The Keepers: Christmas in Salem: Do You Fear What I Fear? / The Fright Before Christmas / Unholy Night / Stalking in a Winter Wonderland

The Keepers Trilogy #4

by Heather Graham

This holiday season, armed with love and passion, can the Keepers stop the reign of Darkness?

Christmas is coming to Salem, but so is an evil force that threatens all mankind. In this memorable collection led by New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham, four powerful Keepers must save their community as a strange, eternal night creeps over the town. Forced to choose between their time-honored responsibilities or the lovers their hearts desire, these four extraordinary women must risk their own happiness to save the holiday. But Christmas is a time for miracles, and as each Keeper's greatest longing is met, the Season of Light returns. Don't miss this magical holiday collection from Heather Graham, Deborah LeBlanc, Kathleen Pickering and Beth Ciotta.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Christmas, Werewolves, Vampires, Shapeshifters

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2013

About the author

Also published as Heather Graham Pozzessere and Shannon Drake.

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.

Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.

Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Reviews

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Book source ~ NetGalley

It’s Christmas Eve in Salem, Massachusetts and the sun has all but disappeared. No one can figure out what is happening, but the Keepers know it’s not a scientific phenomenon. They believe it has to do with their world, the Otherworld. They need to figure it out fast and fix it before history repeats itself and they have another Salem Witch Hunt on their hands.

This anthology features four stories by four different authors. While the stories are stand alone they do intertwine with the other stories as each Keeper tries to determine what is causing the Darkness and how to fix it.

Do You Fear What I Fear? By Heather Graham
Not only is Samantha Mycroft the Keeper of Keepers, she’s also the Vampire Keeper. Daniel Riverton is the vampire she wasn’t supposed to love. He’s back in town to help solve the Darkness problem and maybe win Sam back.

The Fright Before Christmas by Deborah LeBlanc
Rebekah Savay is the Keeper of the Five Elementals. Vaughn Griffith competed with Rebekah for the position of KOFE and now he’s back in town after leaving her 3 years ago. He wants to help with the Darkness, but what he wants more is to win Rebekah back.

Unholy Night by Kathleen Pickering
Katie Sue Montgomery is the Keeper of the Selkies and the love of her life is Jett, a selkie who can only return to land every seven years. Will these two be able to continue to make a very long distance relationship work?

Stalking in a Winter Wonderland by Beth Ciotta
Juniper Twist is the newly appointed Keeper of the Witches. Basel Collins is the grandson of the high priestess of the local coven. Eight years ago they were in love, but something happened and June ran away. She traveled the world studying her craft, but was unexpectedly called home to take over Keeper duties when her uncle passed well before his time. Can they solve the problem of the Darkness and fix the past?

[RaChelle Holmberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four fun authors working together on four linked stories,super enjoyable

[Mummy Cat Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I requested this book from Netgalley several years ago. I think I saw Christmas and thought it was a historical romance book or something. Yeah, this book is not that.

This book is three novellas into one. They are all paranormal romances but there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING Christmas about then other than the time of year.

Do you fear what I fear?
Daniel is a vampire who lives in Salem, Massachusetts, and he falls in love with some girl named Samantha.

The Fright before Christmas.

Rebekah and Vaughn

Unholy night.

Katie Sue and Jett

Overall, I didn't care for this book at all. It wasn't about Christmas. It was about paranormal misfits during Christmas time. Strange combination. Wiccan and paranormal came off as evil wrapped up for Christmas. No love, no joy of season, no happy feelings. Really was not what I had imagined. Skimmed. Not recommended.

Content: dirty

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

[Stormi (StormReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Keeper: Christmas in Salem is an anthology with stories from four authors. I don’t normally do anthologies because I just don’t get into them but since this one was a paranormal Christmas read I decided to give it a try.

Do You Fear What I Fear by Heather Graham

This story opens with this darkness moving in on Salem. It started gradually but now it is Christmas Eve and there is verily any daylight left. Nobody has a clue where the darkness is coming from and it’s up to the Keepers to find out what it is. Samantha is Keeper of the Vampires and she doesn’t think it is something that the vamps could do but she still has to make sure. She is also in charge of her families traditional Christmas Eve party. Daniel is a vampire that Samantha was in love with and then he left. It was seen as taboo for the keeper and a vampire to be together and she told him to go, but she hoped he would stay. Now he is back because he was sent by the council and Sam sees it as the council not thinking she can do things on her own. Can Daniel convince Sam that he came back for her?

The Fright Before Christmas by Deborah LeBlanc

Rebecca is Keeper of the Five Elements and Sam has asked her for help finding out what the darkness is, so it starts off with a meeting of the elements. When Quieten shows up late it is because one of his black holes has gone missing. If they don’t find Teezee it could disrupt the universal balance. Vaughn was the other person whom Rebecca had to beat in order to become the KOTE, but she also had a crush on him. He left abruptly after they kissed one night and he hasn’t shown back up till now. She is not happy to see him but she also knows she needs his help in finding Teezee. Vaughn is back to try and win Rebecca’s heart and he hopes it isn’t to late.

Unholy Night by Kathleen Pickering

Katie Sue is the Keeper of the Selkie and is also in love with one of them, Jett. They don’t get to see each other much since he only sheds his Selkie skin for a few days before he goes back into the water for seven years at a time. It’s not the best thing for a relationship, but he could give up being a Selkie and take on a human form forever. It’s something not to be taken lightly and he believes it is what killed his mother. While they are absorbed in each other inside a sleeping bag on the beach someone steals Jett’s coat. If he doesn’t get it back he is trapped on land forever. Jett knows it is a shapeshifter who has stolen his coat and it’s a race against time to find it before the shapeshifter destroys it to make potions.

Leo the shapeshifter is infatuated with Katie Sue and wants her for himself. He stole the coat to make himself more powerful so he can break away from his master. His master has something to do with the darkness that has fallen on Salem and even though that doesn’t bother him he just wants to be free of his master and make Katie Sue his.

Strange things happen and Katie Sue and Jett will have a lot to decide.



Stalking in a Winter Wonderland by Beth Ciotta

The keepers are starting to figure out where the darkness is coming from and now it’s up to June, Keeper of the Witches. June feels bad because she hasn’t been paying close attention to her job as keeper. She just got word that her uncle died making her the new keeper and she had to move back to Salem. Salem brings up a lot of bad memories for her, one of those is Baz. Eight years ago she found out that she had been under a love spell and that her and Baz were not really in love. Hurt she took off to do research on witches and wiccans and all their rituals, but now she is back. Now she has to work with Baz to try and track down a wizard who is responsible for the darkness and being so close to him brings up a lot of bad memories as well as good. Baz knows that she was hurt, but he didn’t have anything to do with the spell and things were really a lot of misunderstandings. Baz has always been in love with June if she would just give him another chance.

June has an idea to bring the people of Salem together and help break the darkness spell. Defeat the negativity with good will after all it is Christmas. It takes all the keepers and those in the community to band together to shed some light on their Christmas day.



The Keepers: Christmas in Salem is an anthology that takes a main storyline of The Darkness and then spins it over four different stories written by four different authors. Each author took a a keeper and spun a story around them and included the darkness with the last story finding an end to the darkness.

All the stories were okay in their own right and there was a little repetitiveness, but I don’t see how they could do the four stories without some bits of rehashing from the other stories. I have only read one of these authors prior to reading this and I thought each story was okay, but I think it is much to hard for to put four stories into one sort of main story. I think I prefer anthologies to have separate stories that don’t have anything to do with the other except be from the same genre.

Overall I will say that it was an okay holiday read and if you like paranormal anthologies you might like it.

[Katie_la_geek · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review may contain a few spoilers.
For this review and more visit my blog

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem is a four story festive anthology. The stories included are: Do you fear what I fear by Heather Graham, The Fright Before Christmas by Deborah Leblance, Unholy Night by Kathleen Pickering and Stalking in a Winter Wonderland. All of these stories are set in the same place and follow each other on a time line.

Given the way this anthology was put together it should have come across as one big novel written by four different authors instead of four separate novellas and in some ways it was like that but somewhere along this journey something went terribly wrong. It doesn’t matter if the anthology is all set in the same place with the same characters, or if they don’t relate to each other at all so long as the stories are different. That was The Keepers biggest problem, all the stories were too alike. Each novella focused on female characters who were all trying to stop the same thing and all getting back the loves they once lost. There was no real variation on the plot and once I read one of these stories I had read them all.

This anthology does start well, Heather Graham opens with an enjoyable story that was full of atmosphere and charm. I loved the idea and thought it was really original and exciting. The world building was great and Graham managed to create a Nightmare before Christmas kind of vibe which I really enjoyed.

Despite good efforts none of the other authors matched the standard of Grahams Do you Fear What I Fear and all the stories were far too alike for them to have anything to really draw me to them. By the beginning of the third story I was really starting to get bored which was a shame as this anthology opened with a bang and really had potential.


The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kind of hate writing the intro to reviews of books that I am decidedly ambivalent toward. It’s with a bit of a heavy heart that I have to announce to you all that I kind of did not love The Keepers: Christmas In Salem, this anthology of four interlocking stories that basically pick up the plot thread with new characters at all. I found this book to be plodding, repetitive, and frankly, boring. Look, I gave it a chance, but it turns out that I just don’t care how hunky supernatural dudes and their lady-friends spend Christmas. HOWEVER, what I will admit to is that the whole world building is cool, just I thought the book wasn’t all that well developed.
Read the rest of my review here
Note: Review will post on December 11, 2013. The link will not work until then.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

As anthologies go, this one was not as strong as I would have liked. Each story in and of itself was strong, the authors all quite talented. My problem was that the stories had too much in common, at times they seemed repetitious. They almost blended too well. I wanted their connections to be a bit lighter. I think it serves the purpose of introducing readers to the writers, and I would read more from any one of them. I just wanted a bit more variety in the anthology.
*I received my copy from NetGalley.com in exchnage for an honest review.

[SammieSue · Rating 4 out of 5]

' I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review '

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem

Do you fear what I fear by Heather Graham

Samantha is the keeper for the Vampires. Daniel is her soul mate, he is also a Vampire. The council had a problem with them being together. They felt that a Vampire Keeper should not be with a Vampire. So they parted ways. Now there is this darkness and Daniel is back. Samantha does not know how she can bear to be around him.

Daniel knows that he messed up when he left two years ago. But two years is a long time to think. He knows that Sam is his Soul Mate and he hopes to get the chance to show her how sorry he is and that she might forgive him.

I thought that this was a great read. I give it 4 Stars. I liked how Daniel loved it when she got her temper going. I loved how the singing Santa would bust out singing a song that always seemed to fit the situation. I like Daniels willingness to defy the council to go after what he wants. I definitely recommend reading.

The Fright before Christmas by Deborah LeBlanc

Rebekah is the keeper for the Elementals. She dosn't think that any of her elementals are responsible for the darkness but she does want their help to find who they do think is responsible. One of her Elemental Elders is late to a meeting that she called and while they are waiting the love of her life and old Rival Vaughn shows up. She cannot even imagine what he is doing there. Then they find out that one of the elders elementals is missing and they start to wonder if just maybe one of them is actually responsible for the darkness.

Vaughn has always been in love with Rebekah. He never meant to hurt him when he left but he wanted her to be able to grow and be the best Keeper that she could be without him there to distract her. He was never far away. He was always in the background watching her to make sure she was safe. Now he knows that he can't be without her any longer and he is hoping that she can find it in her heart to forgive him.

I enjoyed this story. I give it 4 Stars. I like that he was willing to step in and help. I loved that she kept him in his place and when it seemed like he was trying to take over she would make it clear that she was the Keeper. Not him. I thought it was great that he was there for her no matter what. I would highly recommend reading this one.

Unholy Night by Kathleen Pickering

Katie Sue is the Keeper of the Selkies. She has been in love with Jett since the moment she met him when they were seven years old. As she anxiously waits for him to return to land as it has been seven years she thinks about their future. She's been doing this a lot lately. She feels in her heart that she will have to end things with him because she knows that he will not choose her over being a Selkie. But once she is face to face with him it is hard to remain in that state of mind.

Jett is madly in love with Katie Sue and all seven years he is away from her all he can think about is returning to her. He is so consumed in her once he see's her that he does not notice someone sneaking up on them and stealing his Seal Coat. He needs this to return to the Sea. Someone has very harmful intentions towards Jett and very unsavory intentions towards Katie Sue. While the men are off looking for Jett's Coat Katie Sue makes an amazing discovery of her own. One that gives her and Jett a different option. If they find his skin in time will Jett give up life at Sea to be with Katie or will she be able to give him another gift?

I loved this one. I give it 5 Stars. I liked that although it was very hard for her, Katie Sue was willing to give him up rather than try to make him choose. I didn't like that he just expected her to wait for him for another seven years although he knew how unhappy she was. I loved the fact that they both realized that they could not live without each other no matter what and they were both willing to make sacrifices to see that happen. I highly recommend reading.

Stalking In A Winter Wonderland by Beth Ciotta

June is the Keeper of the Witches. She is not sure how she will do. She does not think that she is as strong as her cousins. Now that she knows that the person behind the darkness is one of her charges she knows it us up to her to fix it. Which means she will actually have to get in touch with the Witches and Warlocks in Salem. Which means she will have to talk to Baz. The one she thought she was in love with. But when she found out that they were under a love spell eight years ago and he kissed someone else right after they ended things made her not have any faith in what they might have had.

Baz thought that he was over June. But seeing her again all those feelings rushed back and he knows that he is still in love with her. He wonders if he will get another chance with her. If she will look past what she thought she knew all those years ago. But when they figure out who is behind the darkness he wonders what lengths he will go to, to protect her. Will they be able to defeat the darkness? Will June put the past behind her and have faith in them? In herself?

I enjoyed this one immensely. I give it 4 stars. June is very unsure of herself and about how people feel about her. Baz comes off as very sure of himself but her rejection made him doubt himself. I like that they seem to be total opposites but they are meant to be together. I like that they bring the whole community together to do something good. I would definitely recommend reading.

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem

I give the anthology as a whole 4 stars. I thought that each Keepers story was great. I think that each of thema and their men had something to learn and come to terms with. I think that they all handled whatever problems they came in contact with great and I love that they had the men there to back them up and they didn't try to take over. I highly recommend reading this. It was a great read.

[Samantha Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

' I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review '

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem

Do you fear what I fear by Heather Graham

Samantha is the keeper for the Vampires. Daniel is her soul mate, he is also a Vampire. The council had a problem with them being together. They felt that a Vampire Keeper should not be with a Vampire. So they parted ways. Now there is this darkness and Daniel is back. Samantha does not know how she can bear to be around him.

Daniel knows that he messed up when he left two years ago. But two years is a long time to think. He knows that Sam is his Soul Mate and he hopes to get the chance to show her how sorry he is and that she might forgive him.

I thought that this was a great read. I give it 4 Stars. I liked how Daniel loved it when she got her temper going. I loved how the singing Santa would bust out singing a song that always seemed to fit the situation. I like Daniels willingness to defy the council to go after what he wants. I definitely recommend reading.

The Fright before Christmas by Deborah LeBlanc

Rebekah is the keeper for the Elementals. She dosn't think that any of her elementals are responsible for the darkness but she does want their help to find who they do think is responsible. One of her Elemental Elders is late to a meeting that she called and while they are waiting the love of her life and old Rival Vaughn shows up. She cannot even imagine what he is doing there. Then they find out that one of the elders elementals is missing and they start to wonder if just maybe one of them is actually responsible for the darkness.

Vaughn has always been in love with Rebekah. He never meant to hurt him when he left but he wanted her to be able to grow and be the best Keeper that she could be without him there to distract her. He was never far away. He was always in the background watching her to make sure she was safe. Now he knows that he can't be without her any longer and he is hoping that she can find it in her heart to forgive him.

I enjoyed this story. I give it 4 Stars. I like that he was willing to step in and help. I loved that she kept him in his place and when it seemed like he was trying to take over she would make it clear that she was the Keeper. Not him. I thought it was great that he was there for her no matter what. I would highly recommend reading this one.

Unholy Night by Kathleen Pickering

Katie Sue is the Keeper of the Selkies. She has been in love with Jett since the moment she met him when they were seven years old. As she anxiously waits for him to return to land as it has been seven years she thinks about their future. She's been doing this a lot lately. She feels in her heart that she will have to end things with him because she knows that he will not choose her over being a Selkie. But once she is face to face with him it is hard to remain in that state of mind.

Jett is madly in love with Katie Sue and all seven years he is away from her all he can think about is returning to her. He is so consumed in her once he see's her that he does not notice someone sneaking up on them and stealing his Seal Coat. He needs this to return to the Sea. Someone has very harmful intentions towards Jett and very unsavory intentions towards Katie Sue. While the men are off looking for Jett's Coat Katie Sue makes an amazing discovery of her own. One that gives her and Jett a different option. If they find his skin in time will Jett give up life at Sea to be with Katie or will she be able to give him another gift?

I loved this one. I give it 5 Stars. I liked that although it was very hard for her, Katie Sue was willing to give him up rather than try to make him choose. I didn't like that he just expected her to wait for him for another seven years although he knew how unhappy she was. I loved the fact that they both realized that they could not live without each other no matter what and they were both willing to make sacrifices to see that happen. I highly recommend reading.

Stalking In A Winter Wonderland by Beth Ciotta

June is the Keeper of the Witches. She is not sure how she will do. She does not think that she is as strong as her cousins. Now that she knows that the person behind the darkness is one of her charges she knows it us up to her to fix it. Which means she will actually have to get in touch with the Witches and Warlocks in Salem. Which means she will have to talk to Baz. The one she thought she was in love with. But when she found out that they were under a love spell eight years ago and he kissed someone else right after they ended things made her not have any faith in what they might have had.

Baz thought that he was over June. But seeing her again all those feelings rushed back and he knows that he is still in love with her. He wonders if he will get another chance with her. If she will look past what she thought she knew all those years ago. But when they figure out who is behind the darkness he wonders what lengths he will go to, to protect her. Will they be able to defeat the darkness? Will June put the past behind her and have faith in them? In herself?

I enjoyed this one immensely. I give it 4 stars. June is very unsure of herself and about how people feel about her. Baz comes off as very sure of himself but her rejection made him doubt himself. I like that they seem to be total opposites but they are meant to be together. I like that they bring the whole community together to do something good. I would definitely recommend reading.

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem

I give the anthology as a whole 4 stars. I thought that each Keepers story was great. I think that each of thema and their men had something to learn and come to terms with. I think that they all handled whatever problems they came in contact with great and I love that they had the men there to back them up and they didn't try to take over. I highly recommend reading this. It was a great read.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Nicole Green · Rating 1 out of 5]

money making exercise

[Theresa Hurley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this one! Enjoy these mysteries!

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four different woman and a continuing story fueled by Christmas magic and faith.

[Landslide · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

"The Keepers: Christmas in Salem" is a collection of Christmas short stories and, even though each one has a different author, there is a common thread to them all. These short stories bring us back to the Keepers' universe, but this time in Salem. They are sequencial and take place at Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The main characters are four Keeper cousins, all of them with an unsolved love story in their past, which will get resolved during the corresponding story. But the stories are not just about the Keepers' happy endings, there is a phenomenon affecting Salem and threatening the whole town and not just the paranormal community: a strange darkness that started on Halloween and has since settled progressively over town and that not even Winter's Solstice was able to diminish. On Christmas Eve the darkness is total and the town starts to suffer its effects, because the darkness starts to negatively influence the spirit and the actions of the population of Salem.

"Do You Fear What I Fear?", by Heather Graham - Samantha Mycroft is Salem's Vampire Keeper and, informally, is also kind of a Keeper of the Keepers. Daniel Riverton is a vampire and is also the “man” that abandoned her two years ago, also on a Christmas Eve. So Eve is not particularly happy when he shows at the door, even more so because Daniel now works for the International Council and his job is to go to places where there is vampire related trouble and fix it. And if Daniel was called back to Salem that means the Council does not trust Sam to handle the job... Sam and Daniel end up working together, chasing a vampire that may be behind the darkness. And the misunderstandings of the past get cleared and Sam and Daniel realize two years apart were not enough to change their feelings for each other.

"The Fright Before Christmas", by Deborah LeBlanc - Rebekah Savay is the KOFE, Keeper Of the Five Elements and she's back in Salem to try and help with the darkness problem. To do so, Rebekah has called a meeting with the elders responsible for each of the elements. However, there is one “element” that crashes the meeting and that she wasn't counting on: Vaughn Griffith, her competitor for the role of KOFE and that left, three years ago, on the night that Rebekah was chosen as KOFE, right after kissing her... But there is not time to waste with matters of the past, because the fifth element shows up to the meating in a panic because one of his constituents, a black hole, is missing, and if he's not back at his post soon, the consequences will be terrifying. Is he responsible for the darkness? Rebekah and Vaughn will have to find him before it's too late and, at the same time, clear the misunderstandings of the past.

"Unholy Night", by Kathleen Pickering - Katie Sue Montgomery is the Selkies Keeper (mythological creatures that live as seals at sea, but shed their skin to become humans on Earth, which only happens once every seven years). The love of her life is Jett, a selkie she hasn't seen for seven years, that is, since she was fourteen... On Christmas Eve, Jett's birthday date, he's finally back, even if just for a little time. But Katie Sue knows that she has to make a decision, and fast, because no matter how much she loves Jett, she doesn't want to spend another seven years waiting for him. And since she can't go with him, the alternative is to ask him to abandon his selkie side and, as Selkie Keeper, Katie Sue is well aware of how much she would be asking and how hard it would be for him. When Jett's skin, without which he cannot transform, disappears, Katie Sue makes a discovery that may alter her life for ever. For better and for worse. And it's chasing the skin thief that they get their first clue about who is behing the darkness.

"Stalking in a Winter Wonderland", by Beth Ciotta – the conclusion of the story is also the story of Juniper Twist, the Witch Keeper. When it seems obvious that the darkness has magic behind it, it's up to June to find and stop the culprit. But that means working together with Basel Collins, a powerful witch and the boy June fell in love with in Highschool until she found out it was all an illusion from a love spell. Eight years after, Basel is now a man and is determinated to prove to her that the feeling was real and is still there, but June is now suspicious of magic, something that really doesn't come in hand when you're the Witch Keeper... Maybe what Salem really needs is a little bit of Christmas magic to pierce through the darkness and June is just the right person to make it happen!

I really liked returning to the Keepers world, even though in a different town, and I particularly liked the new paranormal creatures that are introduced to us in this book. The Christmas component is very present, not only on the setting, but mostly in its spirit.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Info
Paperback, 304 pages
Expected publication: November 5th 2013 by Harlequin (first published November 1st 2013)
ISBN 0373885814 (ISBN13: 9780373885817)
series Harlequin Nocturne #171
other editions (2)
Source:Netgalley EARC

Book Buy Links
AMAZON
B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS

This holiday season, armed with love and passion, can the Keepers stop the reign of Darkness?

Christmas is coming to Salem, but so is an evil force that threatens all mankind. In this memorable collection led by New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham, four powerful Keepers must save their community as a strange, eternal night creeps over the town. Forced to choose between their time-honored responsibilities or the lovers their hearts desire, these four extraordinary women must risk their own happiness to save the holiday. But Christmas is a time for miracles, and as each Keeper's greatest longing is met, the Season of Light returns. Don't miss this magical holiday collection from Heather Graham, Deborah LeBlanc, Kathleen Pickering and Beth Ciotta.

My Thoughts

Read from December 14 to 15, 2013
The stories included are: Do you fear what I fear by Heather Graham , The Fright Before Christmas by Deborah Leblance , Unholy Night by new to me author Kathleen Pickering and Stalking in a Winter Wonderland by also new to me author Beth Ciotta .

As a fan of not only Heather Graham and Deborah LeBlanc am also a fan of Christmas holiday setting for stories. This particular anthology appealed to me because have long been fascinated by the Salem witch trials and anything to do with magic really. For me this was an entertaining read but not one that lived up to the potential that the first Keepers trilogy and Keepers LA books showed. The main reason for this in my opinion is that although the characters were developed well each of the novellas were too similar to each other and even though each story does blend with the next it just does not work as well as it should have for me. I did enjoy meeting the 4 new Keepers but the stories just melted together too much for my taste.

While this 4 novella anthology had a nice Christmas message the fact is it is basically 1 plot with 4 different second chance romances that serve as the main story lines with the secondary plot of figuring out who or what is responsible for the darkness which has settled over Salem and shows no sign of leaving does not carry enough of a punch when the cause is finally revealed. However the HEA ending for The Keepers and their significant others was a beautiful way to wrap up the book and am glad to have had a chance to meet cousins Samantha, June, Katie Sue and Rebekah and hope they may be featured in further books in the future.

[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]

[Emsy Van Wyck · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem should be your new holiday must-read!

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem by Heather Graham, Deborah LeBlanc, Kathleen Pickering, and Beth Ciotta, is a holiday anthology that you will want to add to your collection - whether you're a fan of paranormal romance or not. In four novellas - Do You Fear What I Fear? by Heather Graham, The Fright Before Christmas by Deborah LeBlanc, Unholy Night by Kathleen Pickering, and Stalking in a Winter Wonderland by Beth Ciotta - these remarkable authors explore whether the force of what is quite literal darkness can be repelled from the historic town of Salem, Massachusetts, in time for Christmas.

While I've read a few of books in the Keeper multi-author series, it's not one I've kept up with to my regret. I will make sure to remedy that after reading this fabulous holiday anthology, which, while focusing on and exploring many paranormal elements, was really a paean to the Christmas spirit - and true love.

Whether the heroine was a keeper of vampires, elementals, selkies, or witches - the love each felt for their respective mate (vampire, empath, selkie, and witch) was a transcendent magic. In each story, we met one of the four Keepers in Salem who also were cousins. Each story featured star-crossed love (whether due to perceived cheating, unacknowledged affection, a separation of years, or inadvertent love spells), which was as important to resolve as it was for them to find the "big bad" who was literally keeping the whole of Salem in the dark.

At the time of Solstice, when day light should have begun to return, the Keepers found that instead there was barely any sunlight. Would they be able to solve this mystery of who and what was creating this phenomenon in time to prevent another Salem witch trial - with themselves in the stand?

As this anthology is set at Christmas time you may rest assured that authors Graham, LeBlanc, Pickering, and Ciotta will find a way to make sure that faith in good triumphs over evil. You would be ill-served for me to pick a favorite story from among these four as each was quite special in its own way. I loved how the authors maintained their respective styles, while at the same time carrying through with plot lines that appeared in the prior story. Beth Ciotta's conclusion to the series was quite the page-turner and the resolution, well - just remarkable.

So, please make sure to add The Keepers: Christmas in Salem to your holiday must-read shelf. It's a classic that you'll enjoy year after year. I can imagine reading it aloud at a "girl's night" as a new holiday tradition, while baking cookies, wrapping presents, or just sitting back with some Christmas treats and a glass of mulled wine or egg nog in front of the fire.

Fab Fantasy Fiction
http://www.fabfantasyfiction.com/2013...

I received an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley for use in this review.

[Silver James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Keepers: Christmas in Salem: Do You Fear What I Fear?\The Fright Before Christmas\Unholy Night\Stalking in a Winter Wonderland is a quick Christmas read with a theme of peace and goodwill to all--including some magical beings and the women who love them. All four stories are interwoven with a conclusion to the story arc at the end. The heroines are cousins and "Keepers" for four mystical races--vampires, witches/wizards, selkies, and werewolves. Facing an unnatural darkness threatening to destroy the town of Salem, the cousins each reunite with a lover to tackle the problem. This is a good read when you have snatches of time during the busy holiday season.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review featured on www.books-n-kisses.com

2.5 Hearts This just didn’t do much for me. I enjoyed the story by Graham and was looking forward to the others but they just got repetitive. They were just too much alike so by the third story I was bored.

Not a great book to put you in the holiday spirit. Think I will stick with Graham’s Krewe Of Hunters series and leave the Keepers to others.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Traceys · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the start of this book, story one about daniel and Sam, the world building was very interesting, and I got a warm glow at the end of their story. As the other stories went on they seemed to blend a bit and I got a bit bored.

Not an awful read, but just didn't reel me in enough.

I received an arc of this book for an honest review.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four novellas about cousins set on Christmas Eve in Salem where darkness is lingering, tempers are rising, and answers must be found. I found this a bland read. There was little character development. The stories were over and I could not connect with the characters. These have potential in a longer format.

[Patti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection

As with all collections the first story was the strongest. The Keepers is a nice plot twist and I wished she had explained more. This may be a carryover to a series IDK. The setting of Salem was truly inspired.

[Harlequin Books]

"...the stories tie together nicely and the characters all have real chemistry. Four well-written tales make this a fun read." RT Book Reviews, rated 4 stars

[Cathlene Burk · Rating 3 out of 5]

good short stories which supported each other.

[Glenn Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linked and holiday-themed romantic supernatural short stories/novellas. Okay, but a little too assembly line for me.

[Raicara · Rating 3 out of 5]

.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Audrie Bouwmeester · Rating 1 out of 5]

A scimmer. Extremely predictable and cliche.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at her best in story lines ... Even with all the other authors added in.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, solid holiday PNR stories. I liked how the anthology was connected through one central plot.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved that there were four authors, starting with Heather Graham and it author continue on with the story. Great read.