Veena’s review of Wilder (The Chosen Ones, Book 5) by Christina Dodd
Paranormal Romance published by Signet Select 7 Aug 12
The Chosen, gifted with special powers and marked by fate, fight against the Others, who are equally gifted but bound to the dark, in service to the devil. Challenged as never before …
“Rising on the ashes of the Gypsy Travel agency is a new power in a new building. Unless this hope takes wing, this power and this building will grow to reach the stars and cast their shadow over the whole earth and evil shall rule.”
Can the Chosen rise to the occasion and prevent the unthinkable?
Charisma Fangorn regrets that she won’t be a part of her Chosen team as they fight the final battle with the devil and she takes her own final stand against a horde of demons in the tunnels under New York City. She is sad that she never fulfilled the potential of her gifts due to her inability to find her one true mate. Fate in the form of the author has a different plan for her and sends a guardian angel to her rescue.
The guardian has no memory of the time before he arrived in the tunnels, but pretty soon Charisma begins to suspect that he is none other than Aleksandr Wilder, one of the seven chosen who disappeared three years ago. Betrayed and captured by Others, Aleksandr was tortured and brutally experimented on. His memories lost, he’s made his way to New York, where he finds a haven in a cave below the city, where he’s taken on the protection of the people who live there and has earned himself the moniker of Guardian.
As Charisma opens up and shares her stories of her childhood and her gifts, Aleksandr starts to see glimmers of his past as well. The two are young and deeply attracted to each other and quickly move to consummate the physical side of their relationship. I love how Aleksandr indulges in Charisma’s love of designer clothes and shoes by arranging a romantic dinner for which he provides her outfit and shoes. Charisma is a woman like all girly girls who love clothes and shoes, but don’t think for one moment that she can’t kick ass, because she absolutely can.
Charisma’s destiny is to answer the call of the earth, but she almost leaves it too late and her delay could cause the Chosen their chance at victory against the devil. Aleksandr regains his memory and understands that it is his destiny to aid Charisma in her quest. I enjoy the way the author helps her get a Chanel outfit with shoes to match as her armor for her mission.
You’ll have to read the book to find out what choices they are faced with and whether they choose wisely or not, but as my son said during the final battle between Harry and Voldemort of Harry Potter fame, I expected a lot more from the cataclysmic battle and found it almost anticlimatic. The author does throw in some interesting cameos with Rosie the bus driver and, of course, the entire Wilder clan from the Darkness Chosen series is in New York to help turn the tide against the devil.
The author does a great job of bringing together both her paranormal series. I love the Darkness Chosen series and the Wilders, so it’s great to visit with all of them, even though the opening scenes with the Wilders and one of the not-so-scary Varinskis really does not add to the overall plot of this book or series. The story is predictable and to some extent I have to say that I agree with some online comments that Aleksandr being the Guardian was outed too early and could have been part of the suspense.
If you haven’t read the series before, I don’t recommend starting with this book. Is there another spinoff in our future? I am not sure, because there is nothing on the author’s web site, but I think there may be a possible hook at the end for another series with a similar theme featuring some of the children that are born to the Chosen in the epilogue.
Grade: C+
Summary:
Only beloved storyteller Christina Dodd could bring you the explosive paranormal excitement of the Chosen Ones combined with Aleksandr Wilder’s story of redemption … and love …
As a young man, Aleksandr Wilder abandoned his duty, and for that lapse, he was tortured, tormented…and transformed. Now he prowls the tunnels beneath the city, a warrior against the forces of hell, never daring to dream that he can live as a man again.
After seven years battling the world’s ultimate evil, Chosen One Charisma Fangorn has become a tough, strong fighter without illusions or joy…even her gift of hearing the earthsong has faded. Deaf to her own instincts, she never suspects that a monster lurks in the dark underneath the streets.
When Aleksandr finds Charisma under attack, he rescues and cares for her, and hope stirs once more in his heart…and in the world. But in the secret recesses of his soul, he knows the truth. So exceptional a woman could never love a beast…could she?
Other books in this series:
Other connected books:
