Keeper vs. Reaper

Graveyard Guardians, Book 1

By: Jennifer Malone Wright

Narrated by: Kelsey Osborne

Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

When her father died, Lucy Mae Estmond inherited the family business. She has known all of her life that she will be in line to watch over the souls of the recently passed, keeping them safe from the Reapers.

The soul eating Reapers have been a plague upon the Earth, stealing souls and leaving the Keepers as the only thing that stands between heaven and hell. The factions despise each other and have warred for generations.

Then Lucy discovers an ancient legend predicting the arrival of the Chosen One, destined to bring forth an end to the Reapers. The surprises continue when she realizes she is that person. For Lucy, being the Chosen One doesn't change much. Fighting Reapers is just another day in the life of a Keeper.

When she meets Jack Walker, they both realize they have an insane, mutual attraction. Too bad that he's been sent to prevent the prophecy from coming true. His only mission: to kill the Chosen One.

©2014 Jennifer Malone Wright (P)2015 Jennifer Malone Wright

A Morbidly Fun and Lively Listen

This is definitely a milk and cookie book. The tension between Lucy and Jack, along with their warring worlds, creates a sizzling mix of emotions to explore. The narrator captures each personality and really brings the world and the characters to life; so much so, that I listened to this book on a road-trip and always hated to stop for gas because I wanted to hear the next chapter. It is geared towards young adults, but can also keep the attention of an older audience. If you are looking for some light, romantic (at times exotic) entertainment, in a world with some magical twists, give this book a listen.

Not for me.

I found the noises to cover the language used in this book to be a complete annoyance, they were so irritating I just stopped listening to the story.

Great Storyline

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The genre isn't my preference so I found I was eager for the conclusion.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting were the characters. Malone Wright had a way of capturing my attention with each character and overall fast pace of the plot.

I was least interested in the particular descriptions of clothing and scenery and feel it could be much improved by taking out the multiple occurrences of the "f word" and detailed mentions of what each character wore.

Many aspects of the book foreshadowed the next one and have me curious about their importance in the next installment.

What does Kelsey Osborne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Osborne was fantastic with her reading and expressions throughout this. Even with the amount of sex scenes and passion throughout she kept a great pace which kept my attention.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

The genre isn't my typical favourite so I think I would pass on the movie but would recommend it for fans of the genre.

Any additional comments?

The amount of vulgarity was really unexpected and had me hesitate on listening to the entire book. Although I'm not against it if the character feels the need to say it occasionally I found it was too common and took away from the overall story.

Sorry to have wasted my money.

I really wanted to like this book but 2 things got in the way. 1) Narrator couldn't voice men's voices at all so you had to pay attention when she switched. 2) My biggest complaint was that Jack was such a slut. I've read books where the guy would have a sluty past but grew out of it by the time he meets his love interest. Nooooo...not this guy. He had sex with 2 women and went back to one of them after he met Lucy!! And this went up to chapter 11.....And to make it more disgusting, the author went into such freakin detail with them but when it came time for him and Lucy there was hardly a damn, detail of their experience! Seriously!! What the hell??!! Might have been 2 fight scenes but it was over quickly, not worth the read. Lots of cussing and a man whore (main character) who's sex capades are nauseating! Won't be reading the 2nd book at all!

I was invested!

This was a really fun story! I got invested in Jack and Lucy's story. There were lots of good ideas, and I loved the concept.

The VO performance was phenomenal and really added to my enjoyment. I recommend this if you're looking for something fun and engaging!

Nice and sometimes intriguing storyline

I don’t like to discredit a narrator’s hard work but I don’t like this voice for Lucy. Combined with what is written, this voice makes Lucy naive and whiny at times 🙈
And the dialogues aren’t as easily to follow as with other narrator’s so alas, I can’t score this audiobook higher than 3 stars. I have no doubt this narrator has books I would rate higher, this just feels like a mismatch unfortunately. But check out the sample, might be no problem for you, the sample does give a good example for the entire audiobook, I feel. Hope you’ll enjoy it!

I love the storyline but some things were less pleasing. The MC keeps on saying she’s an adult and her 6 older sibling, one best friend turned foster brother and father keep trying to protect her (obviously) but the MC not appreciating any of it.
Instead of yelling she’s an adult and sneaking behind their backs, I wish I’d have seen her communicating and working towards compromises.
But all that, which had my eyes a hefty workout with all the eyerolls, my neck doing overtime with the headshakes about the parts that could have been better and my sighs included, all that, didn’t stop me from reading on. So needless to say, I do love the storyline.
There are some really intriguing parts that don’t have the answers upon the end of this book (about a prophecy and just How it is about to unravel, since I can’t believe that it’s as black and white as a reaper being destined to wipe out the reapers, like the reapers believe is going to happen if the prophecy comes true).
Loved the believable parts about how a reaper and a keaper are trying to figure out just what it is that they are feeling and most importantly: why?

So there was a bit of dislike but not enough to not continue this series. Each book seems to have another MC (I think each of the 7 siblings gets their own book but don’t take my word for it, it’s just a hunch, not followed up on it). I am hoping her sister, the MC for book 2, will entice me more than Lucy did.

Very good

Even though the “F” bomb was used more than necessary, it is still a very good book. Well worth the time. Plan to read the next in the series. Good narrator.

Love it

Love it, wanted the story to go on for a bit longer, I wanted more, I was so into the story, great book, awesome.

nice

this was a very cute lil store. the story was well written and very entertaining. i just love anything Jennifer Malone Write writes! she is pretty awesome!!

A Reaper for the Keeper

I just loved this book! I’m so happy I have both the book and the audiobook. My favorite setup are books that have graveyard scenes. I loved how the author does the souls after death. The auras the main character could see are beautiful. Lucy finds out she is the Chosen One. Now all the Reapers want her dead. Just because she is the one to end them doesn’t mean it involves killing them all. Well, I think it will be because her and the head Reaper, Jack, hooked up. After all, she only wats to live a peaceful life.

There was so much action in this book. Jack’s mother is evil. There were some close calls. I loved Lucy’s dad. I’m curious to see how Jack will feed from souls in the future. Loved Ethan and all the other characters. Hope everyone gets their own book. I would also like to see a Christmas book with Lucy’s family.

The narrator was great and did the voices wonderfully. This really brought the book to life.

When love and hate collide

What a great story! I absolutely loved Lucy, who, apparently has no filter. Her vibrancy jumps off the page and drags you along for the ride - willing or no!
Although Jack is supposed to be the bad guy, he is never presented as such and it doesn't take long to like him. Jack's tormented life will make you sympathetic to his extra-curricular activities.
His desire for Lucy is much more consuming in so far as she can continue with her life almost as always.
I felt sorry for Aiden and hope he gets a better deal in a future book.
With so many characters I had wished the narrator was able to differentiate more between them, but you het used to it.
Definitely a MUST!

Good

I was given this free review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Story well written and great narration

Enlivened my daily commute!

I listened to this audiobook during my daily commute, and I almost found myself looking forward to the drive!

The plot was maybe a little predictable, with no massive surprises, but I loved Jennifer Wright's sassy, mouthy (and often foulmouthed) heroine. I'd certainly listen to the next one in the series.

🔥Full of Twists & Romance❤

 "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

This story was phenomenally written, I love a well written fantasy story & it hit all the right spots.

A prophecy, forbidden attraction, Enemies turned lovers, crazy but lovable family, & a hopeful ending❤

p.s. the ending kept me wanting more, it's good I've read the series😏

This is first book

Omg this book was amazing. I couldn’t wait to start reading next book. Absolutely loved loved loved it x

An Intriguing Read!

This is the first book in an intriguing NA series. I enjoyed it.

I downloaded this on to my Kindle, but due to time issues was not able to read it. So when the author offered me a complimentary code for an audiobook copy in return for an honest review, I gladly accepted.

This book is narrated by Kelsey Osborne. Unfortunately, I don't know what it was, but I found that her voice, although young and energetic, sometimes set my teeth on edge. I mean no disrespect. She read the story clearly, but there was just something about her reading style that rubbed me the wrong way. I cannot put my finger on the reason why. Other readers/listeners may not have the same reaction.

Lucy Mae Estmond is not your typical character. She is a Keeper, or protector of souls. I have no idea what age she is, but she acted like an angst-filled teen rather than a responsible adult at times. I struggled to like her due to the self-pity party she had going on. Granted, her father had just passed away and she felt emotional, but I felt like strangling her on occasions.

Jack Walker on the other hand is a fantastic character. He has his faults and is a total jerk, but he seemed more mature and with it than Lucy. He's a Reaper and the enemy of the Keepers due to the fact he eats souls to survive. He also happens to be the son of the Emperor and Empress of the Reapers, and has been sent on a mission to kill the chosen one.

I started to listen to this book and received a shock. It's not often a book starts out with an explicit sex scene. However, once I got over that little surprise, I began to understand why the author would do that. It shows the reader the supposed personality of the character. I'm just glad I was listening to it with my headphones on, or my Dad would have had a huge shock too and I would have been completely embarrassed! Anyway, back to the review. Once I got over that stumbling block, I really enjoyed meeting the Estmond clan. They are as complex and diverse as any family. They fight with each other, as siblings do, but if one of them is in danger they band together and are a formidable team when threatened. Jack's best friend Aiden is also intriguing. He's got a tough job, being Jack's friend, but he's ambitious and determined to rise in the ranks of the Reapers.

The story is a little predictable at times, especially near the beginning. It is told through the eyes of Jack, Lucy and Aiden. However, there are a few twists and turns that kept me hooked. The mystery of the prophecy regarding the "chosen one" made for an interesting twist. However, there is not much romance between the two main protagonists in the beginning. In fact, they don't interact until quite some time into the story. However, once they meet, things get interesting. There's a spectacular fight scene near the end of the book that got my heart racing, and now I am looking forward to reading Keeper of the Peace as soon as possible.

Jennifer Malone Wright has written an intriguing start to a series. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow of the story was wonderful. I have read only one other book by this author, but I would definitely read more of her books in the future.

Due to scenes of explicit sexual situations and the liberal use of bad language, I do not recommend this book to young readers under the age of 18. I do, however, recommend this book if you love new adult paranormal romances with spunky heroines and sexy heroes. - Lynn Worton