The first entry in The Keeper's Chronicles. Funny, romantic, light reading. ( )

Claire, a Keeper, is summoned to a bed and breakfast and summarily tricked into ownership. She must try to close a hole to Hell, deal with a randy ghost, a too-sweet handsome handyman, fend off demons, monsters and a nosy neighbor, AND renovate, all while trying *not* to disturb the evil keeper sleeping upstairs. This was VERY funny - a charming, wonderful and entertaining read. ( )

I liked this book. Lots of faults, namely all the characters seem to be made of the same sarcastic mold, but a very entertaining read. I especially like the character of Hell, and it's resigned attitude toward the situation. Also, the writer knows cats. When the cat was introduced, I was worried the cat would be an all knowing know it all, and Austin is, but as Claire, the Keeper says, He's just a cat, and cats are contrary. Definitely a book I will be reading again. ( )

Claire, a Keeper, is summoned to a bed and breakfast and summarily tricked into ownership. She must try to close a hole to Hell, deal with a randy ghost, a too-sweet handsome handyman, fend off demons, monsters and a nosy neighbor, AND renovate, all while trying *not* to disturb the evil keeper sleeping upstairs. This was VERY funny - a charming, wonderful and entertaining read. ( )

I loved it and I can't wait to read more in this vein. I do hope she has written more about Austin, Claire and her nutty as family. ( )

This has been a fun read! I like the characters and the premise. ( )

Tanya Huff's Summon the Keeper didn't disappoint. Claire is a Keeper, a race of beings that keep the balance between good and evil. She's been summoned to a rat trap of a bed and breakfast. She thinks she'll patch up the hole and be on her way, but things don't quite work out as she planned. Her plans are further complicated with the hotel's employee, and young hot male, and the sexy resident ghost.

The characters are fully realized, even the talking cat. The only unbelieveable bit is having a male around that will cook and clean without complaint. Where can I find one of those?

***Spoilerish comments***

I love the visit by the retired Olympians. No, not exathletes touring around. These are the original Olympians, Zeus, Hera, Hades, Persephone, Neptune, Amphitrite, Aphrodite and Hephaestus being shepherded around by Hermes. That side plot had some of the funniest bits. I can just imagine a semisenile Hades rambling on and on to Hell about what it was like in the old days. Zeus is still trying to get it on with anything female, and Hera is as jealous as ever.

Ms. Huff continues to put together solid stories with hints of humor. I've already got the sequel in my to be read pile. ( )

I liked this series. I enjoyed the smart assed cat. The characters really work well together. ( )

Wonderful fantasy full of humor. New keeper arrives at hotel to find a host of odd guests and a portal to hell in the basement. Her job is to close the portal and keep the guests from disturbing the fabric of reality.... ( )

One of the most light-hearted books in my library, I fell in love with 'Summon the Keeper' in high school. I've read it many, many times and it still makes me laugh. What do you do if you have a hole to Hell in your hotel's basement? Call Claire the Keeper, one of the metaphysical handymen. While Claire is stuck in the Elysian Field's Hotel, guests troop through with their own issues. And of course, there is Hell, in a unique, bipolar, not-too-bright role. ( )

Claire Hansen is not a happy Keeper. It's her duty to travel from place to place, magically setting things to rights where the fabric of reality has worn a bit thin. Now, however, she's stuck in Kingston, Canada, monitoring a decrepit bed-and-breakfast where reality has positively shredded.

The idea of magical guardians moving secretly among us has been well chewed-over by various fantasy authors, but Tanya Huff has great fun with it in Summon the Keeper. Claire must cope with a lecherous ghost in the attic, a hole to Hell in the basement, and an elevator in between that doesn't always let you out into the same world from which you entered. The clientele includes vampires, werewolves, and geriatric Greek gods. There's a very dusty woman in room 6 who's been asleep since 1945; and if she ever wakes up, the world will come to a very unpleasant end.

Another Lightweight humourous fantasy, First volume in a series I dont plan on reading the next.

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy Tanya Huff. She has a catchy casual tone, which really fits the material. She's unfailingly amusing - sometimes laugh out loud amusing, even though I don't often do that plus this is a reread. She's got a lot of unexpected jokes, and a lot of plays on words. (Rolling eyes...hehe.) Despite the funniness, the characters are not one note people - just sometimes stuck in a rut. She has a surprising way of bringing everything together at the end, so that the little hints and nudges turn into a coherent whole without any dangly ends. At the same time, she doesn't just wrap it all up and act like this book is the entire purpose of these people's lives - which, sure, is a good way to make room for a sequel, but it also makes it feel more like a life and less like a sitcom. 8/10

This is a light hearted take on various tropes in urban fantasy (including Lackey's Diana Tregarde books). The protagnoist, the Keeper, is in a run down B&B in Canada trying to plug a gateway to hell (which has taken to arguing with itself), deal with an argumentative cat, an interfering sister who is a powerful magic maker and an irritating sibling, and convince her libido to not go into overdrive when dealing with her insanely handsome, polite handy man. This is an amusing quick read. ( )