Customer Reviews

The Stone Prince

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In Dallas, six foot amazon Katie James enjoys running her firm James Real Estate in which she buys, restores, and sells old houses. Her latest acquisition is a dilapidated Victorian with a garden that contains seven statues displaying both genders getting it on. To Katie's chagrin, she is attracted to one particular carving, but on the other hand is pleased that he is stone as she feels men are annoying especially her older brothers.

However, she feels she goes off the deep end because she believes the statue whispers to her to kiss it. Unable to resist, Katie locks lips with stone only to find a giant of a flesh and blood male appear. Jorlan en Sarr explains that he was from another world who was cursed by his sorcerer half-brother Perlen de Locke but also magically transported to earth for his safety by his mother. As Katie helps Jorlan adapt to his new planet, he worries that Perlen's curse goes deeper as the person who freed him must willingly give her heart to him or he returns to stone permanently.

THE STONE PRINCE is a wonderful romantic fantasy that sub-genre fans will appreciate because of the strength of the heroine who takes no gruff from her siblings or the hunk from another planet. Jorlan actually starts off as an overbearing chauvinist who believes a woman's role is to only pleasure a man; Katie persuades him that a man's role is to pleasure a woman while also proving a female can protect his back. Some readers may detest the use of profanity and feel Katie needs a timeout, however, for the most part the foul language fits this charming story line.

Harriet Klausner

THE STONE PRINCE is a super fun read! It is also the first romance novel that made me laugh so hard I was crying, especially during one spectacularly funny, completely humiliating scene involving condoms and four overprotective brothers. I liked the author's breezy, open writing style. She really made the character of Katie, a modern-day house renovator, seem totally real (in other words, Katie had a lot of the same thoughts I think I'd have if a gorgeous statue came to life and was revealed to be a magic-wielding he-man warrior from another planet).

That said, there were some issues I had with the story, the most important being that it reminded me too much of WARRIOR'S WOMAN by Johanna Lindsey (published in the 1990s). Both involve modern-type girls with the ability to kick ass who fall in love with super-macho aliens (of the "women must submit and be protected" variety), and how each tempers the other. Jorlan even refers to Katie at one point as a "warrior woman." Still, THE STONE PRINCE has its own unique plotline, so while it has some similarities to WARRIOR'S WOMAN, it reads quite differently.

Anyway, issues aside, I rather enjoyed this wacky, fantastical love story between a girl and her alien prince charming. I mean, how can you resist a man who carries around a cooking spatula as a weapon? My recommendation: read it!

This is the story of Katie James and a marble statue-turned man, named Jorlan en Sarr. He hails from a distant planet where the grass is white and men are dominant alpha males who think that women have no say so in anything. This is the kind of contemporary-paranormal-romance that I love.

Jorlan was cursed by his extremely jealous half brother nine hundred years before. Katie buys this property with all sorts of naked statues all in a state of sexual gratification. Except for the one that she can hear tell her to kiss him. She is oddly drawn to this statue of pure male nudity, and kisses him one night...then she realizes that she is actually kissing a real life male!! This is where the fun comes in.

Gena Showalter is a genuinely unique author. She blends weirdness into hilarity and male chavaunism into, somehow, alluring attractivness. Joran and Tristan (the hero of The Pleasure Slave) are both overbearing pigs of men but in the progression of each novel, they start to realize that the way to an Earth bound woman's heart is tenderness. This book is extremely funny and a great read. I reccommend it to anyone with a sense of humor who loves an odd romance.

I can't believe the reviews that say this is like J. Lindsey's Warrior's Woman. Showalter writes a book that gives the heroine much more power than Lindsey's book. Jorlan is charmingly out of place, and so ends up losing a bit of that Warrior edge. And Katie does get the upper hand with him at times, unlike Lindsey's heroine. This is what makes Showalter's book work for me. It's much more about two people struggling to find an equal footing with each other. That plus sexy romance and a great villain. The addition of Percen to this book as a villain who ends up being sympathetic and changed also adds a depth that is missing from Warrior's Woman, which I enjoyed.

Many books are similar in this genre because we readers like certain elements. It's what an author does with those elements that sets her apart. And Gena Showalter is carving out a niche all her own. I can't wait to read Awaken Me Darkly.

The story was sooo cute. I especially like the play between Katie and her four over protective brothers. The jokes they play on each other and their interview of her new "boyfriend." The drinking scene and the condom scene were hilarious. Of course the sexual tension was great. Big Warrior Man Shows His Woman a Night of Passion Therefore She Will Fall in Love With Him I guess would be too long of a title, but it basically sums up the whole book. Of course, Katie doesn't agree with becoming intimately involved with someone only for them to leave her for always, so she puts him off. Surprisingly, I can relate better to that than the fall into bed scenes found in most romances.

Definitely five stars!

Wow...that's a weak lead in for such an awesome book! Gena Showalter has hit it big with her first book, and it's a doozy! Katie James earns her living restoring old houses and then putting them on the market. Her latest acquisition is a charming, run-down old Victorian with erotic statues in the courtyard. She's drawn to one in particular, and I mean *really* drawn...so much so that she kisses it, and breaks alien warrior Jorlan's curse. But to go back home, he must bed Katie AND make her admit her love for him ... before he bails on her. Of course this just won't fly with a strong woman like Katie, even if she does get a hot flash every time she looks at the guy. This book was funny, hot and so well done that I'm floored. This is a must read!

Katie James acquires a run-down mansion sorely in need of some serious renovations.
In what the previous owners referred to as "The Pleasure Garden" are some pretty magnificent statues, ones that could almost be called x-rated. It is here that Katie finds herself drawn to the ethereal beauty and sheer masculinity of one statue in particular.
Has she lost her mind? Okay - so she has been unlucky at love, but come on.....a statue? Thoughts of him invade her mind constantly. What would it be like to be in his arms, to feel his skin.....to kiss his beckoning lips?
A magical kiss from Katie brings the statue to warm and lusty life. Jorlan en Sarr, a prince from the distant planet of Imperia has been ensconced for centuries in his stone tomb. Under a curse by his half-brother and powerful sorcerer, Percen de Locke, Jorlan, still able to see, hear and feel all around him but unable to respond, has waited for the kiss of a fair maiden to free him. In her aid to help Jorlan, his mother opened a vortex that placed him on earth, away for Percen.
Now all Jorlan must do is win Katie's love in two weeks time or return to his stony lair forever.
Arrogant and determined Jorlan's full-fledged pursuit of Katie is fueled by the unquenchable lust he feels for her. Although he promises unimaginable physical pleasures, Katie is reluctant to give in, fighting the sexual urges that surge through her virginal body.
Will Jorlan win over his "Katya" in time, or will he be doomed to spend eternity encased in stone? How long will Katie be able to hold back her hunger for her stone warrior come-to-life?
THE STONE PRINCE proved to be a most rewarding read, sexy, funny and downright magical from start to finish. You cannot help but be drawn into the torrid love that develops between Jorlan and Katie. Well supported by secondary characters who help bring THE STONE PRINCE to its climactic end.
THE STONE PRINCE is definitely a keeper - well worth a second read!

Katherine Turcotte

Poor Katie James. She's fallen in lust with the hunky statue in her garden. If only he were a real man...

Poor Jorlen en Sarr. He's been cursed to spend the rest of his life imprisoned in a stone jail in unless he gets a kiss...

Lucky for us, Katie is so worked up by her lackluster love life and the granite god in her backyard that she gives in to desire and impulsively kisses the statue, releasing Jorlen from his curse for a time. He's got two weeks to make Katie fall in love with him or he'll end up a monument forever.

Further complicating things is Jorlen's views on women. He may be from a different planet but his attitude about women is strictly earth caveman. Katie isn't having any of it, and he soon sees that a strong woman is a good woman.

Katie soon realizes it's only a matter of time before she gives in to Jorlen's seductive charms, even though she knows when he returns to his home planet, she'll never see him again.

The Stone Prince is super sexy, tons of fun, and over too soon. Vivid descriptions, great characters, and quick pacing make this book a keeper. I will NOT be lending this one out. Buy your own!

Even with the profusion of hyphenated phrases, The Stone Prince is a four star read. The premise is fresh, and hot doesn't do this story justice. The chemistry between Katie and Jorlen is nuclear, and really keeps the pages turning.

Showalter's voice is welcome change from so many of the cookie cutter books being published today. This is a great first book from an author with a long future ahead of her.

The Stone Prince starts off hot and doen't let up until the end. Featuring an alpha male and a heroine who won't be intimidated, the book's humor and focus on family ties (not to mention bringing a prince to his knees) kept me saying, "just one more page," until I discovered I'd finished the whole thing in one setting. This is a great debut, and I look forward to other works by this author.

Whew! This was one heck of a story. Suspend your disbelief, and just enjoy. I know that I will look at statues in a whole different way from now on! Read this book for a totally different experience. Believe me, you won't regret it!