Welcome to FAB Lovelies!

A Lifestyle blog that focuses on all things from fashion to beauty; fitness to weight loss; recipes to coupons; books to movies; travels to entertainment; and everything in between.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Dutch by Madhuri Pavamani - Book Tour - Review - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Fantasy/Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONNECT WITH MADHURI:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

Amazon Author Page:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle:

Barnes and Noble:

Kobo:

Google Play:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for the excerpt and giveaway and congrats on the tour

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, James - best of luck on the giveaway. Cheers! Madhuri

      Delete
  2. congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lisa. I appreciate it and will keep my fingers crossed for you on the giveaway. Ciao! Madhuri

      Delete
  3. Thank you for your honest review, it's much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nikolina - I'm guessing your chances are pretty stellar on this giveaway. Thanks for following the tour. Madhuri

      Delete
  4. Thanks for the review. I definitely don't like cliffhangers, they frustrate me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about that E.L.F. - best of luck with the giveaway. Cheers! Madhuri

      Delete
  5. Thanks for sharing your review, I'm not a fan of cliffhangers either :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I 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 ;)

      Thanks for stopping by, Victoria. Cheers! Madhuri

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Thanks 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. :)

      Thanks for stopping by - ciao! Madhuri

      Delete
  7. I was wondering what the author has planned next?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi 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.

      Phew! And now I'm exhausted.

      Thanks for stopping by - ciao, Madhuri

      Delete
  8. 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

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just loved your cover and I would love to read your book.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Have a fun Tuesday and thanks for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What's the most challenging aspect of being a writer? Good luck and wishing you much success! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This book sounds great! I particularly love the line "She is beauty and love and sex and light, everything I am not."

    ReplyDelete