Ella Harrow lives a simple life, working for the Vancouver Museum of Art and History, helping out at fundraisers and in the gift shop. She doesn't really like being around people and whenever she needs quiet, she makes her way to the gardens and to the enormous sculpture the staff had dubbed St. Arthur Conan Gargoyle. When she is threatened by a mugger the statue suddenly explodes and there standing before her is an enormous ... moving ... gargoyle. She has no way of knowing that she is about to fall for a HEART OF STONE.

Kees Livingston is a guardian and has been sleeping for a number of years waiting for the time he and his fellow guardians are needed to fight the evil. He is confused when he finds the little human with no training and not a member of the Guild of Wardens is the reason he is awake. What has happened to the world he knows? He needs answers and very quickly before something really bad happens to the whole world.

As Ella and Kees work together they find that his guild and the wardens who are the ones who are able to wake the gargoyles when needed are being annihilated by the nocturnis, the minion of the evil seven that the guardians had been created to fight. These minions are seeking the power that is in Ella even though it is untrained she is strong. On top of everything he has tried not to have feelings for his little human, but it is soon a losing battle. Kees will do whatever he must to protect her and find a way to protect the world.

HEART OF STONE is the first in a new series by author Christine Warren. It is fantastic, with a lot of twists that affect the reader as much as the characters, and a steaming hot gargoyle ... at least when he turns human ... and a young woman who quickly learns to kick butt. I did so enjoy poor Kees turmoil with the emotions that Ella brought out in him, even if I did want to shake him a couple of times. There were also a few times that I felt the storyline bogged down, but I believe that is due to it being a first book with Ms. Warren wanting to lay down a good background for future books. I cannot wait for the next installment.