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calbowen's review against another edition
1.0
Did not finish, and let me say why ...
First, I think that the concept was good, and the first chapter was fast paced
Chapter 2 begins 26 years later and things go askew - how does someone live in a world that combines our reality and fantasy 'entwined' and someone growing up in this time period not know details about the creatures and the magic and whatnot - and be a teacher that teaches about - the combining of the two worlds - wait, what?
but I am still on board, and even though this has the whole 'I have watched you from afar and I fell in love with you' type scenario (which is completely not romantic as it is stalker psychotic) I still read on - all the way up until the Gargoyle in human form began to touch himself - NOPE! - I am off this crazy train ....
Sorry - I hate to leave a book unfinished, but I have no desire to read about this and before you try to judge me, I would have thrown the book down at the same point in the story if it were female - I am not being a sexist, I am being anti-sexist -
My apologies to everyone that enjoys this book, but I for one won't even let it back into my home!
First, I think that the concept was good, and the first chapter was fast paced
Chapter 2 begins 26 years later and things go askew - how does someone live in a world that combines our reality and fantasy 'entwined' and someone growing up in this time period not know details about the creatures and the magic and whatnot - and be a teacher that teaches about - the combining of the two worlds - wait, what?
but I am still on board, and even though this has the whole 'I have watched you from afar and I fell in love with you' type scenario (which is completely not romantic as it is stalker psychotic) I still read on - all the way up until the Gargoyle in human form began to touch himself - NOPE! - I am off this crazy train ....
Sorry - I hate to leave a book unfinished, but I have no desire to read about this and before you try to judge me, I would have thrown the book down at the same point in the story if it were female - I am not being a sexist, I am being anti-sexist -
My apologies to everyone that enjoys this book, but I for one won't even let it back into my home!
halynah's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty solid read with an interesting word-building, diverse characters and beautiful romance.
clockworkbook's review against another edition
4.0
Fun read. Great premise, interesting characters and a good beginning to a diverse supernatural group and the New Realms. Looking forward to reading this series and uncovering more, especially the oracle and the secrets/backstories of the other characters.
amybraunauthor's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book filled with gargoyles, action, and romance. Definitely what I needed, since gargoyles are underrated in fantasy.
The story follows many great and fun characters. They all have their own quirks and uniqueness, even if the dialogue came off as cheesy at some points.
Larissa and Terric have solid chemistry and their romance is a tender one. They definitely have the best banter and dialogue throughout the book.
I wished the villains were a little more in depth and that the ending had been extended since it didn’t feel terribly dire to me (even rushed at one point). That said, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, urban fantasy romance to occupy their time. This one is a hidden gem!
The story follows many great and fun characters. They all have their own quirks and uniqueness, even if the dialogue came off as cheesy at some points.
Larissa and Terric have solid chemistry and their romance is a tender one. They definitely have the best banter and dialogue throughout the book.
I wished the villains were a little more in depth and that the ending had been extended since it didn’t feel terribly dire to me (even rushed at one point). That said, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, urban fantasy romance to occupy their time. This one is a hidden gem!
divapitbull's review against another edition
4.0
I had a bit of a hard time getting into Stone Guardian at first. I felt disconnected from the characters and was seriously considering DNF'ing; but I considered the number of positive reviews and soldiered on and somewhere around the 4th chapter the story picked up and I really got into it.
Larissa lives in a world of entwined realms. She was born on the day of the Great Collision when the human realm collided with the magic realm and the 2 became entwined. Larissa lives in a cordoned off "human only" city, and doesn't have much experience with the other races - which include Orcs, Elves, Werewolves, necromancers/vampires, zombies, gargoyles - pretty much whatever you can imagine. Larissa's world gets turned upside down when it turns out that for some unfathomable reason she is being targeted by necromancers. Lucky for her, she also comes under the protection of Terak; leader of the gargoyle clan and eventual love interest.
The romance is very sweet and Larissa and Terak are 2 wonderfully nice people. Larissa is a strong character - for a human. Terak is loyal and steadfast. At one point Larissa considers that he is so upstanding he is sort of a stick in the mud. They are both virgins. In other words, from my perspective blah. They were both pretty...just...blah. I will concede that the love scenes were well done and could be considered pretty steamy.
Luckily for me, the story introduced lots of side characters into the plot, which also luckily revolved around more than just romance. I really liked Fallon, a Kate Daniel-esque, sword wielding, kick-ass Guild (i.e. secret society policing the realms) member. I'm intrigued by the hinted at lusty sexual tension between Fallon and the really evil, red eyed necromancer Reign (Now that sounds like an interesting couple- hope they get a future installment!) There was a decent amount of action, some humor, and snarky dialogue balancing off the romance.
I enjoyed the story and look forward to future installments.
Larissa lives in a world of entwined realms. She was born on the day of the Great Collision when the human realm collided with the magic realm and the 2 became entwined. Larissa lives in a cordoned off "human only" city, and doesn't have much experience with the other races - which include Orcs, Elves, Werewolves, necromancers/vampires, zombies, gargoyles - pretty much whatever you can imagine. Larissa's world gets turned upside down when it turns out that for some unfathomable reason she is being targeted by necromancers. Lucky for her, she also comes under the protection of Terak; leader of the gargoyle clan and eventual love interest.
The romance is very sweet and Larissa and Terak are 2 wonderfully nice people. Larissa is a strong character - for a human. Terak is loyal and steadfast. At one point Larissa considers that he is so upstanding he is sort of a stick in the mud. They are both virgins. In other words, from my perspective blah. They were both pretty...just...blah. I will concede that the love scenes were well done and could be considered pretty steamy.
Luckily for me, the story introduced lots of side characters into the plot, which also luckily revolved around more than just romance. I really liked Fallon, a Kate Daniel-esque, sword wielding, kick-ass Guild (i.e. secret society policing the realms) member. I'm intrigued by the hinted at lusty sexual tension between Fallon and the really evil, red eyed necromancer Reign (Now that sounds like an interesting couple- hope they get a future installment!) There was a decent amount of action, some humor, and snarky dialogue balancing off the romance.
I enjoyed the story and look forward to future installments.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
3.0
Was an okay monster romance story but didn't get any strong feelings for this.
claire_loves_books's review against another edition
3.0
It a decent effort for a first book but while I liked the word and the plot I didn't really find the characters all that interesting.
Larissa is just a bit dull- she's sooo sweet and soo innocent and also has a few plot driving moments of TSTL that were annoying (she's pretty smart and cautious most the time so it seemed really out of character).
I felt like I'd met Terak before half a dozen times- he's a very powerful leader of X race, he looks after the heroine and saves her life and slowly realises that he cares for her. The fact he wasn't a womaniser and seemed to respect Larissa was really nice and refreshing but in other ways he was't that unique.
Larissa is just a bit dull- she's sooo sweet and soo innocent and also has a few plot driving moments of TSTL that were annoying (she's pretty smart and cautious most the time so it seemed really out of character).
I felt like I'd met Terak before half a dozen times- he's a very powerful leader of X race, he looks after the heroine and saves her life and slowly realises that he cares for her. The fact he wasn't a womaniser and seemed to respect Larissa was really nice and refreshing but in other ways he was't that unique.
naomilane's review against another edition
5.0
What a great book! This is a PNR book, with lots of different species in it. But the MC is not a werewolf or a vampire, he's a GARGOYLE. I loved that because it's so new for me and it was so interesting. It's funny because if you think about it, gargoyles are not supposed to be attractive or anything but in this book... THEY ARE! Definitely.
I really liked the prologue because it helps us understand the story a lot better. I can't really explain the story to you because it's kinda complicated and I don't want to write any spoilers but read the synopsis, you'll understand! The story and the universe were really interesting. Like I said, because of the prologue we're sucked into the story right away. And I liked that.
Larissa, the heroine, is a 26 year old teacher and she's human. I loved her! She was always sheltered and overprotected her whole life by her father and her older brothers but she still was a strong heroine. Very fierce and loyal. What I loved most about her was her bravery. She was brave BUT NOT STUPID. You know, some heroines are great but they're so naive. They do stupid things and they get hurt and all but Larissa was not like that. She was smart and rational. When she was in a bad situation or in danger she didn't play hero you know, she RAN and asked for help. And that is cool because it didn't make her a coward at all, in the contrary.
AND VERY IMPORTANT THING,, that made me happy haha!
Larissa was not judgmental. She wasn't afraid of Terak even though the guy was a BIG and BRAWNY gargoyle. It's not everyday that you see a gargoyle. She wasn't disgusted and everything...she was just understanding and nice. The perfect heroine.
Terak *sigh* I loved him! HE WAS SO SWEET. Seriously, he's a freaking gargoyle, he's the leader of his clan but he was SO INNOCENT AND SWEET with Larissa, I don't know how to explain, it was just perfect. Don't get me wrong, he is also very strong and fierce and he knows how to fight.
He's not human, so he has this way of talking...he talks like a true gentleman and I just... *swoon* He loves his clan fiercely and he's very loyal to them. And let's not forget that Terak
I loved the romance in Stone Guardian. It was unhurried. They actually became friends first, like just friends you know, they learned to know each other, to understand each other and then the feelings started to really appear. I think that their first kiss was at like 60-70% and I admit sometimes it was frustrating but I still loved it because it made their relationship even more beautiful and intense, and REAL.
I also liked the other characters. I'm really intrigued with all of them. Fallon is super intriguing like,. Wulver who's a HAWT werewolf, . Let's not forget Laire, she made me laugh so hard, Aislynn who's an elf and the Shadow guy (I am SUPER interested in him!). Larissa's brothers were a good addition too, especially Michael.
The world that Danielle created is amazing and I cannot wait to read book #2. There are so many things unsolved and so many characters who deserve to be explored so I'm looking forward to the next books.
I really liked the prologue because it helps us understand the story a lot better. I can't really explain the story to you because it's kinda complicated and I don't want to write any spoilers but read the synopsis, you'll understand! The story and the universe were really interesting. Like I said, because of the prologue we're sucked into the story right away. And I liked that.
Larissa, the heroine, is a 26 year old teacher and she's human. I loved her! She was always sheltered and overprotected her whole life by her father and her older brothers but she still was a strong heroine. Very fierce and loyal. What I loved most about her was her bravery. She was brave BUT NOT STUPID. You know, some heroines are great but they're so naive. They do stupid things and they get hurt and all but Larissa was not like that. She was smart and rational. When she was in a bad situation or in danger she didn't play hero you know, she RAN and asked for help. And that is cool because it didn't make her a coward at all, in the contrary.
AND VERY IMPORTANT THING,
Spoiler
she was a virgin, héhéhé. Everybody knows by now how much I love virgin heroines!Larissa was not judgmental. She wasn't afraid of Terak even though the guy was a BIG and BRAWNY gargoyle. It's not everyday that you see a gargoyle. She wasn't disgusted and everything...she was just understanding and nice. The perfect heroine.
Terak *sigh* I loved him! HE WAS SO SWEET. Seriously, he's a freaking gargoyle, he's the leader of his clan but he was SO INNOCENT AND SWEET with Larissa, I don't know how to explain, it was just perfect. Don't get me wrong, he is also very strong and fierce and he knows how to fight.
He's not human, so he has this way of talking...he talks like a true gentleman and I just... *swoon* He loves his clan fiercely and he's very loyal to them. And let's not forget that Terak
Spoiler
is also a virgin, I mean... *happy sigh*I loved the romance in Stone Guardian. It was unhurried. They actually became friends first, like just friends you know, they learned to know each other, to understand each other and then the feelings started to really appear. I think that their first kiss was at like 60-70% and I admit sometimes it was frustrating but I still loved it because it made their relationship even more beautiful and intense, and REAL.
I also liked the other characters. I'm really intrigued with all of them. Fallon is super intriguing like,
Spoiler
I think she may be a dragon? Which is super coolSpoiler
I think he's the kid/werewolf from the prologue with Larissa's father*The world that Danielle created is amazing and I cannot wait to read book #2. There are so many things unsolved and so many characters who deserve to be explored so I'm looking forward to the next books.
firefightrix's review against another edition
4.0
Great Read
Excellent world building. I very much enjoyed the read and look forward to reading the rest of the series. I found myself more interested in the side characters then the main ones.
Excellent world building. I very much enjoyed the read and look forward to reading the rest of the series. I found myself more interested in the side characters then the main ones.
j_j_catcrazydragon's review against another edition
4.0
This should have been a 5 out of 5!
Bar for one, pertinent, glaring issue...
Larissa: so sweet, very real, earnest, likeable, honestly flawed.
A high school history teacher, in a dystopian world, where the human realm and magic realm collided together 26yrs ago. A nerdy (of course beautiful), book worm, action challenged, but smart enough to be honest about it all. Good sense of humour, yay! Not a feminist badass, but neither a damsel in distress. Take away the coolness, beauty, awesome family, lifestyle, success, courage (yeah all that), and she could totally be me. Oh, also the blonde hair, great figure, runners ability ... totally me and all other fantasy readers...
Terak: so sweet, very real, earnest, likeable, somewhat honestly flawed.
Gargoyle clan leader, doing his best to be everything, to everyone. Sometimes a little too perfect.. Could use a few more honest flaws in order to be more than a real fantasy hero, and become the alpha stud as well. Very easy to read, very likeable and sexy, but didn't always simmer. Don't need to be an arsehole, just need to be a little more problematic to be real. It's the flaws that makes the fantasy real. How can you lose yourself in the dream, when there's nothing to overcome, when he's so perfect you wonder where you fit in?
Larissa does have her moments of doubt, brief pauses of insecurity. But she did grow up surrounded by a family of alpha males ( 4 brothers and a dad, all in law enforcement), who love and protect her.
That could help a girl develop a healthy sense of self...
So the oracle (annoying, cool, but too brief character), tells Tarek to protect, she's important to the clan, Thats it.
Introduce the zombies (again too briefly touched on, or detailed).
Tarek to the rescue, and a couple of newbie characters, later to be more fully introduced.
Awesome side characters, that just NEED to have their own stories.
Fallon: Female sword weilding, badass, snarky, sexy, anti-hero, warrior.
Laire: female midget, asian, gorgeous, smart, snarky, hilarious style goddess, mage.
A couple of others, but too brief an appearance to warrant description. I have to say, that this is one other issue, less a complaint, and more a whine. There was so much else that could have been added, turning this into an epic urban fantasy, rather than just a romantic, urban fantasy. The story was already there, the idea's, dialogue, scenes. You could hear and see them, if you squinted jusssst right. I so wanted to read them in this story. Losing myself, being absorbed over days, not just hours.. sigh. Everyones in such a rush.
So theres this big deal over Larissa, all the bad guys want her, with the good guys trying to protect her, and nobody knows why? It's a mystery.
Vampire bad guy, big dangerous orcs (so needed more detail, especially the car scene), mention of dire wolves and goblins (you know what my whine is again)..
Action scenes are good, simply brief, with little detail to truly place you in the scene. Good if you hate those drawn out scenes where punch after punch, fall, slam, you name it, they get back up.. Not so great if you want to know whats happening over there?
What does it smell like, what does it feel like, what makes it real and not just words to an exciting idea?
This sounds negative. It's not meant to. It was so fun, so easy to read, I wanted to know what happened next, wanted to keep reading, really enjoyed myself. I just simply know, it could have so easily been more, with more time, detail, and side bits.
The author is clearly talented, capable, you just can't figure out why she skipped so much?
Then comes the big moment, the loss of a full star! WHY, WHY, HOW?
Okay, its hard, scary, mind boggling, but no, she just caves. Now maybe you think, hey she's a teacher, she just can't deal with the loss of the snarky, idiotic, bitchy teen girl.. Some say fair (not me).
But, as soon as the stone menace is revealed to be in fact, the love of her life! Well now she has to fight, has to win, cause no ones getting between her and her stone penis, ah prince.
Yep, really, couldn't come up with a better way of creating angst and climax, other than turning her into every romance drivel inspired, weak willed, hormone driven, damsel who can't think, live, or be worth anything without her 'man'. !!!!!ARGH!!!!
Everything else I could forgive, but not this! Lose WHOLE star! Not happy Dan!
I still desperately want MORE! Give me more, so much more detail, story, background, world building, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! I'll be nice I promise.
The next book-story, I can't get here in Aus except in Audio, only available in the US..
Bar for one, pertinent, glaring issue...
Larissa: so sweet, very real, earnest, likeable, honestly flawed.
A high school history teacher, in a dystopian world, where the human realm and magic realm collided together 26yrs ago. A nerdy (of course beautiful), book worm, action challenged, but smart enough to be honest about it all. Good sense of humour, yay! Not a feminist badass, but neither a damsel in distress. Take away the coolness, beauty, awesome family, lifestyle, success, courage (yeah all that), and she could totally be me. Oh, also the blonde hair, great figure, runners ability ... totally me and all other fantasy readers...
Terak: so sweet, very real, earnest, likeable, somewhat honestly flawed.
Gargoyle clan leader, doing his best to be everything, to everyone. Sometimes a little too perfect.. Could use a few more honest flaws in order to be more than a real fantasy hero, and become the alpha stud as well. Very easy to read, very likeable and sexy, but didn't always simmer. Don't need to be an arsehole, just need to be a little more problematic to be real. It's the flaws that makes the fantasy real. How can you lose yourself in the dream, when there's nothing to overcome, when he's so perfect you wonder where you fit in?
Larissa does have her moments of doubt, brief pauses of insecurity. But she did grow up surrounded by a family of alpha males ( 4 brothers and a dad, all in law enforcement), who love and protect her.
That could help a girl develop a healthy sense of self...
So the oracle (annoying, cool, but too brief character), tells Tarek to protect, she's important to the clan, Thats it.
Introduce the zombies (again too briefly touched on, or detailed).
Tarek to the rescue, and a couple of newbie characters, later to be more fully introduced.
Awesome side characters, that just NEED to have their own stories.
Fallon: Female sword weilding, badass, snarky, sexy, anti-hero, warrior.
Laire: female midget, asian, gorgeous, smart, snarky, hilarious style goddess, mage.
A couple of others, but too brief an appearance to warrant description. I have to say, that this is one other issue, less a complaint, and more a whine. There was so much else that could have been added, turning this into an epic urban fantasy, rather than just a romantic, urban fantasy. The story was already there, the idea's, dialogue, scenes. You could hear and see them, if you squinted jusssst right. I so wanted to read them in this story. Losing myself, being absorbed over days, not just hours.. sigh. Everyones in such a rush.
So theres this big deal over Larissa, all the bad guys want her, with the good guys trying to protect her, and nobody knows why? It's a mystery.
Vampire bad guy, big dangerous orcs (so needed more detail, especially the car scene), mention of dire wolves and goblins (you know what my whine is again)..
Action scenes are good, simply brief, with little detail to truly place you in the scene. Good if you hate those drawn out scenes where punch after punch, fall, slam, you name it, they get back up.. Not so great if you want to know whats happening over there?
What does it smell like, what does it feel like, what makes it real and not just words to an exciting idea?
This sounds negative. It's not meant to. It was so fun, so easy to read, I wanted to know what happened next, wanted to keep reading, really enjoyed myself. I just simply know, it could have so easily been more, with more time, detail, and side bits.
The author is clearly talented, capable, you just can't figure out why she skipped so much?
Then comes the big moment, the loss of a full star! WHY, WHY, HOW?
Spoiler
we have the angsty, romance, drama moment.. I can deal, it's a little obvious, but okay. But, then our smart, real, capable MC has a TSTL moment. All sulky and heartbroken, she gives in to the bad guy, cause, if she can't have her hunky love blocky, why should the rest of the world get to exist. Even the bad guy is shocked by how easily she gives in. Yep, sacrifice everyone to save a kid we know will be killed once the bad guys win anyway ... huh?Okay, its hard, scary, mind boggling, but no, she just caves. Now maybe you think, hey she's a teacher, she just can't deal with the loss of the snarky, idiotic, bitchy teen girl.. Some say fair (not me).
But, as soon as the stone menace is revealed to be in fact, the love of her life! Well now she has to fight, has to win, cause no ones getting between her and her stone penis, ah prince.
Yep, really, couldn't come up with a better way of creating angst and climax, other than turning her into every romance drivel inspired, weak willed, hormone driven, damsel who can't think, live, or be worth anything without her 'man'. !!!!!ARGH!!!!
Everything else I could forgive, but not this! Lose WHOLE star! Not happy Dan!
I still desperately want MORE! Give me more, so much more detail, story, background, world building, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! I'll be nice I promise.
The next book-story, I can't get here in Aus except in Audio, only available in the US..