Rock Hard Gargoyle

Possessive Monsters #1

by Maggie Mayhem

Stuck between a rock-hard Gargoyle and a hard place.

Oops! I accidentally painted a target on myself by crashing a dragon’s wedding.

After a break-in at my apartment, I get my very own security detail. Cool right? Wrong. The big, brooding beast assigned to protect me 24/7 is the very same cocky guard who caught me at the wedding!

The owner of Redrock Protective Services, Grayson is massive, powerful, and totally intimidating. Arrogant, too. Did I mention his slow, sultry smile or the wickedly possessive glint in his steel-gray eyes? Something inhuman flickers there, and I realize, too late, that I’ve caught the attention of a monster.

He vows to protect me from danger. His solution? Steal me away to his gorgeous penthouse high above the city.
I should run before I do something stupid, like fall for the growly gargoyle. But I can’t. Evil lurks in the shadows waiting for me. Now, the only thing that will save me is my very own possessive monster.

Rock Hard Gargoyle is a paranormal romance with hunky gargoyles, suave demons, and evil wizards. Sweet & steamy, with a side of sneaky tail. HEA guaranteed.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Monster Romance, Fantasy, Monsters, Paranormal Romance, Magic

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 20, 2023

Reviews

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, and had some good spice scenes, but I felt like there were so many missed opportunities to expound on the intricacies of the world and the MCs. All I knew about the MMC at the end of the book was that he had a giving praise kink, ran a security company, and was run by his gargoyle mating instinct. There were hints about his life before, but they were only really hints. We get a little more depth on the FMC and have a clear understanding of why she makes the choices that she makes.
Don’t get me wrong - I LIKE the possessive mating instincts; it’s one of the reasons I picked up the book. I just wanted to understand who the MMC was as an individual better to invest more in their relationship.
I enjoyed the world that was built and feel like there is so much potential. It just needs to be expounded upon.

Spice: 3/5

Triggers: abuse, violence, abduction

[Mia S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute!

Ok I’ve been in a lot of dark romance, so monster love I’m down for it. It was a really cute story with some steamy scenes, I don’t think I can look at gargoyles without blushing now….

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gargoyle and the sassy seamstress!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🖤💙💜❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 🙂🥰😎😄😍
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The heroine: Shelby - she is a fashion designer and owns a made to order dress shop that caters to the curvy and vertically challenged. A few months ago, a bride came in wanting a fireproof wedding dress and cloak. The wedding was the first high profile monster/human wedding. The groom was a real live fire breathing dragon. A few years ago, the wall had lifted, and humans now knew about and mingled with monsters. Shelby had been struggling to pay the bills since her cheating ex had slandered her name and had his friends write fake bad reviews. This wedding would get her name and brand out there and help bring her back into the black.

The Hero: Grayson - he is a gargoyle and owns Redrock Protective Services. He is huge, hot and nearly indestructible, perfect for guarding fragile bodies and performing security services at the biggest wedding of the year. When the wall fell monsters became known to humans. The wall was a magical spell that hid monsters from the human world. It was basically a glamour that made them look human and it encompassed the entire globe. One day, it just blinked out and monsters were seen as they were. Some, like Grayson still used glamour, since they didn’t look as human as others.

The Story: Shelby’s rich and famous client needs a last-minute delivery to her wedding, the vitally important cloak that goes with the wedding gown. When Shelby arrives at the event, she barrels into the huge security guard. The guard, who Shelby can tell is a monster hidden behind a glamour, won’t let her in because he thinks she is a reporter out to get some pictures of the wedding. Grayson eventually let Shelby in when the bridesmaid recognized her, and he couldn’t get Shelby off his mind.

I love monster romance and gargoyles are some of my favorite monsters. Who wouldn’t like a huge, muscled, invincible guy with rock hard abs who is all about guarding and protecting? There was a good storyline about a council of wizards who were having a bunch of women with latent magic kidnapped in order to use their magic to put the wall back up. They needed a lot of magic for a spell that would cover the entire world and the women would end up dying in the process. They try to kidnap Shelby.

This audiobook was done in dual points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Michelle Sparks and Troy Duran. Michelle has a soft feminine voice and is very expressive in her narration. Troy Duran is one of my top favorite male narrators. He has a deep sexy voice and is great at doing different voices for different characters.

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[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t want to talk about it

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'd at 68%. I didn't enjoy the characters or the way the story flowed. It really wasn't for me.

[fromthestudyof · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[CHORNOBROVA KAROOKA · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

Я люблю троп «охоронець і підопічна», а коли дізналась, що він ще й гаргуйль, то побігла читати одразу.

Але мені не дуже сподобалось.

Початок був динамічний - і події швидко розвивались, і fast burn працював на повну. А потім, десь на середині, мені стало так нудно, що я тиждень не могла змусити себе дочитати цю історію, хоча вона зовсім невелика. Ледь дочитала до кінця, тому не впевнена, що буду продовжувати серію.

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Qué vergüenza. Pensé que había hecho reseña. Qué desastre. Imagínense que pensé que GR me la había borrado, sin embargo, un vistazo a mis documentos me di cuenta que quien se equivocaba era yo. Lo siento, Goodreads.

Esta es la primera entrega de esta saga, la verdad es que al igual que su precuela me ha encantado. Tengo debilidad por estos seres, para que mentir. Ha sido un buen inicio de saga.

[Kay ⋆˙⟡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine! It was a quick, fun read. The romance was cute, the plot was at least semi-interesting. Obviously, there isn't a lot of substance in this book, but if you're looking for a steamy, cute monster romance, then look no further.

[Julie Dreamland · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐
Тут вже авторка краще попрацювала над розкриттям персонажів, але чогось не вистачило. Все ще текст сируватий, а детективна лінія слабенька. Хоча задум з радою чарівників був непоганим.
Тут зроблено акцент на монструозних стосунках. Головний герой - просто душка-мілашка, такий уважний і турботливий.

[Myblogisgreat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this one was just OK, not bad but also not incredible. I also wanted more gargoyle possessiveness?! It kinda left me wanting a little more, the tail stuff was pretty great though 🤪😈

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting premise but the GARGOYLE love interest lacked any sense of monstrosity and the dialogue was kinda boring. Decent premise, not great execution

[kymagirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fashion designer Shelby (h) tries to make a last minute delivery to a famous bride only to run into Grayson (H) who is believes her to be a part of the paparazzi trying to get a peek at the wedding. Grayson finds himself drawn to Shelby and tries to make amends but she leaves just as things start to heat up between them After a break-in at Shelby’s shop and home, Grayson is assigned to protect her and he insists that she move in to his penthouse where he can keep an eye on her. Grayson worries that Shelby won’t be interested in who he truly is without his glamour, a gargoyle with wings and a tail, btu he couldn’t be more wrong as things heat up between Grayson and Shelby. The pair and their friends will have to work together to thwart those who would try to bring back The Wall regardless of who they harm. A lovely gargoyle-human romance with plenty of heat, magic, and danger.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun, lighthearted romance between a human FMC and a gargoyle MMC. If you’re looking for an easy monster romance, then this is great. If you’re looking for a more fleshed-out fantasy romance, then this might not be for you. The MMC is pretty much just a gargoyle, and we don’t find out too much about what that means or his backstory. In the book, it’s mentioned a couple of times that he/parts of him were carved from stone, but then we find out that only the original gargoyles were carved and the rest of them were born.

I loved that the MMC had three brothers because gargoyles come in fours to guard the four corners of a building. But again, I’m not sure if their mom just had four kids then or how that exactly happened.

So yeah, all in all, a fun read, but I wish there was a little more world-building and backstory for our characters.

[Ghada · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐
Cute monster love story which i need after all the dark mafia romances i read.

[christy - pr0bablyreadingsmut · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️s rounded up!
whew what a fast, fun, steamy read. was a little bit “insta-lovey” which isn’t my favorite trope but it was well done! loved this story. gargoyles r so sexy

[kay reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 🌟

I listened to the audiobook of this, and it is narrated by Troy Duran and Michelle Sparks, and let's be honest here, if Troy Duran narrates it i'm sure as hell going to listen to it!

It was a decent read in a manner that it had a plot of some sort, the meet cute between the characters was fun, the chemistry was there, the smut was good but it fell under the 3 star curse because it wasn't bad, and it wasn't great either! But i did enjoy the tension between the characters in the first meet and before anything happens between them, the pre-smut butterflies, if i shall call it that.

[Meagan Grauel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would. Overall, I like the representation of curvy girls and how gargoyles are portrayed. I felt like the writing was a little bit stilted and predictable and had me rolling my eyes a little bit too often. I enjoy a good independent woman in a FMC, but not when that independence is actually just misguided bravado. When this particular FMC insists that she go on a mission to recover other lost women, despite warnings from her mate that it will be dangerous, and then is surprised when things go south, it pissed me off. The gargoyles literally had told her that things could go poorly, and then she was surprised??! What a freaking idiot. I felt like for monster smut, there definitely could have been more smutty content. I don’t feel like I wasted my time reading this, but it wasn’t a favorite of mine.

[Cherico Mcintosh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish

I went in hoping to enjoy, but I gave up about half way. I can't even remember anyone from the book. I like monster romance. I like gargoyles. However, I couldn't get myself to like this one. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else, but the story felt too contemporary and not enough paranormal. The gargoyle love interest didn't feel enough of a monster to me. I'm not saying he should have been a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer, but to me read he read as a regular dude in a gargoyle costume. Where's the lore? The mystique? The sense of falling in love with a creature both sexy and scary? Good premise, poor execution

[Selene · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I went into this blind but damn did this pleasantly surprise me. Yes it could go more in depth into characters and world building but overall this was really entertaining and kept me turning page after page. This is one of those one more chapter type books until you’ve finished it and you realize you have to start getting ready for work now , who needs sleep?🤣 I’ll also never look at a gargoyle or their tail the same again lol

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to love this. I mean, a gargoyle BODYGUARD? HELLOOOOO? But the story just kind of fell flat for me and I was - gasp - bored.

[✧☽ karis ☾✧ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

DNF at 48%
I just felt like I was slogging through it. :/
I think with some editing this could be really fun!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're diving into a little paranormal romance where monsters are living side by side with humans and, unfortunately, not everybody is thrilled by this. That said, Grayson and Shelby have NO PROBLEM doing the side by side thing. Amongst other things.

So. Shelby finds herself with an unexpected body guard when her place is broken into. The good news? Grayson is easy on the eyes and Shelby doesn't mind spending time with him. The bad news? Shelby is being targeted by a morally deficient group of magic users thanks to latent magic in her bloodline. Which means she's in danger.

Grayson isn't happy about the Shelby in danger part, but he doesn't mind AT ALL spending time with the sweet human. In fact, he's getting a little territorial about her and that can only mean one thing. He might have possibly found his mate. Probably.

A little danger, a real bonehead of an ex, some bad guys with bad plans, a gargoyle who can't stop thinking about his lady, and a lady who is getting a crash course in what she's capable of. Fun and sexy with a side of growly gargoyle. *thumbs up*

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[booklover1816 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possessive Gargoyle

Okay. 🙋🏼‍♀️ Where can I find me a gargoyle like Grayson?

He’s huge, strong, loyal, fearsome, growly and fiercely protective of the people he cares about. And he takes his responsibility to protect Shelby very seriously. Even more, I loved Grayson’s possessiveness and dominance. That massive gargoyle is absolutely magnificent and I adored every single thing about him!

I loved how strong, brave, determined and resourceful Shelby, our fmc, was. She was willing to do anything to save the other woman from the council and it really showed the brave character she was.

Overall, the story is a remarkable start of the series! It’s filled with action, danger, humor, violence, blazing hot romance and wonderful characters.

I absolutely loved every page of it and cannot wait to read the next story!

[thebeespot72 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rock Hard Gargoyle was a quick, sweet, and spicy read. Grayson, a gargoyle, uses glamour to disguise himself, for the most part, as an owner of a security service, but when he meets Shelby, she can detect something else there. Humans know gargoyles, dragons, and other monsters exist in this world, and everything is modern. Grayson is quite charming but, at the same time, strong and protective. The way he and Shelby meet is super cute. The spice scenes are steamy, and the things Grayson can do with this tail made me blush a little. It was entertaining to read.

[JenJen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet fantasy romance between a human woman and a gargoyle male set in a contemporary world.

The romance was sweet and the book definitely smutty scenes, but the spice level was pretty low.
The romance and relationship side of the story was balanced well against an underlying plot.

Overall, I give this book a solid four stars out of five. I think it was a great read but it just didn’t stand out to me enough to give it five stars.

[Jennifer Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good monster romance

I love a good monster romance and this one did not disappoint. We’ve got an over the top possessive gargoyle, and his feisty, sassy heroine. Shelby and Grayson were a perfect match. She’s severely independent, and he’s overly protective which means there’s a lot of fireworks between these two. The story was well done, there’s a little bit of mystery, some suspense and action, and a whole lot of swoon. Definitely a monster romance worth reading!

[Sydney M Neblett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond the veil

This book is an absolutely fantastic series starter! The characters were phenomenal and I love how interconnected they ended up being. Secrets were revealed, bad guys were fought, friends were made, and love was found in just a few short hours. Amazing! Life is changing quickly for this ragtag group, and I was so happy to get to read all about it. I can’t wait to see what happens next! The author dropped all these little hints of the future for this blended family whetting my interest. I hope we don’t have to wait too long for book two.

[susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this Paranormal Romance and could see how Grayson is easy to fall for. This book is steamy, fun, and addictive. A great and fun read.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christina's Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great gargoyle! Love it! Spicy gargoyle romance, short read.