Early Review: The Gargoyle Gets His Girl by Kristen Painter (Nocturne Falls #3)

The Gargoyle Gets His Girl (Nocturne Falls #3)
Kristen Painter
Published: Aug. 1, 2015
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Margaret

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

I’ve got nothing against a typical vampire or shifter romance. In fact, the first two books in the Nocturne Falls series featured one of each and I really enjoyed them. But there’s a special place in my heart reserved for the less-written creatures—the trolls and selkies and djinn who are usually relegated to supporting rolls on the rare occasions they make it into a book at all. So I was really excited to learn more about Nick, the gargoyle hero of The Gargoyle Gets His Girl.

I did find out a little bit more about the gargoyles in the town of Nocturne Falls, Georgia, where it’s Halloween every day. But it turns out that the heroine Willa is the real star of the book. She’s a Lapidus Fae with powers over metal and stone, which is perfect for her job as a jewelry designer. Willa was introduced in the first book of the series, The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride, when she designed the couple’s engagement ring, but that book didn’t go into much detail about her magic. I loved getting to see the entire process now as she creates a ring for a new client.

Willa designed the ring to bring new love to a widowed troll, but something seems to go horribly wrong once the ring is on his hand. The client becomes obsessed with Willa and starts stalking her. While trying to figure a way out of the situation, Willa stops at the fountain in the town square and throws a stone in, making a wish. What she doesn’t realize is that the gargoyle statue in the center of the fountain is actually Nick, working his first shift as the town’s overnight security guard, and that when she made that wish her magic bound him as her protector.

Willa ran away from the Faerie realm as a teenager so most of her magic is self-taught. She didn’t even know she could control gargoyles. But not everyone in her family is so naïve, and Willa gets dragged back home as part of their scheme. I loved getting to visit the Faerie realm in The Gargoyle Gets His Girl even though it took me away from that charming town that I always want more of.

But I still got to see the Red, White and Boo fireworks display that’s “haunted” by the ghost of Uncle Sam. And I did learn more about Julian, the vampire who coordinates all the “characters” in Nocturne Falls, the supernaturals who pose for picture with tourists who think they’re wearing costumes. Painter also introduced a few new supernatural types in addition to the Fae—Willa has brownies working in the jewelry shop, and the aforementioned troll customer.

There are no action scenes in this book—the conflicts are all of the magical variety. Often that would bother me, but the magic scenes are done so well that I didn’t even notice until I was writing the review. The only drawback is that it doesn’t give Nick much to do. While he does watch over Willa, she’s ultimately the one who saves herself. As much as I appreciate the fact that she didn’t just become a damsel in distress after he swore to protect her, I would have liked to see a little more of the former Ranger’s soldier side in action.

Sexual content: kissing