The watcher by Rebecca E Neely.
A slow but ok read. The story was ok. The characters were likeable. But I just couldn't get into it. But I did read it. 3*.

More time with Dev! Neely has wowed me again!

I’m always up for a good romance, but I must admit, paranormal/fantasty/sci-fi are not my first choice. I always fear that I won’t be able to understand the alternate words and difficult names the stories usually have. I just don’t want to have to keep notes and reread to follow along. I took a chance and read The Keeper (the first in this series), and was so pleasantly surprised that I was all up for reading this one.

Good decision!

Dev is sent back to Earth to locate Meda, who’s father was an accomplished scientist. Although he was considered “weird” to humans, Meda’s father’s work is very beneficial to the Watchers and Keepers, and unfortunately, the Betrayers. Meda has her own unique abilities that work well in accord with the Keepers’ abilities, and her and Dev’s joining becomes more than just a way to save the realms. They save each other. Their immediate physical attraction isn’t what makes them a couple to root for. It’s emotional and mental connection. Their strength, determination, and intelligence that makes them remarkable individual characters. I love them both.

Abel is still up to no good, not surprising, but even he has his secrets that surprised me, although he’s still as evil as ever. It was pleasant to revisit Nick and Libby (the MC’s from The Keeper), as well as the other characters.

Meda is human, not part human like Libby, so I was very anxious to discover the events that would pave the way for her and Dev to be together. If you’d like to know, read the book. No spoilers here. 🙂 I will tell you this, it’s worth the time investment.

There’s a lot of science-y stuff that made me blink a few times. This says nothing negative about the writing, but about personal preferences. Surprising to say, I felt a little smarter when I was done, and the best part was I hadn’t felt bored. Not that learning is boring, mind you, but my fiction is about about entertainment. Kudos to Neely for firing up my brain cells without making me want to close the book…not that I’ll remember it in a few days, but hey, I was able to follow the story. I admire the loyalty between the clan members. They’re dedication and unwavering strength and support. I couldn’t help but to love them all.

I do like the cliffhanger without being a cliffhanger. In other words, we get our HFN with Dev and Meda, but there’s still more to come, and not just on the romantic front.

Just like with The Keeper, I really like the heavenly connotations- the Watchers (like angels), the Keepers (guardian angels sent to Earth).

I can’t promise that I’ll become a die-hard paranormal/fantasy/sci-fi fan, but I am now a Neely fan.

The Watcher is the second book in the Crossing Realms series, and focuses on Dev Geary, who actually died in the first book! I would say that it is definitely important to read this as a serial, rather than a series of standalones. This does not standalone, and even though I have read book 1, it still took me a while to remember what had gone on and with whom in The Keeper.

It is action-packed, full of new characters that have a story to tell. Dev has a job to do, and only a limited amount of time to do it in. This certainly doesn't involve the person he is there to find! Well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow, this book was smoothly paced. It finished off Dev's story whilst still leading on nicely to the next one. So long as you read in sequence, I would definitely recommend this book/series.

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!