#BookReview: Heart of Stone by Christine Warren - 4 Wine Glasses!

Title: Heart of Stone 
Series: Gargoyles #1
Author: Christine Warren
Format: eBook/Paperback, 297 pages
Published: December 31st 2013 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N
Source: Library
Reviewer: Linda
Rating: 4/5

From bestselling author Christine Warren comes a thrilling new series about a young woman caught between a rock and a hard place—between gargoyles and demons…

Ella Harrow is trying to carve out a normal life for herself. Well, as normal as an art geek with psychic abilities can hope for. As museum docent and gift-shop manager, Ella is able to keep her distance from people—and her powers in check—while surrounding herself with the artifacts she loves. But how on earth is she supposed to act normal when a thousand-year-old statue on the museum's terrace suddenly comes to life?

Heart of Stone

Not your ordinary gargoyle, Kees has been asleep for eons, waiting for a portent of evil to wake him from his slumber. Kees isn't a vision; he's a bat-winged guardian created to protect the world from the seven demons of the Dark. Somehow, Ella triggered his reawakening. Maybe the demons have been unleashed? Maybe his heart is finally ready to be chiseled open? The fate of the world isn't carved in stone…yet.

Thoughts:


Heart of Stone is Christine Warren's first foray into the world of gargoyles and it's captivating.  I never thought of gargoyles as being sexy until I met Terak in Danielle Monsch's Stone Guardian. If you haven't read that one, hither yourself to your favorite bookstore and pick it up!  It's FABULOUS!  OMG... I've been craving gargoyles ever since!

The world and the characters Warren created in Heart of Stone are incredible.  I loved both Ella and Kees, connecting with both from the beginning!  Ella, our heroine, runs the gift shop and works as a museum docent - a fancy name for a tour guide - at the Vancouver museum.   She distances herself socially as terrible, unexplainable things happen when her emotions run amok.  After an evening fundraiser at the museum, Ella is attacked by a pervert and as she seeks to gather her wits next to her favorite piece, a seven foot tall stone gargoyle perched on a  pedestal, the gargoyle moves and comes alive!   She is beyond shocked!  What?  How?  Why does this gargoyle make her hot just looking at him!  She tells herself repeatedly that he isn't real!  I loved Ella.  She starts out as a confused and shy young woman but evolves into a passionate, strong and feisty character.  I was so proud of her as she saw what needed to be done and stepped up to the plate.  

Kees, our swoon-worthy, hard-as-rock hero, is a 1,000 years old gargoyle although he prefers to be described as a guardian.  He and his six brethren were created to protect our world from evil demons.  When the guardians are not needed, they sleep as statues with trained and experienced wardens assigned to each to track them and wake them whenever their services are required.  There are so many questions to answer here.  How could Ella have awakened him?  Why does he feel that he must stay with her and protect her?  Since the guardians were created solely to serve humanity, they are not supposed to have feelings or experience emotions.  He cannot explain his feelings toward Ella; nor can he control his urges towards her.  Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  Kees is YUMMY!   He's also ultra patient, caring, driven and obsessed with Ella.  Every time he calls her, his "little human," I smile.

Together, the two of them work frantically to discern what has happened and why, to find the wardens and Kees' brethren and to stay ahead of the demons.     

“So I'm not allowed to take responsibility for the whole world, but you are, huh?
Kees felt the corners of his mouth twitch and his heart squeeze and then melt. ...
I am bigger, he growled. 
And she laughed.” 

Ella and Kees pack some serious HEAT!  There's some juicy sex scenes within the pages of this book!  As Ella so aptly said:  “Only in porn did people appear to need sex as badly as she needed it right that minute.”    I want to share one more favorite quote to entice you:  “Still shuddering, he collapsed atop her on a long, strangled groan. It sounded as if someone had just wrung out his soul.  Ella knew precisely how he felt.” 

Heart of Stone combines gargoyle mythology with some great storytelling and concocts a perfect blend of danger, action, humor, romance and erotica!  I caught myself alternately laughing, on-the-edge-of-my-seat, and swooning as Ella and Kees battle demons and their attraction to each other.

This was a wonderfully engrossing novel teeming with evil demons, magic spells, and delectable dalliances.  It adds up to an exciting, fast-paced debut for this new series.   If you haven't fallen in love with a gargoyle recently, pick up Heart of Stone and indulge. :-)))