Hard to Handle is book five in the Gargoyles series by Christine Warren. In this installment the battle continues against the evil that is threatening mankind and all we hold dear. But the newest addition to the band of Guardians is not another sexy male guardian but a female.

Michael Drummond or Drum, owns a bar called Skin and Bones in Dublin, Ireland and lives a happy if not uneventful life. If you can call uneventful when you are the brother of four sisters. The Drummond family, though, do have gifts that set them apart from others. Drum can find things, something he considers a silly parlor trick. But his sister, Maeve, has the gift of sight. The Drummond family is tight knit, the bond of love that ties them together goes deep. That is how this all began, Drum not wanting his sister to be out alone that night, the night his life changed. The night he met Ash.

In the previous books we have met four guardians, gargoyles that were awoken from their stony slumber by their female wardens who would eventually become their mates. All four of these guardians were hot, sexy and alpha males. Historically, guardians were always male, until Ash woke up. She is just as shocked. She knows she is the first of her kind. She has no idea why she was awoken or who woke her. Michael and his sister, Maeve, are the only ones present and neither of them are wardens. But she has no choice but to accept their help until she can figure things out.

“She was a warrior who couldn’t find the battlefield, and off it, her purpose became unclear. The only foe she could see at the moment was uncertainty, and against that, her axe was useless.”

It doesn’t take long for the evil to seek out Ash and it becomes clear in the heat of battle that Drum possesses gifts he wasn’t even aware he had. It also becomes clear that Drum is her warden. In the beginning their relationship consisted of bickering and anger. Drum did not want this. But the more time they spent together, the attraction became stronger until they could no longer fight it.

“His last thought was that the woman above him had just changed his life forever. After this, he would never have to watch her walk away, because wherever she wanted to go, he would go right behind her.”

As Ash and Drum gather forces for the epic battle, their bond continues to grow. Ash, though, believes that the fate of her four brothers finding their mates would not apply to her. She believes that after the evil has been vanquished, she will be sent back to live as stone until she is needed once again. But she can’t imagine the pain of leaving Drum. She is determined to absorb every bit of joy from their bond as she can in the time she has with him.

“Somehow, in the last few days full of chaos and fear and danger, this unhuman woman had become Michael Drummond’s true north. Whenever he looked around, his compass pointed straight at her.”

I have to say that with this one, I missed some of the humor I enjoyed in the first books. But as always, the last twenty percent of this one was intense as the showdown was upon them. During this time the bond between Ash and Drum had grown so strong that I finally really felt their connection. There are a lot of details regarding the dark forces at work. Perhaps it’s the length of time between books but I did have a bit of trouble keeping the details straight. There are supposed to be seven guardians and since five have awoken so far in this series, I assume there will be two more books. I look forward to the guardians finally winning over evil and getting their chance at living happily ever after with their mates in peace.

A different Gargoyle story.
It was okay.
Had some drama ,action,little mystery and romance.
Couldn't really get into the story.

I truly have enjoyed all in this series. These books are creative and and wonderful examples of what paranormal romance should be. I would definitely recommend this entire series.

Christine Warren continues in her Gargoyle series with Hard to Handle. With a female gargoyle a plot set in Ireland and all the usual wonderfulness of a Christine Warren book, this one is a winner. I would recommend reading the others in the series first. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy Ilona Andrews books.

Post goes live 22 Feb

I've been reading the books from the Gargoyles and I've loved every single one of it but I have to say that I started the book with mixed feelings. I mean, it's the first female Guardian. However, the evolution of the story develops perfectly smooth. I can understand Drum's initial reluctance to get involved in all of it. I got a bit surprised the moment he decided to help, although it was meant to be. The "final battle" looks more and more imminent, though.
It's also a nice touch the fact that there's a change in the scenery, so now the Guardians/ Wardens are international!

I was excited to see that another Christine Warren novel was out! But after starting this novel I realized that the reason it feels like it's been so long since I've read one of her novels is because I've missed the last two books in this series! It was a bit of a shock, but that didn't take away from the suspense or fun in this book.

I really liked the turn around that the Guardian is a never before seen female Guardian. And that she was inexplicably called forth as a female because her Warden and mate were one and the same. Even if he didn't know he was a Warden in the first place. I really liked Michael (Drum)'s character. It was great to see this from the male perspective. Not only that but even though he's a male of power and his family has abilities he's almost a skeptic on top of that. It was fun. Until he starts shooting electricity he is of the 'leave me out of it' mentality.

I wasn't as big of a fan of Ash, but I think it was because I'm used to the Guardian being male and I liked Michael so much that it made it harder to get behind Ash. She also had some weird mental quirks based on how she interpreted the knowledge/memories that she had that threw me off.

All in all, a decent book that makes me want to go back and read the ones I've missed. Kylie and Dag's book sounds like it was super good!

http://fkrants.blogspot.com/2017/01/some-other-books.html

Hard to Handle twists the series formula by doing a gender swap in the leading roles. No rock hard gargoyle hero this time around, instead the first ever female Guardian and a hunky Irish pub owner who doesn't acknowledged his own magic take center stage in the fight to save the world.

I liked this for the most part, even though I am a nut for gargoyle guys, the warrior woman leading lady was awesome when in fighting mode. I liked less her angst-y moments of lamenting that she won't get the 'mate' promised to all of her brethren - it didn't seem as needy/vulnerable when the guys went through it. And I missed seeing the awakening to emotion that the guys went through too, since this was her first rodeo she doesn't hae those eons of detachment to overcome. I did like the reluctant hero and liked even more his family - his mom was awesome.

I was also mixed on the cameos of past leads (I still find the Yiddish spouting techie Warden annoying) but overall I still am looking forward to the next but don't see how this series can get stretched out for too many more books unless the romances start taking more of a back seat to the back ground arc.

ARC via NetGalley