The In Stone Trilogy Series

A dead-end job. An unrequited crush. A break-in and near assault. Life was not going too well for Joyce Manning. Given her circumstances, it wasn't surprising she was willing to accept the strange condition in the will of  a heretofore-unknown relative. Joyce would inherit a house, along with an income, provided that she lives in the property for two years. Joyce doesn't hesitate to leave Chicago for upstate New York. It's not until she's almost there that she begins to worry that the house might be a rickety shack with no lights or running water, and filled with feral cats. It's not. In some ways, it's worse. The house is like something out of a nightmare, crawling with gargoyles and grotesques. The nearest neighbor to the isolated house, depending on who you listen to, is a spa -- or a mental asylum. But it's not all bad. The interior of the house, thankfully, doesn't match the outside. Not one but two local men actively pursue Joyce, which is more attention than she garnered in Chicago. And not having to work for a living is a dream come true. Things would be great, if it weren't for the odd occurrences in the house, and the changes on its outside that make Joyce wonder if her imagination is too vivid or if she's losing her mind. Will Joyce realize that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is? Because the house has a horrifying secret, and there was a special -- and sinister -- reason Joyce was lured there. Books in The In Stone Trilogy: Secrets in Stone, Book 1 Sorrows in Stone, Book 2 Sustained in Stone, Book 3

In the Middle Ages, a young girl is denied her talent. As the Civil War approaches, a young man hopes to gain glory in it, while a monk wants to remove himself from the war-bound secular world. Martine d'Avignon has the ability to become a master sculptor, but that won't be allowed as she isn't the right sex. A woman's choices were limited in medieval times, and she is expected to apprentice to a glove maker instead. Young Joshua Manning wants nothing more than to gain glory in the Civil War and return home not just a man but a hero. His father has other ideas for his only child, and his father's will is not to be denied. Brother Anthony expects to spend the Civil War years in the tranquility of his monastery. But fate has something else in store for the monk who is not what he seems to be. More than six centuries separate Martine, Joshua, and Brother Anthony, but when Martine encounters the enignmatic gargoyle Kaleel, their destinies become entwined despite the centuries between them. Set in France in the Middle Ages, and in New York and Europe during the Civil War years, Sorrows in Stone is the prequel to Secrets in Stone. The IN STONE Trilogy: Secrets in Stone, Book 1 Sorrows in Stone, Book 2 Sustained in Stone, Book 3

Decades after Joyce Manning Stern had all the gargoyles removed from the estate she had inherited, she learns the truth: while the gargoyles had been removed from her home, a few remained in the caves on the property. This was not good news. When she'd first arrived to take possession of the house, there had been people in the nearby town who had a cult-like devotion to the statuary, believing the gargoles were alive within their stone. And certain people were willing to go to any lengths to bring them back to life. Joyce had felt safe knowing the gargoyles were gone, the entrance to the caves sealed, and the cult disbanded. Her home went from a nightmare to the pleasant country manor where she lived what she'd believed was a nearly perfect life with her doctor husband and twin son and daughter. Learning she had been lied to and that gargoyles remained in the caves led to unwanted memories of the seminal event she'd lived through in those caves. Further complicating matters was the evidence Joyce found that her husband had not been the ideal man she'd thought he was. The facade of her perfect life begins to crumble as Joyce realizes she had been sleepwalking through her days rather than living them since that event in the caves. Determined to face the fears that haunt her and reclaim her life, Joyce discovers the cult was not as off base as she had believed. Instead of restoring her life and peace of mind, her actions could destroy not only her own life but the lives of everyone -- and everything around her. Sustained in Stone is Book 3 in The In Stone Trilogy, and picks up the story twenty-plus years after Secrets in Stone ended. The complete trilogy consists of: Secrets in Stone, Book 1 Sorrows in Stone (A Prequel to Secrets in Stone), Book 2 Sustained in Stone, Book 3