drawn to the whole story line. I look forward to the next book in the series.
3 stars
Solid start to the series, but I thought Ella was kind of whiny until the end of the book. Her ability to easily master her magic after 27 years of suppressing it was hard to believe, but the battle scenes were fast-paced and exciting. I will probably read the next book in the series.
Solid start to the series, but I thought Ella was kind of whiny until the end of the book. Her ability to easily master her magic after 27 years of suppressing it was hard to believe, but the battle scenes were fast-paced and exciting. I will probably read the next book in the series.
The very good-
the sex and the relationship. The story of the relationship is very complete and I would definitely call this a romance. The sex was hot.
the pretty good-
the world building, very interesting world and setup.
the OK-
the background story, it felt incomplete.
the sex and the relationship. The story of the relationship is very complete and I would definitely call this a romance. The sex was hot.
the pretty good-
the world building, very interesting world and setup.
the OK-
the background story, it felt incomplete.
2.5 stars.
I'm normally a fan of Christine Warren and have read and enjoyed her "Novels Of The Others" series. This book just didn't do it for me. I found myself skimming through it just to finish and hoping that it would get better. I found the heroine boring and the hero to be overbearing and cold, but then I guess he is made of stone. I even got where I skipped over the sex scenes completely to finish the book more quickly. I am disappointed because I've always enjoyed her stories in the past and found her characters funny and gratifying, but that was not the case with this book. I will not continue with this series.
I'm normally a fan of Christine Warren and have read and enjoyed her "Novels Of The Others" series. This book just didn't do it for me. I found myself skimming through it just to finish and hoping that it would get better. I found the heroine boring and the hero to be overbearing and cold, but then I guess he is made of stone. I even got where I skipped over the sex scenes completely to finish the book more quickly. I am disappointed because I've always enjoyed her stories in the past and found her characters funny and gratifying, but that was not the case with this book. I will not continue with this series.
Heart of Stone was better than I thought it would be. The leads were fun (some of Ella's comments were really funny), the story, despite its unoriginal concept, was entertaining, and Kees was great. The chemistry between Ella and Kees was also nicely done. I was both surprised and pleased to read a story set in Vancouver; there are very few romance novels, let alone paranormal romance novels, that I know of that are set in Canada. It also looks the second book in the series will be set in Montreal. Cool. As a final note, with all the references to the seven demons coming together to form the darkness, I really was expecting a Voltron reference. Oh well.
I RECEIVED AN ADVANCE COPY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW!!
I was very confused throughout this book. We're dropped into this world, with very little building or backstory given to the reader. It even took me a bit to realize that it was set in Canada, as there was maybe one mention of it in the first chapter. The heroine doesn't explain anything of why she keeps her powers locked up, and with an attempted rape, I had to wonder why she didn't use it. I also didn't like how she could accept Kees when he was in "Human" form, but when he reverts back to his Guardian/Gargoyle form, she freaked out to some degree. Made her seem very shallow. The lack of full explanations made the story dull and uninteresting to me, and I was reading it just because I had to for a Net Galley review. For a reader unfamiliar with the author's previous works, it made me wonder if this was a spin off of one of her previous series. All in all, this book was unapproachable for me as a reader, and based on this impression, I won't be seeking out the author's other works.
I was very confused throughout this book. We're dropped into this world, with very little building or backstory given to the reader. It even took me a bit to realize that it was set in Canada, as there was maybe one mention of it in the first chapter. The heroine doesn't explain anything of why she keeps her powers locked up, and with an attempted rape, I had to wonder why she didn't use it. I also didn't like how she could accept Kees when he was in "Human" form, but when he reverts back to his Guardian/Gargoyle form, she freaked out to some degree. Made her seem very shallow. The lack of full explanations made the story dull and uninteresting to me, and I was reading it just because I had to for a Net Galley review. For a reader unfamiliar with the author's previous works, it made me wonder if this was a spin off of one of her previous series. All in all, this book was unapproachable for me as a reader, and based on this impression, I won't be seeking out the author's other works.
In general, paranormal romance isn't a big draw for me. However, when I heard about the Gargoyles series by Christine Warren I had to give to give it a try. Why? Honestly, because I loved the animated TV series Gargoyles as a kid, and had to see what this paranormal romance series would be like. Heart of Stone by Christine Warren was a fun start to this paranormal romance series.
Heart of Stone is about Ella Harrow, who works for a museum in Canada. She's pretty introverted, and has worked hard to keep her distance from most people. She knows she's different from regular people, and she doesn't want anyone to know. After an event at the museum, a favorite Gargoyle statue comes to life. Ella is shocked, the say the least. Kees is a Guardian (his job is to protect the world from evil), and is only woken when the world needs his protection. Soon Ella and Kees are working together to save the world, and while they do that they fall for each other.
I really liked Ella. She totally has her freak out (as anyone who has seen a statue come to life would), but she really does handle it well. Ella is intelligent, sweet, and a bit reserved with people. But she begins to open up to Kees, and then her best friend, and I really liked that. Kees was great too. He was created to protect people, and I sure do love a warrior. It was interesting to see him start caring about Ella specifically, and not just humanity as a whole.
There was a lot I liked about the romance between Kees and Ella, but it wasn't my favorite either. They did work well together, and they did have chemistry. Although, I really didn't care for Ella constantly thinking that she was attracted to someone who wasn't even the same species. I mean, that kind of grosses me out. The action was good, although there were down times too. I found it difficult to believe that Ella would be able to find all this information by just searching the Internet. I didn't completely buy everything that happened, but overall it was a fun read. Heart of Stone by Christine Warren was a good start to this series. I definitely need to read more. And if you're a fan of paranormal romance give this a try, but I would borrow it from the library instead of buying it.This review was originally posted on Quinn's Book Nook
Heart of Stone is about Ella Harrow, who works for a museum in Canada. She's pretty introverted, and has worked hard to keep her distance from most people. She knows she's different from regular people, and she doesn't want anyone to know. After an event at the museum, a favorite Gargoyle statue comes to life. Ella is shocked, the say the least. Kees is a Guardian (his job is to protect the world from evil), and is only woken when the world needs his protection. Soon Ella and Kees are working together to save the world, and while they do that they fall for each other.
I really liked Ella. She totally has her freak out (as anyone who has seen a statue come to life would), but she really does handle it well. Ella is intelligent, sweet, and a bit reserved with people. But she begins to open up to Kees, and then her best friend, and I really liked that. Kees was great too. He was created to protect people, and I sure do love a warrior. It was interesting to see him start caring about Ella specifically, and not just humanity as a whole.
There was a lot I liked about the romance between Kees and Ella, but it wasn't my favorite either. They did work well together, and they did have chemistry. Although, I really didn't care for Ella constantly thinking that she was attracted to someone who wasn't even the same species. I mean, that kind of grosses me out. The action was good, although there were down times too. I found it difficult to believe that Ella would be able to find all this information by just searching the Internet. I didn't completely buy everything that happened, but overall it was a fun read. Heart of Stone by Christine Warren was a good start to this series. I definitely need to read more. And if you're a fan of paranormal romance give this a try, but I would borrow it from the library instead of buying it.This review was originally posted on Quinn's Book Nook