Paranormal Keepers by Jen Naumann Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Hey readers and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Paranormal Keepers by Jen Naumann! This was an awesome read for me and I am very excited to share my thoughts with you guys here today! Today's stop will feature my thoughts as well as an awesome giveaway. Before we get to all that though, let's learn a bit about the book and our author, Jen Naumann:

Paranormal Keepers by Jen Naumann
Publication date: March 11th 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Everyone thinks Harper Young killed her boyfriend. No one will say it to her face, but the signs are everywhere.

It’s almost been a year since Gavin was torn from Harper’s arms and brutally murdered. The police wrote it off as a freak accident, deciding Harper’s strange testimony was given under duress. But she knows something unnatural was involved and refuses to stop looking until she finds his killer, even if it means her reputation as a senior is ruined. Even if it means there really are monsters living among us.

With the discovery of the mothmen, witches, vampires and all the creatures she always suspected were out there, Harper finds herself amidst a complex bundle of unseen heroes who call themselves “Keepers”, sworn to keep the secret of the paranormal creatures that walk this earth. As she tries to understand what’s so special about her that she’s able to break an old Keeper law, Harper has a baffling vision of kissing a mysterious guy before a blade is brought down on him. Before she can get a handle on her future, she becomes central to a battle between the questionable “heroes” and the evil she’s been training to fight, leaving her to wonder if there’s any way to change the fate that has been foretold before it’s too late.

Jen Naumann

Jen Naumann grew up in southern Minnesota as an addict of such flicks as Indiana Jones and The Goonies until she discovered John Hughes, and spent her high school days locked away writing love stories with a sci-fi twist. Married to a farmer in southern Minnesota, she tries to follow the madness of her four active children while balancing an imagination that never shuts down. As the author of CHEATING DEATH, SHYMERS, AND PARANORMAL KEEPERS, she writes stories with strong female leads who have a good sense of humor and tend to fall in love despite their better judgment. For more on Jen visit her website www.JenNaumann.net.

WEBSITE | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

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My Thoughts:

If you are new to this blog, you may not know it, but I am absolutely obsessed with all things paranormal. It is, hands down, my favorite genre to read. From witches, to vamps; from time travel to elementals: paranormal is MY thing. You can only imagine how excited I got when I first signed up on the blog tour for this novel. Yes, I got THAT excited. Thankfully, in the end, all the excitement paid off, because this read was truly one of a kind!

The first chapter of Paranormal Keepers was one of the best openings to a novel I have read in ages. Seriously, I was puled in from chapter one. The relationship and character dynamic between Gavin and Harper was phenomenal. There was seriously a fantastic story going there, then Gavin got the ax. WHY JEN WHY!? Seriously. I loved where that was going, I was not expecting him to kick the bucket in the very beginning! Ha!

Okay, one negative here. Many, many, of the review for this novel talk about how strong it started out and then the story changed. I will completely agree with that. In the beginning we get this extremely dark, scary feel for what is going on in the novel. It was a very mature-YA feel and I absolutely loved it. Then, very suddenly, we are whisked into this "university" and then the novel completely changed for me. Any time a book has some sort of boarding school, university, etc, the novel immediately takes a turn for the YA. In this instance it was actually kind of disappointing. The entire feel of the novel changed for me with just one sentence. It wasn't a bad change, per se, just not one that I was expecting. Nor was I ready to accept it. This read could have very easily stayed on the horror side of paranormal, but then it jumped back to the younger side of YA. I would be lying if I didn't say that didn't take away a bit from the experience for me.

Now, that being said, I still greatly enjoyed this novel. When Harper's world is 'officially' opened up the world of all things paranormal: vamps, witches, etc, some fun things begin to happen. What would happen if we lived in a world where paranormal beings did exist and were protected by a secret organization whose one job was to keep their existence a secret? A bunch of thing. A bunch of fun, crazy things. Think Men in Black, but with paranormal critters. Seriously, that was a fun take on the genre. I really appreciated what Jen was able to do with this story. While it did take a big directional turn, the end result was still a very satisfying novel that I was glad to have read.

This was a relatively short read, clocking in at right around 200 pages on my ecopy, so any quick reader will fly through this pretty fast. Especially with the fun filled, fast paced plot line that Jen has written for this story. From the mysteries of life to the tragedy of death, Jen touches base on a number of interesting themes with this read. There are lots of lessons to be learned in the pages of of a good paranormal novel, and this one is no exception!

All-in-all, I was really impressed by Paranormal Keepers. It may not have been EXACTLY everything I was hoping it would be, but I still found the read to be enjoyable all around. I am granting this read a well deserved 4-star review! I cannot wait to read more of this authors work. Jen has a beautiful writing voice that really leaves the reader begging for more. I think that anyone who checks out this novel will definitely be able to agree with that! Kudos to you Jen Naumann, here's to many more! :)

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Alright readers, that's all I have for you on the topic of Paranormal Keepers by Jen Naumann! An awesome read that definitely left me wanting more! Good news for me that Paranormal Legends, book two in the series, is slated for release next year, woohoo! Did it sound like the read for you? If so, definitely check out the Goodreads and buy links above to learn more and get your copy! Before you leave, make sure to enter that awesome giveaway, I'm hoping I win this one! Special shout out to the author and the awesome team at XPresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate. Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan