review || LOCKED IN STONE

Locked in Stone by Tory Michaels 

Publisher: Entangled: Covet (02/23/2015)
Series: Heart of Stone, book 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: NetGalley
Purchase links || amazon | bn || add to goodreads

Rating: ★★★★

Her enemy is her only hope...

Rose Johnson's adoptive mother was murdered, and Rose is next. She may be the last gargoyle in the world—the last being who stands between this world and the evils of Otherworld. In order to keep her existence a continued secret, Rose needs to find the stone that holds her adoptive mother's soul. Which means enlisting the help of her enemies the Sentinels...

Sentinel Cal Levesque never forgave himself for failing Rose's family years ago. Seeing Rose alive is shock enough, until the stunningly beautiful gargoyle attacks him upon sight. As they strike an uneasy peace—and unexpected and escalating attraction—Cal knows he'll have to tell Rose who really betrayed her family. And with Rose's life in greater danger than ever, Cal has a chance to make up for the past...as long he doesn't fall in love.

about Tory || Originally from the Sacramento Valley, Tory packed up and moved all the way to Southwest Florida in 2004 with her husband (a Florida native) under the premise that 'hurricanes almost never hit that part of the state.' That year, 4 blasted the area. 4 more came the following year, and her husband blames her for bringing the hurricanes. She now resides in Jacksonville and is relieved that, thus far, no more hurricanes have followed her around.

She began writing in kindergarten when a turnip wished to be human and, other than a hiatus shortly after getting married, has never stopped. Her love of vampires began somewhere in junior high, and combining the two loves didn't take long. She loves music, considers herself a 'book slut' whose reading habits would break her family financially if given free reign, and is (usually) delighted to be a mommy of twin Shrimpettes and a Shrimp.

{ review } .

This was the first gargoyle style paranormal romance for me to read... and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the sub-genre. I can get my mind to wrap around the vampires and shifters, but something about gargoyles just... I can't do it.

That said...

Tory does a really good job of setting the stage. She gives you a list of terms right at the beginning of the book, as well as describes the different levels, if you will, of the gargoyles throughout the book. Cal was to keep Rose's mother safe and when she died, it was assumed that her girls perished as well. When Rose happens on his property, he is in shock.

Rose, in layman's terms, is a special level of gargoyle that can day-walk. Everyone else goes to stone during the day. Because of this, Rose is able to move around and talk with Cal. I'm not sure a relationship of any sort would even be fathomable if she were only alive and moving during short hours of the day.

The romance aspect was decent. My biggest problem was I personally had a hard time doing the whole gargoyle thing. I enjoyed Cal struggling with the fact that while, yes, he failed the Mother, Rose was around and the more she was around, the more he cared for her. I loved Cal's ghost. I loved the paintball fight pre- and post-story... Ok, really loved it post-story. 

This is a book that took me some getting used to -- I needed to wrap my brain around the paranormal aspect a little bit more than I typically do. In the end...

...I'm still a teensy bit curious about the sisters who will be showing up one by one.