Review & #Giveaway: Stone of Doubt (Stones of Iona #5) by Margaret Izard
- Debbie
- Apr 30
- 4 min read
Updated: May 1
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A human with Fae powers living like an oddball has its ups and downs until Evie MacDougall’s dream Fae boy pops back into her life after she thought another was “the one.” One dark and devilish, the other her long-lost love. Evil forces trap her for a magic Fae stone, but which man can she trust?
As a teen prophesied to be Fae king, Aodhán viewed the girl of his dreams through an Eye of Ra. Once, he risked all to help Evie MacDougall find a magic Fae stone, only to end up imprisoned. Kept from his true love for years, he finds her at risk from an evil Fae hunting a magic stone.
Is a single vow strong enough to save true love, to save the human and Fae realms?
She breathed as Aodhán wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his muscular chest. “Welcome to Broemere Castle, my home.”
She turned as he held her in his arms. “Yer home? Ye mean the Fae realm?”
Aodhán brushed his fingers over her cheek. “Aye.” He gazed at her momentarily with a grin spread over his face. “Come, I wish to show ye around the castle before we meet the others.”
He pulled her hand, and she tugged back, stopping him. “The ball, it still calls ye?”
He nodded as he turned, and she tugged again. “Ye mentioned punishment. What for?”
He took her hand and kissed the back. “For showing ye spells I wasn’t allowed to.”
Evie stood staring at him as the edges of his eyes crinkled. She looked down, her mind rolling over memories as the past connected with the present, then his statement.
She gasped. “The Fae, they punished ye for helping me.” Her eyes connected with his. “Yer punishment was because of me. Ye didn’t leave me. They kept ye away.”
Aodhán stepped to her, his hand on her cheek. “Aye, that’s true.” He bent and brushed a kiss. Tingles like before shot to her toes, electrifying her body.
Aodhán’s whisper brushed her ear. “And I’d do it all over again.”
3 out of 5 (good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is book 5 in the Stones of Iona series, and I think I maybe should have read them first. I'll try to explain.
Evie has met Aodhan before, but we don't get a full recap here. I felt it was kind of glossed over: they met in Egypt, Aodhan gave Evie a stone, says to call when she needs him, and then promptly disappears. I would have liked a much more detailed recap, especially as this book is a sort of starting point to join the series, if you haven't before.
And I think that's my biggest thing. I asked if I needed to read the other books first, and was told that it wasn't strictly necessary. But I would say, you DO need to read them. There is a huge backup cast and I wasn't fully able to place everyone, and fill in a mental timeline for everything.
The world-building was good, but I still missed something. I wasn't able to fit the bits and pieces together to get a full picture.
All that aside, I did like this book. It's fast paced and I liked that we heard from Evie, Aodhan and Munix, the bad guy (sorta!)
It's dark and deadly in places, the romance is a bit of the sweet side, and not very explicit.
This is the first I've read of this author, I'd like to read something else, not this series, but a series from the beginning, so I can fully appreciate the world-building and the writer's skill.
3 good stars, but only because I felt I missed a lot by not reading the others.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
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Margaret Izard is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. Her latest awards are 2024 Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention for Stone of Love and 2024 Spring BookFest Silver Award for the same title. She spent her early years through college to adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her desire for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets.
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