I loved the details and the premise for the book (gargoyles!) but it was not the romance that I was expecting. The love story is already well-established and while I love Ryan and his grip on Anara (his need to protect her), I felt that he actually fell a little flat in the story. Anara's desire for a normal life is a common trope in fantasy, but it's well-woven within the story and not at all irritating. The pace moves quickly, and I love the historical story line. I just wish both characters were a little more developed.

RTC

Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel, Suspense

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.

I absolutely loved this book.This is a fun little read i just loved Zee and Colt and enjoyed getting to know them.You wont want to put it down a fantastic read would recommend to all.

This is not the first book in the series but easy enough to pick up the threads. This is a good take on vampires and vampire hunters and with the heroines back story this makes for a fresh outlook. Most enjoyable, thank you for starting me on this journey

This book is was very entertaining and you feel like you're with the characters when reading.