Teen Harlequin - In The Arms of Stone Angels

I found 'In the Arms of Stone Angels' by Jordan Dane to be much better than 'The Girl In The Steel Corset' - to start with, it had some actual romance elements!

Stone Angels is described as a suspense novel, and I totally agree. It was a good solid read, without any language trips to throw me out of the book. I found it really very hard to read in parts as the ferocious maliciousness of teenagers was really hard to get through, but it did add some extra dimension and angles to the plot. I didn't guess who did it, which was also very nice, and the threads were all pulled together pretty tightly at the end in a way that satisfied me.

Nicely written, tightly constructed, it was a light read but really enjoyable suspense aimed at the young adult range. It included all the things I imagine are issues in YA lives - troubles with authority, self esteem/awareness, trust issues, and peer pressure to the max.

I also enjoyed the fact that the male of the romance didn't really exist as a person/character except in memories. In a way, the romance is a complete construction within the heroine's mind. He didn't need to have a completely active role, as the ploy was around him, but didn't need a male's agency to progress.

Our heroine's relationships are all quite troubled but believable. I really enjoyed this read, and will keep my eyes open for some other of Dane's books.

Sarah P