Stone Wings, (The Gargoyles of Arrington) - Jenn Burke

Jump into a new paranormal urban fantasy world with Jenn Burke's new series the Gargoyles of Arrington. Cursed to sleep as stone sculptures and only to wake for 25 years at a time, the O'Reilly brothers must find true love to become human again.  

From the Stone Wings blurb:

His curse can only be lifted with true love, but can true love come from a fake date?

Being the personal assistant to a trio of cursed gargoyle brothers who sleep for a hundred years and wake up for twenty-five wasn't a career proposed by Josh's high school guidance counselor, but it's a job that he’s eminently suited for. Not to mention a job his family has been doing for generations. The brothers are truly excellent bosses, but Josh is surprised when Drew offers to pretend to be his date for his high school reunion. And even more surprised by a supposedly fake kiss that feels as real as a kiss can get.

Drew and his brothers owe Josh and his family for watching over them each time they turn to stone for a hundred years, and for helping them reintegrate into the world when they wake up. The least he can do is pose as Josh's boyfriend for a night. Even though true love can break his curse, he knows he won't find it with Josh. Nothing that real can come from a lie. Or can it?

When the fake boyfriend situation stretches into two nights, and then more, Josh and Drew can’t fight the attraction blazing between them. There's no harm in exploring it, right? No expectations. But when paranormal danger comes to Arrington, Josh and Drew are going to have to battle for every moment of peace…and maybe a real happily ever after too.

Stone Wings is a 50,000 word male/male paranormal romance featuring a mechanic who happens to have wings and is a literal monster in bed, a personal assistant who's always had a crush on him, stone skin or not, and a relationship that's going to take a leap of faith to give the fairytale a happy ending.

SNik's Review:

First in series (The Gargoyles of Arrington). Paranormal urban fantasy. Fake boyfriend. Dual POV. 

The O’Reilly brothers were cursed to be gargoyles, living for centuries but only awake for 25 years after sleeping for 100, and they are nearing the end of their current time being awake. 

Josh inherited his caretaker duties from his father, and his duties include everything from making lunching to managing the family’s finances, and even though he has a slight crush on Drew O’Reilly, he knows only true love is able to break the gargoyle’s curse. 

Good world-building eventually explaining the hidden magical world, with the addition of shifters, witches, fae, and a larger story arc involving the origination of the family’s curse. 

Both Josh and Drew are sweet, and the tension of the looming expiration date to any relationship they start is bittersweet as they try to enjoy the short time they have together. 

Since Josh and Drew have known each other for so long there is already affection, and they communicate honestly as their feelings grow and discover true love isn’t always a bolt out of the blue, sometimes it's a slow realization that you’ve found your person. 

Great start to a new series, really sad to have to wait to read more about this world and the O’Reilly brothers finding their HEA’s.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Angel's Review:

Jenn Burke is a new-to-me author, but she won't be now! I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book, a human guarding gargoyles? That was very unique and I just had to read it. I'm so, so glad I did. 

Josh is a human who's family has been the guardians of the gargoyles for quite some time. It passes down the generations to watch over the brothers while they are in their 100 year sleep. They sleep that long and are made of stone due to a curse. Josh knows the brothers, he also knows that so far there is only one way to break the curse. The brothers have to find their true love. He's not convinced he'll be that for Drew... But he needs a fake boyfriend for his high school reunion and Drew offered... What could go wrong? 

Drew doesn't want to blur the lines with Josh, but when he kisses the man on their 'fake' date, his feelings change. He's not quite sure how he feels, except even more protective over Josh and he doesn't want anyone else to be with him. He knows Josh isn't the one who's going to break the curse. But he wants to enjoy the time he has left before he has to sleep for 100 more years. When a pride of cats encroach on their territory and unfortunate events pop up these two realize they mean more to each other than just a fling... 

Josh can't possibly be the one to break the curse... Or can he? 

I love, love, loved this story! I think Stone Wings has been my favorite read so far in 2023. The characters were stunning and the writing?? Oh it was so good! The details and the descriptions were so realistic and so well written. It felt like I was actually in the book and I could picture everything that was going on. I felt a connection to all of these characters. The relationship Josh and his parents had with the brothers was definitely familial. They had a level of trust with them that no one else had. And the siblings relationships with each other was so great to read about. They were honest with each other but still taunted and teased one another. They also let the other ones know when they should get their heads out of their backsides. 

There was also quite a bit of action in this book along with suspense and a mystery. Why is Fomori trying so hard to hurt the brothers? And will the other brothers find  a way to break the curse before it's too late? I'm so excited to read more and find out!! 

I really hope both Teague and Rian get their own stories. I'm fairly certain that Rian is going to be who the next book is centered around and maybe his true mate will be whomever this Professor Logan Davis is? I'm looking forward to what else this author has in store for these characters! 

Rating: 5 Stars

Stone Wings is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription