Book Review: Stone Heart

Book Review: Stone Heart by Mallory Glass

Lauren is a young stoneworker from Missouri, on her first big solo commission. Lord McCardle has hired her to restore the stone figures on his isolated tower in the Scottish Highlands. And I do mean isolated. It’s miles to the nearest village, and there’s no wi-fi or mobile signal. Even the laird doesn’t spend much time there, being hours away in the city, so there’s only the surly and taciturn Cook most of the time, and a housekeeper that Lauren never sees.

It’s no wonder Lauren finds herself talking to the statuary!

It’s a bit more surprising that one of the grotesques (stone figures on a wall that do not spout water, unlike a gargoyle) starts talking back to her. At first, Lauren thinks her encounters with the stone manticore that calls itself Adriel are erotic dreams, but it soon turns out they’re rather more than that.

This short novel is of the currently trendy subgenre called “romantasy”, category romance with fantastical elements as a major draw. This one leans towards the spicier edge of the field with fairly explicit on-page sex scenes.

The story alternates chapters between Lauren and Adriel’s viewpoints, with a minimum of other characters or plot threads. This is one of those romances that starts with lust and takes a while for the characters to actually have an interest in each other’s personalities.

Adriel is a bit of a stinker; there’s a reason he was sealed in stone by the wizard Cardle all those years ago, though the punishment has by this point far exceeded the crime. His backstory is a little muddled; when his age comes up it turns out he’s from the 14th Century, but the details make it sound more like the 4th Century C.E. Life in Scotland was very different between those two time periods.

Lauren’s more of a standard modern female protagonist, focused on her career and trying to do a good job on the restoration, but also wanting to get laid. She’s got magical powers she doesn’t know about that Adriel “helps” her unleash.

The story’s okay for what there is of it, but if you’re looking for more than “the leads get together after some difficulty” this isn’t your sort of thing. It’s complete in this volume, and I’m not sure where the sequel will be going. There is a sequel already out, by the way.

I am not the target audience for this book. But if you are a romantasy fan who always thought Elisa and Goliath should get it on, this will probably be to your taste.