The Stone's Release [Paperback]

The subtitle to this is the Quinguard immortals. This story is the second, the first being Cast In Stone. A quinguard is a group of warriors under the direction of "Church and crown". 700 years ago this unique Quinguard was formed of 5 men with unusual genetic and cultural backgrounds. They were targeted by an enemy, Lord Brookhaven, because of who they were. Lord Brookhaven cursed them, turning them into gargoyles by night and draining their life essence to extend his life and the lives of some of his followers. However, it turns out that when the Quinguard is released from their curse, they are immortal, while their enemies become mortal. Their mates have long lives as long as they remain with them.

In the first book, the first of the quinguard has been released from the curse by the sacrifice of the woman who loved him. He and his son have been searching for the rest of the Quinguard. In the first book, they locate the leader of the Quinguard, Julen, just as the woman destined to release him,Sofia, locates him. She releases him and they are on to finding the others.

This second book releases their healer, Lord Stefan Ashworth. It turns out to be healed from the curse, the curse has be transferred to the woman through sex and then healed. In the first book, Sofia is the healer and has to heal herself. In this book,Lord Ashworth has to release his curse into Bailey and then heal her. It is a little different twist than the first book. Bailey, our heroine, is a physcist. She is between grants when her twin sister, Sabrina, disappears with her love,Rion, who is married to someone else. Bailey tries a magic spell in desparation and releases her own true love. Stefan, our healer is drawn to her, but has no clue why. It turns out that Bailey has the power to know the truth when she hears it, so Stefan has no trouble convincing her that what he says, however, improbable, is true. The two find that their quests are the same, as the love of Bailey's sister is clearly another of the Quinguard who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Their arch enemy, Brookhaven, is still loose and trying to bind another to take the place of the Julen, who was released in the first book. Our heroes travel between Italy, where Stefan has been living and has made quite an impact on his community, unlike Julen from the first book, Boston with Julen, Sofia, Zell and his son Luc, and Oregan where Bailey's family are ranchers.

I didn't find this book as compelling as the first, but the set up for the next book unravelling the mystery of Sabrina and her love, Rion sounds fascinating. In the next book they will have a new challenge of discovering how to break the curse when neither of the pair is a healer. The special talents of Bailey were not defined very well in this book, however, the characters of the last book were woven nicely into this one, so we can see how the characters interact and some of their growth as a couple.

I will be eagerly awaiting the next book of the series and there should be one more after it with the most mysterious "Warrior".

This was a great book. It really left me wanting to read the third installment. I felt the characters where well rounded. I didn't want to put the book down because I wanted to find out the ending. I wished the author would have completed the series. Now, I am left with so many unanswered questions, wanting to know what happened with the other Quinguard members. It's so darn disappointing when you can't get closure.

This is well written book with a compelling storyline. I recommend you read
"Cast in Stone" also though.Cast in Stone (Quinguard Immortals)