Review of ‘Keeper’ by Sydney Quinne

This was an interesting lesbian action book. To be honest I almost don’t know what to make of the book since I have very mixed feelings. This book had a lot of ups and downs for me but overall I was entertained and it kept me reading. This looks to be a debut and this author caught my attention enough that I would read her again.

I think the best way to describe this book is action, murder-mystery, with a paranormal twist and a light romance. That’s a mouthful I know but this book did cover it all. When I say paranormal I don’t mean ghosts or vampires or anything like that. In this book certain people can dream the future but they don’t have any other powers except for good instincts. What is funny though is that dreamers actually reminded me a lot of vampires and weres because they drank pureed bloody raw meat to help their bodies after dreaming and sex made their dreams better. Intense craving for sex and raw meat sure sounds like a werewolf to me. Anyway, there are some odd parts to this premise but everyone is human.

While you have these dreamers, you also have people who are supposed to protect them. People work together in pairs and because sex is important, most pairs are actually coupled up. But in this story, one half of the pair does not want to be there. So while you have one woman wanting sex and love, you have the other constantly saying no and denying any attraction (while there is). This was rough on the romance for me and I could not enjoy the intimate scenes because of it. I don’t care even if there is mutual attraction, if one person doesn’t want sex for whatever reason than that should be it. She should not be made to have sex because she feels bad, is pressured, or has to do her duty /job. Plus, when you look at it from the other side of the woman who wanted sex and love, she kept getting rejected and rejected. I could not understand why she kept trying. Why keep putting yourself though that hurt of someone not wanting to be with you? Either way I looked at it, the romance just didn’t work for me.

I did at times feel that the book was a little long, but I liked how the mystery unfolded. There are some clues so if you are paying attention you will be able to figure out who the killer is. I like solving mysteries before the killer is revealed but I do wish it took me a little longer before I knew the answer.

There were some choices in the story that I didn’t quite understand. A character that was a secondary character all of a sudden becomes a main character. I’m guessing maybe it was done because if there is a book 2, she might be one of the stars? I’m not really sure, that’s a guess, but it was a little jarring jumping into her character all of a sudden. There were a few issues like this that I would call newbie bumps that I’m hopeful will be smoothed out by the next book that Quinne writes.

I definitely had my issues with this one but I did read it in one sitting. The premise while pretty weird, was interesting and kept my attention. I see a lot of potential in Quinne since this was entertaining, I just think she needs to brush off those newbie bumps and will be good to go. I will not hesitate to read her next book. 3.25 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.