Second in the Stone Warriors series, Kato is the next cursed warrior to come to life after thousands of years of ensorcelled captivity. He has watched the world for millennia while he remained frozen in time, but now Grace Van Allen, a scholar in ancient languages working in an antiquities museum, has freed Kato. The very evil sorcerer from the first book is still trying to work his nefarious plans which include Kato because he has a very special dark magic that the sorcerer craves.

Kato’s life was quite harsh as he had a witch mother who used and abused him before he joined his Nicodemus and the four men he considered brother warriors. Until Grace released Kato from his cursed state, no woman ever wanted him for anything other than the pleasure he could provide as he was feared as well as desired. Grace is a pretty tough cookie herself having been trained in self-protection; she is immediately drawn to this fierce but surprisingly gentle man. She has little time to bring Kato up to speed on the ways of the modern world before they encounter demons that must be destroyed. Kato has only been able to observe the changing times in a limited way. So now he must hit the ground running to prevent this new evil from taking over.

Readers who read the first in this series, DAMIAN, will enjoy seeing the continuation of this story as another of the captives is released to not only fight evil, but be reunited with his brethren. Ms. Reynold’s heroines are always lots of fun as they give the macho very bossy, Nico, and his guys a lot of sass and little cooperation. Courage does not only come in big, brawny handsome packages.

Cursed into stone millennia ago, Kato's is lifted by the individual wording to break it by Grace. She is trying to decipher what 3 scrolls say in her job with the museum. Dark magic is at work and Grace is unsuspecting. Great urban fantasy with our carryover villain Sotiris, the cursemaker. Mystery, action, romance. Magic permeates the storyline, with enough questions that you really want to know more right now! Great worldbuilding, a little character surprise, excellent protagonists. Erotica. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

Kato is book two in D.B. Reynolds’ Stone Warriors series, although it is the first in the series that I’ve read. The world building is phenomenal and the romance curled my toes. I’m hooked on this paranormal series!

The whole premise of these books is that warriors of old have been cursed. Locked in stone, they await for the one who will break them free. Kato is our hero in this tale, the son of the Dark Witch. Demons have been summoned to modern day California, and the woman responsible is also the woman Kato owes for breaking his curse. They have to beat the clock as they try to wrangle their demon foe while a simmering attraction boils just underneath.

“And you agreed to do whatever I said.”
“In your dreams, pal. I agreed to follow your lead when it came to magic, which doesn’t include staying home like a good little woman while you go hunting. So where do we start?”

I really enjoyed this book! I love the idea of these centuries’ old warriors coming back to life. Kato has confidence to spare, but I adored how he still had this sweetness and curiosity to him. There’s just something so charming about this big, gruff warrior trying to figure out the current century’s lingo. Priceless.

Grace is everything I look for in a heroine, too. Girl can kick butt, and I loved seeing her in action. She’s full of surprises! I adored her. Then there’s the plot that develops alongside the romance. Suspense, action, humor, it all makes Kato a delightful read.

On top of that, we have demons and curses, spells and sorcery. The secondary characters were such good fun too. I need to go back and read Damian’s book, and please, please, please…I need more of Nick! Talk about a puzzle…

I’d recommend this series to anyone wanting an action-packed paranormal romance.

4.5 stars!

The Stone Warriors: Kato, Book Two of the Stone Warriors Series, D.B. Reynolds

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance, Sci-fi and Fantasy

Well, Wow. I think now I understand the overall plot and world building I really need to go back to book one, as I'm sure I'd rate it higher than I did on first read.
Some series are like that, it takes another book or two before the overall theme falls in to place for me, and this clearly is one such.
I think part of it too was over-expectation, I so love ViA, and was hooked from book one and expected this to be the same. 

Its is the same great writing though, full of people who feel real, who I have strong mental images of, ladies who aren't simpering kittens waiting for a big strong man to save them ;-)
Grace is anything but one of those, though our and Kato's first impressions could be forgiven for thinking that, because that's the image she tries to project. she's more than that though and a perfect lady for Kato.

He's the second stone warrior, and I kept thinking how awful, to be trapped like that for thousands of years, seeing and hearing everything but unable to interact.
Sometimes books have things happening and I think “ how very convenient that he/she does that riiigght at this point", and you could feel that about Kato coming out of imprisonment just in time to save grace from the Demon. D.B has the answer though, she's made it so there's a very real explanation why things are happening just now, and weaves every small thing into part of the larger overall plot that threads though the series. 

Its another great read, a race against time to stop demons from being unleashed and creating mayhem. Another, well..brush with danger feels too subtle, its more than that, another solid drama where the characters face a horrible death over and over, but manage to scrape through, and without using any of that New Skills Gained Just at the Optimum Moment that I so hate. You know the sort, he or she has just learned of their place in the supernatural world, takes it in their stride, and by  the fourth page or so they're killing the bad guys the others have been fighting and losing against for centuries, using some new skill that showed up just as the Demon or whatever is about to kill them! Gah, that really annoys me.
D.B doesn't ever do that, and though here Grace saves the day a few times, it works because she's the skills needed already, the training to keep calm and deal comes from her background. She gained her gun skills as a child, and as an adult she's been involved in some dangerous and scary dramas. Add in how clever and analytical her mind is and she's perfect for Kato. 

I loved catching up with Damian and Cass, and yep, now want to re-read their story.
Two more warriors to go yet, and of course there's also Nick, Nico, Nicademus...what a guy he is. When we first met him back in the early, the first book I think of the ViA series he was almost a throwaway guy, Cyn's friend with benefits hot guy, but he grew in importance in later books, and then we learned he's a powerful sorcerer.
I love how these two series interact, how we get snippets of other characters, even if only in conversation or thoughts.
I can't help but wonder if there's someone special in Nico's life planned? The mysterious talented Lili maybe - or perhaps someone from the Via series? Loads of possibilities to pick from, and I look forward to D.B.s next book(s) of either series. 
 
Stars: Five, a cracking, riveting, engrossing read and a great addition to D.B's series. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

I really enjoyed Kato and Grace. She was a strong female lead(who didn't annoy me) and Kato was an interesting male lead. We get a few peaks at Damian and Casey and Nick too, plus a hint at our next leads and I'm very excited for it. We don't get much in the way of development outside of more knowledge on Sotiris but this was entertaining nonetheless. If your a DB fan you know how she builds her world one book at a time but they never disappoint. I would def read Damian's story before this if I were you though.
This was a complimentary advanced reader copy from the author/publisher in exchange for a honest review via Netgalley.

Another solid story by D.B. Reynolds. Truly enjoyed from start to finish. Looking forward to reading more of the Stone Warriors.

DBR doesn't let you down, you know when you spend your hard earned money you are going to get a well thought out plot, with romance, suspense, alpha heroes, kickass heroines and twists you don't see coming. Kato speaks to all this.

Thanks Netgalley for the sneak peak but I'm still buying this novel for my favorites shelf. Kato is another stone warrior and it takes a special woman to break him out of his curse and we have that woman in spades. Demons are the villain in this outing and our heroes nemesis Sotiris is there as well.

Fast moving plot, suspense and solid story makes this a summer 2017 must read. 4.5 stars and a superduper recommendation.

I liked the beginning of the book - I liked the air of mythology that seemed to surround the stone warriors, the romance of a stone warrior coming to life and saving Grace, and even Grace herself. However, as the story progressed, I found myself like Grace less and less, and it became more difficult to get through the book. I felt the author waited too long to explain why Grace was so willing to go flying into danger. For most of the book, I would label her TSTL, simply because, from my perspective, she was just plain stupid. She would constantly try to assert her dominance to Kato, as if she knew so much more than he did. It was clear from the beginning that she needed to listen to him, but she continually pushed back when he told her to follow his lead. I get feminism - I get that we want to have strong heroines. But this was just ridiculous. There *are* times when the guy should lead, and that's when he has more knowledge and experience than the heroine, which Kato definitely did. When Kato was in danger towards the end, she deliberately ignored the help of an immortal sorcerer (Nick) and dove headlong into a very dangerous situation, being rude and reckless towards Nick. Her attitude was totally uncalled for, and I didn't find her character believable. Ultimately, I feel that the author should have written Grace with more common sense, and revealed her military background sooner, so that the reader didn't want to throw the book across the room in frustration.

The Stone Warrior: Kato was a joy to read. I you have not read the first book, It gave you enough of a back story to know what was going on and NOT retell the first book. The story had a smooth flow and made a lot of sense. Just the right touch of romance. I am looking forward to the next D.B Reynolds book.

Full review to be published in the end of the month review cycle.

KATO has great and interesting wordbuilding, especially how Reynolds is portraying demons in her world. Grace is a good character, not tstl or weak. The author has usually done well by her female characters, and Grace pretty much holds her own with Kato. As with the with the character of Damian in the first book, Kato is an ancient warrior encased in stone by magic until someone breaks the curse.

Also as with the first book, Kato takes to the unknown world of the 21st century with an amazing ease. There is not an over abundance of book time spent catching him up in the current world. A little unrealistic, but necessary to keep the story moving. Kato is a little too protective, and there is the insta-lust trope that Reynolds is known for; as well as far too much talking and thinking about sex, much less how much they had sex (too much) in the midst of all the danger they were in.

Grace is a historian who is trying to interpret an ancient scroll. Not only does she free Kato while working on the scrolls, she also unwittingly releases three demons who wreak havoc. As she and Kato hunt the demons to destroy them, they are aided by Damian and Nick, the sorcerer who was their comrade in arms from ancient times. Nick was never encased in stone by a curse as was his comrades, and he has been working for several thousand years to free them and defeat the evil sorcerer whose curse put them there.

KATO is a very good read if a little on the slow side in the beginning. It took too long for the story to really get going, leaving the reader a bit impatient. When the plotline kicked into gear, however, it was nonstop action. KATO is the second book of D. B. Reynolds new “The Stone Warriors” series. It's set in the same world as VIA, but has its own unique storyline.

Kati is book 2 in the Stone Warriors series and Wow what a great addition it is. Ms. Reynolds never fails to be able to draw me in, living the story with the characters never know what will come next. Powerful stone warriors from the past, an evil like no other and a passion that won’t be denied this one has it all.