{Review} Locked in Stone (Hearts of Stone #1) by Tory Michaels

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: February 23rd, 2015
Finished Date: February 15th, 2015

Publishers: Entangled: Covet
Genre: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: eBook

Pages: 200

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

A paranormal category romance from Entangled's Covet imprint…

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.

The Review: Locked in Stone is a great paranormal romance and as the title would suggest…. Has Gargoyles!
As the synopsis tells us, Rose Johnson is forced to ask for protection from the Sentinels after the death of her adoptive mother and presuming that she is next. The Sentinels are more than happy to help when it is revealed that she is a Gargoyle and a special one at that. Rose has always been lead to believe that she is the last Gargoyle alive and that the Sentinels are the enemy but she needs their help in finding a stone that holds her adoptive mothers’ soul so that her secret remains intact. It doesn’t help that the first Sentinel she comes upon is the one who should have protected her real mother when she was a child.
Cal Levesque is a Sentinel who never forgave himself for the death of Rose’s family, he was meant to protect them and he is stunned to find Rose standing there when she had been presumed dead for years. She is no longer the young girl he used to know, she is now a woman who is more than capable of looking after herself but everything in him screams that she must be protected…. Not to mention the electric connection they seem to share. When they decide to help Rose with her mission he sees it as a chance to finally prove that he can do his job right…. But will history repeat itself? There are some shocks in store for them both as they try to triumph over evil.
I really enjoyed this story and thought it was a great start to the series and showed some good potential. Whilst Gargoyles seem to be becoming popular, I haven’t really read many stories with them in so that gives me a fresh and different read which is always welcome. I really liked the idea of the story, Gargoyles keep the veil between Earth and the Otherworld intact so that evil and its creatures can’t seep through. Whenever there is a break in the veil (a rift) it’s up to a special kind of Gargoyle to repair it and up to Sentinels to keep those ‘mothers’ safe from what comes through. Rose just happens to be one of those who can repair it but doesn’t know anything about it because of the circumstances of her upbringing and it’s through that, that she is led to believe she is the only one left. As soon as we meet Rose, we see that she is kick ass! She has a very streetwise way about her, a hardness that says she is a survivor and a free spirit that will bow to no-one – just the way I love my leading ladies to be. She has a great attitude also and shows very little vulnerability so when Cal comes along, she is a little swept away by the new feelings that he stirs. Cal is astounded to see Rose alive but he always remembered her and lived with the guilt of not saving her family so in the beginning we have to wonder if it is his sense of duty that makes him want to protect Rose… but at the chemistry between them heats up, it’s clear to see we have a love match going on. I was more than happy with this because they made a great pair and brought a sprinkle of romance to the story.
Obviously bad things will happen that will test them and showed us just how they all work together. We have enemies in the form of demons, witches, vampires, necromancers etc. and they all bring some sort of danger to our MCs. We see the rift happening and how they deal with it, see just how innate Rose’s power and instincts are. Cal also has a special gift that we see in action too which I thought was really intriguing and made me wonder just what the other Sentinels will be capable of doing. The whole idea of searching for her adoptive mothers’ soul stone is to keep Rose off everyone's radar but that sort of gets messed up quickly and gives the feeling that a countdown has begun with Rose now in the enemies sights. They have to battle for their lives numerous times bringing a lot of action to the story as Rose becomes reckless and Cal is burdened with guilt and opposing responsibilities forcing them to re-evaluate a lot of things. As we come to a shocking conclusion though, we will have learned a whole lot of secrets, truths and lies. The ending, even though tied up well and answering a lot of questions raised throughout has a small cliffhanger, nothing major but an awesome segway into the next book – which I will definitely be looking out for. 

Thank you to Entangled: Covet for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.