HEARTSONG

When Frey’s true love lifts the curse that’s been placed on him, will he be able to melt her stony heart and convince her that they’re meant to be together?

Anna Kinkaid lives a quiet life as a docent at a small private museum in the California Bay Area specializing in grotesque statues, which are similar to gargoyles except they don’t have spouts to divert rainwater. She’s worked hard to build a comfortable life for herself after a chaotic lifetime of trauma, and even has reliable health insurance to help with the chronic pain of her ongoing migraines. Frey is a guardian who was turned to stone centuries ago when his people were cursed by the Faerie Queen. He has a shared consciousness with the rest of his kind, but has been frozen in stone for 1,500 years. When Anna grabs him to steady herself during an after-hours museum heist, her touch partially breaks the curse and he carries her to safety. The next few weeks involve Frey hiding out at Anna’s apartment, where she helps him learn about the modern world and he cooks for her, turning back to stone during the day. Frey brings some comic relief as he adapts to technology and new clothing (important for fans of gray sweatpants everywhere), and Anna is as headstrong as her soulmate, resisting his paternalistic attempts to protect her. There’s some vague unresolved trauma from Anna’s past that is never satisfyingly resolved and Frey comes off as condescending when he insists that Anna forgo her medicine and get a new job because he thinks she’s in danger. The museum robbery and the war with the fae that resulted in Frey’s curse—most of the story, in other words—take a distant backseat, though, to the sexual tension.

A lukewarm romance peppered with spicier scenes that might justify a read for fans of monster romance.