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Romance #10
Secrets in the Stone
Rooke Tyler lives a solitary life in a small town on the Hudson River, carving intricate headstones in an exclusive cemetery for the county's wealthy families. At night she pours her dreams and desires into the figures she sculptswaiting for the woman she senses in the stone.
Adrian Oakes knows there are things in life that defy rational explanationshe has spent her life avoiding casual contact with others, because sometimes what she feels draws her into a world of dangerous attractions and dark desires.
Melinda Singer, a beautiful seductive art dealer, wants both women and will stop at nothing to have them. When fate brings the three together, passion and destiny ignite.
Adrian Oakes knows there are things in life that defy rational explanationshe has spent her life avoiding casual contact with others, because sometimes what she feels draws her into a world of dangerous attractions and dark desires.
Melinda Singer, a beautiful seductive art dealer, wants both women and will stop at nothing to have them. When fate brings the three together, passion and destiny ignite.
265 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
16 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Radclyffe
166 books1,699 followersRadclyffe has written over forty-five romance and romantic intrigue novels, dozens of short stories, and, writing as L.L. Raand, has authored a paranormal romance series, The Midnight Hunters. She has also edited Best Lesbian Romance 2009 through 2015 as well as multiple other anthologies. She is an eight-time Lambda Literary Award finalist in romance, mystery, and erotica—winning in both romance and erotica. A member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, she is also an RWA Prism, Lories, Beanpot, Aspen Gold, and Laurel Wreath winner in multiple mainstream romance categories. In 2014, she received the Dr. James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist award from the Lambda Literary Foundation. In 2004, she founded Bold Strokes Books, an independent LGBTQ publishing company, and in 2013, she founded the Flax Mill Creek Writers Retreat offering writing workshops to authors in all stages of their careers.
She states, “I began reading lesbian fiction at the age of twelve when I found a copy of Ann Bannon’s Beebo Brinker. That book and others like it convinced me that I was not alone, that there were other women who felt like I did. Our literature provides support and validation and very often, a lifeline, for members of our community throughout the world. I am proud and honored to be able to publish the many fine authors at Bold Strokes Books and to contribute in some small way to the words that celebrate the LGBTQ experience.”
Radclyffe lives with her partner, Lee, in New York state.
She states, “I began reading lesbian fiction at the age of twelve when I found a copy of Ann Bannon’s Beebo Brinker. That book and others like it convinced me that I was not alone, that there were other women who felt like I did. Our literature provides support and validation and very often, a lifeline, for members of our community throughout the world. I am proud and honored to be able to publish the many fine authors at Bold Strokes Books and to contribute in some small way to the words that celebrate the LGBTQ experience.”
Radclyffe lives with her partner, Lee, in New York state.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 18, 2013
This is a terrible book, full of all the clichés that lately make a lot of lesbian novels impossible to enjoy. We have three main characters, Rooke, the blue collar stone mason that is, of course, a hidden great sculptor, and that due to an accident which injured her head can neither read or write. Then there is Adrian, an upper class journalist that is the black sheep of the family because she is a lesbian. She can not touch people because she has visions of warriors. Thankfully for her that doesn't happen every time she touches someone. She is attracted to both Rooke and the vampire-like art dealer Melissa. Melissa is the one that has "found" Rooke and preys at both Rooke and Adrian, but while waiting for them spends her time in threesomes at the hotel. The twitched clitorises start at page three and the main characters are always in the verge of orgasm, but they don't have sex for some unexplainable reason. When Rooke and Adrian finally start having sex, they have to stop because Adrian has, of course, to wait a bit longer for the book to reach the 250 pages count. Just before the ending, Rooke and Adrian have plenty of orgasms, and since this is a romance, they find true love, which doesn't involve Melissa.
October 28, 2019
I'm really upset by this book - and I'm not sure why. Read it totally engrossed but the immoral nature of one of the MC was, at least, disturbing, definitely abusive, and the way one scene was played out and dealt with was really out of order. So why the 5 star review? It stays with me. I care about the other two MCs. I stayed up late to finish it. Now need something to clear the palate.
September 10, 2016
I liked this book just because I am a big Radclyffe fan, but I saw so many other possibilities for this story to go. The narrator did a great job though on the audible.
September 4, 2009
This book had the potential to be good - and different from what Radclyffe usually puts out - but it ended up being pretty much crap. If all you're looking for are the typical Rad sex scenes, there were plenty of those. If you were looking for a follow through on the story arcs that seemed so promising in the beginning, you'll get none of that. Very disappointing. Very. She just seemed to decide about half way through that she just didn't care anymore and turned it into a clone of the rest of her serial books.
September 17, 2017
I don't even understand what this was supposed to be. I think it flirted with being supernatural, but never found the courage to go there. There were characters and plot lines that were completely pointless and did nothing for the story.
April 22, 2024
I’m a HUGE Radclyffe fan. But this one fell short. It was good enough.
October 18, 2009
This one left me confused. Weird for a romance novel, I know, usually they're pretty straight forward. Either you like it or you don't.
This one had two 'rivaling' components that I can't quite get together. On the one hand the two main characters, very strong, independent women. Liked them immediately, and saw the attraction.
The second component is certain paranormal 'activity', that is just there and not further explained and manifests itself in an additional character. Now, I get that you can't necessarily explain paranormal activity, in this case hearing other people's thoughts, I guess you can describe it as. I don't really see how it enhances the story and think the story would have been just as good without it, maybe even better, but that's just cause paranormal apparently is just not my thing. Or if the paranormal part of the book would have been explored more fully. Now it just seems to hang there, open to interpretation. Not that interpretation is a bad thing, but this left the door so wide open that speculation seems kind of useless.
Other than that I like the setting, small town in New York, and the mood that was set by the storm at the beginning of the book.
I did finish it in the span of 24 hours and really couldn't it put it down towards the end. So that's a good thing, but the ending left me feeling unsatisfied.
This one had two 'rivaling' components that I can't quite get together. On the one hand the two main characters, very strong, independent women. Liked them immediately, and saw the attraction.
The second component is certain paranormal 'activity', that is just there and not further explained and manifests itself in an additional character. Now, I get that you can't necessarily explain paranormal activity, in this case hearing other people's thoughts, I guess you can describe it as. I don't really see how it enhances the story and think the story would have been just as good without it, maybe even better, but that's just cause paranormal apparently is just not my thing. Or if the paranormal part of the book would have been explored more fully. Now it just seems to hang there, open to interpretation. Not that interpretation is a bad thing, but this left the door so wide open that speculation seems kind of useless.
Other than that I like the setting, small town in New York, and the mood that was set by the storm at the beginning of the book.
I did finish it in the span of 24 hours and really couldn't it put it down towards the end. So that's a good thing, but the ending left me feeling unsatisfied.
July 19, 2015
I'm so very frustrated with this story. This had great potential to be a fantasy novel and instead its a drawn out and the intimate moments are over done.
I really really really hate how there is so much attention brought to Melinda and her succubus like nature, with the voice in your ear, dream invasions, and the way everyone seems to be drawn in and unable to escape from her sexual wiles much like an addiction or mind control..... just for it to be for nothing. The first half of the book brings a lot of attention to her and when the book nears the end and wraps up just for her to step aside and not challenge anything.
In the end Melinda ends up being purely a metaphor for Rooke and Adrian's hesitation. Both women have been hurt in some way of another but not to the extend that the abstract metaphor of Melinda was really necessary.
As for the sex..... I really don't understand Radclyffe's whole deal, in all her stories she gives such strange descriptions to arousal and how the women feel "thick and hard".... the way Radclyffe writes about clitoris reminds me of the way authors write about how a mans dick is instantly thick and hard and yadda yadda in hetero romances.
Overall I feel rather meh about this book, it had potential but in the end didn't deliver.
I really really really hate how there is so much attention brought to Melinda and her succubus like nature, with the voice in your ear, dream invasions, and the way everyone seems to be drawn in and unable to escape from her sexual wiles much like an addiction or mind control..... just for it to be for nothing. The first half of the book brings a lot of attention to her and when the book nears the end and wraps up just for her to step aside and not challenge anything.
In the end Melinda ends up being purely a metaphor for Rooke and Adrian's hesitation. Both women have been hurt in some way of another but not to the extend that the abstract metaphor of Melinda was really necessary.
As for the sex..... I really don't understand Radclyffe's whole deal, in all her stories she gives such strange descriptions to arousal and how the women feel "thick and hard".... the way Radclyffe writes about clitoris reminds me of the way authors write about how a mans dick is instantly thick and hard and yadda yadda in hetero romances.
Overall I feel rather meh about this book, it had potential but in the end didn't deliver.
August 1, 2011
It was crap.
March 10, 2013
One of my very favorites - different story with wounded but strong characters. Would like to understand a bit more about the supernatural piece of the story.
September 22, 2019
I found this book fascinating, 4 1/2 stars. I did scan some of the other reviews before reading this novel, and can understand why some didn't understand the fantasy aspects of this story. Although the story contains a lot of dream state themes, it wasn't difficult to read or follow, at least for me. I really enjoyed Rooke's character, and the strong but somewhat forlorn world in which she lived, at least until Adrien Oakes entered her life. All in all, a really good book. I would recommend this book, although it is quite different than Radclyffe's normal fare. Be prepared for a slight departure.
October 31, 2018
An intriguing plot with leads Adrian and Rooke that slowly evolves into a semi-supernatural romance with lots of sex and angst. For those readers all hung up on the storyline (that is a departure from the author's usual fare) just remember - it's fiction so stretch your minds a bit.
I do feel there were a few themes left unresolved and the book could've been somewhat longer. Why the grandmother's animosity toward Rooke and what about Melissa? All in all, the book was interesting enough for me to rate it 4 stars and purchase a hardcopy.
I do feel there were a few themes left unresolved and the book could've been somewhat longer. Why the grandmother's animosity toward Rooke and what about Melissa? All in all, the book was interesting enough for me to rate it 4 stars and purchase a hardcopy.
July 6, 2023
Fire and Ice
Rooke Tyler carves headstones and works at Stilwell Cemetery. During the night she sculpts magnificent figures my hand from the stones. Adrian Oakes is a journalist who travels the world pursuing the stories that interest her. She is highly sensitive to the world around her. Melinda Singer, owner of an art gallery, wants both of them and pushes into their world. A paranormal romance that spans lifetimes for Rooke and Adrian who must protect the forces of passion and seduction. Great author.
Rooke Tyler carves headstones and works at Stilwell Cemetery. During the night she sculpts magnificent figures my hand from the stones. Adrian Oakes is a journalist who travels the world pursuing the stories that interest her. She is highly sensitive to the world around her. Melinda Singer, owner of an art gallery, wants both of them and pushes into their world. A paranormal romance that spans lifetimes for Rooke and Adrian who must protect the forces of passion and seduction. Great author.
October 27, 2017
If I could have given this 6/5 stars I would have. This book drew me in even more than other Radclyffe books, and that is saying a lot.
April 14, 2023
Not what I’m used to from Radclyffe. Maybe her start in to writing as Rand. It was good but not my thing
February 9, 2017
Adrian Oakes is the 20-something lesbian daughter of a wealthy family. Raised in NYC, her family hales from a small town in upstate NY where her grandmother still lives. Adrian travels to this town to housesit for her grandmother and there meets Rooke Tyler, the attractive granddaughter of the town's cemetery caretaker. Though the two clash at first, their connection builds to a boiling point. The third character in this story is Melinda Singer, a NYC based gallery owner who has come to the same small town to seek out a piece of sculpture being sold at an estate sale.
The story involves the interplay of these three. Adrian is drawn to Melinda's erotic appeal but is compelled to resist it while her attraction to Rooke pulls her in. Melinda wants Rooke as well and Adrian is intent on preventing that.
The story contains elements of magic realism or fantasy in which both Rooke and Adrian experience intense and disturbing dreams. Adrian's are either erotic or frightening images of a warrior bloodied in battle. Unfortunately, this undercurrent is under-developed in the book and leaves the reader wondering why it's been included. There's so much highly sexual energy here, a good deal of which is unwanted, but it builds up to almost nothing. It left me begging for a glimpse into some alternative universe.
This is also one of those romances filled with an over-abundance of angst. Should she or should she not, particularly for Adrian. While many romances try to build to the first sexual encounter, this one wasn't successful in bringing the reader along. It was more annoying than anything else and had me reading along just so I could get to the end.
This is the first of Radclyffe's books I have read, which is surprising since I have over 200 lesfic romances on my Kindle (all read). But to be fair I'm likely to give her another chance, perhaps with a more recent book (this one was published in 2009).
The story involves the interplay of these three. Adrian is drawn to Melinda's erotic appeal but is compelled to resist it while her attraction to Rooke pulls her in. Melinda wants Rooke as well and Adrian is intent on preventing that.
The story contains elements of magic realism or fantasy in which both Rooke and Adrian experience intense and disturbing dreams. Adrian's are either erotic or frightening images of a warrior bloodied in battle. Unfortunately, this undercurrent is under-developed in the book and leaves the reader wondering why it's been included. There's so much highly sexual energy here, a good deal of which is unwanted, but it builds up to almost nothing. It left me begging for a glimpse into some alternative universe.
This is also one of those romances filled with an over-abundance of angst. Should she or should she not, particularly for Adrian. While many romances try to build to the first sexual encounter, this one wasn't successful in bringing the reader along. It was more annoying than anything else and had me reading along just so I could get to the end.
This is the first of Radclyffe's books I have read, which is surprising since I have over 200 lesfic romances on my Kindle (all read). But to be fair I'm likely to give her another chance, perhaps with a more recent book (this one was published in 2009).
September 7, 2012
Started abit slow, gradually pick up on the pace, outlining the storyline. Radclyffe is really a good writer, enjoyed her writing, all her books I read were well written and she seems to know the factual stuff.
The whole idea of Rooke as a secluded person, talented and beautiful sounds abit far-fetched. but hey, its a book right, all is possible. The whole telepathy between the 3 women gives off a mystical vibe. Almost supernatural, I thought Melinda was some kinda Sex Goddess/Cupid to bring Adrian and Rooke together.
The only problem I have is the abrupt ending, no details about the family history of Adrian, what they think about Rooke.
But then again, if its meant to just focus on Rooke and Adrian love story, holding on the basis that 'True Love is everything that matters' then, its all good, at least good enough for me.
The whole idea of Rooke as a secluded person, talented and beautiful sounds abit far-fetched. but hey, its a book right, all is possible. The whole telepathy between the 3 women gives off a mystical vibe. Almost supernatural, I thought Melinda was some kinda Sex Goddess/Cupid to bring Adrian and Rooke together.
The only problem I have is the abrupt ending, no details about the family history of Adrian, what they think about Rooke.
But then again, if its meant to just focus on Rooke and Adrian love story, holding on the basis that 'True Love is everything that matters' then, its all good, at least good enough for me.
January 11, 2012
Trigger warnings: consent issues all over the place, and at least one attempted sexual assault, although neither of the heroines do anything along those lines.
I wanted to like this book - it was very erotic - but the consent stuff made it hard for me to figure out what any given person really wanted for large portions of the book, and I couldn't quite get into it.
I wanted to like this book - it was very erotic - but the consent stuff made it hard for me to figure out what any given person really wanted for large portions of the book, and I couldn't quite get into it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2016
I was extremely intrigued in the beginning of the book. Characters were so different compared to the previous book in the series and I subconsciously expected something soulful like in "Love's melody lost" or "Love's masquerade". The story is beautiful and moving but the did not send a cycle of emotions through me.
August 30, 2016
Missed the mark!
Of all the Radclyffe books I've read, this is my least favorite. It seems to have gotten away from her. The mythical qualities make little sense. The Melinda character just confuses the story. It's as if she couldn't make up her mind, does she go for the erotica or the romance?
Seems hurried, confused and incomplete. She's better than this.
Of all the Radclyffe books I've read, this is my least favorite. It seems to have gotten away from her. The mythical qualities make little sense. The Melinda character just confuses the story. It's as if she couldn't make up her mind, does she go for the erotica or the romance?
Seems hurried, confused and incomplete. She's better than this.
January 12, 2014
All I can say is that this book falls short of what it could have been.
May 21, 2012
It was good but i would of thought that melinda was sought of the main character. The author also laid melindas personality on hard making her seem like a lust demon who fed of sex
May 19, 2013
So dark and Gothic, I enjoyed the first part in special, you really do not know if the book will evolve into speculative fiction, simple romance or what else.
August 6, 2014
I so enjoyed the 2 main characters. 2 opposites completely drawn to each other.
November 5, 2013
great book
December 4, 2015
i disliked is long and im not interested in history
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews