Valor (A Greystone Novel)

For me, the test of a really good book is this: when I'm not reading it, do I wish I was reading it? As far as Valor goes, the answer was a definite YES. I read this book in two days, and when I wasn't reading it the characters kept popping into my mind and I couldn't wait to pick it back up. I will admit, when I saw that this book was about gargoyles, I wasn't sure what to expect. I pictured the winged lions that you see on the sides of buildings. How on earth were they going to be part of a young adult paranormal romance? Boy was I wrong. These gargoyles are a pack of extremely good looking, romantic, and tough, young men. Mix Jacob's wolf pack with Edward's vampire family, throw in a pinch of boy band, and you have an idea of the gargoyles. LOVED IT. The storyline grabbed me right from the beginning and not once did it drag or feel forced. Longford writes with a great sense of humor and a talent that can easily match that of Amanda Hocking or any other self-published sensation. I highly recommend this book and look forward to seeing more in this series.

I thought VALOR was a really cute book. It is a very clean read and suitable for any age reader. There were some parts I thought were a little childish for someone of my age. But all in all, it kept my interest and I enjoyed it.

What made me rate it 4 out of 5 stars? Well, here is the deal, some parts I rolled my eyes at just how unbelievable the scenes came off. Take for instance, the MC is a 16 year old girl and seemed a little immature throughout the story. Lots of whining about whether Valor liked her or not and then dreaming about getting his rune. Getting his rune means quite a bit to gargoyles and then spending forever with them. So to think that a 16 year old girl would know that she wants to spend the rest of her life with one guy seems a little far-fetched. Yeah when I was 16 I thought I would be with my boyfriend forever. Fast-forward nearly 20 years and I married someone totally different. Get my point?

Like I mentioned earlier, the story is cute, although not entirely believable. The characters were fun, although not entirely relatable. But I absolutely enjoyed the authors writing and look forward to reading DARE, book 2. If you are a fantasy genre fan, I recommend this story to you. Never read about gargoyles? VALOR is the perfect book to start your love for a new fantasy. Need a little romance with your books? Well, VALOR has enough to make you swoon! Go get your copy today!!

I really enjoyed this! My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough!

Longford's interpretation of gargoyles and harpies was a new and interesting one. I didn't really know what to expect when I started it, and was surprised at how much of this particular gargoyle mythology we got, especially considering how short it was. Gargoyles in packs, being able to turn human when the sun hits them, being basically indestructible when in stone form, those are fairly expected, I think. But we also got quite a bit of info on how the pack actually works, who leads, how they make decisions, etc. It was anthropologically interesting.

MacKenzie was an interesting heroine. She is very matter-of-fact (to the point where she seems emotionally detached at times) and obviously tries to be a good person. Her relationship with Valor seemed very realistic (except becoming bonded so quickly - that was a little surprising).

There were a few times where the author falls into telling instead of showing, which was a little annoying as a reader, but for the most part, it didn't really bother me. I definitely want to read the next one. And hopefully, the series will extend to each of the gargoyles in the pack.

This book was a nice surprise! YA Paranormal Romance - a teenage girl with absent parents meets a group of beautiful gargoyles who’ve just woken up after 800 years in stone form and falls in love. The gargoyles have sexy names like Valor, Dare, Havoc, Defiance, etc. They’re all beautiful and there are no gargoyle women, just men. How convenient is that? They say funny things like “Jolly awesome.” You can’t help but love them! The villains are the harpies who want to kidnap them and steal their venom. This is YA so the romance is PG. I was drawn in from the beginning and read through it in 2 days. I almost didn’t read this because the cover looks like it was taken from a 1970’s Summer’s Eve ad, but I’m really glad I did and will be starting the next book in the series ASAP. The second book is called Dare (who is Valor's brother), so I’m guessing/hoping there will be a book for each gargoyle. Let’s get some better covers though - maybe pics of hot guys with wings!

MacKenzie, a 16-year-old girl, is about to discover that Gargoyles are real and are nothing like the uglie stone creatures we thought. After a shipment from her step-father arrives at her garage, MacKezie opens the big crate with no idea that this action will change her life forever. Inside the crate is the most beutiful winged stone sculpture she's ever seen and soon afterwards the sculpture comes to life only to save hers.

Valor is a gargoyle. He has spent the last 800 years of his life waiting for a ray of light to bring him back to his flesh and bone form. When he saves MacKenzie he becomes attached to the little red-headed girl all the while his brothers showing up at her garage too. All of them together will discover how the world has changed in the last 8 centuries and all the old enemies, the reason they lost so many years, that had remained unchanged.

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book. I mean Gargoyles? Who would want to read about them? But after reading the first couple of chapters I started falling in love with each and every gargoyle. I got sucked into the story and wished I could have been the one to find the six gargoyles at my front door.

As I said before I loved the gargoyles, Valor, Dare, Havoc, Reason, Victor, Defiance. Great names! Each of them has one main characteristic and his whole attitude will resolve around it. That made them very unique in my mind and whenever they were together it felt like the were one perfect complete person. The one character that I didn't loved that much was MacKenzie. Yes we get to see the story from her POV but it felt like we got to know more about the gargoyles seeing them through her eyes than we learned about her. She felt a little simple to me. That is the only word that can describe her in my mind. She was good-natured and caring but still she missed something.

The story was mostly about Valor and MacKenzie, since this is the story of Valor, and even though I really enjoyed their alone time, I loved all the moments when other gargoyles were around. It was really fun to see how they acted with each other. I especially enjoyed reading about Havoc, who is my fav gargoyle so far, you can see by the name that his scenes were pretty fun. There was a little bit of action at the end which was good placed in my mind. Meaning that, since this is the first book in a series I prefer to learn a few things about the main cahracters, get the settings all in my mind and then have all the action. I believe that there will be more fights in the next few books.

5 out of 5 stars!! This series is one I bet you have never read about (or any type like it) before and will keep you just as captivated as I was!!! I LOVE THIS NOVEL!! The plot was awesome, intense, dynamic, funny, and very fast-paced! Also -- I could NOT get enough of the characters!!!

About the Characters:
• MacKenzie: Human, 16 yrs old. Maybe a witch...? Protective of those she loves. Pretty much lives on her own. Helps out Valor and his family with everything they need. Has a crush on Valor.

• Valor: Gargoyle, about 18 yrs old. Meets MacKenzie first and tells her about who and what he and his family are. Instantly and intensely drawn to MacKenzie. Likes to hunt.

• Havoc: Gargoyle. Valor's brother. Charming and funny. Loves to cook.

• Reason: Gargoyle. Valor's cousin. Victor's brother. Annoys MacKenzie a lot, and never sure if he likes her or not. He's a good guy though. The second oldest of Valor's pack.

• Defiance: Gargoyle. Valor's cousin. Likes MacKenzie's friend Whitney.

• Dare: Gargoyle. Valor's older brother. Had a bad experience with a harpy a long time ago that changed him and his hair. Likes MacKenzie's friend Mim.

• Victor: Gargoyle. Valor's cousin. Reason's brother. The oldest of Valor's pack and therefore he's their leader. Very charming. Known as the "golden one" amongst his pack.

I can't wait to see where this series will go next!! To find out if everything is okay with Reason, since he was, suppose to have returned already. Also, to see what happened to Valor's other cousins Chaos, Force, and Trust. If they are all written, like this novel and will keep me up to date with all of the characters ..... then I'll be very happy to read this series!!!

I HIGHLY recommend reading this novel and series to anyone who wants to read a paranormal romance that has a very unique plotline!!

Review By: From Me to You ... Book Reviews
(read more of this review and two teasers on my blog)