I nabbed HEART OF STONE off of NetGalley just so I could see if Christine Warren could write Urban Fantasy as hot as Karen Marie Moning. 
 Mmm mmm mmm. Good stuff. 
 About the Book: 
 Ella Harrow is trying to carve out a normal life for herself. Well, as normal as an art geek with psychic abilities can hope for. As museum docent and gift-shop manager, Ella is able to keep her distance from people--and her powers in check--while surrounding herself with the artifacts she loves. But how on earth is she supposed to act normal when a thousand-year-old statue on the museum's terrace suddenly comes to life? 
 Not your ordinary gargoyle, Kees has been asleep for eons, waiting for a portent of evil to wake him from his slumber. Kees isn't a vision; he's a bat-winged guardian created to protect the world from the seven demons of the Dark. Somehow, Ella triggered his reawakening. Maybe the demons have been unleashed? Maybe his heart is finally ready to be chiseled open? The fate of the world isn't carved in stone...yet. 
 My Review: 
 This was a super fun read. Ella is spunky. She's got a terrible amount of power that she strains to contain--particularly after the last time it escaped. Becoming an instant orphan will teach a gal control. One night she's attacked on the terrace of the art museums where she works and the statue beside her erupts into life. It's enough to make a gal swoon. She did. 
 Kees isn't just a delicious art-come-to-life--he's a Guardian, and he knows the world is in big trouble when an untried, untamed magical girl can rouse him from his mystical slumber. Together they learn that the Keepers of Light are being systematically hunted down by the minions of Darkness. WIthout the Guardians Earth has no hope to prevent demonic subjugation. Kees fights against his emotional reactions--claiming to be nothing more than the stone he is--but Ella insists there's more to him than he will accept. 
 Let's just say this: End of times doesn't normal equal romance, but the heat simmered from their first contact--long before they recognized the danger they were in. And, I am NOT a gal who's going to get miffed about some serious friction. Bam-chicka-bow-wow. 
 Kees? D-Lish. Makes me want to hit the Art Institute just to see if I can find me some Guardian... 
 In any case, Ella and Kees do get it right and track down the last Keeper they can find. Unfortunately he's torched soon thereafter by the Big Baddies. And they continue the hunt for both Keepers and Guardian statues--the remaining six which seem to be scattered to the four winds. All while dodging the Dark Ones. Ella's standoff in her childhood home leaves her with far better magical skills, and a few less enemies. 
 It seems, instead of the usual rituals to awaken these magnificent defenders of humanity, a single woman of power can entreat the creature within to break his stony bonds--much like Ella did for Kees--if she is his true mate. And one of Ella's art friends may have found another Guardian. As this is the beginning of a new Gargoyles series, I expect there to be six similar books where a smart sassy gal brings her personal stony savior to life all to save the world. 
 In total I liked the magical elements. I felt that Ella wasn't clueless, but needed training to use the powers she always knew she had. And Kees did train her. Hard. With his teaching, and some books gleaned from essential support characters, Ella built herself from a danger into a weapon for good--and in far less time than Mac Lane. Also, did I mention the sex? Kinda like voting in Chicago it happens early and often... Nice. 
 Interested? You can find HEART OF STONE at your local bookstore, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks. 
 If you pick this one up, make sure to come back and tell me your thoughts. 
 In the meantime, keep reading my friends! :)