Dark Secrets: Stone Cold Past: A Dark Secrets: Stone Cold Novel

Dark Secrets #2

by Shea Berkley

How far would you go to live a normal life? Suffering under an ancient spell, Anara spends her days trapped in stone and her nights battling evil to protect the innocent. Ryan, the man she loves and who fights at her side, is human. Though he says the curse doesn’t matter, Anara isn’t convinced. When she consults a witch, she finds the only way to break the enchantment is to find the original spell, but there’s a catch. Anara must travel back in time and steal the spell book from one of the most powerful witches in history. And she has 48 hours to do it. Ryan refuses to let Anara go alone. Armed with the warning that the smallest misstep could change history, they travel back to 954 AD to a time where the most brutal Viking, Eirik Bloodaxe, terrorized England. When the pair materialize in the middle of a fierce Viking battle, they have no choice but to fight and do the one thing they were warned not to do. Change history. Now it’s a race against time to confront an evil witch and set history right before their future and everyone else’s is changed forever. Dark Stone Cold Past is part of an exciting series from award winning author Shea Berkley. Step into the world of Dark Secrets for unparalleled paranormal action and adventure with a touch of romance. “Reading Shea Berkley is like watching magic unfold before your eyes.” — Darynda Jones, New York Times bestselling author

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 4, 2017

Reviews

[Tamra Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Secrets Stone Cold Past is fast=paced, action-packed, and filled with adventure. You'll love the historical details that add to the richness of the story. Don;t miss this story!

[Katherine Paschal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anara has been cursed for over a thousand years, forced to hide from the sun otherwise she turns into a statue. She has teamed up with brothers who hunt vampires, trying to rid the night of their evil. But Anara longs to be normal, to not live her unhappy half-life and she wants to be a full partner to her human boyfriend Ryan, something she can never be while trapped as a monster. When an opportunity presents itself to her to go back in time to break the ​curse, she is willing to do anything, including returning to the dangerous Viking world she came from.

So I guess this is a series and as per Goodreads the second book (but some people said it was the first so I have no idea) but I jumped right into the book no problem. Sure, there were some things I had questions about such as Alden and his mysterious ways, but I felt like that was a side note in a complete story, and maybe Alden will always be a mystery. Maybe world building was established in a previous book to explain the vampire hierarchy and minions, but I really don't see it as a problem to start with this book with no back story.

Let's take a minute to appreciate that the female main character is a gargoyle, not that the world gargoyle was used here, but for all purposes that was what she was. I love that is was the woman not the man who has this role in the story. I have read a ton of gargoyle books recently and I find the idea fascinating but this stood out from those with the role reversal. Anara was kickass and needed no man to fight her battles. The story started off pretty much with her in her leather and metal armor slinging her sword around defeating her prey of evil vampire dudes. And she just went from one battle to the next for the course of the story.

I would not classify this as a romance even though Anara is fighting for a chance to have a normal life and love, but instead maybe an urban fantasy with history smooshed in.

I am not a history person by any means so I can't confirm the authenticity of the story, but most of the book was set back in the day where Vikings were a thing and ruled what is now the UK. There were actually 2 different history timelines the reader experienced, where Anara and Ryan were actually there and the memories Anara experienced while thinking of her awful cruel past. The take-away message here is that I am so glad that I did not live during this time because I would have died- either for talking back because I don't take orders well, or curled up in a corner rocking quietly from all the crazy I had to see.

The ending surprised me and I have no idea what will come next for the characters or the series so I would very much so like to get my hands on more books set in this world.

I received this title in return for my honest review. Visit https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ for more reviews.