Book Review of Stone Guardian: Gargoyle Urban Fantasy Romance (Entwined Realms Book 1) by Danielle Monsch

Book Title: Stone Guardian (Entwined Realms Book 1)

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

Pages: 382

Author: Danielle Monsch

Date Published: 26 June 2013

Synopsis:

Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.

Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets - that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.

Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.

In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa’s life, but the fate of this New Realm as well.

Review:

Stone Guardian by Danielle Monsch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the Entwined Realms Urban Fantasy/Romance series. I really enjoyed the story.

Larissa Miller is an interesting character. I liked her a lot. She is a normal human living in a world that changed twenty-six years ago when the Great Collision (a merging of the human and supernatural world) happened. She is the only daughter of an overprotective policeman father, and sister to four overprotective policemen brothers. When she is attacked by a group of zombies on the way to a poker game hosted by her father, she finds herself thrust into a world she knows nothing about when she is rescued by a gargoyle sent to protect her.

Terak is the leader of his clan of gargoyles. I really liked this character a lot. He is an impressive warrior and fiercely protective of his clan. When a prophecy is disclosed to him, he finds himself guarding a human woman who intrigues him. As he and Larissa work together to uncover the mystery surrounding the prophecy, their undeniable attraction sparks.

I purchased this book last year due to my interest in urban fantasy romance. Unfortunately, due to my large reading list, I have not able to read it sooner.

I started to read this book and was instantly hooked. I loved the way the characters came to life. However, I felt, even though the world building was good, it was far too 'human' at times. I would have liked to have known more about the world of the Gargoyles and more of the inner workings of their society, as well as the other supernatural beings. Perhaps this will be revealed as the series progresses.

There are some interesting characters introduced that I liked. They are: Fallon (she's a type of warrior called a Dragon Slayer), Laire (she's a mage), Aislynn (she's an elf) and Wulver (he's a werewolf leader). They are members of the Guild and act as protectors to the humans from supernatural beings (like police but more mercenary).

The story is a little formulaic when it comes to the romance, but the plot is interesting. The story is told through the eyes of Terak and Larissa, though Fallon has a few scenes from her point of view too. There is action, danger and mystery mixed in such a way that I found myself becoming emersed in the tale. Unfortunately, as I got closer to the end I felt the story began to fizzle slightly. The energy and excitement I felt in the beginning began to wane about two-thirds into the story, and this made me feel sad. The ending was also not to my liking. I'm all for setting the scene for the next book in the series but, I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers and this felt a little anti-climatic and boring. It didn't end in a bang, but a whimper and didn't grab me enough to want to keep reading the series. Other readers may have a different reading experience to me, so I will urge you to make up your own minds.

Danielle Monsch has written a fantastic start to a unique urban fantasy romance series. I enjoyed her fast paced writing style and the flow was good. This is the first book I have read written by this author. At this moment in time, I am not sure if I will read more of her books, but I am not ruling it out as it depends on my mood and I may give her books another try in the future.

Due to explicit scenes of a sexual nature, I do not recommend this book to readers under the age of 18. However, I do recommend this book if you love hot erotic paranormal romances full of gargoyles, werewolves, vampires, fae, druids etc. - Lynn Worton

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About The Author:

Born to the pothole-ridden streets of Pittsburgh, PA, USA Today Bestselling Author Danielle Monsch started writing in a time long ago, a time when there were not enough vampire stories to read and she had to write her own to fill the void. Yes, such a time of darkness did indeed exist.

Danielle still writes on the fantastical side of the aisle, filled with gargoyles, dragons, vampires, werewolves, elves, dwarves, zombies, magic, mayhem, swords, sorcery, humor, a possible decapitation or two, expectations of bloodshed and violence, and underscoring it all - love and all the happy reasons to keep fighting that good fight.

Author Links:

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Just want to send Danielle a quick email? Easy enough, that's Dani@DanielleMonsch.com.