Title: The Watcher

Author: Rebecca E. Neely

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Date of publication: November 30th, 2016

Genre: Suspense, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance

Number of pages: 242

POV: 3rd person

Series: Crossing Realms

The Keeper – Book 1 (review here)

The Watcher – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Hell-bent on avenging his own death, former Keeper Dev Geary eagerly accepts when the Watchers task him with returning to the human realm to discover the secret for rendering Similitude—the very thing that killed him.

But to succeed in the seven days he’s been granted, he’ll need to work with the one human who wants nothing to do with him, and who he can’t help falling for—Meda Gabriel, a cagey, street-smart bar owner with a unique skill set, and maybe, the key to his mission.

With the clock ticking and the Betrayers barely a step behind, can Dev conquer his demons and find the answers the clan so desperately needs, with Meda at his side? Can love find a way, or will he be forced to abandon her and the clan, leaving them all to face imminent destruction?

My review:

The Watcher is the 2nd book in the Crossing Realms series. Told in 3rd person, this is Dev Greary’s story and oh boy was it a good one. Brought back from death, Dev has 7 days to convince Meda Gabriel, a woman with the power to read minds, to help Dev in his mission. He has to outwit Abel, Haenous’s son and now the leader of the Betrayers while trying to figure out how to keep them from making more Similitude and keeping the Betrayers from destroying not only Earth but the realm that the Watchers are from.

I will be honest, Dev annoyed me. He had such a huge chip on his shoulder about repaying a debt to Nick. He took unnecessary risks and one day it caught up to him and he was killed. Even as a Watcher in Training, he took those same type of risks. Like the beginning scene where he was climbing the mountain and was standing over the edge of the ravine while it was crumbling. But, the more I got to know him, the more it made sense he was taking these risks. I also could see why The Watchers chose him to carry out the mission.

Meda was a little harder to get a handle on in the beginning but as the author started to reveal what made her tick, I could see why she shut herself off from people. When she talked about how she got the scar on her face, I wanted to bawl (ok, I might have cried a bit). I liked that she took no crap from Dev. I really think that he needed someone in his life-like that before he died. Just saying. What I also really liked is that the author chose to include Native American mythology when they were making Flint. I thought that little myth was very interesting and it totally went with the story (click here for the legend of Flint).

The romance between Meda and Dev wasn’t a slow burn. It couldn’t be, seeing that he had only 7 days to do what he had to do. It was explosive and I loved it. Sometimes life doesn’t have time for a slow burn romance. The sex scenes between Meda and Dev were intense and off the page sizzling.

Now, I am going to do something I barely do but I have to talk about Abel, the Broodmaster of the Betrayers.

All I have to say is wow. Have to be Amazon PC, he is not a very nice guy and was determined to follow in Haenous’s footsteps. I did feel for him though, because it seemed like his father abused him (big flag to me was when he was starved by his father energy-wise) and he was always picked on by the other children because he always wore sweaters, even in the summer, because he was always cold. He felt that he couldn’t love Magpie (even though she was completely head over heels in love with him) and he wanted to destroy his niece, Jordan, who he considered a half-breed.

But any feelings of being sad for him were wiped in the last couple of chapters of the book. All I have to say is that I hope he gets what is coming for him. And poor Magpie. I wanted to cry for her. She didn’t seem inherently bad…..just following orders from her Master. I also felt awful for Jordan.

While Dev and Meda’s storyline was kinda wrapped up (I have a feeling that something that Meda said couldn’t happen has happened), the main storyline wasn’t and it looks like it is just revving up.

How many stars will I give The Watcher: 4

Why: This was an action-packed romance right from the get-go. The characters were a bit prickly to read and I honestly thought Dev was annoying in the beginning, but they grew on me and I grew to love them. The storyline was fantastic and I can’t wait for Book 3 (Curtis and Jordan’s story???) to come out.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, language, violence

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**