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The Keeper #1
Dutch
“Full of sex, magic, and turmoil...poetic and utterly beautiful. I can't remember the last time a book made me stop and think, wow.” --Meredith Wild, #1 New York Times bestselling author
DUTCH is Madhuri Pavamani’s first book in a stunning new, suspenseful urban fantasy series that will take you on a wild ride full of danger, love, sex, and magic.
I've spent years holed up in the deepest, darkest parts of the city, fighting to keep Death and her Poochas from crossing the dead back to the living. My skill with a blade is bested only by my menace, my despair, my anguish - the strongest weapons I yield.
Then I meet Juma Landry and it all goes to hell.
She is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not. And she makes me want things I haven’t desired in years. But the monsters of my life, the evil lurking in the dark corners of my soul, those places craven and vile, bind me to a past I cannot shake free. As the most skilled Keeper for the Gate, nothing and no one can prevent me from excelling at a job I never wanted. I do it because it is my legacy, a fate I cannot outrun, but when Juma becomes my next assignment, each of her nine lives to be ended by my hand, I must the legacy I never wanted or the love I don’t deserve.
"Ms. Pavamani's DUTCH is the perfect melange of poetry, fantasy and rebellious raunch. Absolutely addictive!" --Helen Hardt, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
"Dark. Sensual. Unputdownable. I devoured this book and can't wait for the next!"--Kate Baxter, author of The Untamed Vampire
Publisher's Note: Dutch is a scorchingly sexy, romantic urban fantasy, full of forbidden love, romance and very hot love scenes.
DUTCH is Madhuri Pavamani’s first book in a stunning new, suspenseful urban fantasy series that will take you on a wild ride full of danger, love, sex, and magic.
I've spent years holed up in the deepest, darkest parts of the city, fighting to keep Death and her Poochas from crossing the dead back to the living. My skill with a blade is bested only by my menace, my despair, my anguish - the strongest weapons I yield.
Then I meet Juma Landry and it all goes to hell.
She is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not. And she makes me want things I haven’t desired in years. But the monsters of my life, the evil lurking in the dark corners of my soul, those places craven and vile, bind me to a past I cannot shake free. As the most skilled Keeper for the Gate, nothing and no one can prevent me from excelling at a job I never wanted. I do it because it is my legacy, a fate I cannot outrun, but when Juma becomes my next assignment, each of her nine lives to be ended by my hand, I must the legacy I never wanted or the love I don’t deserve.
"Ms. Pavamani's DUTCH is the perfect melange of poetry, fantasy and rebellious raunch. Absolutely addictive!" --Helen Hardt, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
"Dark. Sensual. Unputdownable. I devoured this book and can't wait for the next!"--Kate Baxter, author of The Untamed Vampire
Publisher's Note: Dutch is a scorchingly sexy, romantic urban fantasy, full of forbidden love, romance and very hot love scenes.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2015
7 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
Madhuri Pavamani
10 books235 followersMadhuri Pavamani writes. Things. As they pop into her brain. Sometimes prose, sometimes poetry, all the time love. She’s mad about whiskey, tattoos, Marquez, and yoga. She laughs constantly, says fuck a lot, and will dance anywhere. She is the author of the middle grade series, THE SURVIVAL FILES, the paranormal romance trilogy, THE SANCTUM, and the fantasy trilogy, THE KEEPER SERIES. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging with her trio of boy magic: the kid, the pup, and the lizard.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @madhuriwrites
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @madhuriwrites
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
did-not-finish
February 28, 2017DNF 15
I really tried with this one. I went into Dutch with an open mind because it had a curious summary, a beautiful cover and I wanted to try a new author. I also love a good panoramal book. When I started the book I couldn't understand it but I figured it was because it's a new world I'm trying to understand so I decided to continue. I kept on reading and after 15% I still didn't get what was going on.
I know the hero is suppose to kill the heroine several times. But to why and who they are I didn't know. I guess I need it spelled out to me in lame terms.
It was hard for me to follow the characters and figuring out who was what and special powers they had. I didn't know how everyone was related. Maybe it would be uncovered later in the book.
This book has several glowing reviews so this just simply didn't connect nor work for me.
An Arc was provided.
I really tried with this one. I went into Dutch with an open mind because it had a curious summary, a beautiful cover and I wanted to try a new author. I also love a good panoramal book. When I started the book I couldn't understand it but I figured it was because it's a new world I'm trying to understand so I decided to continue. I kept on reading and after 15% I still didn't get what was going on.
I know the hero is suppose to kill the heroine several times. But to why and who they are I didn't know. I guess I need it spelled out to me in lame terms.
It was hard for me to follow the characters and figuring out who was what and special powers they had. I didn't know how everyone was related. Maybe it would be uncovered later in the book.
This book has several glowing reviews so this just simply didn't connect nor work for me.
An Arc was provided.
April 1, 2017
Two and a half
We are introduced to Dutch and I admit it's hard to like him. He's a man with a seemingly insatiable appetite for sex and yet doesn't really seem to connect with anyone. Dutch is a stone cold killer, a man with a talent for hunting down his prey and he's also part of the family that try to control Death as she repeatedly lets her Poocha's help those with untimely deaths ( known as Deaders) reclaim their lives. Working for The Gate, Dutch is a Keeper but he's about to meet Juma, possibly Deaths most productive Poocha but she's also one who has kept off the Keepers radar well until now!
This is an unusual and inventive piece of urban fantasy that has very dark undertones whilst at the same time tries hard to be a story showing how physical interactions connect us all. The phrase ' no man is an Island' seems somewhat appropriate as even in the midst of what can be pretty awful times these characters still crave that thing that makes them feel alive. Yes I'm talking about sex, not love or even joy just release pure and simple. For this reader it's neither sensual or erotic. As I'm someone who primarily reads romance I do look for relationships in books that feel real even if at times they lack tenderness . Unfortunately for me this author seems to have just taken the idea of celebrating life whilst surrounded by death although for her characters I'm not sure just how big the divide really is.
If honest I got to eleven percent in and nearly gave up but I'm glad I persevered as although the first half if not slightly more didn't deliver what I'd hoped this story does become far more interesting as more is revealed. I enjoyed seeing how complicated the world surrounding Death was and there's a sense that things are about to change. The reasons why Dutch is the way he is finally became clear and no he's not redeemed but I understand his characters motives and disconnect much more now. Those who surround Dutch are truly vile and there's plenty of bloodshed and suffering to wade through. I think the light at the end of this dark tunnel is meant to be Juma but even though the author gave her an obviously softer side for this reader I still struggled to actually like any of the characters. My final thoughts are this story was a walk on the dark side with amazing ideas but for me the execution failed. Perhaps some will consider this to be erotica but alas I just found it sad and at times boring. Clearly I'm not the type of reader this story would appeal to and yet the plot, the very ideas appealed immensely it was just the endless sex and crass language that got in the way .
This is a voluntary review of a copy I requested from Netgalley and these thoughts are my honest opinion
We are introduced to Dutch and I admit it's hard to like him. He's a man with a seemingly insatiable appetite for sex and yet doesn't really seem to connect with anyone. Dutch is a stone cold killer, a man with a talent for hunting down his prey and he's also part of the family that try to control Death as she repeatedly lets her Poocha's help those with untimely deaths ( known as Deaders) reclaim their lives. Working for The Gate, Dutch is a Keeper but he's about to meet Juma, possibly Deaths most productive Poocha but she's also one who has kept off the Keepers radar well until now!
This is an unusual and inventive piece of urban fantasy that has very dark undertones whilst at the same time tries hard to be a story showing how physical interactions connect us all. The phrase ' no man is an Island' seems somewhat appropriate as even in the midst of what can be pretty awful times these characters still crave that thing that makes them feel alive. Yes I'm talking about sex, not love or even joy just release pure and simple. For this reader it's neither sensual or erotic. As I'm someone who primarily reads romance I do look for relationships in books that feel real even if at times they lack tenderness . Unfortunately for me this author seems to have just taken the idea of celebrating life whilst surrounded by death although for her characters I'm not sure just how big the divide really is.
If honest I got to eleven percent in and nearly gave up but I'm glad I persevered as although the first half if not slightly more didn't deliver what I'd hoped this story does become far more interesting as more is revealed. I enjoyed seeing how complicated the world surrounding Death was and there's a sense that things are about to change. The reasons why Dutch is the way he is finally became clear and no he's not redeemed but I understand his characters motives and disconnect much more now. Those who surround Dutch are truly vile and there's plenty of bloodshed and suffering to wade through. I think the light at the end of this dark tunnel is meant to be Juma but even though the author gave her an obviously softer side for this reader I still struggled to actually like any of the characters. My final thoughts are this story was a walk on the dark side with amazing ideas but for me the execution failed. Perhaps some will consider this to be erotica but alas I just found it sad and at times boring. Clearly I'm not the type of reader this story would appeal to and yet the plot, the very ideas appealed immensely it was just the endless sex and crass language that got in the way .
This is a voluntary review of a copy I requested from Netgalley and these thoughts are my honest opinion
April 4, 2017
There were brilliant parts in this book that completely drew me in (I do like the author's writing style) but also at times it rambled on and felt very slow. I was also so confused the first half as to what was going on and who was who etc...
I'm conflicted.
I'm conflicted.
August 9, 2015
Visceral. Brutal. Tasty.
In the hands of a less deft author, “Dutch: The Keeper Series” would be a series of stale themes and archetypes:
Tortured killer. Star-crossed lovers. Destiny. Oedipal battles. Legacy.
But in the hands of Madhuri Blaylock, “Dutch: The Keeper Series” comes alive on the page and in the reader’s imagination thanks to its layered, complex characters, and some supernatural surprises we haven’t seen before. With a gift for lyrical, disruptive language, Blaylock’s writing both seduces and unsettles, while daring the reader to look away.
“Keeper’s” heroine, Juma Landry is unlike any I’ve seen before, particularly in the speculative fiction. She’s a woman of color who is completely self-possessed and confident, with a formidable intellect, a great well of emotion, vulnerability and strength, unapologetically sexy and sexual…with an extremely lethal edge. As a Poocha—in the employ of none other than Death—Juma’s role is assisting the dead with re-entering the world of the living. In Blaylock’s world, Poochas are the mortal enemies of Keepers, who exist to kill them and prevent re-entry. Juma is the very best at what she does…
…but so is Dutch Mathew, one of The Gate’s deadliest Keepers. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Luther or Supernatural, then you see how men who hunt things often harden themselves because they are protecting one huge tender thing, or many tiny tender things. Dutch Mathew is no exception. Dead sexy with a soul so dark that “damaged” would be a compliment, he’s a difficult, brutal character, but it is worth the wait to see his unfolding over the course of the novel, along with his motivations for who—and what—he has become. What he and Juma have is something beyond chemistry. Their relationship maintains and transcends its highly erotic nature and distills into something quite pure, perhaps because of their intertwined, but divergent and ultimately doomed destinies. The meeting of their energies and their brown bodies is electric, each interaction more charged and potent than the last.
Death is the lynchpin holding both worlds together. “Keeper” makes Death not only a woman, but a fully realized sexual being with frailties that make her power seem that much more amplified. Slinky, seductive, and unabashed about playing favorites, the stakes are extremely high for her, too.
Without question, diversity is much needed in romance and in speculative fiction. Part of the delight of “Keeper” is that Blaylock lays bare the ethnicity of her characters, which enriches them and the story, but wisely eschews making race the focal point of the novel or interactions between the characters. It’s a neat trick. Instead, the focus is taken off of racial hierarchy and displaced onto the supernatural one in the special, singular world that has been crafted. As a result, readers instead become enraptured with Poochas, Keepers, The Gate and Death and how their respective destinies are defined, how they collide and how they defy predetermined roles. The reading experience is a freeing one for not centering race, but still crackling organically with the rich diversity of the characters.
Watching characters rebel against or accept what they’ve been told about the lack of mutability regarding their station in life has been a major theme of literature since the dawn of written language, and it is an age-old theme that finds new life here. Dutch often laments this, and usually to gory results.
Blaylock has created an extremely sensual novel, in its violence and its sex, both conveyed with a stark, pointed aliveness that jolts the reader into attention and doesn’t relent. Often, this juxtaposition can be trite and unimaginative, but with the sense of immediacy and urgency for Juma and Dutch due to their proximity to death (and Death), the eroticism necessarily becomes life-affirming.
It’s easy to assume all the ground has been covered in fiction that deals with good versus evil in a supernatural milieu, but the world Blaylock lays bare in “Keeper” is fresh and vibrant with its own identity. It breathes and thrums with life, with sex, with love, with wonder, with destruction and hopefully…with redemption.
In the hands of a less deft author, “Dutch: The Keeper Series” would be a series of stale themes and archetypes:
Tortured killer. Star-crossed lovers. Destiny. Oedipal battles. Legacy.
But in the hands of Madhuri Blaylock, “Dutch: The Keeper Series” comes alive on the page and in the reader’s imagination thanks to its layered, complex characters, and some supernatural surprises we haven’t seen before. With a gift for lyrical, disruptive language, Blaylock’s writing both seduces and unsettles, while daring the reader to look away.
“Keeper’s” heroine, Juma Landry is unlike any I’ve seen before, particularly in the speculative fiction. She’s a woman of color who is completely self-possessed and confident, with a formidable intellect, a great well of emotion, vulnerability and strength, unapologetically sexy and sexual…with an extremely lethal edge. As a Poocha—in the employ of none other than Death—Juma’s role is assisting the dead with re-entering the world of the living. In Blaylock’s world, Poochas are the mortal enemies of Keepers, who exist to kill them and prevent re-entry. Juma is the very best at what she does…
…but so is Dutch Mathew, one of The Gate’s deadliest Keepers. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Luther or Supernatural, then you see how men who hunt things often harden themselves because they are protecting one huge tender thing, or many tiny tender things. Dutch Mathew is no exception. Dead sexy with a soul so dark that “damaged” would be a compliment, he’s a difficult, brutal character, but it is worth the wait to see his unfolding over the course of the novel, along with his motivations for who—and what—he has become. What he and Juma have is something beyond chemistry. Their relationship maintains and transcends its highly erotic nature and distills into something quite pure, perhaps because of their intertwined, but divergent and ultimately doomed destinies. The meeting of their energies and their brown bodies is electric, each interaction more charged and potent than the last.
Death is the lynchpin holding both worlds together. “Keeper” makes Death not only a woman, but a fully realized sexual being with frailties that make her power seem that much more amplified. Slinky, seductive, and unabashed about playing favorites, the stakes are extremely high for her, too.
Without question, diversity is much needed in romance and in speculative fiction. Part of the delight of “Keeper” is that Blaylock lays bare the ethnicity of her characters, which enriches them and the story, but wisely eschews making race the focal point of the novel or interactions between the characters. It’s a neat trick. Instead, the focus is taken off of racial hierarchy and displaced onto the supernatural one in the special, singular world that has been crafted. As a result, readers instead become enraptured with Poochas, Keepers, The Gate and Death and how their respective destinies are defined, how they collide and how they defy predetermined roles. The reading experience is a freeing one for not centering race, but still crackling organically with the rich diversity of the characters.
Watching characters rebel against or accept what they’ve been told about the lack of mutability regarding their station in life has been a major theme of literature since the dawn of written language, and it is an age-old theme that finds new life here. Dutch often laments this, and usually to gory results.
Blaylock has created an extremely sensual novel, in its violence and its sex, both conveyed with a stark, pointed aliveness that jolts the reader into attention and doesn’t relent. Often, this juxtaposition can be trite and unimaginative, but with the sense of immediacy and urgency for Juma and Dutch due to their proximity to death (and Death), the eroticism necessarily becomes life-affirming.
It’s easy to assume all the ground has been covered in fiction that deals with good versus evil in a supernatural milieu, but the world Blaylock lays bare in “Keeper” is fresh and vibrant with its own identity. It breathes and thrums with life, with sex, with love, with wonder, with destruction and hopefully…with redemption.
March 27, 2017
Dutch is my favorite kind of tortured hero--dark and damaged with no respect for authority. Full of sex, magic, and turmoil, this first installment in the series completely blew me away. The way Madhuri weaves Dutch and Juma's story is poetic and utterly beautiful. I can't remember the last time a book made to stop and think, wow.
November 6, 2017
This is a fantastic, dark read and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I found the level of detail exceptional and it truly gave the book that extra bit more, to put it up as a brilliant four star read.
The author created characters that were bound to a life they didn’t particularly want, but had a duty to uphold, one where our main character just trudged forward, always succeeding and never needing to question. When the author gave us a new interest, for the main, we watch as things started to unravel, questions came to light and the character had to look deeper into himself and decide what to do.
I liked that we got to see this change and read along as he had to search himself and decide what he wanted, what the world needed and if he could do/have either option.
The pace was really good and led to a lot of great scenes that were filled with tension and excitement, which I loved.
The author created characters that were bound to a life they didn’t particularly want, but had a duty to uphold, one where our main character just trudged forward, always succeeding and never needing to question. When the author gave us a new interest, for the main, we watch as things started to unravel, questions came to light and the character had to look deeper into himself and decide what to do.
I liked that we got to see this change and read along as he had to search himself and decide what he wanted, what the world needed and if he could do/have either option.
The pace was really good and led to a lot of great scenes that were filled with tension and excitement, which I loved.
April 6, 2017
Note: These are my personal opinions.
Do know that if I had my way to say exactly how much I loved this book, I would've, but due to minding-my-language type stuff, this has to be my unrated version - in other words, this book carries the essence of my wet dreams!
The likes (apart from obvious pant-inducing scenes) and dislikes:
~I wanna start off by saying that if I had ever wanted to make love to a book or be a character in the book - so I could do some of what they do - Dutch was it...I mean ALL of what you'll ever need, it has it!
~I am not a huge fan of first person perspectives, as they tend to cause repetition, but the narration was refreshing with its lack of sugar-coating.
~Dutch (the book, not the H-BALLS HOT GUY) is a stunning example of how to write diversity without making it a main focus, which in turn made it one of my favourite reads.
~The pace is good and as a first book in a series it works just as it should.
~As a first time reader of Pavamani's work, her writing style is raw and poetic and I've been longing to read a book that actually touches you. This does, as death is an inevitable, but the story gives elements of hope in a quite realistic fashion of what happens when you deal with wretched 'people'.
~I was pretty much thinking Dutch is kinda an A (hot as hell and making my pulse go crazy, but an A), but the way Juma thought of him during her conversation with Marina had me swooning, because it summed up what most of us want.
~The concept of the book is awesome; unfinished business, second chances, redemption, unconditional love.
~Kajal...I was crying, that is all I got to say.
~The setting had me a little sceptical, but it, along with the other locations, weren't described to death (allow the pun), thus not taking the focus away from what you want to read.
~The gore...oh, it was beautiful!
~The kisses (not to mention other things), causes awkward breathy moments, serious panting and hell...they make you feel good in 'bad' ways.
~The 'family dinner'...FUN!
~WOW! This is love! The honest, unapologetic, uncensored, getting crushed, being healed type of LOVE!
Notes on characters:
Juma - Hot as hell and a badass like few others, I absolutely loved her and her not-giving-a-damn attitude, the way she talks is so damn sexy and I want her to be real so bad. She has a relatibilty that was just spot-on. If I needed a Poocha; I would want it to be her. If I was one; I would want to be her. BUT. I think I just want her, take her home and keep her type stuff.
Dutch - Imagine the most breathy and turned on voice...got it? Now say that name again, feel it EVERYWHERE and you have a description of him. He has his bad things, but that just made the appeal explode.
Death - I know this is wrong, but I wanna meet her...to learn things...about things...and such things.
Avery - I think he is the most lovable character; I loved his wit, he was a great opposite to Dutch and as most characters in the book, I imagined very dirty things regarding him...leaving it there.
The Duo (everyone will know who) - I have hated a few characters in my life, but hell, these two are bloody insane!
Khan - Rhymes with cu...
Holy hot hell! This book was hot without trying too hard and that was due to the honesty. This is a book you hide from no one and keep close to where you find your happy place. It was a great winter read for me and I recommend it to EVERYONE!
Do know that if I had my way to say exactly how much I loved this book, I would've, but due to minding-my-language type stuff, this has to be my unrated version - in other words, this book carries the essence of my wet dreams!
The likes (apart from obvious pant-inducing scenes) and dislikes:
~I wanna start off by saying that if I had ever wanted to make love to a book or be a character in the book - so I could do some of what they do - Dutch was it...I mean ALL of what you'll ever need, it has it!
~I am not a huge fan of first person perspectives, as they tend to cause repetition, but the narration was refreshing with its lack of sugar-coating.
~Dutch (the book, not the H-BALLS HOT GUY) is a stunning example of how to write diversity without making it a main focus, which in turn made it one of my favourite reads.
~The pace is good and as a first book in a series it works just as it should.
~As a first time reader of Pavamani's work, her writing style is raw and poetic and I've been longing to read a book that actually touches you. This does, as death is an inevitable, but the story gives elements of hope in a quite realistic fashion of what happens when you deal with wretched 'people'.
~I was pretty much thinking Dutch is kinda an A (hot as hell and making my pulse go crazy, but an A), but the way Juma thought of him during her conversation with Marina had me swooning, because it summed up what most of us want.
~The concept of the book is awesome; unfinished business, second chances, redemption, unconditional love.
~Kajal...I was crying, that is all I got to say.
~The setting had me a little sceptical, but it, along with the other locations, weren't described to death (allow the pun), thus not taking the focus away from what you want to read.
~The gore...oh, it was beautiful!
~The kisses (not to mention other things), causes awkward breathy moments, serious panting and hell...they make you feel good in 'bad' ways.
~The 'family dinner'...FUN!
~WOW! This is love! The honest, unapologetic, uncensored, getting crushed, being healed type of LOVE!
Notes on characters:
Juma - Hot as hell and a badass like few others, I absolutely loved her and her not-giving-a-damn attitude, the way she talks is so damn sexy and I want her to be real so bad. She has a relatibilty that was just spot-on. If I needed a Poocha; I would want it to be her. If I was one; I would want to be her. BUT. I think I just want her, take her home and keep her type stuff.
Dutch - Imagine the most breathy and turned on voice...got it? Now say that name again, feel it EVERYWHERE and you have a description of him. He has his bad things, but that just made the appeal explode.
Death - I know this is wrong, but I wanna meet her...to learn things...about things...and such things.
Avery - I think he is the most lovable character; I loved his wit, he was a great opposite to Dutch and as most characters in the book, I imagined very dirty things regarding him...leaving it there.
The Duo (everyone will know who) - I have hated a few characters in my life, but hell, these two are bloody insane!
Khan - Rhymes with cu...
Holy hot hell! This book was hot without trying too hard and that was due to the honesty. This is a book you hide from no one and keep close to where you find your happy place. It was a great winter read for me and I recommend it to EVERYONE!
August 1, 2015
Compelling, first- rate extraordinary page turner. Turning pages so fast my reader couldn't keep up. Dark twisted characters. I found them all so fascinating. The sex scenes are hot but also filled with love. I can't wait to continue this journey with them.
October 23, 2017
Title: Dutch
Author: Madhuri Pavamani
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Blurb: I've spent years holed up in the deepest, darkest parts of the city, fighting to keep Death and her Poochas from crossing the dead back to the living. My skill with a blade is bested only by my menace, my despair, my anguish - the strongest weapons I yield.
Then I meet Juma Landry and it all goes to hell.
She is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not. And she makes me want things I haven’t desired in years. But the monsters of my life, the evil lurking in the dark corners of my soul, those places craven and vile, bind me to a past I cannot shake free. As the most skilled Keeper for The Gate, nothing and no one can prevent me from excelling at a job I never wanted. I do it because it is my legacy, a fate I cannot outrun, but when Juma becomes my next assignment, each of her nine lives to be ended by my hand, I must decide: the legacy I never wanted or the love I don’t deserve.
Extract: just then I saw it, a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, a swish of black, so like the New York City uniform of the chic and sophisticated but of a different realm altogether. However, more than what I saw was what I felt. The cold that crept into my bones, settled in my blood, and soothed me with its familiarity.
Her.
I knew her essence anywhere had known it since I was a little girl dying on an emergency room gurney as she promised me all kinds of things, love, power, life. Knowing I wanted all of them more than I could say, craved them even as a tiny human, would obsess over them as a grown woman.
Death knew all the right words to whisper in my ear and bring me to her bosom for all eternity, forever beholden to her and her whims, willing to do whatever she asked of me just to see her smile. And what did I receive in return?
Her love which was precious and given out too few.
Except today.
Today she was pissed—the chill of her glare said as much.
“Get up.” She breezed through the doors as they opened at 14th Street.
I followed, obedient and cowed. It was coming, had been coming for months now.
Reproof.
Admonition.
Punishment.
As we reached a more deserted section of the platform, she spun on me, her dark pixie perfectly coiffed, her red lips caught in a sneer, and I prepared, my body tense and ready for whatever she was about to unload. But then her eyes flashed to the right, something caught her attention, and whatever anger and irritation had been directed at me dissipated.
“Stay here, Juma,” she ordered. I stopped, and for once I didn’t say a word, I simply obeyed her command. Her tone demanded it.
Death flew across the subway station, her eyes full of fire and fury, directed somewhere distant and removed. I followed her trajectory and that’s when I saw.
Him.
Tall, lean, solitary.
Calm, confident, beautiful.
And dark. So very dark. As if light long ago stopped seeking refuge in the corners of his body, the cracks of his being. My body heated in places it should not, my blood pulsed a little stronger as I watched him, unable to look away, knowing I should lest he burn a hole straight through my core.
Anyone else would have stepped away from her but he did not, unmoved by her oncoming fury, unafraid of her wrath. Death slammed into him and together they fell into the wall, tiles above his head cracking from the impact. Minutes passed as she harangued him with her words and gestures and her power to bring the pain.
And still he remained.
Until she had enough, said enough, did enough, and sent him on his way, watching as he disappeared into the dark of the subway tunnel, his shadowy self-becoming one with the dank environs. Long seconds later, Death remained rooted to the spot and watching the tunnel, as if she expected the beautiful stranger to reappear, but he was gone, lost in the ether.
She finally turned my way and started, the movement slight but noticeable to my discerning eye, as if surprised by my presence, my rare acquiescence to one of her demands.
“Juma,” she as she neared, her ire piqued and ill-contained, “what are you doing?”
“You told me to wait here,” I replied, “so I waited.”
She raised a brow and sneered. “Fine time to start listening to a word I say,” she groused as she breezed past, her chill a balm to the strange heat inspired by the dark stranger, one that touched the tips of my fingers and kissed the depths of my soul.
“Who was that man?” I could not help but ask.
Death spun back around, stopping so suddenly I crashed into her, our bodies pressed against one another, a position quite familiar and yet today, when she was so angry and full of unease, utterly foreign.
“Forget you ever saw him, Juma,” she insisted as she grasped my chin in her hand and searched my eyes, probing for something I could not did not would not know, for she was in no mood to elaborate or educate further.
“He’s from The Gate,” I replied, certain only those rotten souls could inspire such a reaction from her.
She stilled and it was as if all movement stilled with her and only she and I existed, the air sucked from the moment by the words falling from my lips.
Finally, she spoke, low and deadly, her tone serious, her words a warning. “He is someone far more dangerous than The Gate—he is a beautiful, tortured soul seeking absolution. Forget him
Review I’m giving this book four stars. It was; not quite what I expected, it was more romance based then fantasy based and there a lot of swearing and sex. The author uses these devices to get across the characterization of Dutch.
He’s full of prikkles, bad language, and rules he’s invented to keep himself sane. Being an heir to the Keepers and having m;urdered against his will. His father is trying to break him to his own will and thusly makese his sons as difficult as possible.
Then comes Juma, with her sweetness and open personality. The absolute need to touch and to help people. Thee two characters are a lot like Romeo and Juliet. The main difference I that there are more extreme opposites. I’ve never read a book were the characters change so much and change the way they see the world.
Each time Juma and Dutch meet they come away with a little bit of each other’s souls, and Juma is the only thing keeping Dutch from going completely into the darkness, never to be seen again.
In the background there is something building between the Gate and Death. We Are given only small hints and I’ll have to read the next book in the series to see what exactly will happen.
*Madhuri Pavamani will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via raffle copter during the tour.
Raffle Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/disp... to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC - a Raffleocpter giveaway
Au Madhuri Pavamani writes twisted love stories and dark poetry. She loves whiskey, tattoos, Bukowski, and yoga. She laughs constantly, says f*ck a lot, and dances anywhere. She is the author of the paranormal romance trilogy, THE SANCTUM, and the fantasy trilogy, THE KEEPER SERIES, published this year by St. Martin’s Press. She’s currently working on something evil and delicious.
You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @madhuriwrites
https://www.amazon.com/Dutch-Keeper-M...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
thor Bio:
Author: Madhuri Pavamani
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Blurb: I've spent years holed up in the deepest, darkest parts of the city, fighting to keep Death and her Poochas from crossing the dead back to the living. My skill with a blade is bested only by my menace, my despair, my anguish - the strongest weapons I yield.
Then I meet Juma Landry and it all goes to hell.
She is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not. And she makes me want things I haven’t desired in years. But the monsters of my life, the evil lurking in the dark corners of my soul, those places craven and vile, bind me to a past I cannot shake free. As the most skilled Keeper for The Gate, nothing and no one can prevent me from excelling at a job I never wanted. I do it because it is my legacy, a fate I cannot outrun, but when Juma becomes my next assignment, each of her nine lives to be ended by my hand, I must decide: the legacy I never wanted or the love I don’t deserve.
Extract: just then I saw it, a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, a swish of black, so like the New York City uniform of the chic and sophisticated but of a different realm altogether. However, more than what I saw was what I felt. The cold that crept into my bones, settled in my blood, and soothed me with its familiarity.
Her.
I knew her essence anywhere had known it since I was a little girl dying on an emergency room gurney as she promised me all kinds of things, love, power, life. Knowing I wanted all of them more than I could say, craved them even as a tiny human, would obsess over them as a grown woman.
Death knew all the right words to whisper in my ear and bring me to her bosom for all eternity, forever beholden to her and her whims, willing to do whatever she asked of me just to see her smile. And what did I receive in return?
Her love which was precious and given out too few.
Except today.
Today she was pissed—the chill of her glare said as much.
“Get up.” She breezed through the doors as they opened at 14th Street.
I followed, obedient and cowed. It was coming, had been coming for months now.
Reproof.
Admonition.
Punishment.
As we reached a more deserted section of the platform, she spun on me, her dark pixie perfectly coiffed, her red lips caught in a sneer, and I prepared, my body tense and ready for whatever she was about to unload. But then her eyes flashed to the right, something caught her attention, and whatever anger and irritation had been directed at me dissipated.
“Stay here, Juma,” she ordered. I stopped, and for once I didn’t say a word, I simply obeyed her command. Her tone demanded it.
Death flew across the subway station, her eyes full of fire and fury, directed somewhere distant and removed. I followed her trajectory and that’s when I saw.
Him.
Tall, lean, solitary.
Calm, confident, beautiful.
And dark. So very dark. As if light long ago stopped seeking refuge in the corners of his body, the cracks of his being. My body heated in places it should not, my blood pulsed a little stronger as I watched him, unable to look away, knowing I should lest he burn a hole straight through my core.
Anyone else would have stepped away from her but he did not, unmoved by her oncoming fury, unafraid of her wrath. Death slammed into him and together they fell into the wall, tiles above his head cracking from the impact. Minutes passed as she harangued him with her words and gestures and her power to bring the pain.
And still he remained.
Until she had enough, said enough, did enough, and sent him on his way, watching as he disappeared into the dark of the subway tunnel, his shadowy self-becoming one with the dank environs. Long seconds later, Death remained rooted to the spot and watching the tunnel, as if she expected the beautiful stranger to reappear, but he was gone, lost in the ether.
She finally turned my way and started, the movement slight but noticeable to my discerning eye, as if surprised by my presence, my rare acquiescence to one of her demands.
“Juma,” she as she neared, her ire piqued and ill-contained, “what are you doing?”
“You told me to wait here,” I replied, “so I waited.”
She raised a brow and sneered. “Fine time to start listening to a word I say,” she groused as she breezed past, her chill a balm to the strange heat inspired by the dark stranger, one that touched the tips of my fingers and kissed the depths of my soul.
“Who was that man?” I could not help but ask.
Death spun back around, stopping so suddenly I crashed into her, our bodies pressed against one another, a position quite familiar and yet today, when she was so angry and full of unease, utterly foreign.
“Forget you ever saw him, Juma,” she insisted as she grasped my chin in her hand and searched my eyes, probing for something I could not did not would not know, for she was in no mood to elaborate or educate further.
“He’s from The Gate,” I replied, certain only those rotten souls could inspire such a reaction from her.
She stilled and it was as if all movement stilled with her and only she and I existed, the air sucked from the moment by the words falling from my lips.
Finally, she spoke, low and deadly, her tone serious, her words a warning. “He is someone far more dangerous than The Gate—he is a beautiful, tortured soul seeking absolution. Forget him
Review I’m giving this book four stars. It was; not quite what I expected, it was more romance based then fantasy based and there a lot of swearing and sex. The author uses these devices to get across the characterization of Dutch.
He’s full of prikkles, bad language, and rules he’s invented to keep himself sane. Being an heir to the Keepers and having m;urdered against his will. His father is trying to break him to his own will and thusly makese his sons as difficult as possible.
Then comes Juma, with her sweetness and open personality. The absolute need to touch and to help people. Thee two characters are a lot like Romeo and Juliet. The main difference I that there are more extreme opposites. I’ve never read a book were the characters change so much and change the way they see the world.
Each time Juma and Dutch meet they come away with a little bit of each other’s souls, and Juma is the only thing keeping Dutch from going completely into the darkness, never to be seen again.
In the background there is something building between the Gate and Death. We Are given only small hints and I’ll have to read the next book in the series to see what exactly will happen.
*Madhuri Pavamani will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via raffle copter during the tour.
Raffle Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/disp... to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC - a Raffleocpter giveaway
Au Madhuri Pavamani writes twisted love stories and dark poetry. She loves whiskey, tattoos, Bukowski, and yoga. She laughs constantly, says f*ck a lot, and dances anywhere. She is the author of the paranormal romance trilogy, THE SANCTUM, and the fantasy trilogy, THE KEEPER SERIES, published this year by St. Martin’s Press. She’s currently working on something evil and delicious.
You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @madhuriwrites
https://www.amazon.com/Dutch-Keeper-M...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
thor Bio:
April 3, 2017
Dutch by Madhuri Pavamani
The Keeper Series #1
Convoluted story of the handmaidens and servants of death and reincarnation – or at least I think it is. With Dutch a hereditary Keeper of the Gate and taker of lives and Juma a Poocha transferring souls between life and death their falling for one another is almost like a Romeo and Juliet story that happens on a different plane of existence. If you are looking for a novel with graphic violence and sex and a bit of the paranormal mixed in with urban fantasy then this might be a book that will interest you. That said, it is not always easy to follow the storyline and all of the characters but it is an intriguing read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
3.5 Stars
The Keeper Series #1
Convoluted story of the handmaidens and servants of death and reincarnation – or at least I think it is. With Dutch a hereditary Keeper of the Gate and taker of lives and Juma a Poocha transferring souls between life and death their falling for one another is almost like a Romeo and Juliet story that happens on a different plane of existence. If you are looking for a novel with graphic violence and sex and a bit of the paranormal mixed in with urban fantasy then this might be a book that will interest you. That said, it is not always easy to follow the storyline and all of the characters but it is an intriguing read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
3.5 Stars
August 16, 2015
Let's get something straight this book is not for everyone. It contains adult/mature content that isn't everyone's cup of tea. You have been forewarned...
Review:
DUTCH killed me! Wow. I was blown away with how surreal the characters were. Besides the naughtiness, Dutch and Juma have this chemistry that can capture anyone's attention. I loved how the characters felt real. This is the first book in the series, and my heart was broken into a thousand pieces! I was crying one minute, and the next minute I wanted to jump off a cliff. My emotions were everywhere. Madhuri played with my heart and officially won me over with Dutch. This book is straight forward. The plot was over the top, amazing, and full of plot twists that I wasn't expecting. Dutch made me cry. It's hard not to love Juma, but Dutch drives you to the point of insanity.
The characters were raw, intense, and jaw dropping insane. (My type of characters.) Madhuri wrote the book the way she wanted to, as she felt that most romance novels were missing were a little sauce. Like the author said we need more diverse romance books.
P.S. YOU KILLED ME.
*****Spoiler Alert******
- Death is sort of like the devil himself, but she makes deals with the dead.
- Poochas are Death's workers.
- The Gate is what separates the living from the dead.
- The Keepers kill Poochas.
THE PLOT IS SO CLEVER. I JUST NEED A MOMENT TO TAKE IT ALL IN.
Review:
DUTCH killed me! Wow. I was blown away with how surreal the characters were. Besides the naughtiness, Dutch and Juma have this chemistry that can capture anyone's attention. I loved how the characters felt real. This is the first book in the series, and my heart was broken into a thousand pieces! I was crying one minute, and the next minute I wanted to jump off a cliff. My emotions were everywhere. Madhuri played with my heart and officially won me over with Dutch. This book is straight forward. The plot was over the top, amazing, and full of plot twists that I wasn't expecting. Dutch made me cry. It's hard not to love Juma, but Dutch drives you to the point of insanity.
The characters were raw, intense, and jaw dropping insane. (My type of characters.) Madhuri wrote the book the way she wanted to, as she felt that most romance novels were missing were a little sauce. Like the author said we need more diverse romance books.
P.S. YOU KILLED ME.
*****Spoiler Alert******
- Death is sort of like the devil himself, but she makes deals with the dead.
- Poochas are Death's workers.
- The Gate is what separates the living from the dead.
- The Keepers kill Poochas.
THE PLOT IS SO CLEVER. I JUST NEED A MOMENT TO TAKE IT ALL IN.
December 17, 2015
Captivating.
Erotic.
Dark and twisted magic.
“Dutch (The Keeper Series, #1)” is a raw and lyrical story of love and hope and is filled with colorful and diverse characters from all walks of life and ethnicities (from Snellville, Georgia to New York to India). The diversity is refreshing and subtle at the same time - creating very vivid pictures of the amazing characters.
Dutch is the dark and demented Keeper. Discovering there is more to him than Old Scout bourbon, cigarettes, sex with women, and all the damn rules is like riding a roller coaster as you unpeel all the layers.
Juma is the love and light filled Poocha who is complex and sensual and a lover of all beings both men and women.
Death, both seductive and powerful, links the two. But it is the instinctive and erotic chemistry between Dutch and Juma and the hope they find together that draws you in and leaves you wanting more.
The book is lyrical and poetic. It is dark and twisted and full of magic. It is filled with raunchy sex and layered characters. It is imaginative and fantastical. Blaylock has a true gift in writing and creating stories that come alive.
#whendoweget#2?
Erotic.
Dark and twisted magic.
“Dutch (The Keeper Series, #1)” is a raw and lyrical story of love and hope and is filled with colorful and diverse characters from all walks of life and ethnicities (from Snellville, Georgia to New York to India). The diversity is refreshing and subtle at the same time - creating very vivid pictures of the amazing characters.
Dutch is the dark and demented Keeper. Discovering there is more to him than Old Scout bourbon, cigarettes, sex with women, and all the damn rules is like riding a roller coaster as you unpeel all the layers.
Juma is the love and light filled Poocha who is complex and sensual and a lover of all beings both men and women.
Death, both seductive and powerful, links the two. But it is the instinctive and erotic chemistry between Dutch and Juma and the hope they find together that draws you in and leaves you wanting more.
The book is lyrical and poetic. It is dark and twisted and full of magic. It is filled with raunchy sex and layered characters. It is imaginative and fantastical. Blaylock has a true gift in writing and creating stories that come alive.
#whendoweget#2?
April 6, 2017
Madhuri has a style all her own. She's in love with long sentences. Ones that twist and pull you through a range of emotions. All of it has a poetry that seduces you through the intricate and enthralling story of Dutch and Juma.
Dutch is the very epitome of mad, bad and good to know. He's that look from a guy at the far end of the bar. The one cast in shadows with a dirty smile.
Juma is EVERYTHING. She's sex and intelligence and has a mind and body made for filth and world domination.
This is the best kind of erotic urban fantasy. One that engages your emotions as well as your intellect and your sense of adventure. I can tell that she loves these characters. We are so close to them in their intimate moments that you can feel their breath and all the delicious tension between their bodies. And through them you see the gritty dichotomy of the New York we know and the one just beyond the pale in Dutch, The Keeper Series #1.
Dutch is the very epitome of mad, bad and good to know. He's that look from a guy at the far end of the bar. The one cast in shadows with a dirty smile.
Juma is EVERYTHING. She's sex and intelligence and has a mind and body made for filth and world domination.
This is the best kind of erotic urban fantasy. One that engages your emotions as well as your intellect and your sense of adventure. I can tell that she loves these characters. We are so close to them in their intimate moments that you can feel their breath and all the delicious tension between their bodies. And through them you see the gritty dichotomy of the New York we know and the one just beyond the pale in Dutch, The Keeper Series #1.
April 11, 2017
Caveat: I don't read erotica, (Catholic with a sheltered upbringing). It's not my "thing." But good writing /is/.
"Dutch," is the rare crossover that works. Combining erotica with the supernatural, it succeeds based on the compelling characters and, of course, skilled writing.
Our first protagonist is Dutch Mathew, beautiful, deadly, and an Olympic-class sexual athlete. He is also a Keeper. Working for the Gate, a Keeper's sole purpose is to find and eliminate Poocha--Death's minions who bring (the select few) second-chance recipients back amongst the living. A Poocha has nine lives. A Keeper is expected to take each and every one.
Jaded from years of depravity too delicious to spoil here, Dutch winnows through his existence, beyond pain, beyond fear, and beyond hope. His motivations are simple: spite for the Gate he serves and hedonism to drown his tortured soul. His disdain for the Gate--and his fellow keepers runs neck and neck with his disdain for Poocha. Only Death has his respect.
And then he meets Juma Landry, our second protagonist. Juma died when she was a child--but agreed to enter into Death's service upon adulthood for the opportunity to return to her life and family. Her passion for guiding the dead back to life and love is as hardwired as her insatiable desire. She is Death's best. But "best" comes with a price. Juma's name has "come up." She's been assigned a Keeper and this is her last life.
I read it written once that, "You don't build a world, you assume one." And so it is with Madhuri Pavamani's "Dutch." She dispenses with tedious exposition. Juma and Dutch put their world on with their clothes and breath it in with the tang of whiskey and the heady ether of sweaty sex. Much like New York, (the scene of their myriad crimes) there is no time for "How?" or "Why?" Things are what they are because they are.
For those who want it, there is a handy-dandy glossary. However, you certainly won't need it.
In less skilled hands, Dutch Mathew would be a bore, arrogant--cruel even and entirely un-relatable. But Madhuri Pavamani is as skilled as her Poocha. Dutch never descends to caricature or banality. But where Ms. Pavamani shines is Juma. Her pages beam in counter to the darkness surrounding her and Dutch. She moves--and screws--through a grey and menacing world but maintains her essence of "lemons, honey, grass, and light."
The sex scenes in "Dutch," build in pace and intensity much like the fight scenes in Robert B. Parker's novels and with just as much attention to mechanics and depiction. If I had to point to a fault, (and it was a stretch to do so) it is brevity. Ms. Pavamani gives us a taut, 342-page thriller without an ounce of fat.
I wanted more. But when is that a bad thing?
"Dutch," is the rare crossover that works. Combining erotica with the supernatural, it succeeds based on the compelling characters and, of course, skilled writing.
Our first protagonist is Dutch Mathew, beautiful, deadly, and an Olympic-class sexual athlete. He is also a Keeper. Working for the Gate, a Keeper's sole purpose is to find and eliminate Poocha--Death's minions who bring (the select few) second-chance recipients back amongst the living. A Poocha has nine lives. A Keeper is expected to take each and every one.
Jaded from years of depravity too delicious to spoil here, Dutch winnows through his existence, beyond pain, beyond fear, and beyond hope. His motivations are simple: spite for the Gate he serves and hedonism to drown his tortured soul. His disdain for the Gate--and his fellow keepers runs neck and neck with his disdain for Poocha. Only Death has his respect.
And then he meets Juma Landry, our second protagonist. Juma died when she was a child--but agreed to enter into Death's service upon adulthood for the opportunity to return to her life and family. Her passion for guiding the dead back to life and love is as hardwired as her insatiable desire. She is Death's best. But "best" comes with a price. Juma's name has "come up." She's been assigned a Keeper and this is her last life.
I read it written once that, "You don't build a world, you assume one." And so it is with Madhuri Pavamani's "Dutch." She dispenses with tedious exposition. Juma and Dutch put their world on with their clothes and breath it in with the tang of whiskey and the heady ether of sweaty sex. Much like New York, (the scene of their myriad crimes) there is no time for "How?" or "Why?" Things are what they are because they are.
For those who want it, there is a handy-dandy glossary. However, you certainly won't need it.
In less skilled hands, Dutch Mathew would be a bore, arrogant--cruel even and entirely un-relatable. But Madhuri Pavamani is as skilled as her Poocha. Dutch never descends to caricature or banality. But where Ms. Pavamani shines is Juma. Her pages beam in counter to the darkness surrounding her and Dutch. She moves--and screws--through a grey and menacing world but maintains her essence of "lemons, honey, grass, and light."
The sex scenes in "Dutch," build in pace and intensity much like the fight scenes in Robert B. Parker's novels and with just as much attention to mechanics and depiction. If I had to point to a fault, (and it was a stretch to do so) it is brevity. Ms. Pavamani gives us a taut, 342-page thriller without an ounce of fat.
I wanted more. But when is that a bad thing?
April 14, 2017
Dutch
Madhuri Pavamani
On earth, we all go about our daily lives, working, eating, sleeping. But there's a part of our world we don't see. The stage between life and death. The Keepers, the Poochas, the Gate, and Death herself. Their jobs are to control the afterlife. To ensure that the ones deserving get to return to their lives, and the undeserving ones meet their fate with Death.
"I am now thirty-seven, and let me tell you, this world is anything but magical. My name is Dutch Mathew I kill for The Gate and I am a Keeper."
In a deadly game of cat and mouse, Dutch finds himself chasing his most prized possession, Juma. Dutch is a Keeper, and his job is to rid the afterlife of Poochas. Juma is the ultimate Poocha, skilled at bringing the Deaders home to their loved ones. But when Juma's fate is decided, she must outsmart Death and her Keeper. Can Dutch complete his one assignment where the poocha means more than the next kill? And can Juma can survive the one thing that can end her heart and her soul?
"The path of nine lives, each filled with crossing the dead back to the living, each filled with power and love and magic, each filled with fear and loathing and pain. Because to truly live, one first must die, and my kind died nine times. Nine times."
Dutch is an interesting read. The way Madhuri writes is intoxicating. It's like nothing I've ever read before. The flow, and the adjectives used, sent my mind into a whirlwind! I had to go back a few times to process what I had just read! Madhuri sets up each scene with so much description, and feeling. Take your time with this one, it's an intense ride!
Tara
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Madhuri Pavamani
On earth, we all go about our daily lives, working, eating, sleeping. But there's a part of our world we don't see. The stage between life and death. The Keepers, the Poochas, the Gate, and Death herself. Their jobs are to control the afterlife. To ensure that the ones deserving get to return to their lives, and the undeserving ones meet their fate with Death.
"I am now thirty-seven, and let me tell you, this world is anything but magical. My name is Dutch Mathew I kill for The Gate and I am a Keeper."
In a deadly game of cat and mouse, Dutch finds himself chasing his most prized possession, Juma. Dutch is a Keeper, and his job is to rid the afterlife of Poochas. Juma is the ultimate Poocha, skilled at bringing the Deaders home to their loved ones. But when Juma's fate is decided, she must outsmart Death and her Keeper. Can Dutch complete his one assignment where the poocha means more than the next kill? And can Juma can survive the one thing that can end her heart and her soul?
"The path of nine lives, each filled with crossing the dead back to the living, each filled with power and love and magic, each filled with fear and loathing and pain. Because to truly live, one first must die, and my kind died nine times. Nine times."
Dutch is an interesting read. The way Madhuri writes is intoxicating. It's like nothing I've ever read before. The flow, and the adjectives used, sent my mind into a whirlwind! I had to go back a few times to process what I had just read! Madhuri sets up each scene with so much description, and feeling. Take your time with this one, it's an intense ride!
Tara
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 27, 2017
Free copy provided by Netgalley in return for an honest review
DNF at 1%
Publication date: 04th April 2017
Review date: 27th March 2017
So, the did not finish percentage looks bad. I read the prologue of this which should, by author definition, be gripping, drag the reader in and make them want to read more. It took me two days to read a three page prologue and I just didn’t want to read any more of it. I had other books to read for review, and other things to be doing and so I’m shelving this as a do not read. HOWEVER, there are a lot of positive reviews for this so some time in the future, I might read this later on in the year and give it a chance, but for now. It’s did not finish. Sorry, Pavamani.
DNF at 1%
Publication date: 04th April 2017
Review date: 27th March 2017
So, the did not finish percentage looks bad. I read the prologue of this which should, by author definition, be gripping, drag the reader in and make them want to read more. It took me two days to read a three page prologue and I just didn’t want to read any more of it. I had other books to read for review, and other things to be doing and so I’m shelving this as a do not read. HOWEVER, there are a lot of positive reviews for this so some time in the future, I might read this later on in the year and give it a chance, but for now. It’s did not finish. Sorry, Pavamani.
March 19, 2017
Dutch Mathew is a keeper for the Gate. What does a keeper's role involve? Killing. Oh, and trying to stop Death and her poochas from helping the dead come back to the land of the living. Juma is a poocha. Her boss is Death, herself. Yes, Death is a female. Juma will not let anyone stop her from doing her job.
So, the description of this book is what drew me in and wanted to read it. This book is on the darker end of the urban fantasy genre. I like this factor. Both Dutch and Juma are like an onion. They have many layers to them. As you expose more of these layers, you find out just who and what they are made of. This book had potential. However, the true classification for this book should be erotic urban fantasy. What with all of the sex that the characters were having including a three way and female on female. I have ready many erotic books in all genres, so I was not offended or shocked by the sex. My issue was that is all that it seemed to be was about sex. In the first third of the book that I read, almost every scene or chapter was sex. There was one brief moment where I got to see the results of Juma's abilities to help someone back to the living. Needless to say, I did not finish this book. For me, I needed more substance to go along with the sex.
So, the description of this book is what drew me in and wanted to read it. This book is on the darker end of the urban fantasy genre. I like this factor. Both Dutch and Juma are like an onion. They have many layers to them. As you expose more of these layers, you find out just who and what they are made of. This book had potential. However, the true classification for this book should be erotic urban fantasy. What with all of the sex that the characters were having including a three way and female on female. I have ready many erotic books in all genres, so I was not offended or shocked by the sex. My issue was that is all that it seemed to be was about sex. In the first third of the book that I read, almost every scene or chapter was sex. There was one brief moment where I got to see the results of Juma's abilities to help someone back to the living. Needless to say, I did not finish this book. For me, I needed more substance to go along with the sex.
April 5, 2017
Sexy Dutch, the Keeper of the Gate, battles to keep Death and her Poochas from entering the world of the living. He is dark, mysterious, loves sex and is damaged emotionally.
Juma is a confident, sexy woman of colour. Her tasks are to prepare the Poochas in order for them reclaim their lives among the living.
Death is controlling, sexy and powerful, but Juma has her way of distracting Death.
This book took me on a rollercoaster ride of love, danger, darkness and hot sex. There is an in depth of the characters and a well written story. Can't wait for the author's next book.
I'm volunteering an honest review for an advance reader's copy.
Juma is a confident, sexy woman of colour. Her tasks are to prepare the Poochas in order for them reclaim their lives among the living.
Death is controlling, sexy and powerful, but Juma has her way of distracting Death.
This book took me on a rollercoaster ride of love, danger, darkness and hot sex. There is an in depth of the characters and a well written story. Can't wait for the author's next book.
I'm volunteering an honest review for an advance reader's copy.
April 23, 2018
I wasn't a huge fan of the hero or the love at first sight plot point. So why five stars?It's original, fresh, inventive, and poetic. Vivid secondary characters and world-building. Rich emotional details. Tightly-knit story. I haven't read anything else like it.
n.b. There's a lot of sex between a lot of people in this book. The book really just sets up the next one, so it doesn't stand alone.
n.b. There's a lot of sex between a lot of people in this book. The book really just sets up the next one, so it doesn't stand alone.
September 17, 2017
Pavamani's writing style is a force of nature in this dark, gorgeous heart-stopping paranormal romance. Dutch & Juma are mesmerizing as individual characters and captivating when they're together.
The romance was gorgeous, the smut was the smuttiest I've ever read, and the author took us to some dark places before letting the audience see the shine again.
Can't wait to get my hands on Book 2.
The romance was gorgeous, the smut was the smuttiest I've ever read, and the author took us to some dark places before letting the audience see the shine again.
Can't wait to get my hands on Book 2.
September 15, 2017
After I read Juma months ago, it made me yearn to know the details of how her love story with Dutch started, and this book provided even more than the epic beginning I had been imagining since!
November 21, 2017
Review to come
August 18, 2015
DUTCH, the first book in the Keeper series by Madhuri Blaylock, is a dark urban fantasy romance that’s all kind of intense, sexy, and hot.
It’s also dark, violent and mixed with such a potent blend of pain, regret, and hope that you’ll be speeding trough pages steeped in gorgeous words and breathless moments, crossing your fingers that everything turns out all right.
Told from dual points of view, from people on two sides of the grim business of death. Dutch Matthews is a Keeper for the Gate and tasked with the job of keeping Deaths Poochas, like Juma Landry, “in line” and stopping them from sending formally dead occupants back into the world of the living. It’s a bloody, terrible business.
I love Juma and how fully and completely she is her own person. No simpering, no false bravado, or maudlin moments. She owns everything that she is and invites you to share it with her. I love what she is able to bring out of Dutch and how their romance is far from cliché.
In the beginning, Dutch is very much her opposite, he’s reached a point in his life where he’s shut everyone out and has grown a sharp, prickly exterior to keep anyone from getting too close. This might sound weird, but I also love how Madhuri writes him apologetically, there are no false notes added to his character to make to make him “likable” in the beginning, instead it’s almost like she’s daring you to stick around, as though she’s saying if you can’t handle his worse then you don’t deserve his best. And his best is Juma.
They practically burn up the page when they’re together. This is not the sort of book you read in public.
With DUTCH, Blaylock has crafted the beginnings of an intense, well written series, and has staked her claim in the realm of intelligent smut. Watch out world!
#WriteBitch4Life
Oh.
One more thing.
Avery’s HOT.
It’s also dark, violent and mixed with such a potent blend of pain, regret, and hope that you’ll be speeding trough pages steeped in gorgeous words and breathless moments, crossing your fingers that everything turns out all right.
Told from dual points of view, from people on two sides of the grim business of death. Dutch Matthews is a Keeper for the Gate and tasked with the job of keeping Deaths Poochas, like Juma Landry, “in line” and stopping them from sending formally dead occupants back into the world of the living. It’s a bloody, terrible business.
I love Juma and how fully and completely she is her own person. No simpering, no false bravado, or maudlin moments. She owns everything that she is and invites you to share it with her. I love what she is able to bring out of Dutch and how their romance is far from cliché.
In the beginning, Dutch is very much her opposite, he’s reached a point in his life where he’s shut everyone out and has grown a sharp, prickly exterior to keep anyone from getting too close. This might sound weird, but I also love how Madhuri writes him apologetically, there are no false notes added to his character to make to make him “likable” in the beginning, instead it’s almost like she’s daring you to stick around, as though she’s saying if you can’t handle his worse then you don’t deserve his best. And his best is Juma.
They practically burn up the page when they’re together. This is not the sort of book you read in public.
With DUTCH, Blaylock has crafted the beginnings of an intense, well written series, and has staked her claim in the realm of intelligent smut. Watch out world!
#WriteBitch4Life
Oh.
One more thing.
Avery’s HOT.
October 15, 2015
Dutch is something so different than anything I've ever read before. I've read lots of paranormal books and Madhuri Baylock's Dutch could have its own sub-genre. Meet Dutch a arrogant, handsome, deadly assisting who has a instatiable appetite for women. He doesn't allow kissing, cuddling, or touching just raw hard core sex. He's a Keeper for The Gate, the shadowy organization designed to control Death and her Poochas, those reclaimer a helping the dead cross back to life. Juma is a Poocha who loves to touch, talk, cuddle, and have sex with anyone she desires. She doesn't hold back from life but lives it to the fullest because she has already died once and knows what she could be missing. This world of Madhuri Baylock is full of hot sex, drama, suspense, action, and killing. It's not for the faint of heart. The first half of the book is full of information and flashes to the past that Dutch and Juma have experienced. Juma just became Dutch's next assignment but he's has feelings for her that he hasn't experienced in years. Juma and Dutch both love hot crazy sex but he's detached while she's fully involved. Can the Gate Keeper and The Poocha have a future or will they destroy each other? Book 1 takes the reader on a journey into a unique sexy fairytale with lots of raunch and a twist of romance
August 20, 2015
Whoa! Dutch: Book One of the Keeper Series was my introduction to a fantasy world of erotic adventure and suspense. For readers familiar with this genre, they will likely breeze through this well-written read. The two main characters - Juma and Dutch - had me on an emotional rollercoaster. While Juma is easy to love instantly given her past and present circumstances, Dutch requires a bit of patience. He's very complex - crude but thoughtful, sexually aggressive yet it's clear he longs for a more meaningful relationship, plus he's sensitive but sarcastic. He's the type of character you want to slap in the face and hug at the same time. But the complexity of Dutch is what makes him *real*. Before long I found compassion for both of them. Juma and Dutch's stories are woven together beautifully and I'm a sucker for diverse romance, a strong plot, and elements of fantasy. Dutch definitely fit the bill. For readers new to this genre, open your mind and find a nice, quiet place to enjoy Blaylock's latest read. Warning: You will definitely find yourself blushing and clutching your pearls! Bring on book 2! (Disclosure: I received an advanced readers copy and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review).
October 16, 2015
Dutch is an incredible read full of intensity!! Between the sex and the suspenseful thrills i was totally and completely hooked! Two people from opposite worlds, collide and become a force to be reckoned with. I loved this story and can not wait for book 2. Dutch and Juma have gone through hell and back, it was simply fate that has brought them together. Death plays a nasty game with the both of them, but she is much nicer than the Dutchs father and his nasty right-hands that do his dirty work. Both Dutch and Juma are the best at what they do. Them being together in any shape or form puts their lives at risk every second. Will they be able to beat the odds? What happens when Dutchs father finds out? Will Death allow this relationship to continue? Find out in this dark urban paranormal which is most definately a MUST READ!!!
September 3, 2015
How many times can I say I loved it?
The first 3 chapters had me in a mental spin......... as I was trying to understand the complexity of Keepers, Poochas and the balance with Death...but then everything fell into place and I must say it is well written.
Now, the Erotica in this book is RAW, PRIMAL and Oh Sooooo Good!!!
The end of the book had me groaning in frustration.......... I did NOT see a cliffhanger coming. (Going to try and practice this "Patience thing.")
Will be following & reading more of Madhuri Blaylock's works in future.
Recommend it to all Urban Fantasy readers and lovers of Erotica.
The first 3 chapters had me in a mental spin......... as I was trying to understand the complexity of Keepers, Poochas and the balance with Death...but then everything fell into place and I must say it is well written.
Now, the Erotica in this book is RAW, PRIMAL and Oh Sooooo Good!!!
The end of the book had me groaning in frustration.......... I did NOT see a cliffhanger coming. (Going to try and practice this "Patience thing.")
Will be following & reading more of Madhuri Blaylock's works in future.
Recommend it to all Urban Fantasy readers and lovers of Erotica.
September 22, 2017
Great start to this series. This is a paranormal read with a bit of a dark side. The story is fast-paced with plenty of drama. The characters are what really draw you into the story. Dutch and Juma are amazing characters with steamy chemistry and so much emotion. I was hooked on their journey from beginning to end. I really liked it.
September 25, 2017
4.5 Stars
Not for the faint of heart or prudes. :-) ... Longer Review to Follow ... Soon☺
Not for the faint of heart or prudes. :-) ... Longer Review to Follow ... Soon☺
dnf
December 10, 2017Could not get into the series... sadly.
The characters were constantly horny with zero impulse control and I love my smut.
The characters were constantly horny with zero impulse control and I love my smut.
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