The Keepers

The Keepers Trilogy #1

by Heather Graham

At the core of New Orleans lie the otherworldly vampires and shape-shifters that hide in plain sight among mankind. As one of the Keepers, an elite group possessing superior skill and strength, Fiona MacDonald's duty is to maintain peace in a place where one vampire's bite could ignite war. When Detective Jagger DeFarge, a vampire, is called in at the discovery of a body drained of blood, both the detective and Fiona must join uneasy forces.

Jagger will stop at nothing to find the murderer� including working with the sensual and suspicious Fiona. As more die, it becomes clear that this isn't the work of an ordinary vampire. No one is safe. So when the killer's attention turns to Fiona, will Jagger risk destroying his own species to protect the woman he so passionately desires?

The Keepers: Three extraordinary sisters, balancing the duties of their birthrights and the yearnings of their hearts…

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Fantasy, Ebooks, Harlequin Nocturne

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

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

[Eva (TXBookjunkie) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the heroine and didn't understand why the heroine was so confrontational towards the hero in the beginning of the story. How could you be an effective Keeper if you were so disdainful of the ones you oversaw? I liked the hero, but I just didn't feel the chemistry between the hero and heroine (mostly due to her obvious disdain of him - tho not as heavy of a dislike as her sister's - to 'he's hot; I have serious feelings for him' turnabout). What did he see in her?

It's been a while since I've read a Graham book, so I don't recall if her writing style has always been so "tell instead of show". Some of the dialogue during the meetings seemed overly long (I admit it - I skimmed those scenes). I did enjoy the descriptiveness of the setting (NOLA, cemeteries). The prologue explaining the world this book is set in (vampires, werewolves, etc) was nice but starts out a bit like a ramble before it gets to it's main point. Graham did keep me guessing until the end on who the killer they were looking for may be.

However, this book didn't work for me. (netGalley ARC)

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just expect more from a heather Graham book than I got from this one. I mean, it had an awesome premise but it just didn't live up to it. I understood the female lead to be around thirty, but she acted more like a bratty sixteen for some reason. Based on her behavior there's no way she would have been a respected leader.
Then there's the romance, or as it might be more accurately put "oh, okay, they're having sex now...that was random." hell, with their incredibly random sexual behavior, half the time I was trying to figure out if one of then was a shapeshifter!
I wanted the villain to be less obvious. seriously, it was pretty damn obvious that it was NOT one of the much maligned vampires. And my other peeve was the lack of motivation for the villain. Seriously, a random sentence saying she wanted power and some random vampire in the past wouldn't bone her DOES NOT ADEQUATE MOTIVATION MAKE
I still really appreciate heather Graham's writing, this book was just randomly really bad.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiona and her sisters live in New Orleans and keep the peace there. But they are not cops. Each sister is a keeper of a hidden race consisting either of vampires, werewolves, or shapeshifters. Fiona is the keeper for vampires and someone is killing and draining the blood from beautiful blond women and leaving them in a cemetery.

It is up to Fiona, as keeper, to stake rogue vampires. But first she has to catch the vampire. Jagger is a cop and is in charge of the investigation of the murders, but he is also a vampire.

Can Fiona trust him to bring one of his own kind to justice?

I found this book a bit underdone. The buildup of the attraction between the two main characters just did not work very well for me. First they fight like cats and dogs then they are in bed together. The transition was abrupt and not very well done but the plot was pretty good with a nice twist.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Jagger, he’s a cool vampire cop. I kind of figured out who the killer was a little more than halfway through the book. I was happy I was correct! Lol

[Sugar Mami · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro no tiene un gran reto como lectura paranormal...eso si el desenlace buenísimo...jamas lo hubiese pensado...lectura bastante liviana con personajes que se pudieron desarrolllar mejor...esta vez le doy tres estrellas...

[Wicked Lil Pixie (Natasha) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Keepers is the first book in a trilogy written by three different authors (Heather Graham, Deborah LeBlanc & Alexandra Sokoloff) about three sisters. Each is a Keepers of a different paranormal race (Vampires, Shifters & Were’s). Book number one focuses on Fiona McDonald, the oldest of the siblings. Fiona is the Keeper of the vampires & the most level headed on her siblings.

Fiona has taken care of her sisters since both of their parents put their lives on the line & died fighting to save their “charges” in a war between them all. Since then, there has been peace between all the supernatural races, until vampire Detective Jagger DeFarge finds a body drained of blood. Together Fiona & Jagger must unite as well as save the supernaturals from going back to war with each other.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Keepers! I loved Jagger right from the start, Fiona took a bit of warming up to though. She came off as cold right off the bat, especially since Jagger isn’t that fond of her himself. But when they start working together, it gets steamy! The story line was fast paces & pretty intense, when I found out who the killer was I was shocked. Which I absolutely love in a book, not being able to guess who the baddie is!

We get to meet Fiona’s sisters (Caitlin & Shauna), I really can’t stand Caitlin but Shauna is awesome. Caitlin has big issues with Jagger because he is a vampire, which is what killer their parents. That alone makes for some interesting dynamics & pretty heated scenes.

Overall, The Keepers is a great start to the trilogy & it made me want to learn more about the McDonald Sisters…even Caitlin.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: The Keepers

[Hari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes I’m still reading them. Yes they’re still crap.

[Rhonda 🌒🌕🌘 🐈‍⬛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟4/5
❤️‍🩹3/5
🥰4/5
🌶️3/5
🔎3/5
😰4/5
🎭😂2/5
🎭😭0/5
👻0/5
🔬0/5
🔫2/5
🏥0/5
✍🏼5/5
🥱0/5
🏃🏻‍♀️5/5
🌎5/5
💁🏻‍♀️5/5
🙅🏻‍♀️

⚠️⛔️TRIGGERS:⛔️⚠️
Courtesy of StoryGraph

*None listed*

Murder
Death
Blood
Gore
Violence
Gun Violence
Sexual Content
Gaslighting
Stalking

🤔🧐🤯MY THOUGHTS:🤯🧐🤔

I believe I will enjoy this series. I’m loving the characters and storyline so far. Jagger sounds delicious! I’m a sucker for blood suckers 🤷🏻‍♀️. I think Fiona will be an excellent heroine.

Apparently, this is not a very well known series done by Graham. This was published in 2010 but only has 56 reviews on StoryGraph. This shocks me because Graham is pret well known. Granted, not for this genre but usually when I like an author I devour everything they’ve written. Surely I’m not the only one that does this.

🗯️💬BOOK BLURB:💬🗯️

At the core of New Orleans lie the otherworldly vampires and shape-shifters that hide in plain sight among mankind. As one of the Keepers, an elite group possessing superior skill and strength, Fiona MacDonald's duty is to maintain peace in a place where one vampire's bite could ignite war. When Detective Jagger DeFarge, a vampire, is called in at the discovery of a body drained of blood, both the detective and Fiona must join uneasy forces.

Jagger will stop at nothing to find the murderer� including working with the sensual and suspicious Fiona. As more die, it becomes clear that this isn't the work of an ordinary vampire. No one is safe. So when the killer's attention turns to Fiona, will Jagger risk destroying his own species to protect the woman he so passionately desires?

The Keepers: Three extraordinary sisters, balancing the duties of their birthrights and the yearnings of their hearts…

🌎📖OVERALL REVIEWS📖🌎
Courtesy of Storygraph

3.19⭐️
based on 56 reviews
MOODS
emotional: 100%
dark: 50%
mysterious: 50%
tense: 50%
Pace
100%
100% of readers chose medium
Medium
Plot or character driven?
50%
50% of readers chose Plot
50%
50% of readers chose A mix
Plot
A mix
Strong character development?
50%
50% of readers chose Yes
50%
50% of readers chose No
Yes
No
Loveable characters?
50%
50% of readers chose Yes
50%
50% of readers chose Complicated
Yes
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters?
50%
50% of readers chose Yes
50%
50% of readers chose Complicated
Yes
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus?
100%
100% of readers chose Yes
Yes

RATING KEY:

🌟 Stars - based on the overall plot and theme or idea of the book
❤️‍🩹 Emotions - based on how emotional I got while reading
🥰 Romance - based on how well I got invested in the love story aspect
🌶️ Spice - based on how the sex scenes were portrayed and written as well as the number of sex scenes
🔎 Mystery - based on how well it kept me guessing who, how and why
😰 Scared🫣/Anxious😱 - based on how scared or anxious the book made me while reading
🎭 Comedy😂/Tragedy😭
-based on if I laughed or if there was a tragic event and how it affected me. I will mark the Masks with either a C or T to indicate Comedy or Tragedy
👻 Spooky😵‍💫/Creepy🧟‍♀️ -based on if this had any occult or paranormal themes and if those elements creeped me out or gave me anxiety!
🔬 Sci-Fi -based on the Science Fiction in the book as well as the Dystopian elements.
🔫 Action/Thriller -based on if I thought this was more of a spy action type of thriller.
🏥 Medical Content -based on the amount and the accuracy of any medical content or if the book is supposed to be a medical style thriller.
✍🏼 Writing Style -based on if I enjoyed the writing style or not and how the author portrayed the world, characters, concept, plot etc.
🥱 Boredom -based on if I was bored if it held my interest or if I’d rather be doing something else 😴.
🏃🏻‍♀️ Book Pacing -Based on how quickly I thought the book moved.
🌎 World Development -Based on how well I liked the world development of the story.
💁🏻‍♀️ Character Development -Based on how well the characters were fleshed out and if I hated or loved with a passion.
🙅🏻‍♀️ DNF -based on if the book is just stupid, boring, childish, overly ridiculous etc.

**rounded up or down based on how the book left me feeling and because Goodreads doesn’t offer half stars.

***Triggers are listed most to least severe.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

As one of the three sisters tasked with keeping the balance between the most populous groups of supernatural beings in New Orleans, Fiona MacDonald's duty as Keeper for the vampires is both a birthright and an honor. Though she's human, the mark of the Keeper imbues her with the power of a vampire and the ability to alter her form as one. Her parents' sacrifice to end a war between the races imbued her with a deep sense of responsibility for her calling and left her to raise her two younger sisters, one the Keeper of shapeshifters, the other, the Keeper for werewolves.

When a young woman's body is found drained of blood, an apparent victim of a vampire, the murder sparks unrest among the supernatural races, and along with NOPD homicide detective and vampire Jagger DeFarge, Fiona takes responsibility for finding and stopping a killer whose actions could spark another war and make humans aware of the magical creatures that share their world.

The body count rises, and Fiona and Jagger are drawn closer together as they race to find the monster slaughtering young, beautiful blonds... Young, beautiful blonds like Fiona and her sisters, actually...

While I've enjoyed many books by Heather Graham, I'm sad to say this isn't one of them. The premise is solid and the concept is pretty interesting: a trilogy about three special sisters written by three separate authors. The prologue was nicely done. It set up the world, framing the history and mythology in lyrical prose and starting the book off on strong footing.

Unfortunately, that was the beginning of the end for me. There were too many things that either weren't explained, were explained poorly, or just didn't work. The narrative, while at times lyrical of prose, was repetitive of content, and the dialogue was both repetitive and florid, often lacking a natural conversational cadence.

The suspense plot thread was weak and ripe with cliche, the romance between the lead characters lacked both foundation and development, and the murder investigation aspects were ghastly, seeming to mostly consist of Jagger walking the streets of New Orleans praying a clue would fall at his feet, holding a press conference for the media, or addressing the paranormal community. During the press conference and meeting with the races, the same questions were asked and the same answers given. Every time. It took three deaths before Jagger even thought to tell the crime scene technician that the three similar nightgowns in which the dead girls were found were a clue and should be tested and traced, for pity's sake! That the tech had to be told that at all is disturbing enough, but three murders in it made the "investigation" seem a bit ludicrous.

After the framework provided by the prologue, there was very little fleshed out about the nature of vampires. Several references were made to Fiona to "change" to vampire, but beyond a few times of going to mist, little was explained or described about that change. Jagger is a vampire, but I have no idea how old he is, and his ability to walk around during the day with sunscreen and shades was never explained.

As lead characters they were very two dimensional, and while I liked Jagger well enough despite it, Fiona was just a pain. Inexperienced I could understand, as she's young, but I have a hard time with stupidity, and her naivety and gauche persistence really bothered me as she wormed her way into the investigation with sleuthing skills...and common sense...that left so much to be desired. It also felt like about eighty percent of her dialogue consisted solely of her proclaiming ad nauseum to everyone remotely connected to the supernatural community and the investigation that she was the Keeper. Apparently it's that thirty billionth time that's the charm.

Secondary characters didn't fare much better, and at least one of Fiona's sisters was darn near unlikable with her oft repeated vampire prejudice...and her oft repeated reason for it. Repetition was definitely a theme throughout the book in every facet. I can't tell you how many times it was stated that it had to be a vampire that was killing the women. It must have been. It had to be! It was a vampire (or possibly a shapeshifter, but most likely not). It was a vampire! Uh...yeah.

Perhaps one of the largest of the larger problems, though, is that Graham spent way too much time telling readers facts that were unsupported by the story. Fiona was as strong as a vampire and able to do her duty, but all evidence pointed to the contrary. Jagger was the best man for the investigation and is a very good cop, despite all evidence to the contrary. There was way too much evidence to the contrary in this book about a myriad of things. And what ever happened to the plot thread of the customer who has danger in her future? That was developed, then dropped, but maybe it'll be developed in one of the other two books.

Too many things went wrong in this book for me, to the point that finishing it was far more a chore than it should have been. It was an unpleasant surprise, really, given my previous experiences with Heather Graham's books. Even knowing that two other authors complete the trilogy started here, I'm leery of continuing this series. Neither of the remaining two sisters struck me as any better than Fiona as they were introduced by Graham. That's a shame, because I did like the premise and the concept very much.

~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Keepers are three sisters with supernatural powers, whose duty is to maintain peace among the vampires, shape shifters and werewolves in New Orleans, Louisiana. Each of the sisters has their specialty. This story focuses on the oldest sister, Fiona MacDonald, who watches over the vampire population. When a young woman is found murdered in an unusual way, it appears that one of the vampires in the community has crossed the line. It is now up to Fiona and Detective Jagger DeFarge, who is also a vampire, to find the killer before he strikes again.

[Emziethebookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a preety good solid start to the keepers a mean I've read vampire books but not like this one.
This one was amazing from listening to the first chapter which had me going for good while, no distractions or nothing.
The plot was really good and the characters were really good too.
Can't wait to either read or listen to the rest of this trilogy.

[Lynn Pohlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather Graham is always a favorite author. Excellent descriptions, interesting characters and paranormal mystery. The locations are fun and atmospheric. If you're trying a new author you can hardly go wrong with Heather Graham.

[Dantegideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everyone was very... wordy. Got to the bit where the guy gives a two page speech, off the cuff and apropos of nothing in particular, about the virtues of love and friendship, and decided that was enough. Vampire Frasier?

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An early book by Heather Graham now out in audio. I always enjoy her stories involving paranormal characters and events and this one met expectations. It’s the first of a trilogy and I hope the next two are available soon.

[Sabrina Samples · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story. Period. You need to read it now!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is interesting but the characters are not well depicted and the plot mechanisms are cliched. The whole novel felt a bit rushed and unpolished.

[Nancy Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Keepers

A whodunnit that I never would have guessed who did it. Very enjoyable read. I really love this author’s books.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good trilogy.

[Ingrid van Straaten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured this book!! Excellent

[Hope Szabo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must be changing. Real world is so much scarier. It was a good read. Well written. On to the next.

[Adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent crime story. Great premise. The heroine is under developed--we never even see her shift in the book. The erotic scenes are good.

[Lacey Finley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book but I think they were trying to do too much and the ending felt a little scrambled, still liked it just didn’t love it.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I was into it, I didn't want to put the book down. I have read a lot of Heather Graham's books and this one is definitely not my favorite. Fiona and Jagger's relationship progresses in a way that doesn't feel entirely natural. The book just doesn't seem as well rounded or paced as some of Graham's other books. All of this being said, I would definitely be interested in reading the other two books in The Keepers trilogy.

[MARQUETTA · Rating 1 out of 5]

Detective DeFarge is called to a murder scene. A woman is completely drained of blood. There are no marks on her body, no wounds except for a the tiny hole showing the tell-tell mark of a vampire's bite. Jagger knows that if there's a rogue vampire out there killing humans, that this could start a war among the supernatural species - vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, faeries and the like. This is where Fiona steps in. She's a Keeper. She was born with the mark of the bat so she's the Keeper of the vampires. It is her duty to make sure that the vampire community stays in line. Fiona doesn't trust Jagger to do his job to the fullest. Because Jagger is a vampire, Fiona doesn't believe that Jagger will be able to kill his own kind if the murderer turns out to be a vampire. So she makes sure to stay in the loop and in his face while he investigates the murder.

I'm going to start off by saying that this book was a DNF for me. I read about 40% of the book after putting it down several times before I finally had to put it down for good. It was to difficult read as much as I did. I took an instant dislike to Fiona's character. She had no faith in Jagger to do his job and find the killer. He's a cop with a good reputation. I didn't understand why she didn't trust him, other than the fact that he's a vampire. Fiona has a huge disdain for vampires. As far as I could tell, he'd never given her a reason to think that he wouldn't do his job. Fiona had a chip on her shoulder the size of Texas. Every other sentence out of her mouth was, "I'm the Keeper." or "I'm a Keeper." and my favorite "I'm your Keeper." She had an obvious dislike, borderline hatred, for vampires. Maybe if I'd read the entire book, some light would have been shed on Fiona's strong feelings regarding vampires. It was hinted that she blamed vampires for her death of her parents. That could have been her issue but I will never know.

The part of the plot that completely did me in was when Fiona and Jagger had sex. For me, it was totally and completely out of the blue. There was absolutely no build-up to this moment. Yes, there were mentions of how beautiful Jagger thought she was and how sexy Fiona that Jagger looked but other than that, nothing. It made no sense for them to go from 0-60 with nothing, absolutely nothing in between. No stolen kisses. No mild flirting. No making out. Nothing! So imagine my surprise when he goes back to her place and they start getting it on. And because of my utter disbelief that two people who have no sexual chemistry and such utter disdain for each other was about to get it on, I didn't even read the sex scene. I skipped over it and then decided to not finish the book.

This is the first DNF review I've written since I started my blog. I wasn't sure if I was going to review the book or not but decided that I should be honest with my readers. The Keepers didn't work for me on many levels. The main characters had no chemistry so I didn't find it feasible that there would be a romance. What romance there was, I didn't think it was fully developed. Fiona is a character that I could not sympathize with and did not like. She had no redeeming qualities and in my opinion, was bitchy and angry towards Jagger for no apparent reason. I could not connect to the characters or the plot. This story just didn't work for me.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting: New Orleans – Little Bit of Magic; Underworld; MacDonald mansion – each sister has own part;

Theme: stepping into the role you’re meant to have… finding the confidence to make it; falling in love;

Characters:
Keepers – to keep the balance between humans and the others (who now hide in plain sight);

Jen and Ewan MacDonald: parents; Keepers; excellent at their job; when war about to breakout in the other’s community – when a vampire and shapeshifter fell in love… and in some mysterious way, they used their ‘powers’ to stop a war – but gave their lives… leaving their young daughters (15, 17, 19ish) to carry on;

Fiona MacDonald: born with sign of the winged being – bat- (vampires); she kept the family together after their parent’s deaths, and deeply feels the responsibility to fill her parent’s shoes with the community; has the ‘powers’ of the vampire (mist/flight, speed, strength) without needing blood;

Caitlin MacDonald: born with sign of the mercurial sign of the shapeshifter;

Shauna MacDonald: born with the sign of the fang of the werewolves:

Detective Jagger DeFarge: vampire; older; big heart; detective; wants to keep the peace – and does his job well;

Detective Tony Miro: Jagger’s human partner;

August Gaudin: werewolf; friend to the MacDonald’s;

David DuLac: the head of the vampires, owner of Underworld club; the meeting place for others;

Valentina: shapeshifter, David’s bitchy matre’d;

Mateas Grenard: vampire; new to town; not shy about expressing opinions where humans are less than;

Jennie Mahoney: untitled queen of the shapeshifters; ends up that she wants war;

Billy: vampire; frat boy; sweet; under suspicion;

Abigail: fellow university student; murdered by the vampire killer; wakes up in the morgue a vampire… and Billy is there – he protects her from Jagger & Fiona who planned to stake her;

Summary:
A bit too much of keeping the peace… why would it matter if ‘others’ fall in love? Why is it war worthy?

But besides hawking on that over and over, the storyline was interesting…
Outer structure – young, blonde women are being found in crypts, drained of blood, wearing white nightgown – apparently vampire murderer, but could be a shifter posed as a vampire; 1st one is a stripper/druggie, 2nd one is an orphan raised by nuns, now college student – and they allow her to live, training her how to be a responsible vampire (she and Billy have been friends, but didn’t confide love until after her ‘death’); 3rd victim – hmmmm, 4th victim – Fiona – she survives – throwing holy water on them; witness to first, a serial killer from 40 years earlier; witness to second, Billy Harrington; witness to third, Grenard; witness to fourth, Jagger; of course the two shapeshifters are doing it with the different guises… and it takes to when they take Fiona to figure it out…

Inner structure: Fiona, working too hard to prove herself… a getting in Jagger’s way… but soon enough they find common ground – both personally and professionally… sisters are unhappy at first, as they blame parent’s death on vampires, but there is good and bad in all races…

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A & C Book Junkies The Keepers Review

I've been a fan of Heather's Graham for a long time. It was Heather Graham's A Pirates Pleasure that introduced me to the world of fictional romance novels. I was lucky enough to receive Heather's Graham's novel, The Keepers along with the other two novels in the trilogy from Harlequin Nocturne.

The Keepers is a novel which takes place in New Orleans, during our present time. The town is just beginning to come back to life after the devastation of Katrina. This story begins with a short prologue introducing the reader to the underground paranormal community that lives amongst the human populous in New Orleans. It also gives us a quick briefing on who the Keepers are and what their roles are within the paranormal community.

There are two main protagonists in this novel, one of which focuses on Detective Jagger DeFarge. Not only is he a well loved police officer in New Orleans, he is also a respected Vampire who is constantly trying to keep the peace between the human world as well as his own underground world. He is accompanied with Keeper of the Vampires, Fiona MacDonald as the novels second POV. She along with her two sisters preside over the underground paranormal population, keeping the peace and making sure things run smoothly. Fiona is an interesting character and I felt she could have been slightly more developed. In terms of likability, she fell flat for me. There wasn't a lot going on with her, although she had one of the most important parts in the novel.

This first novel in The Keepers Trilogy was really well done, aside from my subtle dislike for Fiona. The plot of the novel was interesting. There were enough twists and turns to keep the reader in suspense throughout the whole novel. I really enjoy how Heather Graham sets up her murder mysteries. There is always the romantic element weaved within the plot, but it never overpowers the actual storyline. Graham also incorporates a touch of the Gothic, adding to her novels an eerie feeling throughout.

The only problem I found with this story was the lack of depth and passion in Jagger and Fiona's relationship. Everything felt a little rushed. From the time both characters make contact in the story, until their eventual pairing. You can sense the care and love that is present in the relationship throughout the duration of the novel, but it lacks a depths and urgency that Heather Graham is able too and has created in her other works of fiction.

I think that readers will enjoy this story immensely. It is hard to not get caught up in the world Graham has created and the beauty of New Orleans. The inclusion of the New Orleans landscape, architecture, and overall imagery is a beautiful touch in creating a believable world.

I can't wait to dive into the next two stories and immerse myself into this mysterious world of Keepers and paranormal beings.

[Eliza Leone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable even if predictable.

Series: Yes, book 1 of The Keepers Trilogy
Characters: Fiona & Jagger
Setting: Modern day, New Orleans
Sexual Themes: Yes

Shapeshifters and vampires have a long history of distrust running between them, and after the war and the sacrifice of the two Keepers, Fiona and her two sisters must follow in their parent's footsteps and become the Keepers for the New Orleans area. When the bodies of young women begin showing up, drained of blood, Fiona as the Vampire Keeper must team up with the city's leading vampire detective, Jagger. The two of them work side by side to uncover the killer and hold back the floor of war that threatens life as they know it.

Here's my first problem with this novel, the back cover synopsis. "So when the killer's attention turns to Fiona, will Jagger risk destroying his own species to protect the woman he so passionately desires?" That couldn't be further from what actually happens. First off, for most of the book the two main characters are sleeping together but Jagger is actively complaining about how much he dislikes Fiona, in fact, unless they are in bed or she's in harms way he seems genuinely annoyed at her existence.

Neither of the characters have any respect for one another, Jagger with his lack of respect for Fiona's Keeper role and Fiona blatantly ignoring Jagger's role as a cop with a professional job to carry out. But it doesn't end there, one of Fiona's sisters carries such a grudge against all vampires that even as a Keeper herself, she is blinded by her hate that it gets her into trouble. You'd think that after her parents die to protect the balance of peace between the races, she'd be more receptive to upholding their literal last breath.

Finally there's the actual plot of the story. A vampire OR a shapeshifter who is in a vampire form, murder three women and drain the bodies of blood. Throughout the whole book everyone points fingers at the vampire community, EXCEPT the Keeper and Jagger, and like my review title said, predictable. Murderers in the form of long dead humans, vampires in two places at once, and everyone racing to stake the vampires... I wonder who did it.

Reading the squabbles and support of the three sisters was by far the most enjoyable part of this book. If their relationship had been more prevalent and less of a side note I think I could have enjoyed seeing more of Fiona. As always, reading about New Orleans and its colorful sense of mystery is always enjoyable and if you're going to set a story someplace magical you can't really get much better.

Recommendation: If you're reading it for enjoyment and not looking too deeply below the surface you'll be able to enjoy the book and the creative world they live in. If you're looking for a vampire novel with a deep history and a deeply character driven story arc, then this may be one you'll want to bypass.

[Danielle Gypsy Soul · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. This book was okay in parts and other parts I liked. However, it could have been so much better. It had some issues for me. The overall concept was interesting to me and had a lot of potential.

There are three sisters who are keepers tasked with keeping the balance between the three biggest groups of supernaturals. When the supernaturals fail to "police" their own or have issues they can't solve the keepers step in.

This book centered around Fiona who is the keeper for the vampires and Jagger who is a vampire and police detective. Beautiful, blond women are being murdered by what appears to be a vampire. Jagger is on the case but Fiona doesn't believe that he will do what he has to if the murderer is a vampire since he is a vampire. Even though everyone keeps telling her to give him a chance and that he will do what is necessary she decides that's its up to her to investigate on her own.

Fiona tells everyone over and over that she is the keeper and so must handle this. The book tells us she has the abilities of a vampire and that she is strong but we don't really see evidence of this. She wants the respect of the supernatural community but you don't get that by constantly telling everyone you should have it because you are the keeper. If you have to keep bringing in up then there is a problem.

I liked Jagger, although he made some crazy investigative mistakes like not investigating the night gowns until 3 women are already dead. However, we didn't find out much about him. We don't even know how old he is or how he became a vampire. Or are vampires born? What can a vampire do other than turn into mist? Why can he walk in the sun with sunblock? None of this was fleshed out and I wanted to know more about the vampires.

The story and dialogue was also a little repetitive. Everyone kept saying the murders must be a vampire (well maybe a shape shifter, but probably not). when it was obvious to me that it was a shape shifter, it just made Jagger and Fiona seem stupid The press conferences all sounded the same as well.

Finally, there were plot points that just disappeared. At first Fiona came across as very prejudice against vampires, well not compared to her sister but still prejudice and then that just disappeared. Then there was the older woman who was in danger but it was just dropped.

Then there was Fiona's sister who was completely prejudice against vampires and the reason was just unbelievable. She was prejudice that she was unlikeable and I'm not sure how she will be redeemed.

So while I have pointed out the problems I had with this book, I should still say that it was an okay book. I wanted more and was disappointed in the things mentioned above but I didn't hate the book.

[Natasja · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Orleans is the home of many supernatural beings and in order to keep the peace, there are keepers. One for each species, it’s an elite group of warriors charged to keep the peace between human and the three largest supernatural species, vampires, shape-shifters and the werewolves.

Fiona McDonald is the keeper of the vampires and takes her job seriously. Fiona and her two sisters are new to their legacy, but they are determined to keep the peace in New Orleans, not matter what happens.

Now someone or somewhat is destroying the power balance in New Orleans. Dead bodies are beginning to turn up, totally drained of blood, so everyone is pointing their fingers to the vampire society, which is totally normal. But are they truly the killers or is someone setting them up?

Detective Jagger DeFarge, a vampire himself is assigned to the case. He and Fiona must work together in order to catch this killer, before a war between the species will begin. Fiona knows she has to trust Jagger, but finds it hard to do that. It goes against all she’s been taught and vampires are one of the species that killed her parents, the keepers before them.

The Keepers by Heather Graham is the first book in The Keepers Trilogy and I have to say it’s one fabulous book. The story is full of plots, danger and sexual attraction, that will keep the reader fully entertained.

Fiona and her sisters Caitlin and Shauna inherited the Keepers job when their parents died in the last species war. But the sisters are a little different from their parents, whom had all three of the powers in them. The sisters inherited just one power; so they become the keeper of just one group, in Fiona’s case the vampire. When the bodies of drained humans turning up, it’s her job to keep the peace and working with vampire detective Jagger DeFarge will be difficult because she knows it cannot work. The sisters are still upset about losing their parents, but Fiona cannot ignore her attraction towards Jagger.

When the killer sets his eyes on Fiona, she knows the only one who can save her is Jagger, the man she became to love.

I love the struggle between Fiona and Jagger, they both feel the attraction but knows that their relationship cannot work. But we all know that fate has a mind of its own. The relationship between the three sisters is strong; all three have a different personality and power that only makes them stronger. I’m really looking forward to see what the authors have in store for the remaining sisters.