The Stone Prince by Gena Showalter

A pre-warning: The Stone Prince contains cheesy content. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Jorlan En Sarr is from another planet. He's also a prince on his home planet and a warrior who was sent to Earth in the form of a statue by his evil brother who just happens to be a sorcerer. On Earth, Jorlan is awoken from his stone state by Katie, a practical tomboy who renovates houses for a living. After Katie miraculously awakes Jorlan the next 2/3 of the book are scenes of heated sexual tension along with a little silliness (I laughed particularly hard when Jorlan tried to use a spatula as a weapon).

If you can overlook the fact that the main character is lusting after a seemingly-human-alien-prince-who-used-to-be-made-of-stone, it is actually a pretty entertaining read if only for the extreme randomness of the plot.

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Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter

Grace Carlyle, frustrated by her boring, predictable job and lack of romance in her life sets out on a potentially dangerous mission to find her brother who disappeared into the Amazon jungle on a research trip many weeks ago. After her guide steals from her and retreats into the jungle, Grace finds herself wandering, looking for the way out. Instead of getting out of the jungle however, she unknowingly heads deeper in, finally coming across a strange portal… the entrance to the mythical world of Atlantis.

Darius en Karigan, Dragon Warlord of Atlantis, feels Grace enter his world and runs to strike her down before she can bring peril to his homeland. Strangely drawn to her however, he finds he cannot bring himself to kill her like he has killed all the others who dared to venture into his homeland. After learning more about her, Darius realizes that the city of Atlantis is in danger. Alex ha... Read More

Beauty Awakened by Gena Showalter

I’d never read any of Gena Showalter’s books before trying Beauty Awakened, but I’d gotten the idea they were fun reads. Unfortunately, I did not have fun with Beauty Awakened — in fact, it made me angry — and I abandoned the book partway through.

The setup is that Koldo, a physically and emotionally scarred dark-angel type, and Nicola, a self-sacrificing young woman with a heart condition and a dying twin sister, meet and eventually fall in love. But Showalter made Koldo so insufferable that I couldn’t root for them as a couple. At one point, he performs a miraculous task and Nicola asks him what he is, to have this ability. He berates her for not doing research. The woman is working two jobs and her sister is in the hospital! She explains, but he keeps lecturing her about priorities and excuses. After a while, even the fact that I w... Read More