Urban Fantasy #Review: Stone Cold Revenge

Stone Cold Revenge

by Jess Macallan

Published by: Entangled

Heather’s Rating: 

Forced by her maniacal father, the king of the shadow elves, to live in his house and train to become his heir, newly minted princess of the paranormal Elleodora Fredricks doesn’t think things could get much more complicated. On the outs with her gargoyle love interest, Jax, and confused about her relationship with her childhood sweetheart, MacLean the phoenix, Elle knows her fate decrees that her powers will manifest themselves in full on her twenty-eighth birthday, which is quickly approaching…

With help from two long-lost family members, some long-forgotten memories, and even her long-gone mother, Elle discovers there’s more to being part shadow elf than she ever knew. But will she be able to harness her unique abilities in time to take revenge on her enemies? For Elle, it’s all in a day’s work….

Book Savvy Babe’s Review:

When I started this series with book 1, Stone Cold Seduction, I remember being so excited about the series.  The world is unique, with its own paranormal structure and a reluctant princess just coming into her powers.  When I picked up Stone Cold Revenge, I was excited to see where the series would go, but the characters did not affect me the same way they did in the first book.

Stone Cold Revenge picks up just after where book 1 left off.  Elle is moving into the guest house at her father’s, the Shadow Elf King’s, home.  Elle’s father is evil, causing problems in the supernatural community, stealing souls and killing innocent people.  Elle is determined to put an end to her father.  However, she must choose a mate and learn to control her power and her timeline gives her only days to carry out her goals.

It had been awhile since I read book 1, so it took me awhile to get back into the feel of the story and remember the characters.  I really like the structure of the world, with various paranormal species that are not common, such as the Phoenix, the Gargoyles, and even the Shadow Elves.  The abilities and beings are unique and part of why this series had me so intrigued.

I had some issues with Elle in Stone Cold Revenge.  Elle is constantly complaining and bemoaning her situation.  She says that she is determined to kill her father, but then she complains about having to train and learn how to use her powers.  She whines a lot, and the whining did not sit well with me.  She kept repeating that she just wanted to go home.  However, Elle is a princess coming into very strong powers.  I felt she was naive to think that she could just walk away.  Even when she would use her powers, she was continually struggling with herself and doubting herself, and it got old.

I did like that Elle made some solid decisions.  Without too much waffling or fanfare, she chose her mate and stuck by him.  I really liked that she didn’t string Jax and MacLean along too long.  So, thankfully, there was not too much angst mixed with the complaining.  I also fully agreed with her choice of mate, so that made me pretty happy .

Jess Macallan has done a great job building a new paranormal world and I am both intrigued and excited by Elle’s powers.  She has so much potential as a heroine, but the girl needs to accept herself and be stronger.  I really hope that Elle’s character grows up more and accepts her place in the supernatural world.  Her whining and self-doubt irritated me throughout the book.  I am still very intrigued by this series, so I will likely read book 3 when it releases and I’m hoping that Elle will develop into a stronger, more confident character.

Readers who enjoy paranormal and urban fantasy books might enjoy this series.  I do recommend reading the books in order though.