A Bookish Escape: Blog Tour: Rebecca E. Neely’s THE KEEPER (Crossing Realms #1)

The Keeper

(Crossing Realms #1)

Nick Geary, jaded clan leader of human guardians, the Keepers, is doomed to love a human woman who’s forgotten him, time after time, for thirteen years: Libby Klink, a skittish accountant who’s as terrified of her recent and strange intuitions as she is of her mundane existence.

When Nick is ordered by the clan’s guiding force to seek Libby’s help in defending the clan against enemy Betrayers, romance sizzles as the pair forms an unlikely alliance in their desperate search to discover the key to the clan’s salvation—which Libby alone holds.

But a haunting secret could cost Nick everything, and in a race against time, both will be forced to choose between their hearts and duty. Can their love, and the clan survive, or will the very forces that drew them together ultimately destroy them?

The battle in the Steel City begins.

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My Review

The Keeper was a very unique read. The author introduces two worlds with one gal right in the middle. This story holds the classic good versus evil undertone. I wasn’t too sure about this book at first but the synopsis made me want to give it a shot. I did enjoy it…I had a somewhat difficult time connecting with the characters but I’ve had a full plate in my personal life so I can’t in good conscience dock the author for that. I’m going to have to hold to the classic it’s not you it’s me saying. I look forward to reading more from this author several of the minor characters really jumped out at me and I could see them possibly getting their own story.

The Story, Libby is a normal girl who’s life is about to get turned upside down. There is something very special and unique about her and the fate of everyone basically rests on her. One very normal and uneventful day something odd happens and she meets the man who is going to change everything. Libby is taken into a world she didn’t know existed. Keepers(Protectors) Watchers(Overseers assigning missions) and Betrayers(the bad stuff that gets stuck to the bottom of your shoe). She has to train right away and stop all heck breaking free.

The Characters, Libby is not very special yet…She is actually pretty meh. Her entire life has lead her to this point once she starts to learn about the way things really are she begins to change. At first we see a girl who is afraid of everything but when she realizes her purpose her character really takes flight. She is bestowed with certain gifts that start taking root and she is completely transformed. By the end we have a fierce protector that although still flawed has a warrior’s heart. Nick, he is a Keeper and clan leader he steals Libby’s heart though he carries a lot of guilt he has always loved her and will stop at nothing to continue protecting her. These two were destined to be together and I was so happy to see them find their way.

The End, this is the first in a series but fear not folks there is no cliffhanger and we get a nice resolution. The end sets the story up for more to come and I look forward to seeing what the author comes up with. I would like to know more of the Watchers and the other realm because It was very interesting there are three main deities? Not sure what to call them but it seems they know all the nitty gritty and I want to be in on their secrets.

My Rating

3.5 Dangerous threats, Challenge accepted, Good always triumphs over evil, Love filled stars!

Exclusive Excerpt

Her index finger found the button and lowered the window a crack.

Immediately, he raised his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m unarmed.”

Always good to hear. She cocked her head, perplexed. “Who are you?”

“Nick Geary.” Unsmiling, a muscle worked in his jaw. He held her hostage with his eyes. “We need to talk.”

Her heart tripped. No doubt about it. She’d never heard of any Nick Geary, never seen this man before in her life. Or had she? Why didn’t she know? Shouldn’t she? What could they possibly need to talk about? A new kind of panic engulfed her. She pounced on the button, closed the window, and laid on her horn.

Scowling, he mouthed some kind of oath.

The driver door swung open on the truck in front of her. A portly man with a bush of a gray beard got out, lumbered over. Squinted at her. “You okay?” he bellowed as he tugged a T-shirt sporting a Confederate flag over his girth. “This guy messin’ with you?”

Yeah, he was messing with her all right. Air. She needed air. She locked eyes with Nick. His were blue and crystalline, as placid as they’d been stormy. He reached around his neck to finger a shiny stone the green of spring grass, nestled under his collar on what appeared to be a thin leather strap.

It glowed with ember-like intensity. She watched, fascinated.

I-279 South, idling engines, the car radio somewhere behind her booming its bass—all of it receded like floodwater after a storm.

Libby stood on the porch of the cabin she and her father rented for a week every summer. He came around the corner, fairly glowing. Pink with health. Dad. He slung a fishing rod over his shoulder and winked. “Let’s go catch us a mess of crappies.” The creek, ten feet away, rushed over rocks and fallen trees, its path clear, sure. The sun warmed her face and the air soothed her. She breathed in the scent of earth, burgeoning with spring.

She blinked. Snippets of music and phone conversations littered the highway around her. Libby gaped, unable to speak, like she’d shot down a hill on a roller coaster and banked the curve of the next.

Nick said nothing, his eyes still locked on hers.

Ford Truck shot him a dirty look, then clambered over to her side of the car. “Lady, I said, you okay?” he yelled.

Shaking, she lowered her window, not sparing him a glance. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Muttering something about the country going to hell in a handbasket, Ford Truck stomped back to his pickup and climbed inside.

Still staring at Nick, she clung fast to her resolve before it escaped her. Reaching across the seat, she yanked on the handle, and pushed open the passenger door.

“Get in.”

About Rebecca E. Neely

A sucker for a happy ending, Rebecca writes the kind of stories she loves to read—those featuring authentic, edgy and vulnerable characters, smack dab in the middle of action that explodes from page one.

Raised on a down home blend of Johnny Cash, Jack London, Sherlock Holmes, the Steelers, and all things small town, Rebecca feels blessed to have grown up in a close knit, fun loving and artistic family. Her mother, a voracious reader and scratch cook, and her father, an entrepreneur, English teacher and lover of literature, taught Rebecca and her brother to work hard, aim for the stars, and live life.

With music, books and laughter as constant companions, she grew up working, cooking and eating in the family’s restaurant business. A certified book and hoagie junkie, Rebecca thrives on live music, mysteries and the outdoors.

She’s a cheddar enthusiast, lover of cats, teddy bears, hot coffee, cold beer, thunderstorms, the blast of a train’s whistle, the change of seasons, country roads, woodpeckers, spoon rings, cool office supplies, and the Food Network.

Careers, past and present, include freelance writing, accounting, mother, problem solver, doer and head bottle washer.

Rebecca is a member of the Three Rivers Romance Writers, a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), and is honored to serve as a judge for several writing contests each year.

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