The Betrayer (Crossing Realms Series: Book 3) by Rebecca E. Neely

The Betrayer (Crossing Realms Series Book 3) by [Neely, Rebecca E.]

4 Stars

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Date of publication: March 13th, 2019

Genre: Paranormal, Romance

Series: Crossing Realms

The Keeper—Book 1 (review here)

The Watcher—Book 2 (review here)

The Betrayer—Book 3

Where you can find The Betrayer: Amazon | BookBub

Synopsis:

With the Second Rebellion raging in the city, Curtis Geary, the Keepers’ tech guru, receives a Compulsion for Jordan, a Betrayer ousted by her brood and left for dead. His orders? Obtain information from her that can save his clan—before it’s too late. Plunged into a war zone, cut off from his clan, Curtis quickly discovers this woman is no ordinary Betrayer. Not only does his Vitality energy inexplicably save her life, she may be the missing link in the Keepers’ quest to restore Similitude—the Betrayers’ manufactured weapon deadly to Keepers.

Despised by her own brood, Jordan’s mysterious ability and a wicked set of street smarts have kept her alive—along with the havoc she’s been forced to wreak on humans as a means of creating dark energy. Against his better judgement, Curtis is helplessly drawn to this enigma of a woman, who defies the logic of his trusty computers. Too, despite a lifetime of mistrust and her soldier’s survival instincts, Jordan can’t help falling for this at times awkward but genuine man who offers her what she’s always yearned for—love and an opportunity for a better life.

But in a race against time and a brood master hell-bent on destruction, love and loyalty will come under fire—within the brood and the clan. Can Jordan find the courage to embrace her future and find love? Or will she betray the clan and herself as the Keepers wage what may be their final battle to save the human race?


My review:

Curtis was expecting a Compulsion. With the Second Rebellion raging on around him, it was a given. It was who the Compulsion for that surprised him. It was for the beautiful Betrayer who was cast out of her Brood and left for dead. What happens when Curtis uses his Vitality to save her life was earth shattering. Jordan is key to ending the Second Rebellion. But how? And will she help?


I like to read paranormal romances. But I had become burnt on them. Too much of a good thing. But when I saw that The Betrayer was going to be available, I decided to jump on it. I had reviewed the other books in the series. I am glad that I did because this book was a perfect addition to the Crossing Realms series!!

I liked the romance angle of The Betrayer. The whole opposites attract theory worked well in this book. Curtis and Jordan couldn’t have been further apart. I liked how the author took those differences and made them work.

There were a couple of sex scenes. To be honest, I didn’t think that Jordan and Curtis would actually have sex. There was so much going on. But they did. It was hot.

The paranormal angle of The Betrayer was interesting. I liked that there was more insight into the working of the Brood. Also, Magpie and Jordan’s relationship was explored. As was Jordan, Abel, and her father’s relationship. I did enjoy seeing how Curtis’s Vitality changed Jordan. And Jordan’s secret. Oh wow. I wasn’t expecting that.

The end of The Betrayer was great. I liked how everything was resolved. But, it did make me ask more questions. Like is Zane going to be like Dev? And what about Jordan’s mother? I am also interested to see if there will be another book in the series.


I would give The Betrayer an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Betrayer. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.


I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review The Betrayer.

All opinions stated in this review of The Betrayer are mine.


Have you read The Betrayer?

What were your thoughts on it?

Do you believe that someone can change (like Jordan did)?

Why or why not?

Let me know!!

The Watcher (Crossing Realms Series: Book 2) by Rebecca E. Neely

The Watcher

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**

The Keeper (Crossing Realms Series: Book 1) by Rebecca E. Neely

The Keeper (Crossing Realms Book 1) by [Neely, Rebecca E.]

4 Stars

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Date of publication: April 27th, 2016

Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Suspense

Series: Crossing Realms

The Keeper – Book 1

The Watcher – Book 2

The Betrayer—Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Nick Geary, jaded clan leader of human guardians, the Keepers, is doomed to love a human woman who’s forgotten him, time after time, for thirteen years: Libby Klink, a skittish accountant who’s as terrified of her recent and strange intuitions as she is of her mundane existence.

When Nick is ordered by the clan’s guiding force to seek Libby’s help in defending the clan against enemy Betrayers, romance sizzles as the pair forms an unlikely alliance in their desperate search to discover the key to the clan’s salvation–which Libby alone holds.

But a haunting secret could cost Nick everything, and in a race against time, both will be forced to choose between their hearts and duty. Can their love, and the clan, survive, or will the very forces that drew them together ultimately destroy them?


My review:

A mysterious group is meeting on the top of a mountain to discuss specific events. Events that could be disastrous to their people if not stopped. The only way to stop/change the events is to set in motion a series of events that could help them or could mean the end of their people.

Meanwhile

Libby Klink is stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, late for work, and about to have a massive panic attack. She has severe anxiety about driving because of the accident she was in when she was 12. That accident killed her mother. Not only that, but she is smelling different scents around people, and she is having dreams about people that she doesn’t know. She also is still recovering from the death of her father six months before. To put it mildly, she’s a mess.

As she inches along the highway, she notices a man walking down the highway, looking into cars. Looking for someone, and he is heading in her direction. When he gets to her car, not only does he know her first and last name, but he seems vaguely familiar. Lowering her passenger side window, he says that he is unarmed, and when she asks who he is, says his name is Nick Geary and that he needs to talk to her. Knowing her name freaks her out, so she lays on the horn. That attracts the attention of the guy in the truck in front of her.

While she is staring at Nick, she experiences something like a day-dream that involves her father and a fishing trip that they had taken when she was younger. She blinks, comes to the present, sends her would-be rescuer away, and lets Nick into her car.

They drive to Nick’s truck, where he tells her that he needs her help but can’t tell her what because he doesn’t know. Then he tells her to get into the car, which she refuses to do. It is when Nick tells her that her life might be in danger and explains a few things that she gets into the truck

Nick explains that he is a Keeper, and he protects humans like Libby from these evil guys called Betrayers. Betrayers feed off of human weaknesses and Keepers Vitality (a stone that they wear around their necks). He validates everything that he said by telling her of the memory of her father she had in her car. He promises to protect her; she believes him and gets into the truck.

As Nick and Libby have that conversation and Nick are taking Libby to his parent’s house, the bad guy is introduced. His name is Haenus Vickery. He is wondering why Nick was protecting Libby and wants to know what her deal is. As he walks, he remembers his mate, Genevieve, who I am going to assume died at some point in his past, and he is thinking out the details of the next step in the war against the Keepers. Haenus is hoping to overthrow them, somehow, so that fear and hopelessness reigned.

Nick explains more of what a Keeper does as they drive to his parents. He shares that his cousin and best friend, Dev, died after a Betrayer got him alone and stole his vitality, last week. Nick explains that the Watchers, beings that live in another realm parallel to the humans, send things called Compulsions to the Keepers with who they are supposed to help. He explains that Keepers live in Clans and that they are all connected.

Then a weird thing happens. Nick and Libby are hit by a car and approached by a knife-wielding woman who is screaming that they cut her off. Seeing no choice, Nick cuts across the highway median to make his getaway. As they are driving the opposite direction, Libby is full of questions about Nick, and he does his best to answer them. It was during that conversation that both get a compulsion about a woman in trouble in an alley.

On their way to help her, Nick discovers that she can smell things, like the whiskey that the woman had been drinking. She confirms that and tells him that only since her father died that she has been able to smell things. Libby tells Nick that she wants to help him, and he says no. But she doesn’t listen and is forced into a confrontation with Haenus. As he is draining Nick, she hurts Haenus, and that makes him stop. Nick, before the encounter with Haenus, kisses Libby and finds out something startling. She isn’t what she seems to be.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be. I felt that it was going to be a thriller/suspense book. Not a romance/thriller/suspense, and it took me by surprise. I loved it!!!

I could relate to Libby. As someone who has pretty severe anxiety, I liked how she was portrayed. I liked how her taking medication wasn’t used as a crutch but explained that she needed it to do daily things. She was such a strong person, and I thought the author did a great job of bringing it out.

Nick was perfect for Libby, and I sincerely wish that he existed in real life. He waited 13 years and had to deal with her forgetting him every time he helped her, which sucked because he was head over heels for her. I do think that the way that they finally met was a tad weird (hello, middle of the freeway), and maybe the love angle was rushed. But when the end of your world is about to happen, you can’t wait for months.

Haenus was a bad dude. My mental image of him was like a vampire except that he could come out during the day. I did also have a smidge of sympathy for him because his wife died, but that quickly got swept away with how evil he was to Libby.

The sex between Nick and Libby was hot, and dare I say sweet? I have never said sex was sweet before, but this was, and I might have wept a little during it because of the feeling between both of them. As I said, I wish Nick was real.

The ending was PERFECT!!! I couldn’t have ended a book any better, and the author did a great job in setting up Dev’s story.


I would give The Keeper an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Keeper. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**