Blood of Stone

Shattered Magic - Stone Blood #1

by Jayne Faith

A new race of Fae. Their reluctant champion. Every ruler in Faerie is coming for her.

Every kingdom in Faerie wants to claim Petra’s people as their own, but she isn’t interested in Fae power struggles. She moved out of Faerie years ago, and she’s been scraping together a living as a bounty hunter. She just wants to catch her next mark so she can make rent.

But when she’s chasing down her mark in a nightclub, assassins attack a minor Fae king. Petra saves his life, and in the process, she gets unwillingly yanked into Faerie politics. Her daring rescue of her changeling sister from King Periclase, who’s vying to force Petra and the rest of her race under his rule, pushes inter-kingdom hostilities to a tipping point.

Tensions erupt into a threat of all-out war, and the only way to settle matters is for Petra to enter a battle of champions—a fight to the death.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fae, Romance, Vampires, Ebooks

Audible Audio

First published January 22, 2018

About the author

Hi there! I'm Jayne Faith, author of the urban fantasy Ella Grey Series and paranormal romance Sapient Salvation Series. When I'm not tapping away at my keyboard while swilling coffee and tea, I'm playing with my dog; eating, flipping through recipes online, fantasizing about food, dreaming up my next meal (you get the idea); doing yoga or Pilates; or watching TV. Connect with me on Facebook, just search "Jayne Faith" or go to facebook.com/AuthorJayneFaith

Reviews

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣]

I'm really liking that cover, and I hope for a kick-ass lady.

[Bitches Be Critics · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bitches Be Critics: Reviewing Romance Novels by Feminist Standards.
www.bitchesbecritics.com

Reviewed by Notorious
Overall Grade: DNF, Pantsuit

Preamble:

So…another mediocre book bites the dust. It’s not terrible, but not that interesting either. If I forced myself to finish it, it would probably be a solid two stars, maybe two and a half stars. It’s got the usual magical beings doing magical things to the backdrop of super-complicated magical politics, and everyone fights with flaming swords instead of guns, and murder is NBD as long as it’s a bad guy, etc. Blood of Stone is basically every paranormal urban fantasy with a kick-ass female heroine you’ve read before, minus anything that might make it unique or engaging. Sorry, book.

Things I liked:

It’s often funny. The main character of Petra, a generic strong female warrior, has lots of humorous one-liners that made me chuckle. She’s snarky and annoyed when politics gets in the way of her freewheeling bounty-hunting lifestyle, which happens all the time because everybody be politickin’ in this world.

Also, the kick-ass female character actually kicks some ass, which is nice to see on the page rather than having other characters talk about it.

Things I didn’t like:

As I’ve said, the book just isn’t that interesting. There’s a LOT of info-dumping about magical politics and different races and whatnot, which was better than nothing (ex: Rune Thief), but the vast majority of it was only tangentially relevant to whatever was happening on the page. For instance, while Petra is traveling to some other area of the magical realm (which she does A LOT; I never got a strong sense of place because she moved around so often), she’ll muse about the creatures, bloodlines, and politics of the people that live there (the story is told from her POV). But then what actually happens when she gets there won’t involve any of that stuff. Felt like a lot of needless exposition.

In between the exposition was a weirdly disjointed story, where on the one hand she’s trying to catch a vampire for a bounty so she can pay her rent, while in a totally unrelated narrative she’s also given a quest to rescue the twin sister she never knew she had. Maybe these two stories merge at some point, but I never got a sense Petra cared that much about either goal beyond fulfilling obligations put on her by other people. Her landlord tells her to pay the rent, and her dad tells her to rescue her sister; neither of these goals comes from any internal motivation to meet a deep-seated need on Petra’s part.

And therein lies the core problem with this book—Petra doesn’t have a strong desire line through the story. Who is she as a person, and what does she want in life? I still had no idea by the time I bailed. She’s not strongly driven or motivated by anything happening in the book, and as a result neither was I.

Additionally, everyone is described by their race and what their bloodline can do, which has uncomfortable real-life connotations that made me cringe every time it came up, which was all the time. For example, at the beginning of the book Petra uses her magic flaming sword to slice and dice a handful of assassins, who are described as half-banshee/half-dwarves. I guess that’s supposed to be a bad combo, because no one thinks twice about murdering these little guys rather than trying to apprehend them. They’re a race of cannon fodder goons we’re not supposed to care about, even though they’re ostensibly thinking and feeling individuals.



Finally, there was no romance in this story, at least in the part I read. (To be fair, romance wasn’t part of the novel’s keywords, but I thought Amazon knew me better than to suggest something with no romance. Damn you, Amazon algorithms!) There’s another warrior dude who could become a love interest, but Petra seemed uninterested in pursuing it (like everything else in her life) and it didn’t look like it was going to go anywhere anytime soon.

I got to about the 33% mark before I peaced out. Just like Petra, I couldn’t bring myself to care about what came next.

Petticoat or Pantsuit?



Pantsuit, with a shrug. Despite Petra’s lack of a distinctive personality, she was still a strong female warrior capable of taking care of herself, and nothing obviously sexist or misogynistic happened in the part of the book I read. So…yay, I guess.

Bitches Be Critics: Reviewing Romance Novels by Feminist Standards.
www.bitchesbecritics.com

[Victoria (nocturnalintimacy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free Kindle Read.

I like this one. It's not without its faults...I would have liked a bit more world building, and I feel like there are a few things that just don't make sense. For example, if the mortal-world isn't important, and no one has funds...how did they get the money to buy their land in California?

As a character, Petra is interesting. I like that she's no-nonsense and doesn't have time for politics. I like that she's a badass fighter.

I'll probably grab book two if it goes one Kindle Unlimited.

[Miranda F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the reviews say this book doesn't offer anything new to the genre, but... does it have to? I was completely engrossed the whole time. It had me glued to my screen. It offered me several hours of joy. What more do I want, really?

We've got magical swords, a heroine who doesn't know her past and wants to avenge her mother's death, a long-lost sister our heroine needs to rescue, and a longtime-friend potential romance interest.

I'll take it all!

[★Me Myshelf and I★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

how to describe this book in 4 gifs or less

Our girl is part of the new breed of Fae in town the "New Gargs" aka gargoyles without the downsides.


This was a nice change to read an original type of Fae and something different. The new gargs are fighting to be independent of the other Fae courts but our MC wants to be a vamp hunter in the human world and tries to stay away - not very successfully
what follows is a whirlwind adventure of Faerie with magic swords


but it felt a bit like this at times;


With two plot lines running alongside each other there was plenty of action and a potential love interest was introduced but in the end I was left feeling



the good
- our MC was a baddest bitch with a blade in town
- the world building was great

the bad
- no romance
- felt like we were going round in circles at times
- nice rounded off ending left open for book 2 but I don't feel the need to read on

the ugly
- the poor little stray cats that has no significance - I just felt sorry for them, do we know why they were there?

Not sure if I'll continue the series but it was an entertaining read nonetheless and worth a try if you're undecided

[Jeanny · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 30%
Seems meh 😑

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm afraid to say this book just didn't do it for me. There were a few good lines of witty dialogue, but for the most part the I found the heroine "a bit" too thick, and not just because of her stone armour.

The writing was unbearably repetitive in places; I'm sure I must have read about Petra's reason for becoming a bounty hunter at least a dozen times. Perhaps (since she wasn't exactly the sharpest rock at the beach) she just needed to keep reminding herself of these facts, or perhaps she was just trying to convince herself they were actually true (although no matter how many times I was told the King Periclase was some sort of evil mastermind, and the Duergar Palace full of "spies", I thought his actions showed him as quite reasonable and reserved under the circumstances-especially wearing that cape!)

However, brainwashing aside, our heroine did have a glowing sword, so it wasn't all bad.

[Sam Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Blood of Stone by Jayne Faith is a gripping urban fantasy with strong pacing, an intriguing magical world, and a tough, relatable heroine. The blend of supernatural suspense and emotional depth kept me hooked from start to finish. While a few plot points felt a bit familiar, the world-building and character development more than made up for it. A solid, entertaining read

[Seleata Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This book was just what I was looking for. Complex characters, action, powers, and romance wrapped into one modern fantasy novel. Read it in one day. I just couldn't put it down. Captivating!

[Feminista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe i got this title for free when it was free on the apple book store. That said, I’m glad i did. This is a fun fish out of water with faerie politics thriller. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to checking out the rest of the series.

[Malischa Nijenhuis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Niet helemaal mijn ding. Maar ben je ingetresseerd zeker lezen 😉 hou je niet tegen

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two plots running together, a lot of non stop action to enjoy. Threats of who would get the kingdom to rule. Fighting for death if need be
Given ARC audio of which narration was good for my honest opinion and my voluntary review

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Eh. 2019 has been full of 'not quites' for me.

I like the idea. I like some of the characters sometimes. I like some of the plot sometimes. I like some of the writing sometimes.

... The h isn't bad... Until she's TSTL. Ok, so we're repeatedly warned she HATES court, politics and anything else related... But I wasn't expecting her to be dumber than a box of bricks signing up for swim class. The first time she's thrown into court, she shows up, notes she's been REALLY NOTED for some reason, notes the endless guards she can see, and the hidden ones she can see, that will mean there's even more hidden from view, notes that in unseelie everyone is a spy, notes she has to do the job quietly and then decides to take off in the half hour break she has after arrival before the next party to get past the guards stationed to keep them locked in their rooms and past all the spy's while she has only the vaguest idea where she might be going... and all this when she wont actually be able to get to check out the person she's after without tipping them off and either moving or upping guards. It's not like she could stash the person in her suit case and no one would notice for the rest of the trip! She's only been there and hour ffs! Anyway, shes caught in 10mins and puts everything on shaky ground and sulks a bit like a teenager, cause she has a job to do and she just wants to do it if all the guards would just F off and let her thru, she would have been fine!

But ok, we were warned she had no interest in politics, so they 'kick her out, so she can sneak back and get the girl without implicating them...'

... She'll do better right? Nope, those bricks still can't swim. She sulks that she didn't get a feed at the party, so adds to the risk to steal some food when she gets back, cause they owed her a feed damn it! She hasn't considered using her easy peasy Magic to modify how she looks since the whole idea f her leaving was o the rescues couldn't be linked to them... No, she strolls no about - though none of the earlier endless guards seem to be anywhere - having a munch, looking like the chick that was kicked out of town a couple of hours ago. Then she strolls along, cause she has no real clue where she is, until she luckily stumbles across the girl. But she takes in the situation, and makes sure she knows what's going of and has a way out right? Nope, she takes 30 secs, dives head first at the first gap. The pipe she chose to climb up was rusted out and fell off, luckily just as she reached the extremely sturdy guttering :/... but that fallen pipe lets the lazy guards know they need to have a look see, just to be sure. So she waits right? Nope, she dives right in so they can catch the tail end of the rescue rather than letting them give everything the all clear then moving with no one the wiser.... Now everyone's pissed, yelling. Running and looking for them. But she knows where she's going right? Nope, she runs them into a wall. Then in to the building that they so don't want to be at. Ok, over this whole bricks learning to swim in cement thing.

The other thing is, she's bad ass. Very. She kicks ass LR&C! She can beat anyone she's up against. Then the challenge, and she's all... :( I can barely fight and I've taken a beating but at least I know how to use that pain. Ok, I'm not complaining that she got hurt in challenge, it's just that she's SO kickass is every other fight bar the one she was near comatose... But, she kinda fought better in the near comatose fight, cause a 'close' fight was no doubt supposed to be better for the book :(((

02/19

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this one up because I did like the Ella Gray books and figured that this should at least be interesting. I didn't realize this is somewhat of a spin off until much later.

We have a new heroine, Petra Maguire. She's Fae, from the Seelie side of the house, part New Garg and part mystery breed (there are A LOT of different breeds) as she does not know what type of Fae her mother was and her father won't tell her. Now, that part really intrigued me as it intimated that it has much to do with her skills as a fighter. The father not telling her what breed her mother was still baffles me since by the end, we still don't know what she was. New Garg is a new breed of Seelie that came about as a result of the Cataclysm (what happened at the end of the Ella Gray series). New Gargs are fierce fighters as unlike other Fae, they have the ability to call forth stone armor which gives them quite an advantage over other Fae. Another interesting tidbit is that other breeds became part New Garg, but their affiliation with territories is based partially on how much of one breed vs. another they are and to whom they swear fealty. Not all with New Garg traits can fully call forth armor or even call it at will. If you are not able to call armor, you are not considered New Garg and therefore, not able to pledge to the New Garg "queen" or live at the fortress. There is a lot of politics in the book and Petra is not a politician and therefore left Faerie so should would not have to be involved in any of it. Things change.

Petra is bounty hunter on the Earthly Realm. She lives there, works there, and is fairly happy remaining there. But, she is also New Garg and has sworn fealty to her people. This means that when called to Faerie by her monarch, she has to go. Given how new they are and that there are not many of them, other regions are vying to absorb the New Gargs. As one of their fiercest fighters, and daughter to the current champion, Petra has no choice but to return to Faerie. Now here is where things get really dicey and quite a bit is going on. First, there is a random attack of one of the Kings by little Ninja men. No idea where they came from or what they are. Second, she is actively seeking a bounty and is having the devil of a time catching him, and third, she is asked by her father, Oliver, to enter another kingdom to save her twin sister. A twin sister she was not aware she had. One that was hidden away since birth on the Earthly realm.

By the end of the book, you realize that the first issue is much larger and the lead in to the rest of the series. It will not be resolved in book 1. The second does get resolved, but not until the end. And the third is another one that will not be resolved by the end and actually results in more issues than not including a battle to the death. I have to say that it was not perfect, but I was definitely invested. I liked Petra for the most part. I'm always on board with a strong, fierce, butt kicking heroine. She had some moments that were jaw dropping idiocy, but for the most part, she was cool. I liked Jasper, Oliver, Maxen, and Emmaline. And yes, I will be continuing with the series.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilers

Book one in the stone blood series has us meeting Petra Maguire, a new age gargoyle. She is a halfie and doesn't know who or what her mother was (and she annoyingly seems to know nothing except that a vampire was her downfall). so far we are told she can shift her skin to stone like her father but is also not restricted by bulk and therefore quicker than the rest of the stone court making her a great fighter (although reluctant to be a part of court\guards\etc). This book has her, at the behest of her father the badass, going into another kingdom to free her twin sister. The twin, obviously fraternal, is also then claimed by that king as his daughter (talk about intrigue). Unfortunately, freeing the girl causes the king, peracles, to get enraged and Petra ends up having to duel to the death. There are lots of little happenings in the book that set up for other stories later on: she doesn't know who her mother is, her father claims she has a twin but Peracles is sure the twin is his daughter (which if true means Petra is also) but there's no way to do a standard blood test, the characters Bryna and vampire Van Zant clearly have a backstory, the old gods have returned, there's attacks against the kingdoms, and more. Like I said, these are lead ups to further books in the series but can also be very annoying because you really get no answers in this book. For me,there were two possible love interests to get excited about (the son of her monarch or the illegitimate son of Peracles) although it isn't so obvious that there might eventually be something between her and them. She's definitely kickass and the death duel scene had me clenching my teeth. The constant talk about moving through gates got a little repetitive and someone confusing. I don't recall any cussing and with the added absence of sex but addition of bloody fighting at the end, I declare this book PG13

[Ashleigh Neame · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. Blood of Stone by Jayne Faith was my office Book Club's book for June/July. It's not a book I would have normally picked up, but I am so in love with this book that I went ahead and bought book 2 in the series the day after I finished this book.

This is going to be a hard review to write without spoilers, but I'll do my best.

The world-building is amazing. Faith blends the modern world with the lore of Faerie doors and realms so creatively and effectively. It was easy to picture the story in my mind (always a plus), but it was also easy to relate to the world due to the intricate weaving of the modern world with the mysticism of traditional Fae lore.

Also making it easy to relate were the characters, specifically Petra Maguire. Our lead character lives in the real world as a bounty hunter. Her main focus at the start of the story is to capture a vampire named Van Zant, in an attempt to live up to her deceased mother's memory. She's very human in her thoughts, feelings, and mannerisms. Despite being Faerie (New Gargoyle to be more specific), Petra isn't a fan of the world she is from and the culture she is brought up in. It comes in handy at times, and she can't imagine not being Faerie, but she has no interest in living in the Fae realm full-time.

Petra was an inspirational character. In her mid-late 20s, she's a similar age to me so her thought process was similar. She's much more confident and "kickass" than I am though - I'd love to have her confidence - and she's way more athletic than I am. Despite her stony (ha, punny) front, deep down she cares for her family and cares for her people, which is why she fights so hard for them.

The characters (not just Petra) really drove this story forward. Supported by amazing word-building and lore, it's no wonder I enjoyed this book. I strongly encourage any fantasy-lover to give this book a go - you won't regret it.

[Kreela]

Gargoyles don’t excite me, but the idea of a half-gargoyle who is part of the Seelie Court and all the fae politics does! As a mercenary of the Guild, Petra (as in “petrified” 😜) uses her magic surreptitiously on the human side. Her goal in life is avenging her mother’s death by vampires. I imagine her as a modern paladin, because she also honors all the court requests she has joined. A gargoyle court is not official, but her queen Marisol is adamant about gathering all the gargoyles who can create their own armor.

This could be a story all by itself, but there are other subplots. Petra is part of a prophecy that Marisol had: her court would be official once Petra and her unknown twin died at her feet. Not only does Petra have to follow Marisol’s dictates to keep her magic, but she is now possibly on Marisol’s hit list?

Plus, shadow wraiths have been attacking all the kingdoms, and Petra has fought them off more than once.

There is a romantic subplot between her and the bastard son of an unseelie king. The slow-burn seems natural, far better than some novels where the characters pine over each other incessantly without any interaction. Petra has a couple of intimate touches with the potential boyfriend.

⁃ Urban Fantasy
⁃ Single POV
⁃ Court Politics
⁃ Action
⁃ First in a series

[Athenns Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, funny and new

I loved this new take on the fey and the new gargoyles. I found the characters intriguing and easy to accept right off the bat, it felt as though I stepped into their world instead of that slightly awkward get to know everyone phase that usually starts a book. Instead she balanced the introductions so we'll with the story that it seemed effortless to identify them from that point on. The plot was balanced with enough follow through on certain lines and just enough open ending left to make you want to see where those little paths will go in future books. I appreciated the lack of sex/romance, it's come to a point now days that it feels like authors just through in over the top sex even if it doesn't make sense to the story just to have it meet some kind of quota and as much as I love a good sexy scene, honestly "romance books" have almost become what porns are to the movies. It's like wait those two just met and he told her he hated her but now they are rolling around... Seriously...
So for Petra to be more worried about her job, her life earth side and her loyalties to the new gargs... Then wether or not Maxen or Jasper made her panties wet, was kind of a relief and refreshing break from the norm of the books out there!!!

[Julie Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a different genre for me but with all the action it kept me listening until the end and I might even look into getting book two, as it obviously follows on from this book and I want to see what happens. There was a number of unanswered question left hanging which I guess will get answered as the series unfolds but other than that I enjoy the plot. The characters were like able and I like that the main character is more than capable of looking after herself. She isn't a pretty princess quaking inside.
Petra is avenging her mother's death by taking down vampires, one vampire at a time. She knows it won't bring her mother back but it helps her to feel like she is doing her bit. Which is why she is annoyed when she has to return back to the Fae world. It seems she has a twin sister who has been kidnapped. Petra has always been a fighter but in this mission she must don a dress and mix with royalty. Will this be her toughest assignment yet? Battling the politics between two races or will she be the first one to draw blood and save the sister she didn't know she had.
I thought the narrator was good but she didn't change her voice much between talking and voices for the characters. It was still easy to follow and the hours flew by quickly.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I completely change my mind on a series, so want to change my scoring down a lot. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

I re-organised my shelves and managed to delete some favourite books, so this is a re-add. It's too hot to figure out a more detailed review, sorry!


First time read the author's work?: Yes

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a new series titled Stone Blood. I state up front this is the first book I have read by this author, and she has made me a fan. I have to admit I have not read any of the books that this series is an offshoot of, Ella Grey, but I do own the first couple of books in that series. However, like many readers, my TBR pile is huge! Now, I will make sure to put Ella Grey on the top. But, back to this book, it was well-written, had fascinating characters, and the world was fun. I really liked Petra, and I really liked the other characters in the book, especially Maxen and Emmaline. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the three of them after the events at the end of the book! As I don’t want to spoil anything, I can’t say much about that. I do have to admit the doorways between the worlds and how they worked confused me a little, but that could just be me; I read too fast and sometimes tiny things suffer. However, I really enjoyed this first book, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Highly recommend! Thanks to the author for the e-book which I reviewed voluntarily.

[Jessica Garland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a book that had a strong female lead. Well this book definitely came through, Petra is badass!

I'm all about twisted intrigued that you get while adding a little magic flare.

okay so here are the players:

Oliver - father of 2, Champion of the New Gargs, keeper of some serious secrets
King Periclase - liar, jerk, Changeling napper and all around bad guy
Queen Marisol - I can't really say she's conniving but it is implied, she's not really a queen yet but we're just going to give her that title and call it a day
Maxen - friend, has hots for Petra, son to Queen Marisol
Emmaline - Page to Petra, bright and quick on her feet
Jasper - illegitimate son of King Periclase, has eyes that you will read about to the point of annoyance
And last but not least
Petra - she's just straight-up badass she doesn't take anybody crap and fights against her circumstances. she hates the idea of being controlled and watching the weak be prayed upon by the stronger.

granted there are a few other people that I should mention but I didn't like them. Its my review I'm writing them off their dead to me.

[Kitiera Morey · Rating 3 out of 5]

What drew me in was the promise of a gargoyle character (there are certainly not enough of them), and I was not disappointed. Would I have liked Petra to be more gargoyle-like in appearance? Definitely, but her lack of that was made up for with how awesome her abilities are. Gargoyles are so awesome in this world!

Petra is a tough character that actually proves to be tough. I hate when characters (especially female ones) are talked up but fail when it matters most (and that’s not a character flaw or anything). She delivers, and I couldn’t like her more. She’s also not a giant jerk. I wanted to see her succeed and never rooted for horrible things to happen to her.

The plot is fast-paced, just the way I like it. I was really sad when I came to the last page, and I can’t wait to start the second book. I need to get more of this world.

[BeeGail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as a free Kindle e-book.
I read that it was a "slow burn" romance, cool cool cool, except that it was No burn in actuality. However, it didn't take long before I was hooked and had to keep reading to find out more. In chapter one or two you get your first dose of head-strong heroine and for me, that was addictive. I loved Petra and her personality.
I read many free Kindle books, this one was nicely written (very few to no grammatical errors and also, an actual story rather than disjointed segments strung together), which is difficult to find in a free book.
My only complaint is that this book is a cliffhanger, which makes sense for a free read. I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy the next book because while I enjoyed the writing and the characters, I didn't enjoy it enough to distract me from the other free reads I have waiting.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series start

I liked the Ella Grey series and thought I would try this one. The main character is introduced and you get a look at her current life, the magical world, some of her history and the circle of characters. This story combines the hunt for a bounty with an excursion into one of the Unseelie courts for a rescue. At this point I think we only have a glimpse of the overall series storyline. The main character is Petra and she is tough and likeable. There is a lot of action. I read the book pretty quickly. After reading the synopsis of the next in series, I want to read it. However, you only get a few hints in this book on where the story is going. I enjoyed the book. I'm just not sure where the series is heading and who to root for yet.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Petra Maguire is determined to walk her own path in life and doesn't want her actions to be dictated by Fae society. However, the political climate in the Fae realms is shaky at best after the cataclysm that brought about the creation of new Fae race referred to as New Gargs.

Her mercenary job coincides with her loyalty to the Stone Court and she must put aside her feelings to achieve both her goals.

Petra is a strong willed character that made me laugh whenever she was told to follow protocol. Reading this book is definitely a journey and I can't wait to see what happens next in this series.

I received this as an ARC which I voluntarily read and reviewed.

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say for free book this was pretty amazing. I did go in with low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised.
This story has vivid characters, fun dialogue, a lot of action... Which I got to say scored a lot of points in my book. But most of all the story actually made me want to keep reading... Didn't feel like a chore and I don't feel like I wasted my time.
I'm a little disheartened because the next book is almost $4 but I may actually pick it up...
This author writes very well, the story is very well put together, and I think the rest of the books in the series will be just as good as the first!

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad book, considering that so many things about it weren't all that good. The story was oddly paced, and the world building was clumsy and repetitive; I lost count of how many times the same details and character motivations were brought up as if for the first time. The side characters felt flat and their relationships with the main character remained sort of vague. But something kept me reading and I liked it enough to finish the book. Since so many story-lines were left open, I assume they'll continue throughout the series, but I'm not sure I'll read more

[Mrs L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magical races and creatures, in fighting, kidnap and intrigue. Petra, a stone gargoyle is asked to retrieve a stolen changeling from a rival royal court. She does not want to get involved as she does not like to get involved in the workings, and warrings of the courts. But when her father reveals who the changeling is, she agrees.
This first book in the series introduces all the different characters and factions, and sets up the action for future books. Easy to read and enjoyable, I like Petra. She is a bit of rebel, and does not easily give in. Looking forward to reading more about her.