Reviewed by chymerra on
Meanwhile…..
Libby Klink is stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, late for work and about to have a huge panic attack. She has severe anxiety of driving because of the accident she was in when she was 12. The accident that killed her mother. Not only that, but she is smelling different scents around people and she is having dreams about people that she doesn’t know. She also is still recovering from the death of her father, 6 months before. To put it mildly, she’s a mess.
As she inches along the highway, she notices a man walking down the highway, looking into cars. Looking for someone and he is heading in her direction. When he gets to her car, not only does he know her first and last name but he seems vaguely familiar. Lowering her passenger side window, he says that he is unarmed and when she asks who he is, says his name is Nick Geary and that he needs to talk to her. Which freaks her out and she lays on the horn. Which attracts the attention of the guy in the truck in front of her.
While she is staring at Nick, she experiences something like a day-dream that involves her father and a fishing trip that they had taken when she was younger. She blinks, comes to the present, sends her would be rescuer away and lets Nick into her car.
They drive to Nick’s truck where he tells her that he needs her help but can’t tell her with what because he doesn’t know. Then he tells her to get into the car…which she refuses to do. It is only when Nick tells her that her life might be in danger and explains a few things that she gets into the truck.
Nick explains that he is a Keeper and he protects humans like Libby from these evil guys called Betrayers. Betrayers feed off of human weaknesses and Keepers Vitality (a stone that they wear around their necks). He validates everything that he saying by telling her of the memory of her father she had in her car. He promises to protect her, she believes him and gets into the truck.
As Nick and Libby are having that conversation and Nick is taking Libby to his parents house, the bad guy is introduced. His name is Haenus Vickery (say the first name out loud). He is wondering about why Nick was protecting Libby and wants to know what her deal is. As he walks, he remembers his mate, Genevieve, who I am going to assume died at some point in his past and he is thinking out the details of the next step in the war against the Keepers. He is hoping to overthrow them, somehow, so that fear and hopelessness reigned. He has some sort of stone on his neck that hold his power.
Nick explains more of what a Keeper does with Libby as they drive to his parents and he shares that his cousin and best friend, Dev, died after a Betrayer got him alone and stole his vitality…..last week. He explains that the Watchers, beings that live in another realm parallel to the humans, send things called Compulsions to the Keepers with who they are supposed to help. He explains that Keepers live in Clans and that they are all connected.
Then a weird thing happens. They are hit by a car and approached by a woman who is screaming that they cut her off and she is wielding a knife. Seeing no choice, Nick cuts across the highway median to make his getaway. As they are driving the opposite direction, Libby is full of questions about Nick and he does his best to answer them. It was during that conversation that both get a compulsion about a woman in trouble in an alley.
On their way to help her, Nick discovers that she can smell things….like the whiskey that the woman had been drinking. She confirms that and tells him that only since her father died that she has been able to smell things. She tells Nick that she wants to help him and he says no, stay in the car. But she doesn’t listen and is forced into a confrontation with Haenus. As he is draining Nick, she is able to hurt him and that makes him stop. Nick, before the confrontation with Haenus, kisses Libby and finds out something startling. She isn’t what she seems to be.
What is Libby? How did she hurt Haenus? Will she be able to help Nick’s clan when asked? Will Haenus finally be able to destroy the Keepers?
Read the book to find out!!
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This book was not what I thought it was going to be. I really thought that it was going to be a thriller/suspense book. Not a romance/thriller/suspense and it took me by surprise and I loved it!!!!
I could totally relate to Libby. As someone who has pretty severe anxiety (driving is a trigger), I liked how she was portrayed. I also liked how her taking medication for it wasn’t used as a crutch but explained that she needed it to do daily things…..like driving. She was such a strong person and I thought the author did a great job in bringing it out. Because, girlfriend did get the job done.
Nick was perfect for Libby and I seriously wish that he existed in real life. He waited 13 years and had to deal with her forgetting him every time he helped her. Which sucked because he was head over heels for her. I do think that the way that they finally met was a tad weird (hello, middle of the freeway) and maybe the love angle was rushed. But when the end of your world is about to happen, you can’t wait months.
Haenus was a bad dude. My mental image of him was like a vampire except that he could come out during the day. I did also have a smudge of sympathy for him because his wife died but that quickly got swept away with how evil he was to Libby. I wanted to punch him in the face (well Nick too during that scene).
The sex between Nick and Libby was hot and dare I say sweet? I have never said sex was sweet before but this was and I might have weeped a little during it because of the feeling between the both of them. Like I said, I wish Nick was real….lmao.
The ending was PERFECT!!! I couldn’t have ended a book any better and the author did a great job in setting up Dev’s story.
How many stars will I give The Keeper: 4
Why: I really liked this book. The whole premise, a race of beings and their helpers protecting humanity against evil, is always a great storyline. Add in a great love story and this book was made even better. There was none of the dreaded lull in the middle of the book either, which is a good thing!! Plus, it was set in Pittsburg, a city that I rarely see books set in and I enjoyed that too.
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Language, sex and mild violence
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 10 January, 2017: Finished reading
- 10 January, 2017: Reviewed