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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dreamlike & Original Romance, January 2, 2011
This review is from: Stone Kissed (Kindle Edition)
Stone Kissed left me scratching my head and smiling at the same time. I didn't know what to make of this particular romantic tidbit. Stevens weaves words together in an almost dreamlike pattern. The story is wrapped in similes and metaphors and abstract personifications that had me reading with my eyes at half-mast feeling as if I was drifting into the story itself. It was a very romantic tale, full of magic, sex, bizarre antagonist behavior and quirky small-town life. REVIEW: Delia Forrest talks to statues and strangely they talk back. Thought as odd by everyone, including her own father, Delia has lived a life hiding behind the stone friends that mean everything to her but keep her separated from the rest of the human population. A fire set to her family homes draws her back to her small town and suddenly in desperate waters. Her father has been burned terribly and his hospital bills are mounting and there is no money to pay for them. So far from her business as a statue cleaner/repair person she can't hold on to her clients and take care of her father. She is desperate. So desperate that when Grant Wolverton, the shark that he is, swoops in to buy her home from her, she has to accept, there is nothing she can do. What she does make sure though, is that she is able to over see the renovations and make suggestions about the direction the house will be taken in. The problem arises when Grant and Delia are inexplicably drawn to each other. Delia thinks Grant is a complete shark, emotionless and a control freak and he thinks she is crazy and a liar - not quite the perfect couple but they can't keep their hands off of each other. Just as Delia and Grant start progressing in their relationship another shark enters the pond. Cecily who claims she is Delia's far removed cousin and she has her sights set on Grant and the house and she'll kill to get what she wants. A quirky little tale full of odd behavior and slippery descriptions, I was sucked in from the beginning. Grant and Delia's romance was charming and realistic. The world setting was quaint and very very different. The bad-girl, Cecily was unhinged and bizarre but very scary. I was very pleased with this particular novel. Some things I have to point out is that the abstract descriptions and softly set scenes while unique and intelligent at some points had me confused and unfocused, I was unsure as to what was happening in the novel. I sometimes felt like the story was narrated by someone with ADD and just couldn't focus, especially when Cecily had the reigns...she was just so off kilter. Whacked out hooker she was! Stevens, beyond a shadow of a doubt, has one of the most unique author voices that I have read lately. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on her. RECOMMENDATIONS: Adults only, this is a romance novel with a smidge of paranormal activity. Fans of authors like Nora Roberts and Jennifer Crusie should enjoy.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun read!, December 28, 2010
This review is from: Stone Kissed (Kindle Edition)
I really liked this book. It had great characters and a great storyline. Delia Forrest is the last of the Steward witches. She grew up being ashamed of her gifts (being able to speak to statues). Her father verbally abused her and always found a way to keep her away from home. Now an arsonist has set fire to her family home, Steward House, with her father in it. He is in critical care and she must come home to take care of him. Once she is home, Grant Wolverton makes her an offer she can't refuse. He wants to buy the house and restore it but he will pay her to oversee the entire operation. With the piling medical bills for her father, she has no choice. Grant has his own unique abilities; he is able to find that one special and rare item which suits him well since him and his business partner, Lars, are art and antiques dealers. Grant himself has an abusive past and spent most his life protecting his sister, Randi. One of the main reasons for buying Steward House was to build a safe place for him and his sister. Right away we feel the attraction Grant and Delia have for each other. It sizzles right off the pages and I was always waiting for that "moment" and when it finally happened I was cheering them on! Enter the nemesis, Cecily Johnson, who is Delia's distant cousin. She is a succubus and wants everything Delia has. This women has some serious mental issues and makes for an interesting foe. She has tried many times to get the Steward house but Delia's father was immune to her "charm". Delia notices something odd about her also and has the feeling that she shouldn't let this women touch her at all. Now that Delia is home it seems that the statues are becoming more alive. They even start to walk! Now on top of trying to hid from everyone that they talk to her (even though the whole town knows and don't care), she now has to go chasing down the statues that decide they want to explore the town at night! This book had romance, intrigue and humor. Worth the read! I hope there is another book because I think there was something going on between Lars and Randi and I would definitely read that story!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great new book!, January 2, 2011
This review is from: Stone Kissed (Kindle Edition)
The great thing about Carina Press is that it allows for newer authors to be published in e-format. Sometimes however, I wonder how some authors aren't published in paper format. Keri Stevens' Stone Kissed is one of those books that I really do believe deserves to be published in paperback format as well as e-book format. When Delia Forrest talks to statues, they talk back. She is, after all, the last of the Steward witches. After an arsonist torches her ancestral home with her estranged father still inside, Delia is forced to sell the estate to pay his medical bills. Her childhood crush, Grant Wolverton, makes a handsome offer for Steward House, vowing to return it to its former glory. Delia agrees, as long as he'll allow her to oversee the restoration. Working so closely with Grant, Delia finds it difficult to hide her unique talent--especially when their growing passion fuels her abilities. But someone else lusts after both her man and the raw power contained in the Steward land. Soon Delia finds herself fighting not just for Grant's love, but for both their lives... While the synopsis makes this book sound like it's some thriller focused around someone hunting Grant & Delia, it's really not that type of book. The main thrust of the book focuses around their desire for each other & Grant's pursuit of the gun shy Delia. (Not that you can entirely blame her, though.) The passion between these two characters is very tangible & Stevens is to be congratulated for that- it's pretty hard to create that type of chemistry on paper & have it translate well to the reader. She should also be congratulated for coming up with what is quite possibly one of the most original magics that I've seen given to a lead heroine. Kudos for not giving Delia one of the typical heroine magics. It makes it that much easier to see Delia as something unique rather than yet another cookie cutter romance heroine. The only part of the book that seemed to lose a little focus for me personally was when it came to the ultra tragic Cecily. There was a lot going on with this character & I couldn't help but feel like at times it was just a little too much & that a little simplicity would have been better. (slight spoiler here) Cecily was still a great character, but I never really saw her as much of a threat to either of the main characters & I just wanted to see her be a little badder. This was still an awesome read & I managed to finish it within the span of a day, which really says something considering that I put off finishing school work to read the rest of the novel. I honestly recommend this to fans of Kenyon or some of the other paranormal romance books out on the market. This one's a keeper. (ARC provided by NetGalley)
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