Review: To Climb Olympus
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 29, 2012
OK, let me just say from the get-go that Ms. Warneke has rapidly become one of my favorite authors. I read "Siren Song" (because anyone who has read my reviews knows that I LOVE my werewolves, and any twist on the legend is awesome) and I thought it was great. So I then picked up "Stone Lover" because it sounded...different. And it was fantastic. And I was really thrilled when I discovered that "Stone Romance" was out and I grabbed it.This book was even better than the first one. If the first was riveting, this one is simply beautiful. Melanie was fun, but there is a tragic side to Jenna that just makes you want her to find happiness again. She suffered a terrible loss when she was younger that was mentioned in the first book, but is painfully detailed here. This author has said on her blog that she is a sucker for a happy ending. And that's what we get. This is a paranormal romance (but are gargoyles paranormal or mythological?), but more than that, this is a great storytelling. All of the characters from the first book are back, and they are just as fleshed out here as they were there. You like them even more in this one. Hell, you even learn to like the imps, if such a thing is possible. What is also very interesting is that this book essentially begins about  through "Stone Lover". So you get nuances to the first book that you never saw before.Just as a note for the faint of heart: There are several love scenes between a human and a living stone gargoyle...which is not as weird as it sounds (probably because said gargoyle is human for the other half of the day. Whatever!)Someone said you don't need to read "Stone Lover" to enjoy this book. But you do. Not because this book wouldn't work as a stand-alone. It can. But because the series is that good. And I can't wait for Armand's story.