The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy

P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy #1-3

by D.T. Dyllin

The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy Omnibus contains:

~Hidden Gates (Book 1)~
For P.J. Stone, being a “Seer” who has never seen anything is less than fun. And P.J. isn’t known for her patience.

To make matters worse, she must choose a suitable mate to continue the Seer bloodline. Duty always comes before her heart…at least that’s what her parents taught her. When she finds herself wanting someone who is considered off-limits, P.J. is forced to question everything she believes.

As if navigating her love life isn’t complicated enough, P.J. finally receives a vision—of a threat to her world that only she can perceive. But no one will believe a fledgling Seer’s warnings. With nowhere else to turn, she may decide to trust a stranger with her life, her world, and maybe even her heart.

~Broken Gates (Book 2)~
P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late.

In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save.

After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she'd have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?

~Open Gates (Book 3)~
Bryn is gone. Jenna isn’t herself. And the world has been taken over by the alien Riders. The only constant in P.J.’s life is Khol. But even he might not be able to help her pick up the shattered pieces of her existence.

P.J. finally gets the answers to all her questions, but will she be able to handle the truth? And will she be strong enough to face her own destiny when the time comes?

***This book is recommended for ages 17& up, due to sexual content and some strong language.

Genres: New Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Romance

734 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 2013

Reviews

[Ren]

Hidden Gates
WOW!!! Just wow! I am at a loss for words. I really, truly think the author needs to leave this book as is. Stupid me initially thought it was a YA and I kept thinking "there's no fucking way." I then realized it was New Adult and I was in love. I absolutely love the book. The characters were great and grew with the story. After reading a bit I kept thinking "Why is P.J. such a lip slut?" and "Does this girl have a golden vagina with all these dudes chasing after her?" Now I know why LOL. I had no idea the story was going to take such a huge turn like that. I am in love!! I'm also feeling like there is a hole in my heart. I'm not sad with the story. I'm sad because I want to read the next one immediately. I've been in such a reading rut and I freakin devoured this book. O.M.G.
Broken Gates
I was going to let my potty mouth fly for this review, but I thought better of it. There are still some curses in there, but nothing compared to how I felt last night when I finished reading Broken Gates.
I’m at a loss for words on how to describe the love/hate relationship I now have with the author. I was a beta reader for her 1st book, Hidden Gates, and it was AMAZING!! She is such an awesome story teller and her stories suck you right in and leave you begging for me.
I am normally not opposed to books ending with a cliffhanger, but that was downright maniacal. I sat there, gaped mouthed, for about 15 minutes while I tried to put my head on straight. I fucking cried. SERIOUSLY! How can you do this to me?! You just ripped my fucking heart out and stomped on it. I can so image D.T. Dyllin doing exactly that, but crushing it with her stiletto heels. I don’t even know if you wear stilettos lol.

I have decided that PJ’s new motto is “Once a dragon hussy, always a dragon hussy.” I stole that from Dara and it seemed very fitting. You are no longer a lip slut…you’ve been upgraded. Or would that be downgraded? I don’t know…take your pick. And seriously, Bryn, WHAT THE F***?! You really pissed me off and you’re on the low end of my really shitty totem pole. He really pissed me off so bad that I wish I could choke the life out of him, bring him back to life and choke him again. I’m not your Anam Cara anymore!! Now Khol on the other hand…that dragon is sex on a stick and I’d take a lick any day. Even with the ending being the way it was, Khol stayed true to his self. I’ve made up my mind that Kohl is now my Anam Cara. Who cares what he did in book one? I don’t, do you? And Shona doesn’t count lol.
I don’t think she can write a bad novel. I’ve read 3 of hers so far and she has been bumped up to my top 2 favorite authors. I have a huge girl crush on her! I am impatiently waiting for the day she finishes edits on book 3 and it’s read for beta. I will cry tears of joy and drop everything to read it.
Open Gates
*********Spoilers*****
While I’m writing this, I have tears pouring down my face. I’ve always has a huge fear of series endings. What if it doesn’t live up to the others? What if I don’t like the ending? So much runs through my mind before starting that last book. I can honestly say that this series takes the cake for my top series ever read. Open Gates just tore my heart wide open.

My heart was still broken when I started this book. I couldn’t believe Bryn was gone! It was like book one was Team Bryn, book 2 Bryn and Khol, and book three was pretty much Team Khol. I kept thinking..maybe hoping..that by some fucked up form of Dragon magic that Bryn would come back. I waited and waited to no avail.

But then you get to see the softer side of Khol. I couldn’t help but fall for him in book two and book 3 sealed my fate. I’m completely in love with a fictional character. Bryn who?? SIKE. I still love him but Khol so much more. Why the fuck am I still crying?! I thought for sure that shit was over and PJ would be stuck alone. That ending was DYNAMITE!! Fireworks, crack cocaine or whatever gets your rocks off but this book rocked my socks off. I can’t even breathe! I’m so happy and so sad. I can’t make up my mind. I want to kiss the author and strangle her simultaneously. I love her!! I want to have her babies. No homo.

D.T. Dyllin sure knows how to spin a story. I’m so glad that PJ FINALLY stopped being such a pain in the butt. I still love her though. She reminds me a lot of me :) I still can’t find the words to tell you all how absolutely amazing this series is. I’m not a huge fan of love triangles. I find there is always something clearly better than the other suitor. These lines were blurred to shit and it had me reeling. Goddamn, I’m going to miss all of these characters. I’ve grown to love every single one of them. I’m going to go back to bawling my eyes out now. I’ll definitely be coming back to update this when I can breathe and see clearly.

[Alina]

insecure drivel and make-out/sex scenes

[Kristin]

Since the entire trilogy is compiled into one book I will break down my review per story.

Hidden Gates (5 Stars)
I just want to start out by saying that this is a new adult/ paranormal romance, not YA. There is quite a bit of sex in this book, swearing and there is even under aged drinking. So just be prepared that even though this is a story containing an 18 year old, it isn't YA fluff.

I loved the way the book begins with P.J. and her best friend Bryn at school ribbing on each other. They appear to be normal teens but in all actuality, P.J. is a Seer who has premonitions, and Bryn is a Guardian who protects Seers. They have grown up doing everything together and one day Bryn will be P.J's Guardian. Only, one night at a party P.J. realizes her feelings for Bryn are more than just that of a friend and finds out that Bryn has been in love with her for a long time. They decide to hide their relationship since it is forbidden for guardians and seer's to become involved but all good things must come to an end and they are caught red handed getting hot and heavy in the woods by none other than her father.

You would think that the story would just be about forbidden love and the majority of it is. Except Bryn gets shipped away and P.J. starts having some crazy premonitions that no one seems to believe are real. Not to mention that a guy named Khol comes into the picture and drops a pretty big drama bomb on P.J. (Sorry, no spoilers) So not only does P.J. have to come to terms with her new found identity and not having Bryn but she also has to figure out how to stop these alien things from over taking the world.

A lot goes on in this book and with being the first in a trilogy, stuff goes unanswered. So it pretty much sets you up for the next two books and I personally cannot wait to read more. D.T. has a great way of creating a story that keeps the readers interested without losing focus. I personally loved the romance aspect since I am a big romance junkie myself. But I loved the craziness when it comes to not only the aliens but what P.J actually is, and I don't mean just a Seer. I cannot wait for book number 2 to come out.

--------------------------------

Broken Gates (4 stars)
Wow! Is all I can say about the ending of this book. I love when an author who can throw a perfect curve ball that puts the book in a whole new ball game, and D.T. has done just that right at the end.

I really enjoyed this story. I couldn't seem to put the book down and would think to myself "just one more chapter", which would turn out to be five chapters. I love the way that D.T. writes. She doesn't have a lot a inner dialogue running. In fact there's always something going on in the story that demands the readers attention. One minute something's taking place and then #BAM# something else is going wrong. My only problem is P.J. she seems so wishy washy with her hormones and I feel a little bad for both Khol and Bryn. I really wish she'd be able to fully commit to just one guy. She definitely has more personal growth ahead of her.

Even though I'm really sad with the way this story ends, I'm looking forward to the next (and last) book in the trilogy.

----------------------------------

Open Gates (4 Stars)
I'm glad to see that P.J has matured some. In the first book she was really started to get on my nerves. She was all over the place and I felt like someone needed to shake some sense into her. By the end of the trilogy, she seemed to have gained some self dependency. She makes a huge decision that is really a self sacrifice on her part, and that decision is what made her mature in my eyes.

I liked that there were new characters introduced in this story. Even though the story was wrapping up, D.T. still managed to keep everything fresh and leave the reader guessing as to what was going to happen next. I can honestly say that the way she tied everything together and ended the story was never even a possibility in my mind.

The romance in this story was sweet. P.J is still torn between Khol and Bryn but Khol really steps up and shows his softer side to P.J. Even though I'm still a Bryn girl, I will admit, that I started to soften towards Khol. You can tell that he really does care for P.J. and just wants to see her happy.

However, I took a star away simply because at times I totally forgot about the aliens taking over the world. The story would focus so much on P.J. and Khol and how they were in their own little bubble that the aliens took the backseat. And with the story coming to a close, I really felt like the huge crisis that started it all seemed to fizzle out.

I'm really sad to see the series end and even though there isn't really closure at the end of the story for all of the characters, I still loved the ending. I look forward to what D.T. cranks out next.

[Shona Booky Ramblings of a Neurotic Mom]

I have broken my review into three separate parts for each of the books.

Hidden Gates 5 of 5 stars:
One of the benefits and downfalls of rereading a series is knowing how it ends and this wasn't something I took into consideration when I started reading this series. Once again I fell into this story with ease, but all to quickly we reach that point in the book where PJ realises her feelings for Bryn are more than platonic friends and it was at this point that I lost control of my emotions and I broke down. I was swept up in the here and now but there was that part of my heart that knew what was coming and it reacted prematurely.

Maybe it was because I came to love Khol later in the series but this time round that man rubbed me up the right way. When I first read this I found him to be overly domineering and aggressive in his pursuit of PJ but the second time round he was softer and definitely more alluring. I wasn't prepared to banish Bryn but I definitely would have offered Khol some 'comfort' of my own.

All in, this was just as enjoyable as the first time round. One thing that did surprise me was finding out that this was the first novel Dyllin had written. When I first read this I clearly remember falling into this book with ease, the first few pages had me completely hooked and that is not something I would have expected from an authors first book.
I originally read this in November 2012. I'm in the process of rereading the entire series. This book was a hit the first time I read it and I loved it even more the second time around.

Broken Gates 5 of 5 stars:
It really is true that when you read something for the second or third time you pick up on little things that you never noticed before. And in this case it was how much Bryn pissed me off. Ask anyone of the other Dragon Hussies and they will tell you I am Team Bryn. Bryn is/would be my Anam Cara, yeah sure I came to love Khol, but there is that part of me that will always choose Bryn first. Until now. At several points in the book I wanted to slap him upside the face so much so that I actually took delight in the fact that PJ did slap him upside the face. And then I started to feel sorry for my poor baby dragon. Again. I mean it cant be easy being the baby dragon around these other more powerful dragons, ones who have always known what/who they are and have had many years to work with their powers. He has known just a few short months what he is and he's supposed to compete? Yeah it's definitely not easy being the baby of the bunch. And so I softened to him again. At which point I realised I'm just as bad as PJ. I love them both. I truly am a Dragon Hussy. And I'm greedy because unlike PJ I refuse to choose.

Word of warning. This book has an awful ending. I mean soul destroying awful not badly written awful. An ending that has me loving and hating Dyllin in equal measure. An ending that saw me dub Dyllin as an evil genius, a title she has lived up to in other series ;-) . An ending that has had me in tears once again, even though I knew it was coming.
Originally read in February of 2013 as a Beta read for the author. This review was based on a re-read.

Open Gates 5 of 5 stars:
Despite the fact this isn't my first time reading this book I am seriously struggling with how to articulate my feelings for what I have just read. Reading the book for the second time has not lessened the blows that I knew where coming. Every thing that smacked me in the gut and had me bawling like a baby the first time round hit me exactly the same this time round.

The beginning of the book I kind of read in a trance like state, I was on auto pilot in much the same way PJ was, my poor Bryn was gone, I was heartbroken. When I first read the book I spent this early section hoping and praying (to DT) that Bryn would come back in a mystical dragony type manoeuvre. It took several chapters before i finally accepted that wasn't going to happen, and this time round my heart felt heavy with the knowledge that he was truly gone. Bear in mind I started reading this right after finishing broken gates, there was no months of recovering like last time, my lovely husband fetched me some chocolate from the shops to try and cheer me up because I was so upset.

PJ grows up so much in this book. I mean she just lost the love of her life, her Anam Cara. She's pregnant and unsure who the father is. And she's trying to save the world from the Riders. I guess she really doesn't have a choice to do anything but grow up, and it does take her a while but she gets there. She becomes this super strong dragon queen who in the end makes such a big personal sacrifice that I again was an emotional wreck that my husband had to pick up off the floor. The PJ from the first book would most likely have crumpled up into a ball and rocked herself into oblivion.

[Tnt Reviews]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not going to go into a whole lot of description of this book. You can read the blurb for yourself to see what it’s about. I’m just going to sing the praises of this book loud and proud. I absolutely loved it. I’ll start with the basics. It was very well-written and fast-paced. It drew me in and kept my attention throughout. I will admit that I read the whole 700+ pages in roughly one sitting. I was lucky enough to be able to devote the time to it, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have been able to put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen. I have a feeling if I had put it down, I would have obsessed about it.

Let’s talk a little about Hidden Gates (Book 1). I think this book was the best out of the three books. I loved P.J. She’s so quirky and funny. I could relate to her in so many ways. I was heartbroken at the trials P.J. was put through in this book. To finally admit that you’re in love with your best friend just to have him ripped from you because he’s not the right “race” (for lack of a better word), it just broke my heart. Then to have two other men vying for your attention, it made me just want to slap those men upside the head. Give the girl a little space, sheesh. I hated the way P.J. was manipulated, but I did love how she handled that manipulation. I loved the ending. Definitely a HEA and not a horrible cliffhanger.

Now let’s move on to Broken Gates (Book 2). This was definitely my second favorite. I loved the follow up to the HEA from book 1. That being said, this book had me crying in so many places. My HEA was no more. I hated the way everyone took P.J.’s choices away from her. I love you and we’re mated, but he’s better for you. I mean really, it was just too much. And the ending was horrible. It had me bawling and yelling out “no” at the top of my lungs. I couldn’t believe this ending. Well, now I have to read more to see how it all turns out.

Finally we’re to book 3, Open Gates. I didn’t find this book to be as good as the others. Don’t get me wrong, I still loved it. It just seemed to contain a lot of flashbacks, scenes we’d already had in the first two books. I found myself skimming most of these flashbacks. If you were reading these books with significant time between them, the flashbacks would be a great help. I did love how all my questions from the previous books were answered. I did also like the way everything turned out in the end. However, I would have liked a little more of an epilogue. I would have loved to have had a glimpse into the lives of all the characters after the final events in this book.

5-Bombs
Reviewed by Tracy

[D.T. Dyllin]

And the shamelessness of me giving everything that I've ever written five stars, continues! ;)

[Bee]

I read an ARC of the first book and I was a beta for the other two. I love this trilogy. Go read it now. This beautiful edition is an awesome addition to my shelves. Yes, it's big. And so pwettyyy!