Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Madhuri Pavamani and her new book, “Dutch”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with
Madhuri and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Dutch
by Madhuri Pavamani
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GENRE: Fantasy/Romance
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BLURB:
I've
spent years holed up in the deepest, darkest parts of the city, fighting to
keep Death and her Poochas from crossing the dead back to the living. My skill
with a blade is bested only by my menace, my despair, my anguish - the
strongest weapons I yield.
Then
I meet Juma Landry and it all goes to hell.
She
is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not. And she makes me
want things I haven’t desired in years. But the monsters of my life, the evil
lurking in the dark corners of my soul, those places craven and vile, bind me
to a past I cannot shake free. As the most skilled Keeper for The Gate, nothing
and no one can prevent me from excelling at a job I never wanted. I do it
because it is my legacy, a fate I cannot outrun, but when Juma becomes my next
assignment, each of her nine lives to be ended by my hand, I must decide: the
legacy I never wanted or the love I don’t deserve.
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EXCERPT TWO:
…just
then I saw it, a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, a swish of
black, so like the New York City uniform of the chic and sophisticated but of a
different realm altogether. However, more than what I saw was what I felt. The
cold that crept into my bones, settled in my blood, and soothed me with its
familiarity.
Her.
I
knew her essence anywhere had known it since I was a little girl dying on an
emergency room gurney as she promised me all kinds of things, love, power,
life. Knowing I wanted all of them more than I could say, craved them even as a
tiny human, would obsess over them as a grown woman.
Death
knew all the right words to whisper in my ear and bring me to her bosom for all
eternity, forever beholden to her and her whims, willing to do whatever she
asked of me just to see her smile. And what did I receive in return?
Her
love which was precious and given out to few.
Except
today.
Today
she was pissed—the chill of her glare said as much.
“Get
up.” She breezed through the doors as they opened at 14th Street.
I
followed, obedient and cowed. It was coming, had been coming for months now.
Reproof.
Admonition.
Punishment.
As
we reached a more deserted section of the platform, she spun on me, her dark
pixie perfectly coiffed, her red lips caught in a sneer, and I prepared, my
body tense and ready for whatever she was about to unload. But then her eyes
flashed to the right, something caught her attention, and whatever anger and
irritation had been directed at me dissipated.
“Stay
here, Juma,” she ordered. I stopped, and for once I didn’t say a word, I simply
obeyed her command. Her tone demanded it.
Death
flew across the subway station, her eyes full of fire and fury, directed
somewhere distant and removed. I followed her trajectory and that’s when I saw.
Him.
Tall,
lean, solitary.
Calm,
confident, beautiful.
And
dark. So very dark. As if light long ago stopped seeking refuge in the corners
of his body, the cracks of his being. My body heated in places it should not,
my blood pulsed a little stronger as I watched him, unable to look away,
knowing I should lest he burn a hole straight through my core.
Anyone
else would have stepped away from her but he did not, unmoved by her oncoming
fury, unafraid of her wrath. Death slammed into him and together they fell into
the wall, tiles above his head cracking from the impact. Minutes passed as she
harangued him with her words and gestures and her power to bring the pain.
And
still he remained.
Until
she had enough, said enough, did enough, and sent him on his way, watching as
he disappeared into the dark of the subway tunnel, his shadowy self becoming
one with the dank environs. Long seconds later, Death remained rooted to the
spot and watching the tunnel, as if she expected the beautiful stranger to
reappear, but he was gone, lost in the ether.
She
finally turned my way and started, the movement slight but noticeable to my
discerning eye, as if surprised by my presence, my rare acquiescence to one of
her demands.
“Juma,”
she as she neared, her ire piqued and
ill-contained, “what are you doing?”
“You
told me to wait here,” I replied, “so I waited.”
She
raised a brow and sneered. “Fine time to start listening to a word I say,” she
groused as she breezed past, her chill a balm to the strange heat inspired by
the dark stranger, one that touched the tips of my fingers and kissed the
depths of my soul.
“Who
was that man?” I could not help but ask.
Death
spun back around, stopping so suddenly I crashed into her, our bodies pressed
against one another, a position quite familiar and yet today, when she was so
angry and full of unease, utterly foreign.
“Forget
you ever saw him, Juma,” she insisted as she grasped my chin in her hand and
searched my eyes, probing for something I could not did not would not know, for
she was in no mood to elaborate or educate further.
“He’s
from The Gate,” I replied, certain only those rotten souls could inspire such a
reaction from her.
She
stilled and it was as if all movement stilled with her and only she and I
existed, the air sucked from the moment by the words falling from my lips.
Finally
she spoke, low and deadly, her tone serious, her words a warning. “He is
someone far more dangerous than The Gate—he is a beautiful, tortured soul
seeking absolution. Forget him.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REVIEW:
This
book is book one in The Keeper Book Series.
This
book is about Dutch, a Gate Keeper whose job is to keep those who have died
from coming back. Until he meets and
falls for Juma – the exact type he’s supposed to be protecting the gate
from. Even worse, he now has to kill her
and must decide between love and doing his job.
I
have to be honest, I feel I was a bit misled by the blurb. I was expecting more of a fantasy, romance book
and ended up with more of a “50 Shades in Hell” version lol… This book contains a HUGE amount of sex
scenes including, but not limited to vaginal, anal, oral, M/F, F/F/M, and so
on. Some scenes that even made this
blogger blush lol.
I had
a feeling sex would be part of this of book, and that’s totally fine. I just wasn’t expecting sex to have played
such a large role in the book and for it to have been so rough, raunchy and
crass.
This
book is very dark and grim. This book
goes into detail about torture and affliction.
I kept waiting for things to let up and lighten up, but that time didn’t
really seem to come by.
There
were several twists and turns in this book, that definitely keeps the reader
guessing!
I
found the characters to be interesting and play well off each other. There is a huge conflict dynamic between
Dutch and Juma that I am curious to see how that will continue to play out.
Beware
- this book ends in a cliffhanger!!!
Although,
this book may not have been for me, I would still recommend it. But please beware of the large portion of sex
scenes, torture, and that this book ends in a cliffhanger!
Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as
helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R38OUPM5B7DWDC
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AUTHOR BIO:
Madhuri Pavamani writes twisted love stories
and dark poetry. She loves whiskey, tattoos, Bukowski, and yoga. She laughs
constantly, says f*ck a lot, and dances anywhere. She is the author of the
paranormal romance trilogy, THE SANCTUM, and the fantasy trilogy, THE KEEPER
SERIES, published this year by St. Martin’s Press. She’s currently working on
something evil and delicious.
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CONNECT WITH
MADHURI:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Google Play:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Madhuri will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a
randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thank you for the excerpt and giveaway and congrats on the tour
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, James - best of luck on the giveaway. Cheers! Madhuri
Deletecongrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa. I appreciate it and will keep my fingers crossed for you on the giveaway. Ciao! Madhuri
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your honest review, it's much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteHi Nikolina - I'm guessing your chances are pretty stellar on this giveaway. Thanks for following the tour. Madhuri
DeleteThanks for the review. I definitely don't like cliffhangers, they frustrate me!
ReplyDeleteSorry about that E.L.F. - best of luck with the giveaway. Cheers! Madhuri
DeleteThanks for sharing your review, I'm not a fan of cliffhangers either :/
ReplyDeleteI especially hate cliffhangers when all of the books aren't out yet. But that's not the case with The Keeper Series - the trilogy is complete, so you could just move onto JUMA if you wanted ;)
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Victoria. Cheers! Madhuri
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rita. It's pretty dark and dirty, but I love Dutch and Juma together - also, since I created them, I'm probably not the most objective person on the subject. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by - ciao! Madhuri
I was wondering what the author has planned next?
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy and thanks for the question. Right now I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, working on a memoir that I hope to finish by the end of the year. I'm also working on a collection of poetry and editing for re-release my paranormal romance trilogy, The Sanctum.
DeletePhew! And now I'm exhausted.
Thanks for stopping by - ciao, Madhuri
Ally, thanks for reading DUTCH and posting such an honest review. I, too, agree that the marketing for the book is a bit askew, but alas - such decisions are out of my hands. I appreciate your time and look forward to spending the week on your blog. xx, Madhuri
ReplyDeleteI just loved your cover and I would love to read your book.
ReplyDeleteHave a fun Tuesday and thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the most challenging aspect of being a writer? Good luck and wishing you much success! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds great! I particularly love the line "She is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not."
ReplyDelete