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Of Sand and Stone
She was destined to save his heart of stone...
Bookish museum curator Rebecca Clark has given up on dating. Real life men aren't nearly as perfect as the men in the paintings and statues she sees every day at her job. But one night she whispers a prayer to the universe to send her the perfect man. She had no idea a goddess is listening...
Devon Blake was Regency London's most wicked lover but when he sleeps with the wrong woman and leaves her unsatisfied, he finds himself cursed by none other than the Goddess of love herself. After living two centuries trapped as a marble statue, Aphrodite gives Devon one chance to redeem himself or he'll face an eternity of made of stone. He must prove he can satisfy a woman's every desire without satisfying his own.
When Rebecca discovers a naked man in her art gallery instead of a priceless statue at midnight she has no idea he's the answer to her prayers. Aphrodite has sent Devon to be Rebecca's perfect man. Can Devon earn Rebecca's love and trust by proving his selflessness or will it be too late?
Bookish museum curator Rebecca Clark has given up on dating. Real life men aren't nearly as perfect as the men in the paintings and statues she sees every day at her job. But one night she whispers a prayer to the universe to send her the perfect man. She had no idea a goddess is listening...
Devon Blake was Regency London's most wicked lover but when he sleeps with the wrong woman and leaves her unsatisfied, he finds himself cursed by none other than the Goddess of love herself. After living two centuries trapped as a marble statue, Aphrodite gives Devon one chance to redeem himself or he'll face an eternity of made of stone. He must prove he can satisfy a woman's every desire without satisfying his own.
When Rebecca discovers a naked man in her art gallery instead of a priceless statue at midnight she has no idea he's the answer to her prayers. Aphrodite has sent Devon to be Rebecca's perfect man. Can Devon earn Rebecca's love and trust by proving his selflessness or will it be too late?
194 pages, Paperback
First published November 27, 2017
About the author
Lauren Smith
148 books2,220 followersLauren Smith is a USA Today Best-Selling author and an Oklahoma attorney. She knew she was destined to be a romance writer when she attempted to re-write the entire Titanic movie just to save Jack from drowning. Connecting with readers by writing emotionally moving, realistic and sexy romances no matter what time period is her passion. She’s won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including: New England Reader’s Choice Awards, Greater Detroit BookSeller’s Best Awards, Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter-Finalist and a Semi-Finalist for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award. To connect with Lauren, visit her at www.laurensmithbooks.com or twitter at @LSmithAuthor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
August 21, 2026
Edit: Back in this review edit box for the third time because my brain is a sieve😑😑 My Goodreads pals already shelfed this one, so my bad for the late heads-up.
Remember when he turns down Aphrodite? This divine pest immediately assaults his mouth without permission, claiming it’s a reward because he finally stopped being a selfish prick. The narration tries to spin it as some "queen to subject" dominance, which is just code for being a non-consensual weirdo who thinks consent rules don't apply to immortal gods. Big Hreinasta from Scattered Bones predator energy right there. Absolutely gross!!He didn't kiss back, thank fucking God, since he just pledged himself to Rebecca.
Tbh, if that final chapter wasn't so damn wholesome with him cooking dinner and her beating his ass for disappearing for three full weeks, I would've knocked off a star purely for that deity's sickening behavior. Still keeping my 4-star rating intact, but Jesus Christ
Here's the original review:
Day 3 of being completely and utterly hooked on Nocticadia but still not at that UNPUTDOWNABLE stage where you forget to eat or pee or exist in the real world. Just perpetually stuck in this weird-ass limbo where you're obsessed but also somehow still capable of putting the book down to do basic human shit like sleep. Am I the only one who suffers from this specific brand of torture??? 😭 Because it feels like my brain is playing some sick-ass game where it's like, “Oh, you LOVE this book? Cool cool cool, now let's see how long you can last before you actually give enough of a fuck to binge it.” BITCH, I DON'T KNOW EITHER. 😭💀 I'm sitting right at page 90 which is kinda the shit-or-get-off-the-pot tipping point where a book either morphs into an absolute masterpiece or traps you in forever-purgatory. My fucking attention span was screaming for a quick dopamine fix and this right here!! this was the PERFECT palate cleanser because at least someone else was suffering worse than me😂😂
Enter Devon Blake, a total trust-fund British earl from 1816 who gets the unbelievable privilege of fucking Aphrodite at a garden party, only to pull out, walk away, and leave the fucking GODDESS OF LOVE completely unsatisfied. Naturally, Aphrodite reacts like any reasonable, non-psychopathic deity: she curses his arrogant ass, turning him into a marble statue for two hundred fucking years. The man is completely frozen with a permanent, raging hard-on, totally blind and paralyzed, yet fully conscious and forced to listen to tourists giggle, snicker, and touch his stony junk while he serves as a glorified museum paperweight. Imagine being demoted from a high-society playboy to a 200-year public display dildo just because you were too lazy to use your fingers or tongue🥱🥱 The absolute sheer audacity of this goddamn deity to not only freeze his cock, but force him to mentally attend his own public humiliation for two entire centuries!Two centuries of being a marble dildo on display because he didn't bother to get a goddess off!!! What would the exhibits look like? A truly remarkable artifact of British high-society hubris... Legend says if you whisper 'is that all?' near his ear, His Lordship’s soul suffers a fresh, internal seizure beneath four hundred pounds of unyielding, petrified phallus. Moving along before his Lordship figures out how to animate these stone hands, because I can assure you his first order of business will be strangling me with my own lanyard💀💀🫡
Fast forward to 2018, where a 32-year-old single museum curator named Rebecca Clark touches the display, accidentally breaking the spell. Suddenly, the rock vanishes and a butt-naked, very confused 19th-century aristocrat is sprawled out on the floorboards, while she stands there in her modest tweed skirt and glasses thinking, "Where the fuck did my exhibit go, and why is there a nude British himbo groveling on my hardwood?" She's a burned, hopelessly cynical woman who has dealt with enough selfish dickheads to permanently retire from dating, and now she’s suddenly forced to babysit an anachronistic disaster who keeps calling her "my lady" while having a full-blown existential meltdown over her fucking dishwasher.
Now, the goddess's actual conditions for his redemption are pure psychological torture. Devon has to physically pleasure Rebecca every single night for seven days, but he isn't allowed to cum even ONCE. If he blows his load, he instantly turns back into a permanent rock. Aphrodite basically looked at him and said, "Since you couldn't be bothered to finish me off, you're going to make this mortal woman scream until her vocal cords tear while your own blue balls turn into solid tungsten." The daily agony is fucking hilarious where every single night he’s pacing around her house with a violent boner, literally praying for the clock to strike midnight so he can touch her without dying.He spent his evenings learning her kitchen like a clueless puppy, letting the neighbor lady teach him how to work the oven so he could whip up a full dinner with candles and wine because no man had ever cooked for her before, and then pulled her into a slow dance on the patio where he held her so close she felt like the only woman in the world and when she was wearing those stupid heels he knelt down and rubbed her aching feet 🥹❤️ But then, on the final night, midnight hits, they go at it like fucking feral animals, he nuts after two short minutes, and BAM! Aphrodite pops out like "PSYCHE, BITCH!" and stone-ifies him on the spot because her goddamn magical clock was running ten minutes fast. The poor bastard finally gets a release after two hundred years of blue-balling and a week of forced edging, only to immediately get converted back into a fucking garden gnome.
Imagine achieving ultimate physical bliss after 200 years of pure stone-cold agony, only for a petty Greek Olympian to show up with an atomic clock, yell 'ACKCHYUALLY IT'S 11:50 PM', and instantly turn your nut into wet cement🥱🥱
Here’s where this insane ride actually gets bizarrely sweet, though. Rebecca flat-out begs Aphrodite to spare him, so the goddess agrees to send his dumb ass back to 1816 as a human instead of keeping him as decor. Rebecca accepts the deal because she truly loves him, selflessly sending him away forever just so he can live. But the moment Devon lands back in 1816, Aphrodite shows up in all her divine glory and goes, "Hey big boy, I forgive you, let's smash." And this absolute madman looks the literal GODDESS OF BEAUTY dead in the eye and tells her to fuck off. He straight-up declares he’d rather spend eternity as a fucking stone paperweight than cheat on his nerdy museum curator from 2018. He rejected an immortal sex god! If Aphrodite had been in a slightly worse mood, she wouldn't have just turned him back into marble; she would have turned his dick into a public drinking fountain in the middle of London but fortunately for him...Aphrodite is so utterly gobsmacked that a fragile mortal had the balls to reject her that her massive ego actually respects it, and she flings him right back to 2018 into Rebecca’s arms. The dude morphed from a selfish, toxic 19th-century fuckboy into a guy who proudly says, "I would literally become concrete forever before I disrespected my woman." And Rebecca, who started out with impenetrable emotional walls, ends up sobbing and defying gods because this magnificent idiot showed her real devotion. Sure, the plot was totally unhinged and the time-travel rules made zero goddamn sense, but watching these two together and slow dance on a patio was the precise, low-stress dopamine injection my brain was begging for. Now, if the reading gods have ANY mercy left, please let Nocticadia finally grab me by the throat so I can stop reading about magical marble hard-ons and get back to business!
(Real talk though, jokes aside! I am forever obsessed with your writing, Lauren Smith, and this novella was no fucking exception 🫶🩵)
Devon emerged from the kitchen wearing a pink apron with frilly lace, one her mother had given her as a joke for Christmas last year. She suppressed a giggle. "What are you wearing that for?"
"Hmm?" He glanced down, noticed the apron, and frowned. "Mrs. Lesley insisted that I should wear this. She also suggested I remove my shirt before you got home, but I didn't think that was a proper way to greet you. This is after all a lady's house, not a house of ill repute."
(Mrs. Lesley is a visionary. You should listen to her. And maybe ONLY listen to her, starting with the shirt part😏)
"Please find it in your heart to send her a man who will care for her in all the ways I wish I could."
"She has lived a life without proper love, and I cannot bear to think of her going on without it. I want her to be happy, to be loved. It is my only wish."
(Fine...You win, Devon. I’ll stop calling you a marble dildo for approximately five minutes 🥹🫡❤️)
Remember when he turns down Aphrodite? This divine pest immediately assaults his mouth without permission, claiming it’s a reward because he finally stopped being a selfish prick. The narration tries to spin it as some "queen to subject" dominance, which is just code for being a non-consensual weirdo who thinks consent rules don't apply to immortal gods. Big Hreinasta from Scattered Bones predator energy right there. Absolutely gross!!He didn't kiss back, thank fucking God, since he just pledged himself to Rebecca.
Tbh, if that final chapter wasn't so damn wholesome with him cooking dinner and her beating his ass for disappearing for three full weeks, I would've knocked off a star purely for that deity's sickening behavior. Still keeping my 4-star rating intact, but Jesus Christ
Here's the original review:
Day 3 of being completely and utterly hooked on Nocticadia but still not at that UNPUTDOWNABLE stage where you forget to eat or pee or exist in the real world. Just perpetually stuck in this weird-ass limbo where you're obsessed but also somehow still capable of putting the book down to do basic human shit like sleep. Am I the only one who suffers from this specific brand of torture??? 😭 Because it feels like my brain is playing some sick-ass game where it's like, “Oh, you LOVE this book? Cool cool cool, now let's see how long you can last before you actually give enough of a fuck to binge it.” BITCH, I DON'T KNOW EITHER. 😭💀 I'm sitting right at page 90 which is kinda the shit-or-get-off-the-pot tipping point where a book either morphs into an absolute masterpiece or traps you in forever-purgatory. My fucking attention span was screaming for a quick dopamine fix and this right here!! this was the PERFECT palate cleanser because at least someone else was suffering worse than me😂😂
Enter Devon Blake, a total trust-fund British earl from 1816 who gets the unbelievable privilege of fucking Aphrodite at a garden party, only to pull out, walk away, and leave the fucking GODDESS OF LOVE completely unsatisfied. Naturally, Aphrodite reacts like any reasonable, non-psychopathic deity: she curses his arrogant ass, turning him into a marble statue for two hundred fucking years. The man is completely frozen with a permanent, raging hard-on, totally blind and paralyzed, yet fully conscious and forced to listen to tourists giggle, snicker, and touch his stony junk while he serves as a glorified museum paperweight. Imagine being demoted from a high-society playboy to a 200-year public display dildo just because you were too lazy to use your fingers or tongue🥱🥱 The absolute sheer audacity of this goddamn deity to not only freeze his cock, but force him to mentally attend his own public humiliation for two entire centuries!Two centuries of being a marble dildo on display because he didn't bother to get a goddess off!!! What would the exhibits look like? A truly remarkable artifact of British high-society hubris... Legend says if you whisper 'is that all?' near his ear, His Lordship’s soul suffers a fresh, internal seizure beneath four hundred pounds of unyielding, petrified phallus. Moving along before his Lordship figures out how to animate these stone hands, because I can assure you his first order of business will be strangling me with my own lanyard💀💀🫡
Fast forward to 2018, where a 32-year-old single museum curator named Rebecca Clark touches the display, accidentally breaking the spell. Suddenly, the rock vanishes and a butt-naked, very confused 19th-century aristocrat is sprawled out on the floorboards, while she stands there in her modest tweed skirt and glasses thinking, "Where the fuck did my exhibit go, and why is there a nude British himbo groveling on my hardwood?" She's a burned, hopelessly cynical woman who has dealt with enough selfish dickheads to permanently retire from dating, and now she’s suddenly forced to babysit an anachronistic disaster who keeps calling her "my lady" while having a full-blown existential meltdown over her fucking dishwasher.
Now, the goddess's actual conditions for his redemption are pure psychological torture. Devon has to physically pleasure Rebecca every single night for seven days, but he isn't allowed to cum even ONCE. If he blows his load, he instantly turns back into a permanent rock. Aphrodite basically looked at him and said, "Since you couldn't be bothered to finish me off, you're going to make this mortal woman scream until her vocal cords tear while your own blue balls turn into solid tungsten." The daily agony is fucking hilarious where every single night he’s pacing around her house with a violent boner, literally praying for the clock to strike midnight so he can touch her without dying.He spent his evenings learning her kitchen like a clueless puppy, letting the neighbor lady teach him how to work the oven so he could whip up a full dinner with candles and wine because no man had ever cooked for her before, and then pulled her into a slow dance on the patio where he held her so close she felt like the only woman in the world and when she was wearing those stupid heels he knelt down and rubbed her aching feet 🥹❤️ But then, on the final night, midnight hits, they go at it like fucking feral animals, he nuts after two short minutes, and BAM! Aphrodite pops out like "PSYCHE, BITCH!" and stone-ifies him on the spot because her goddamn magical clock was running ten minutes fast. The poor bastard finally gets a release after two hundred years of blue-balling and a week of forced edging, only to immediately get converted back into a fucking garden gnome.
Imagine achieving ultimate physical bliss after 200 years of pure stone-cold agony, only for a petty Greek Olympian to show up with an atomic clock, yell 'ACKCHYUALLY IT'S 11:50 PM', and instantly turn your nut into wet cement🥱🥱
Here’s where this insane ride actually gets bizarrely sweet, though. Rebecca flat-out begs Aphrodite to spare him, so the goddess agrees to send his dumb ass back to 1816 as a human instead of keeping him as decor. Rebecca accepts the deal because she truly loves him, selflessly sending him away forever just so he can live. But the moment Devon lands back in 1816, Aphrodite shows up in all her divine glory and goes, "Hey big boy, I forgive you, let's smash." And this absolute madman looks the literal GODDESS OF BEAUTY dead in the eye and tells her to fuck off. He straight-up declares he’d rather spend eternity as a fucking stone paperweight than cheat on his nerdy museum curator from 2018. He rejected an immortal sex god! If Aphrodite had been in a slightly worse mood, she wouldn't have just turned him back into marble; she would have turned his dick into a public drinking fountain in the middle of London but fortunately for him...Aphrodite is so utterly gobsmacked that a fragile mortal had the balls to reject her that her massive ego actually respects it, and she flings him right back to 2018 into Rebecca’s arms. The dude morphed from a selfish, toxic 19th-century fuckboy into a guy who proudly says, "I would literally become concrete forever before I disrespected my woman." And Rebecca, who started out with impenetrable emotional walls, ends up sobbing and defying gods because this magnificent idiot showed her real devotion. Sure, the plot was totally unhinged and the time-travel rules made zero goddamn sense, but watching these two together and slow dance on a patio was the precise, low-stress dopamine injection my brain was begging for. Now, if the reading gods have ANY mercy left, please let Nocticadia finally grab me by the throat so I can stop reading about magical marble hard-ons and get back to business!
(Real talk though, jokes aside! I am forever obsessed with your writing, Lauren Smith, and this novella was no fucking exception 🫶🩵)
Devon emerged from the kitchen wearing a pink apron with frilly lace, one her mother had given her as a joke for Christmas last year. She suppressed a giggle. "What are you wearing that for?"
"Hmm?" He glanced down, noticed the apron, and frowned. "Mrs. Lesley insisted that I should wear this. She also suggested I remove my shirt before you got home, but I didn't think that was a proper way to greet you. This is after all a lady's house, not a house of ill repute."
(Mrs. Lesley is a visionary. You should listen to her. And maybe ONLY listen to her, starting with the shirt part😏)
"Please find it in your heart to send her a man who will care for her in all the ways I wish I could."
"She has lived a life without proper love, and I cannot bear to think of her going on without it. I want her to be happy, to be loved. It is my only wish."
(Fine...You win, Devon. I’ll stop calling you a marble dildo for approximately five minutes 🥹🫡❤️)
November 13, 2017
5 - "Who knew it would be such a blessing to be cursed..." Stars!
Another absolutely stellar albeit quick read from Lauren Smith.
Of Sand and Stone reminded me a little of the film; Kate & Leopold in the way Devon reacted to modern technology. Being frozen in stone for 200 years, as you would expect the advancement of everything from electricity to the mobile phone came as quite a shock.
Real men don’t look like this
I had Hugh Jackman in my head the whole time I was reading, which let’s face it, totally not a bad thing!
He was walking catnip for women…
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this novella, apart from I wish it had been longer.
ARC generously provided by the author, in exchange for the above review.
Another absolutely stellar albeit quick read from Lauren Smith.
Of Sand and Stone reminded me a little of the film; Kate & Leopold in the way Devon reacted to modern technology. Being frozen in stone for 200 years, as you would expect the advancement of everything from electricity to the mobile phone came as quite a shock.
Real men don’t look like this
I had Hugh Jackman in my head the whole time I was reading, which let’s face it, totally not a bad thing!
He was walking catnip for women…
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this novella, apart from I wish it had been longer.
ARC generously provided by the author, in exchange for the above review.
October 19, 2017
What did I love about writing this short story? Well this was my first foray into time travel romances. Of course rather than do the standard girl goes back in time and falls in love, I asked myself, what if...the guy jumps forward in time? And that's how the story of sexy Regency bad boy Devon Blake ends up in the modern day.
I also loved blending a historical romance character in the present and having him react to all of our modern technology. It was a real hoot to write! And it was really interesting to weave in a paranormal element by having the Goddress Aphrodite curse him.
I hope you all enjoy this sweet, sexy little short story!
I also loved blending a historical romance character in the present and having him react to all of our modern technology. It was a real hoot to write! And it was really interesting to weave in a paranormal element by having the Goddress Aphrodite curse him.
I hope you all enjoy this sweet, sexy little short story!
November 10, 2017
Ooooo, this was so sweet! Yes, it's short. But the undertone of the story is just perfect.
Rebecca works for a museum. A shipment comes in for the new exhibit and she finds herself staring at the life size statue. She's been with different men over the years, and still finds herself alone and unsatisfied. That is, until she finds a naked man laying on the floor of the new exhibit.
Devon has been frozen in sand and stone for over two hundred years. Why? Because he took advance of a goddess, only satisfying and pleasuring himself. So, the goddess turned him in to sand and stone. But now, this goddess is giving him another chance to live and breathe as a mortal again. There's only one stipulation. And it's a very HARD one. Can he do it? Only time will tell.
This was such a cute short story. The underlining message was perfect, made even better that the lesson was actually learned. They both get their HEA, but I have to admit that I'm sad. Why? Because I WANT MORE!!!!!
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Rebecca works for a museum. A shipment comes in for the new exhibit and she finds herself staring at the life size statue. She's been with different men over the years, and still finds herself alone and unsatisfied. That is, until she finds a naked man laying on the floor of the new exhibit.
Devon has been frozen in sand and stone for over two hundred years. Why? Because he took advance of a goddess, only satisfying and pleasuring himself. So, the goddess turned him in to sand and stone. But now, this goddess is giving him another chance to live and breathe as a mortal again. There's only one stipulation. And it's a very HARD one. Can he do it? Only time will tell.
This was such a cute short story. The underlining message was perfect, made even better that the lesson was actually learned. They both get their HEA, but I have to admit that I'm sad. Why? Because I WANT MORE!!!!!
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
December 7, 2017
I had every intention of reviewing this book, and a few others but I got sick and my reading slowed down and i forgot all about reviewing them.
This one started out really interesting but there wasn't enough story in this one. I wish the storyline had gotten more time because I think this book would have been excellent.
June 2, 2019
This was a short read, but still cute and sweet. If you liked Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon, this is a similar story.
December 30, 2017
I was pleasantly surprised by this quick little time-travel romance story. It was well-written, drew me in right away, and kept me reading right through to the end.
The hero, Devon Blake, angers the goddess Aphrodite by being a selfish rake and seeking solely his own pleasure in his romantic encounters. She turns him into a statue- cursed to remain that way for 200 years.
The heroine, modern-times museum curator Rebecca Clark, is setting up an exhibit when Aphrodite decides that Devon’s time as a statue is over, as long as he meets one final requirement- he must see to a woman’s every desire for one full week while denying himself.
I very much enjoyed this quick read. I wished it had been a bit longer, as I was enjoying the characters and would have liked more depth from each of them. It was cute watching Devon learn about modern society. My absolute favorite part of the story was when Devon met Rebecca’s “nosy” older neighbor! And I know I certainly wouldn’t mind having a hot man waiting with a home-cooked meal when I arrived at home...
The story requires a suspension of reality for a few hours, and the idea has definitely been used before, but this was a fun read.
Thanks to eBook Discovery for the ARC. I voluntarily agreed to review the story, and the views expressed here are my own.
The hero, Devon Blake, angers the goddess Aphrodite by being a selfish rake and seeking solely his own pleasure in his romantic encounters. She turns him into a statue- cursed to remain that way for 200 years.
The heroine, modern-times museum curator Rebecca Clark, is setting up an exhibit when Aphrodite decides that Devon’s time as a statue is over, as long as he meets one final requirement- he must see to a woman’s every desire for one full week while denying himself.
I very much enjoyed this quick read. I wished it had been a bit longer, as I was enjoying the characters and would have liked more depth from each of them. It was cute watching Devon learn about modern society. My absolute favorite part of the story was when Devon met Rebecca’s “nosy” older neighbor! And I know I certainly wouldn’t mind having a hot man waiting with a home-cooked meal when I arrived at home...
The story requires a suspension of reality for a few hours, and the idea has definitely been used before, but this was a fun read.
Thanks to eBook Discovery for the ARC. I voluntarily agreed to review the story, and the views expressed here are my own.
July 25, 2018
Modern woman meets Ancient Rogue! Cute storyline and fun characters. Concept is upsetting the goddess of love is really interesting!
February 24, 2020
So cute! Short, sweet and steamy. Highly recommend.
May 10, 2020
Sweet Time Travel Romance
This novel was sweet, funny and heart wrenching. I enjoyed it so much I wish it could have been longer!
This novel was sweet, funny and heart wrenching. I enjoyed it so much I wish it could have been longer!
October 27, 2026
obviously i went into it knowing it would be a short story and could have led me to wanting more, but unfortunately i did not want more nor did i even want what i read
the whole execution of this premise felt a bit odd to me and i was really intrigued by this whole statue in a museum becoming human and was cursed by aphrodite bit, but just as soon as it started it just progressively got worse
i think it also felt a bit unnatural and didn’t feel like someone of a modern era would think or talk the way they did and same thing with this man being from a different century, like both main characters were just weird and seemed like they never once interacted with a human being before
i dunno it was a bit cringe and uncomfortable and i truly did want to like it, but i just don’t feel like it had a proper flow or natural progression even if it were a shorter story there is still a good way to accomplish that
also, just doesn’t really feel like anything happened or was built? it kind of just felt like reading about two random people who had no thoughts, opinions, or depth — just genuinely did not give me any reason to like or care about them
the whole execution of this premise felt a bit odd to me and i was really intrigued by this whole statue in a museum becoming human and was cursed by aphrodite bit, but just as soon as it started it just progressively got worse
i think it also felt a bit unnatural and didn’t feel like someone of a modern era would think or talk the way they did and same thing with this man being from a different century, like both main characters were just weird and seemed like they never once interacted with a human being before
i dunno it was a bit cringe and uncomfortable and i truly did want to like it, but i just don’t feel like it had a proper flow or natural progression even if it were a shorter story there is still a good way to accomplish that
also, just doesn’t really feel like anything happened or was built? it kind of just felt like reading about two random people who had no thoughts, opinions, or depth — just genuinely did not give me any reason to like or care about them
October 30, 2026
4🌟!!
what a cute book aw
what a cute book aw
November 29, 2017
Well written and rather short but very fun and cute read.
4.25 stars
4.25 stars
November 10, 2017
Publisher's Description:
She was destined to save his heart of stone...
Bookish museum curator Rebecca Clark has given up on dating. Real life men aren’t nearly as perfect as the men in the paintings and statues she sees every day at her job. But one night she whispers a prayer to the universe to send her the perfect man. She had no idea a goddess is listening…
Devon Blake was Regency London’s most wicked lover but when he sleeps with the wrong woman and leaves her unsatisfied, he finds himself cursed by none other than the Goddess of love herself. After living two centuries trapped as a marble statue, Aphrodite gives Devon one chance to redeem himself or he’ll face an eternity of made of stone. He must prove he can satisfy a woman’s every desire without satisfying his own.
When Rebecca discovers a naked man in her art gallery instead of a priceless statue at midnight she has no idea he’s the answer to her prayers. Aphrodite has sent Devon to be Rebecca’s perfect man. Can Devon earn Rebecca’s love and trust by proving his selflessness or will it be too late?
My Thoughts:
I pushed this short novella ahead of my other reads just because of the nature of this read. I had recently finished Grigori, a Dragon Shifters romance also by Lauren Smith and could not put it down. I don't read as much paranormal as I do historical romance titles, but since Grigori was so good and this one was short, I could hardly wait.
I was not disappointed.
Rebecca loves her job as a museum coordinator and when a fabulous marble statue of a nude man by an unknown artist comes her way she stays over to make sure he has center stage in the exhibit.
She has been left alone in the museum when to her surprise the statue is no longer made of marble but manifests itself as a flesh and blood and very nude man.
Surely this is just her overactive imagination working overtime! What has actually become of the statue and where did this confused, if gorgeous man come from?
Devon was in his time known as London's most wicked rake, but his one flaw as a lover was that he always reached his own satisfaction but never gave his partners the same. He left one woman too many unsatisfied. That bed partner was the goddess of love and for his misdeeds she turns him to stone.
What will it take to make Rebecca believe Devon's remarkable and far fetched tale? Will this lead to more between this time traveling man and the woman who brought him back to life?
I enjoyed this short read very much. I gave it 4.5 of 5.0 stars for storyline and character development and a sensual rating of 3.75 of 5.0 flames. Since Devon must give his new lover satisfaction without finding his own that limits the intimacy but it is combustible beyond measure when it finally occurs.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this book as a member of Lauren Smith's Private Review League to read. This in no way affected my opinion of this title which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
She was destined to save his heart of stone...
Bookish museum curator Rebecca Clark has given up on dating. Real life men aren’t nearly as perfect as the men in the paintings and statues she sees every day at her job. But one night she whispers a prayer to the universe to send her the perfect man. She had no idea a goddess is listening…
Devon Blake was Regency London’s most wicked lover but when he sleeps with the wrong woman and leaves her unsatisfied, he finds himself cursed by none other than the Goddess of love herself. After living two centuries trapped as a marble statue, Aphrodite gives Devon one chance to redeem himself or he’ll face an eternity of made of stone. He must prove he can satisfy a woman’s every desire without satisfying his own.
When Rebecca discovers a naked man in her art gallery instead of a priceless statue at midnight she has no idea he’s the answer to her prayers. Aphrodite has sent Devon to be Rebecca’s perfect man. Can Devon earn Rebecca’s love and trust by proving his selflessness or will it be too late?
My Thoughts:
I pushed this short novella ahead of my other reads just because of the nature of this read. I had recently finished Grigori, a Dragon Shifters romance also by Lauren Smith and could not put it down. I don't read as much paranormal as I do historical romance titles, but since Grigori was so good and this one was short, I could hardly wait.
I was not disappointed.
Rebecca loves her job as a museum coordinator and when a fabulous marble statue of a nude man by an unknown artist comes her way she stays over to make sure he has center stage in the exhibit.
She has been left alone in the museum when to her surprise the statue is no longer made of marble but manifests itself as a flesh and blood and very nude man.
Surely this is just her overactive imagination working overtime! What has actually become of the statue and where did this confused, if gorgeous man come from?
Devon was in his time known as London's most wicked rake, but his one flaw as a lover was that he always reached his own satisfaction but never gave his partners the same. He left one woman too many unsatisfied. That bed partner was the goddess of love and for his misdeeds she turns him to stone.
What will it take to make Rebecca believe Devon's remarkable and far fetched tale? Will this lead to more between this time traveling man and the woman who brought him back to life?
I enjoyed this short read very much. I gave it 4.5 of 5.0 stars for storyline and character development and a sensual rating of 3.75 of 5.0 flames. Since Devon must give his new lover satisfaction without finding his own that limits the intimacy but it is combustible beyond measure when it finally occurs.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this book as a member of Lauren Smith's Private Review League to read. This in no way affected my opinion of this title which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
November 12, 2017
This is brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
Museum curator Rebecca Clark has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to men; the prettier they are, the worse they are; she would want nothing more than finding the elusive Mr. Right. One evening, admiring the museum’s most recent acquisition, a gorgeous statue of a most handsome man, Rebecca’s wishes come true, or do they?
Time-travel romances do not usually pique my interest, however OF SAND AND STONE sounded different, and is it ever! Lauren Smith has written a terrifically entertaining story, with great characters, but what’s most remarkable is that OF SAND AND STONE is exceptionally funny! Ms. Smith uses her historical knowledge to show how Devon Blake, a Regency rake, is lost in the twenty-first century, and I’ve never seen it done better. I loved how we saw modern contraptions through Devon’s mystified eyes, and I really laughed out loud several times; it was very cleverly done. Some of the highlights were Devon trying to understand American idioms and lingo; the dialogues were impeccable: Devon sounded every bit the nineteenth century aristocrat, while Rebecca was totally today; simply delectable!
The story might be short, but it’s perfectly structured, there are no loose threads, and it’s entertaining from beginning to end, and Devon, the selfish rogue, wonderfully redeemed himself; he was delicious! Whether you enjoy contemporary romance or historical, even if you think time-travel romances are not your cup of tea, give OF SAND AND STONE a try because it is a marvellous way to pass a few hours! The book also includes an excerpt of GRIGORI, another one of Lauren Smith’s books, and some goodies.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
Museum curator Rebecca Clark has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to men; the prettier they are, the worse they are; she would want nothing more than finding the elusive Mr. Right. One evening, admiring the museum’s most recent acquisition, a gorgeous statue of a most handsome man, Rebecca’s wishes come true, or do they?
Time-travel romances do not usually pique my interest, however OF SAND AND STONE sounded different, and is it ever! Lauren Smith has written a terrifically entertaining story, with great characters, but what’s most remarkable is that OF SAND AND STONE is exceptionally funny! Ms. Smith uses her historical knowledge to show how Devon Blake, a Regency rake, is lost in the twenty-first century, and I’ve never seen it done better. I loved how we saw modern contraptions through Devon’s mystified eyes, and I really laughed out loud several times; it was very cleverly done. Some of the highlights were Devon trying to understand American idioms and lingo; the dialogues were impeccable: Devon sounded every bit the nineteenth century aristocrat, while Rebecca was totally today; simply delectable!
The story might be short, but it’s perfectly structured, there are no loose threads, and it’s entertaining from beginning to end, and Devon, the selfish rogue, wonderfully redeemed himself; he was delicious! Whether you enjoy contemporary romance or historical, even if you think time-travel romances are not your cup of tea, give OF SAND AND STONE a try because it is a marvellous way to pass a few hours! The book also includes an excerpt of GRIGORI, another one of Lauren Smith’s books, and some goodies.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
November 19, 2017
Rebecca Clark is a museum curator & has given up on dating because she’s found men to be selfish. Devon Blake was Regency London’s most wicked lover but then he slept with Aphrodite the Goddess of love & left her unsatisfied so she cursed him & for two hundred years he’s been trapped in a marble statue, Aphrodite gives Devon one chance to redeem himself or he’ll face an eternity of made of stone. He must prove he can satisfy a woman’s every desire without satisfying his own for a week. Working late Rebecca discovers a naked man in her art gallery instead of a priceless statue, she has no idea he’s the answer to her prayers. Especially as ‘he’s catnip for women’.
Another page turning brilliant novella from the author, which I read in one sitting. The characterisation is very good. Devon’s bewilderment with the twenty first century is very well portrayed & hilarious. It’s their selflessness that brought a tear to my eye. This was a lovely read usually time travelling novels have us going back in time so for the hero to travel forward was refreshing & so very entertaining
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Another page turning brilliant novella from the author, which I read in one sitting. The characterisation is very good. Devon’s bewilderment with the twenty first century is very well portrayed & hilarious. It’s their selflessness that brought a tear to my eye. This was a lovely read usually time travelling novels have us going back in time so for the hero to travel forward was refreshing & so very entertaining
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
November 28, 2017
Love, love this time travel romance from Lauren Smith. This short, sweet novella is the story of Rebecca, a shy, geeky museum curator who has given up her struggle to find a nice guy, and Devon Blake, one of London's most notoriously selfishly arrogant rakes.
Devon, in his quest for pleasures regardless of their repercussion, foolishly angered Aphrodite & is cursed into a stone statue which miraculously turns up in Rebecca's new exhibit. Aphrodite releases him from his prison of 200 years to gift him with seven days within which to redeem his selfish ways. Rescued by Rebecca, much to her initial chagrin, Devon spends his week learning about the 21st century, himself and his initially reluctant hostess.
Can his week spent in the present show Devon the error of his rakish ways, or will he be cursed back into stone? Will Rebecca be rewarded with the true man of her dreams who will love, respect and value her as she deserves?
Take a chance on Of Sand and Stone for the answer and you won't be disappointed!
Devon, in his quest for pleasures regardless of their repercussion, foolishly angered Aphrodite & is cursed into a stone statue which miraculously turns up in Rebecca's new exhibit. Aphrodite releases him from his prison of 200 years to gift him with seven days within which to redeem his selfish ways. Rescued by Rebecca, much to her initial chagrin, Devon spends his week learning about the 21st century, himself and his initially reluctant hostess.
Can his week spent in the present show Devon the error of his rakish ways, or will he be cursed back into stone? Will Rebecca be rewarded with the true man of her dreams who will love, respect and value her as she deserves?
Take a chance on Of Sand and Stone for the answer and you won't be disappointed!
December 4, 2017
What could be more delightful to a modern girl to have a handsome rake from Regency times drop into your lap? Not much I can think of except to go back to Regency times! Rebecca Clark was so over dates with guys just did not measure up to her expectations. Working at the museum, she was always seeing the perfect man portrayed in the statues and paintings.. Well by a magical twist, one of the statues comes to life! Devon Blake, one of Regency London's most notorious lovers, finds himself released from a spell and brought to life with a chance to redeem himself. This is such a fun novella and will keep you smiling and even laughing out loud at times while Devon tries to understand modern times. If you love time travel with a really neat spin, this is the story for you! Loved it..
July 19, 2019
Oh my goodness, what a jewel this story was to someone who primarily reads historical romances, mostly Regency, Medieval, and Victorian. I have read historical romances written by Lauren Smith, which I've greatly enjoyed. I was a bit reluctant to read a time travel romance that is set in the present, but because it was written by Lauren Smith, I thought it was worth my time. I am so glad I took the chance. Of Sand and Stone is a perfectly delightful novella, about two characters who were meant to be together. I laughed, was close to tears in some parts, but it was a sweetly romantic, satisfying read I thoroughly enjoyed. Read it. You'll like it.
May 21, 2022
[ESP/ENG]
ESP:
Ha sido una historia corta de unas 150 pgs de un hombre de 1816 convertido en piedra durante 200 años y como, para romper su maldición, tiene que poner a otra persona por encima de sus necesidades y no ser un amante egoísta.
No hay mucho más que contar. Ha sido una historia breve, dulce y sexy. ¿Qué más se le puede pedir?
ENG:
Short, sweet and sexy. The perfect balance for a novella of roughly 150 pages. It's about a victorian man trapped in stone for 200 yrs who then has to learn how to be a selfless lover.
Will read more of Lauren Smith!
Narrator: Carolyn Morris
ESP:
Ha sido una historia corta de unas 150 pgs de un hombre de 1816 convertido en piedra durante 200 años y como, para romper su maldición, tiene que poner a otra persona por encima de sus necesidades y no ser un amante egoísta.
No hay mucho más que contar. Ha sido una historia breve, dulce y sexy. ¿Qué más se le puede pedir?
ENG:
Short, sweet and sexy. The perfect balance for a novella of roughly 150 pages. It's about a victorian man trapped in stone for 200 yrs who then has to learn how to be a selfless lover.
Will read more of Lauren Smith!
Narrator: Carolyn Morris
December 16, 2025
3.5 Stars
I might enjoyed this mini- time slip novella but the audio had a British female narrator that could not do an American accent. It wasn't all the words, but considering the fmc is Rebecca, we don't have an "r" sound at the end. It wouldn't have bothered me as much if it was set in a museum in London or something. It also was weird the way that Rebecca's boss was allowed to act with it being 2018. I enjoyed it, but the narrator kept throwing me off and then the little things I started to get nitpicky on. If you're looking for a quick, Earl brought into modern day, novella, this one is it!
I might enjoyed this mini- time slip novella but the audio had a British female narrator that could not do an American accent. It wasn't all the words, but considering the fmc is Rebecca, we don't have an "r" sound at the end. It wouldn't have bothered me as much if it was set in a museum in London or something. It also was weird the way that Rebecca's boss was allowed to act with it being 2018. I enjoyed it, but the narrator kept throwing me off and then the little things I started to get nitpicky on. If you're looking for a quick, Earl brought into modern day, novella, this one is it!
December 3, 2017
I received a copy of this book from ebook discovery. This is my honest, freely given review.
I really loved this book, with it's well fleshed out characters and descriptions Lauren has written a great book that is difficult to put down.
Our poor heroine is a little shocked when the statue that has been delivered allegedly comes to life... can she trust what the man she finds in the rubble says? Our hero is shocked to learn where and when he is. When told what he must do to stay has he grown enough to comply? Read this great story to find out.
I really loved this book, with it's well fleshed out characters and descriptions Lauren has written a great book that is difficult to put down.
Our poor heroine is a little shocked when the statue that has been delivered allegedly comes to life... can she trust what the man she finds in the rubble says? Our hero is shocked to learn where and when he is. When told what he must do to stay has he grown enough to comply? Read this great story to find out.
November 4, 2026
You can’t take this one too seriously! It was really short and quite fun for what it was worth. Very surface level but the idea was fun: a statue comes to life to learn what it’s like to truly love another and put them before themselves.
There was no depth, there was no character development, and stranger danger apparently does not exist but if I were to come face to face with a naked man who looked chiseled out of stone, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t make the same decisions as Rebecca. Sorry not sorry!
Easy and quick!
There was no depth, there was no character development, and stranger danger apparently does not exist but if I were to come face to face with a naked man who looked chiseled out of stone, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t make the same decisions as Rebecca. Sorry not sorry!
Easy and quick!
November 10, 2017
A time travel romance with a twist. Instead of going back in time, the story involves a regency rake ending up in modern day America. His attempts to navigate the modern world ranged from cute to down right hilarious. And just when a question came up about a plot hole, that question was answered and the hole was closed. Nothing better than a steamy historical romance with a modern attention to detail. Loved it!
November 11, 2017
First I’ll confess that I am not a fan of time travel plots. I can count on one hand those I truly enjoyed.
So, guess I’ll move to my next hand as I absolutely Loved this book!!!
Devon’s reactions to 21 century gadgets and most haves was so much fun!
Rebecca was special as she is a romantic even after all the frogs she kissed.
I even like the Goddess!
A fun read! The plot and characters will linger. This will be a reread when a special pick me up is needed!!
So, guess I’ll move to my next hand as I absolutely Loved this book!!!
Devon’s reactions to 21 century gadgets and most haves was so much fun!
Rebecca was special as she is a romantic even after all the frogs she kissed.
I even like the Goddess!
A fun read! The plot and characters will linger. This will be a reread when a special pick me up is needed!!
December 21, 2017
Interesting time travel romance… Devon had been turned into a statue by Aphrodite for being a selfish lover in a former life. Rebecca, a curator at the museum, who has her more than her share of selfish lovers, wishes for a true love. Aphrodite gives Devon a second chance with Rebecca. This is a sweet well written romance. Though it has a few explicit scenes, it doesn't dwell on them. This is a fun, lighthearted story. i enjoyed it very much.
March 3, 2020
A different time travel story.
Rebecca works at a musuem. Devon Blake is a statue at the museum. Cursed by Aphrodite, Devon has been a statue for 200 years . He a given a chance to break the curse. I like the humor. I like how Rebecca and Devon slowly become attracted to each other. Their love slowly and beautifully grows. This is a quick read. There are chapters from a second book.
Rebecca works at a musuem. Devon Blake is a statue at the museum. Cursed by Aphrodite, Devon has been a statue for 200 years . He a given a chance to break the curse. I like the humor. I like how Rebecca and Devon slowly become attracted to each other. Their love slowly and beautifully grows. This is a quick read. There are chapters from a second book.
May 24, 2020
I only finished 40% of this before I gave up. I love time travel books but this was going to be all about sex and I like a story, not just sex. I know a lot of women are all about sex and so I'm sure you loved this story. BUT, it wasn't for me.
So, all about sex and the F-bomb was used 6 times.
As to the narration: A hero who's tall and god-like shouldn't sound like a girl and that's exactly what he sounded like.
July 24, 2020
I love Lauren Smith's writing but unfortunately you can't write a time travel romance that is only 138 pages. I mean it was cute but I hadn't read a time travel romance in a while and since I loved her writing thought I'd check it out. Just okay. There is too much change for the traveling character to understand and grasp the "newness" of their futuristic location or if traveling the other way from the present to say 1600's. To tell a great story you just need more well written wording.
November 16, 2017
Delicious, romantic, swoony, clever, and funny. Even in a short novella, Smith put a lot of great things in it. Rebecca is sweet, though a bit jaded. Devon was a selfish rake in his time, but the punishment of a goddess and Rebecca's care and affection may inspire him to do better. Loved this story!
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