All her life Rose Johnson has been undercover and on the run. She is the last of the gargoyles. A Sacred Mother at that. When her adoptive mother, Gwen, is brutally killed with her soul-stone stolen, the only way for Rose to keep her existence a secret is to get help from her enemies, the Sentinels.

Sentinel Cal Levesque never got over the fact his charges were killed in a brutal attack twenty-four years ago. Seeing Rose, a living image of the Queen Sacred Mother, leaves him flabbergasted. Even more shocking is that all these years she has been harbouring hatred towards the Sentinels thanks to Gwen, prime suspect behind the mastermind slaughter all those years ago, and thinks she is the last gargoyle left. This time, especially with the Rift coming close, Cal is determined to protect Rose no matter what the cost.

Walking on thin eggshells, an inconvenient attraction, they work uneasily together to find Gwen's stone before the Twisted Ones get it and extract the information regarding Rose. Along the way Rose discovers the life she has been living is a lie and so is everything she has been told. The only person she trusts now is Cal. But can she forgive him for letting her mother and sisters die to let him help her? And what will she do about this intensifying attraction to him when he seems determined to keep everything strictly business since the last time it was because of his emotional vulnerability his charges died?

I have been looking forward to reading this new series since I heard about it months ago. LOCKED IN STONE goes off to a slow start introducing us to this new world filled with Angels, Gargoyles, Witches and Vampires unlike you have seen before. Hang in there. It only picks up pace as we go along. Rose has a lot of anger inside her against the Sentinels which causes her to initially act like a class act towards them. When her anger begins to simmer down, we begin to see the woman she is. Rose is an independent woman with a steel will and knows how to take care of herself in a fight. She has a hint of vulnerability she rarely lets anyone see thanks to her tough upbringing. Cal on the other hand is a compassionate man who never got over losing his charges. His power is seeing and talking to ghosts and ability to keep them in this world or save them in the Nexus. Cal saved one such enemy for no reason other than the fact he tried to save Cal before dying. He avoids confrontation but can kick some serious ass when it comes down to a fight. Cal is an innate protector. Rose is an alpha while he is beta but they complement each other. For them love is not easy but when it comes, it leaves a warm satisfied feeling in your heart.

The pairing was something new to me so it took some time getting used to it and Tory Michaels did a great job in helping along with her building tension between the two. Mind you Cal is no pushover and can hold his own very well against Rose. I enjoyed this new world especially the annoying ghost Tom, Mr. Ray (fascinating character) and Lucas. The interaction between all the characters is fun and realistic especially when they are thinking of sarcastic comebacks. LOCKED IN STONE is a great start to a brand new series for fans of paranormal romance. There is action, sarcasm, humour and some light-hearted romantic and sexy moments. Personally, I would have loved if the theme was a little more darker but still I cannot wait for the next book to see where the Rift takes us and visit again with all the characters. The cliff-hanger at the end has me hanging on to me seat wanting more.