Keep Me Safe (Slow Burn, #1) by Maya Banks Series: Slow Burn #1
Published by Avon on October 7th 2014
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 297
Goodreads
Spooky and Sexy Paranormal Romance
KEEP ME SAFE is the first book in the Slow Burn Trilogy. The series tells the stories of the Devereaux siblings. Each story has a paranormal element and are also in the suspense genre.
THE STORY: Caleb Devereaux is desperate when his younger sister is kidnapped so he tracks down Ramie St. Claire who he knows has helped locate missing people before. Ramie has disappeared and Caleb believes her selfish for not being willing to help others. When he finds her, Caleb forces Ramie to help him but what he discovers is that her paranormal talent that allows her to find missing people takes an extraordinary toll as Ramie experiences all the fears and emotions of the missing person. Caleb is remorseful and promises to make it up to her, but when he returns, Ramie has disappeared. A year later, Ramie contacts Caleb because she knows that a psychic serial killer is stalking her. Caleb, who hasn’t been able to forget Ramie, is immediately protective and determined to take care of Ramie.
OPINION: I have mixed feelings about this book. I really liked the characters. Caleb and Ramie are a good couple and have an immediate connection. Ramie is a woman who is at the end of her rope. She is desperate and fragile in many ways. Some readers may believe her too weak to be a heroine, but I see her as an incredibly strong woman who has been pushed to her breaking point. I liked how the Devereaux family interacts together and I look forward to the other books in the trilogy.
This book, however, depicts violent events and is not for those who don’t like violent images. The violence is not that graphic, but there are serious depictions of rape, abuse and extreme violence. There is a horrible event near the end of the book that was difficult to read (I don’t want to give away spoilers, but it breaks many of the romance rules about heroes). I ultimately was alright with the scene, but I felt that the resolution between the hero and heroine was too brief. It seemed to me that there would have to be more emotional work between the couple in order to overcome the event. The failure to seriously deal with the repercussions of the event downgraded this book for me. Hopefully, readers will get more in the future books in the trilogy that will allow some closure to this story.
WORTH MENTIONING: There are depictions of rape and its aftermath so readers should be forewarned.
FINAL DECISION: I was somewhat disappointed in the ending of this book even though I thought the suspense was great and the book’s plot went in directions I did not expect. I think there needed to be a more serious exploration of the reactions to the horrible events that occurred in the book. I did, however, really like the characters and I was totally interested in the story throughout.
CONNECTED BOOKS: KEEP ME SAFE is the first book in the Slow Burn series.
STAR RATING: I give this 4 stars because I thought the ending was too rushed for the extreme events that preceded it.