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Keep Her Forever

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When Topaz finds a stray dog cowering under her car, she knows she’ll need help. One phone call brings a beautiful, witty volunteer to her side. Heidi coaxes the dog out, but the service comes with a the awakening of persistent cravings Topaz has fought to subdue. In all her years volunteering with the animal rescue, Heidi never knew meeting a cute girl could be a perk of her position. But while Topaz's sultry style and soft heart immediately intrigue her, Heidi struggles to figure out if Topaz is even into women. Things only get more complicated when she realizes the dog is pregnant - and that Topaz won't be able to foster her alone. Heidi's looking for a place to stay and Topaz has a room to spare, so they agree she'll move in and help take care of Diamond. Will Heidi's crush on her "straight" roommate be too painful to bear? Or will Topaz finally accept herself, and her feelings for Heidi?

218 pages, Paperback

Published October 2, 2017

53 people are currently reading
49 people want to read

About the author

Maria Jackson

13 books19 followers
Author also writes as:
Abraham Steele
A.R. Steele

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

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5 stars
36 (30%)
4 stars
38 (31%)
3 stars
32 (26%)
2 stars
11 (9%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for AnnMaree Of Oz.
1,510 reviews131 followers
May 20, 2020
A short sweet story, featuring ladies and puppies, but with just a small amount of drama.

Apparently this was previously an m/m book too, (why I've suddenly hit onto these I dunno?) but it seemed to work a lot better than others, I assume some actual editing and rewriting went into it. But it still has a few problems since that was the previous outlook, so it very much seemed more masculine in some interactions.
Profile Image for Ameliah Faith.
859 reviews43 followers
February 16, 2020
Beyond Adorable
I loved this story so much!! Topaz finds a stray dog under her car and can’t get it out. She calls a rescue place and the lovely Heidi shows up to help. After chatting a bit, Topaz learns Heidi needs a new place to live and since her roommate just moved out, Topaz invites the young woman to move in. After all, she is going to need a lot of help with a pregnant dog to care for…

This is a wonderful story! There is a lot about the dog and the puppies but there is a whole lot of relationship stuff in here too. It’s a slow burn romance with a lot of angst but a happy, happy, happy ending that will leave you feeling all warm and contented…. So good…
365 reviews42 followers
October 12, 2017
Previously published m/m as Crushed by A. R. Steele.

Topez and Heidi meet by chance. Topez finds a lost, starving, pregnant and terrified dog under her car. She tries to coax her out, but she doesn't have a way with dog whispering. Two calls later, she stumbles upon an animal rescue responder. Heidi offers to lend a hand and her expert advice. Between the two, Diamond comes out from under the car and waltzes into their lives. Heidi volunteers to visit every day, but lives across town. Topez has just lost her roommate Cindy and suggests that Heidi move into her house. Moving fast enough?

Topez learned to deny all of her feelings from her disapproving parents. Crying was out at age five. At fifteen, her budding lesbian identity was given the boot. Her safe and unsatisfied world ends when Heidi, an out lesbian, Diamond, an adorable rescue animal and five beagi (beagle and corgi mix) puppies claim her. Keep Her Forever is sweet. Love makes for a perfect rescue remedy.

I was happily, surprised that in this gender do over novel, pronouns didn't pose a problem. I find it insulting when women characters think of themselves as him or himself. Word search and substitution can't be all that difficult. Computers do the work in these reimagined hybrids. Although I doubt that parents work so hard to destroy their daughters emotional expression. Five seems like an abusive age to shame a child to stop crying. Pushing men to hide their feelings seems more likely, but not any less abusive. Topez lived for ten years against her own desires just to safeguard an unhealthy relationship with her folks. Passing as straight worked for them, but not for her. As a strong, independent woman, Topez gave up finding happiness to please people who didn't act like they even cared about her. Unconditional love found her, even if she wasn't always ready to keep it forever.
652 reviews8 followers
February 25, 2018
Totally adorable story!

What an adorable story! Topaz and Heidi were so sweet and with such chemistry. Let’s not forget Diamond and her puppies! The whole storyline was so cute and very well done!
Profile Image for Dorothy Bennett.
Author 7 books29 followers
March 5, 2019
This lesbian romance is both fun and touching for me. Topez and Heidi are delightful heroines, partly because they both have enough quirks to make them interesting. Topez, who has no experience with dogs, finds a lost dog under her car and calls an animal rescue group for help. This call brings an animal lover, Heidi, to entice the dog out from under the car. The dog is pregnant, leading to an immediate foster placement in Topez's home, with Heidi there to instruct and assist. Take it from there. Both women have difficult family issues, leading to their quirkiness. But thanks in part to Diamond and her six puppies, the two women eventually work everything out. Fun story. My first novel by Maria Jackson and certainly not my last! Dogs will do it every time!
Profile Image for moxieBK.
1,763 reviews4 followers
May 4, 2018
Keep Her Forever — Maria Jackson (25 chapters + Epilogue) April 29-May 3, 2018

The chapters rotate back and forth between Heidi and Topaz, but not every chapter in the characters complete voice. Also, there is several grammatical/formatting errors in my version of the book. They look like this:

4. [Ed. Note: the number and a paragraph of the story follows, both indented.]

There is one section where there are several numbers/paragraphs like this. I really didn’t know what it meant.

The story was OK, but more of a coming out with sexy bits. I think I have grown past these kind of stories and am looking for more sophisticated ones. The dog subplot was a cute aspect to the story and gave it some life, but Diamond stole all of the scenes.

The characters were written realistic and communicated well with each other.

I thought is would be a quick read; it turned out to take me longer. I don’t think it was necessarily draggy; it didn’t engaged me as much as I had hoped they would.

Two stars. (Remember, this does not mean it a bad book; it was just OK. If you are into coming out stories with a few slightly sexy bits, you would really like this book. It’s, of course, a HEA.)
Profile Image for AC.
340 reviews5 followers
March 20, 2018
It is hard to resist a book that begins with a woman rescuing a dog. Watching Topaz struggle with the turmoil within, that was imprinted by parents with conditions on their love, was difficult for me. There are several paragraphs in the book that jumped out and grabbed me, as they reached deep within my own past emotional struggles to accept myself. "Keep Her Forever" is not just about finding that person you connect with on all levels, but finding yourself as well. As Topaz gains the inner strength to accept herself, she learns that accepting a relationship with Heidi is something worth keeping, hoping that Heidi will want that, too. Sometimes love sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
Profile Image for Kathryn.
477 reviews80 followers
April 27, 2018
The synopsis of the book sounded interesting. I love stories where dogs are a part of it. This story has a sweet, shy young dog in it that turns out to be pregnant. So you get the sweet dog and the cute puppies but absolutely no chemistry between the two main characters. The story is a little dull, nothing new.
Profile Image for Amanda.
66 reviews4 followers
May 5, 2020
Feel good slow burn

Nothing like a good f/f romance that starts slow and has a few bumps along the way - throw in a stray pregnant dog = new puppies, questioning/repressed sexual identity and we end up with a fabulous happily ever after storyline! Loved the bonus chapter at the end 🙃
Profile Image for Carolyn G. Manuel.
1,070 reviews
January 24, 2021
Dog Rescues Two Humans

Topaz and Heidi meet when Topaz finds a dog under her car and call a dog rescue to help her. When they discover the dog is pregnant Topaz wants to foster her but needs help. Their rescue mission leads to a roommate arrangement and growing relationship. A sweet HEA romance. Recommend.
Profile Image for Marty Preslar.
Author 3 books14 followers
January 14, 2018
Cute

A cute story, with some heavier moments mixed in. The obvious chemistry between the two leading ladies adds to the charm, but the extreme emotional repression in one of the characters can be a bit jarring.
Profile Image for Jennifer Hilliger.
65 reviews
January 28, 2018
I couldn't stop reading this.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it all the way through in one sitting. I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book. The dogs and puppies sound absolutely adorable. I highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for Ashley.
83 reviews1 follower
March 26, 2018
4.5 stars, this was a nice fluffy read, very cute. I liked the dog rescue plot as well. For some reason I didn't like Topaz very much at first but I began to as I read on. Heidi's personality was more appealing to me and it could have partly been that Topaz had some trust issues at first.
230 reviews3 followers
April 25, 2018
Good read

I really live this book, because this is what's really going on in the world now, with people afraid of their own sexuality and what others think.I really enjoyed😊 reading this 📚 😙
499 reviews2 followers
June 4, 2020
Great book

I loved this book. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming because there was the loss of a puppy. In the end it worked out because they got to foster a lot more dogs and adopted kids of their own.
Profile Image for Heather Henkel.
1,404 reviews23 followers
March 1, 2018
Good book

I enjoyed reading this story. I love books about foster and rescue animals. I liked the way the relationship developed between the two women as well.
123 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2018
Closeted

Two meet. Twice the attraction to each other. Only one is deep in the closet. Love, a sweet dog, and puppies have a way of changing that. Read the story of Topaz and Heidi. How circumstances worked out for their good. Cute storyline. Fantastic story.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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