Clara wakes a cursed gargoyle. If she can’t break his midnight curse, the archive falls—and loving him may mean losing him forever.
She came to the roof to save old books from a leak. She woke the gargoyle instead.
Now he has one hour after midnight, four hundred years of rage, and Clara Vale’s wrist in his claws.
Rare-books librarian Clara Vale prefers fragile manuscripts, quiet archives, and problems that can be solved with gloves, cataloguing notes, and enough coffee. Danger is not her area of expertise. Neither are curses, blood magic, or enormous winged monsters who accuse her family of betrayal.
Then a storm breaks over Ashborne Public Library, and Clara’s blood falls on ancient rooftop stone.
At midnight, the largest gargoyle on the roof opens his eyes.
Ronan Duskfell is no ordinary statue. Cursed for four centuries, he is bound to the library by day and wakes for only one hour each night. Winged, clawed, protective, furious, and far too devastating for something made of stone, Ronan believes Clara’s bloodline trapped him on the roof and handed his enemies the key to the hidden archive beneath the city.
Clara thinks he is arrogant, dangerous, and taking the whole “gothic roof ornament” thing much too personally.
But beneath Ashborne Library lies the Stone Vault, a secret magical archive filled with forbidden relics, sleeping guardians, and a grimoire powerful enough to command every cursed monster in the city. Someone else is searching for it. Someone who knows the old wards, the old bloodlines, and exactly how to use Clara to reach what has been buried.
Because Clara may be the only person alive who can free Ronan from stone.
But freeing him could wake every monster beneath Ashborne.
Reading this book feels like slipping into a candlelit gothic library romance where hidden magic, dangerous archives, a protective cursed gargoyle, slow-burn tension, touch-starved tenderness, and a guaranteed happily ever after unfold with cozy paranormal mystery energy.
The Stone Guardian of Ashborne Library is Book 1 in The Cursed Guardians of Ashborne, a gothic paranormal monster romance series featuring cursed guardians, touch-starved monster heroes, brave bookish heroines, hidden magical archives, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers tension, ancient curses, protective gargoyles, slow-burn heat, found family, and a happily ever after for each couple. Inside you’ll find a rare-books librarian, a cursed gargoyle protector, midnight rooftop meetings, Beauty and the Beast vibes, dangerous family secrets, forbidden relics, gothic library atmosphere, and a heroine who refuses to run from the monster she accidentally awakened.
The Cursed Guardians of Ashborne — Series Overview
Book 1: The Stone Guardian of Ashborne Library — Clara and Ronan (gargoyle guardian)
Book 2: The Gargoyle’s Hidden Heart — Mara and Gareth (lion-headed guardian)
Book 3: The Museum Guardian’s Secret — Elena and Cassian (stone knight guardian)
Book 4: The Stained-Glass Guardian — Amalie and Lucien (shadow-winged guardian)
Book 5: The Last Guardian of Ashborne — Nora and Elias (clockwork-stone sentinel)
