Title: The Stone Prince
Author: Gena Showalter
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Publication Date: Originally Sept 2004/Republish June 2010
Paperback: 384 Pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 5/10
Back Cover Summary:
A love as bright as the stars and enduring as stone…
Katie James is unlucky in love—so unlucky she’s been reduced to kissing the marble statue in her own garden. But her luck changes when the statue warms to life in her arms—and turns out to be a hunk straight out of any woman’s fantasy! Well, almost…Jorlan en Sarr hails from a distant planet and like all the other men Katie’s known, he comes with a lot of baggage.
A cursed warrior with a lover’s magic touch…
Entombed in his stony skin for centuries, Jorlan has been waiting for a maiden fair to break the spell. Yet this statuesque beauty with the will of an Amazon and kisses like flame is a far cry from the obedient damsels of Imperia. And though Jorlan is tempted to abandon all for the sake of Katie, unless he can convince her to give him her heart in two weeks’ time, he’ll be turned back to stone. And she’ll be lost to him forever.
Review:
I downloaded this book because I wanted a quick, entertaining light read one Sunday afternoon. I’ve read a few of Gena Showalter’s novels and they’re usually witty and entertaining. I’m also a fan of her ‘Lords of the Underworld’ series but for different reasons.
‘The Stone Prince’ is the story of unlucky in love Katie, who falls in lust with a statue of a very handsome man in her garden. Katie is a tough, independent woman who renovates houses for a living. The sister of many brothers, she struggles with men and never seems to be able pass the first date stage.
On a whim one evening, Katie decides to kiss the sexy statue and breaks a century old curse bringing the very handsome and virile Jorlan to life. However, Jorlan, is not only a cursed centuries old warrior, he’s also an alien from another planet.
It’s strange, I could cope with the fact that Jorlan had been turned to stone and was centuries old. But the fact that he was an alien was a little jarring and didn’t sit that well for me. I know this is a paranormal romance, but it seemed just that bit too far fetched.
Jorlan is inarguably sexy and rugged, your typical romance hero. But being cursed for centuries comes with its problems. Desperate to get revenge for his incarceration and to return to his home planet, he also needs to convince Katie to fall in love with him in two weeks or he’ll return to stone once more. Jorlan also has very different views on women and feminism. While his beliefs are meant to be funny and endearing as we watch him careen along the path to enlightenment, they irritated me. Maybe I’m too much of a feminist at heart, but there were times when I really wished Katie would dump him at the nearest bus station and find someone else. He comes across as a little too chauvinistic.
As we near the end of the book we become introduced to some new characters and more importantly the villain of the piece. This begins a sub plot that becomes layered into the main story and is when the book begins to gain pace. Interestingly, I found myself more engaged in this secondary part of the narrative than Katie and Jorlan’s story.
There are some very witty parts of the book, watch out for Jorlan’s first experience of alcohol, I won’t spoil it for you. And this is the writing style that I have always enjoyed by Gena Showalter. But, disappointingly overall I failed to really get really sucked into the book.
Verdict:
At times ‘The Stone Prince’ is a witty and entertaining light read, but unfortunately I failed to engage fully with the main characters and the narrative was overall a little lack-lustre.
Source: Laura’s own copy
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6 Comments
I still have to read this book. I'm also a big fan of the Lords of the Underworld series. =) Great review!!
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Excellent review. I wasn't aware of this title.
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I wasn't aware of this book…
I am still getting around to her books but I have heard they are great!
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Ive been wanting this book for some time now.
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@missy the lords of the underworld books are great aren't they? Although I think the first is my favourite.
@jujuattalesofwhimsy thank you
I belive it is one of her older novels
@Felicia some of her books are fab – would recommend the lords of the underworld series
@Leilani a reprint is going to be out in June. But if you have an ereader, I purchased it recently.
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Somehow it reminds me of the "mannequin" only this time we have stone statue. I am just curious how he ended up here on our realm/planet and how did the family of the protagonist acquired the statue.
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