Etched in Stone

Written by Susan Hayes

Narrated by D. E. Fell

Adina thought she bought a new statue for her collection. Fate sent her a soulmate instead.

Stone has been alive for centuries but he’s never truly lived. Created by magic, he was duty bound to watch over the Drummond family and guard them with his life. Now, his last master is dead and there’s no one left to protect. Instead of gaining his freedom, Stone finds himself locked in his granite form, a living mind trapped inside a statue. Lost in despair and on the verge of madness, the days blend together into one everlasting nightmare...until he begins to dream of her.

Adina Diggersby lives for her art. Sculpting stone is her passion, one that keeps her busy enough she rarely has time to mourn the one thing missing from her life, someone to share it with. The last thing she ever expected was for her newest purchase to come to life and inform her he was her new protector.

Adina won’t rest until Stone is free of the spells that enslave him, but unraveling the dark magic that created him will come at a price. Are these two souls doomed to be forever alone, or is their love strong enough to be etched in stone?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: May 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781094454320

Susan Hayes

USA Today Bestselling author and writer of award-winning Sci-Fi and Paranormal Romance Susan Hayes lives out on the Canadian west coast surrounded by open water, dear family, and good friends. She’s jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on purpose and accidentally swum with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef. If the world ends, she plans to survive as the spunky, comedic sidekick to the heroes of the new world, because she’s too damned short and out of shape to make it on her own for long. To contact her about her books or to arrange end of the world team-ups, you can email her at [e-mail] or find her at susanhayes.ca. If you'd prefer to stalk her from afar, you can sign up for her newsletter http://susanhayes.ca/susans-newsletter/

Reviews for Etched in Stone

[Natale Michaud · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a cute short story. While it seems all lead males are always perfectly sculpted, it's hard to imagine they want imperfect women.

[Chris Wilcox · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Something was missing, story to rushed great idea, but something not coming together reading it, didn't sit right.

[Bill Hair · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 Stars for me!

Overall I enjoyed this story and liked that the author had fun with the statue, not a statue and the h's family. The end drama was pretty well played out with minimal angst which is refreshing in the romance genre.

The only real problem with the story for me is the h constantly lamenting her body. Many authors have flipped the script by having a more 'normal sized' h, yet the H has to be perfect with cut abs, 6 foot or taller and must be perfect in looks. A bit of a double standard and falls in the two wrongs don't make a right category for me. Just my two cents for whatever it is worth.