Review: Wolf of Stone by Quinn Loftis

Wolf of Stone by Quinn Loftis

Date Published: October 31, 2014
Format: E-Arc, 241
Series: Gypsy Heealers, #2

Summary from Goodreads:

Dalton Black, a Canis lupis full of guilt and anger, never expected to find his true mate. Perhaps already slipping into madness, he had resigned himself to the fact that he would walk the earth without the other half of his soul. He was convinced that his sins were enough to keep the Great Luna from giving him such a blessing. He knew it was probably better that way. His past was as dark as his name and after three centuries of running from it, the memories were finally catching up to him. But all of those resignations evaporated when he saw her broken and bloodied body lying on that alter. Though the man didn’t recognize her, the wolf did. Through battle and bloodshed he was able to save her from the evil that held her captive, but now he would need her to save him from himself. 

Jewel Stone was wholly unaware of the ancient bloodlines of Gypsy Healers, mates to Canis lupis and protectors of the packs – much less that she carried that blood herself. But when a beautiful but deadly woman showed up in her home and ripped her from her realm, she knew her life would never be the same. Her mother, Gem, a fortune teller, had warned her that something was coming, that her life was about to change dramatically, but like everyone else, Jewel had dismissed her as a crazy person. 

Jewel was the laughing stock of her school simply because Gem was her mother. And up until now, her life was one big disappointment after another. Instead of heeding her mother’s warning, she hid in her books, burying herself behind knowledge, both fact and fiction. She escaped into worlds created by others and filled her mind with facts of every kind in an effort to push away the hurtful words that others bombarded her with. Despite all of her knowledge and all of her fantastical stories, she never dreamed her own future would be full of adventure, danger, passion, and the possibility of unconditional love. As she lay unconscious after her first bloody encounter in the fae realm, her only chance of survival lay in the hands of a man scarred by his past, disfigured both emotionally and physically, and beyond the reach of any who had tried to help him. 

Can two broken people, who carry the other half of each other’s souls, span the chasm between them and restore the innocence ripped from both their lives? Will they let the promise of healing love overcome the difference in age and experience, and the separation of species and realms? Or will they give in to the fear and doubt that would keep them from one another for eternity?

My Review:

   I've read Quinn Loftis' The Grey Wolf series and the first book to the Gypsy Healers series. I fell immensely in love in the world she had created. The characters are all genuinely different and lovable and all had their stories to tell. But when I had the chance to read this early on, it catched my attention. When I actually sat down and read it, my mind just drifted away.

   It wasn't entirely horrible. But I had to ask myself. Is this a book I would recommend to somebody? Would I re-read it again? No to both of these questions. And my main problem with it is that Jewel was in a deep coma throughout the entire book. She's the main character and I wanted her up and about. This is what I think was the biggest downfall of the book for me. Of course, there were lots of parts that I felt were a bit dragging.

   I did enjoy seeing some of the old characters from The Grey Wolf series. But they were more in the background and were put aside for the new characters. I didn't really like that. The new characters weren't that bad. I just think the story wasn't that well written for them.

    The prologue of the book is what I would say got me the most interested in reading this novel. It portrays how Dalton was like before he meets his mate Jewel.

   The synopsis of the book, I feel is a bit misleading because it talks about how Jewel was the laughing stock of her school because of her mother but we don't get to see any glimpse of that. That was actually something I wanted to see. What I had thought was going to happen didn't. Before I read this, I had imagined how the story might have played out. But it was completely off. I guess you can say that my standards were set very high.

   After debating on whether I should give this 3 or 2 stars, I ended up deciding on giving this 2 stars, sadly. I honestly don't know if I'll be picking up the third book in the series. My curiosity only comes from wanting to see the old characters and maybe a little bit about Dalton but that's it.

2 Stars: It Was Okay

*An Advance Reader's Copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.*