Paranormal Keepers by Jen Naumann
Publication date: March 11th 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publication date: March 11th 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Synopsis:
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.
Purchase:
Excerpt:
She grinned brightly at my boyfriend, fluttering her fake eyelashes. “What up, stud?” She looped her arm around my neck. “You guys ready to invoke spirits of the dead?”
“Are we playing Candyland first?” I scowled around the room in search of Jessica and her satanic board. “Silvia Hinrichsen always brought one of those things out for our fifth grade slumber parties. Aren’t we a little old for that kiddie crap?”
“Says the non-believer,” Jessica answered, appearing behind me. When I spun around, her dark brown eyes flared with mischief. Her dark ponytail swayed as she shook her head. “I wouldn’t mess with things you know nothing about, Harper.”
Jessica stuck her fingers in her mouth to wolf-whistle, getting the attention of everyone in the room. “Okay, peeps! Now that the lovebirds have arrived, it’s time to start! Get over here, and turn off your phones!”
Everyone complied with her requests, although accompanied by a lot of snickering and grumbling. Jessica ran around the room in a flurry, turning off the music before lighting candles and a stick of incense. Once satisfied that everything was in place, she sat in front of the board with her legs crossed, eyes closed in meditation.
I claimed Gavin’s lap on an old recliner nearby. “Someone takes this shit seriously,” I whispered to him.
Brooke let out a high, exaggerated sigh. “Come on already, Jess! Let’s call some ghosts! I want to see if they can really climb backwards up the walls like they do in movies!” We all laughed along with her.
“First of all, you have to shut up,” Jessica snapped. Everyone fell silent with the deadly glare she flashed around the room. “Second of all, I need someone to sit here with me.” Her eyes darted over to me. “Harper, since you don’t believe in the power of the Ouija board, I think it should be you.”
The room erupted with a few “ooo”s and playful chants of my name. I stared back at her, unable to move. Everyone in the room knew Jessica was full of shit, eager to put on a good show to get attention. I didn’t want to come off as a coward, even though I was secretly freaked out.
“She’s just trying to scare you,” Gavin whispered in my ear. “Go show her up.”
I moved from his lap to join her, putting on a brave smile. I never thought in a million years that anything bad would come of it. I never imagined playing what I thought was a harmless game could trigger an avalanche of events that would end with my boyfriend’s death.
“Put your fingers on the pointer.” Jessica’s smile turned smug. She tended to be one bossy bitch. “I’ll ask the questions.”
Her eyes closed for a minute before they flipped back open, fixating on me. “Are there any spirits present?”
The pointer seemed to take forever to slide across the board before landing on “yes”. When I looked back to Jessica, her eyes were as wide as someone who had just received an electrical shock.
“Oh, c’mon,” I whispered, snorting. “You totally did that.”
Her resolve didn’t fade with my accusation. She looked down on the board. “Are you a friendly spirit?”
The pointer circled around the word “yes” repeatedly.
The strong smell of the incense made my heart beat faster, its pounding filling my ears. I figured Jessica was moving the pointer, but she seemed uncharacteristically sincere. “Holy shit,” she muttered under her breath. “It’s never done that before.”
“It’s friendly, alright. Sounds like someone’s going to get laid!” one of the guys yelled out. The room erupted in more laughter.
“If you can’t take this seriously, leave,” Jessica told the others, the irritation in her voice elevated to dangerous levels. She focused on the board before closing her eyes. “Spirit, can you move something to show us your presence?”
As we all sat there waiting for something to happen, my wild heartbeat raked my chest until it was difficult to breathe calmly. All at once there was a dull thud from somewhere in the basement. A few of the girls squealed, and I about jumped out of my skin.
“That was the water heater, people,” Alec told us. “It always kicks out like that.” Brooke let out a drunken cackle.
Annoyed no one took her ritual seriously, Jessica pressed her lips together, glaring down on the board. “Spirit, who in this room will be the first to die?”
“Seriously?” Brooke asked, sounding as freaked as I was beginning to feel.
The temperature of the room plummeted like the flip of a switch. As I sat there rubbing my arms, trying to ignore the creepy sensation inching up my back, a slight breeze from the windowless room flittered past, blowing my hair around my shoulders. Jessica’s eyes were still closed when the pointer moved from “yes” to the letter “G”. With my heart galloping in my chest, I snapped my head back to where Gavin sat, shaking his head.
AUTHOR BIO:
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.
Author links:
Giveaway:
Tour-wide giveaway (US only)
- Signed copy of Paranormal Keepers
- Custom Bookmark
Thanks for being on the tour, Natalie! :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem.
DeleteThanks for having me on your blog, Natalie!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Jen.
ReplyDelete