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The Chosen Child
The Chosen Child by Brenda Mott released on Feb 08, 2005 is available now for purchase.
- GenresRomance
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 24, 2015
Cody and Nikki recently lost a baby, and their already-floundering marriage has totally broken down. Nikki can't understand why Cody, a police officer, is so desperate to catch the hit-and-run driver who mowed down their surrogate. Cody is confused and hurt by the way Nikki seems to want to forget things and move on. Neither can understand the other's way of grieving, and instead of being drawn closer by their shared tragedy, they've fallen apart. Until a needy young boy named Dustin enters their lives, and brings them back to the world of the living.
This book is a perfect example of why I don't like reading romances featuring people who've recently been through a huge tragedy. People in crisis don't make attractive heroes and heroines. They act in illogical ways that are hard if not impossible to understand unless you've been there. They often make terrible choices, because rather than thinking things through they're in a reactionary mode. They're big messy balls of emotion. Which is understandable. If you've recently been traumatised or are grieving over a great loss, you're not going to be at your best. I've been there. Most of us have been there in some shape or form. It's normal, even expected. But it doesn't make for a good love story, IMO.
Just an FYI: adopting a child in the hopes that it'll a) save your broken marriage; b) pull you out of your grief for the child you just lost; or c) all of the above, is a really REALLY REALLY bad idea.
Basically, I hated this book. I hate saying that, but it's the truth. Dustin was the best thing about it - I loved his mix of smartass teenager and vulnerable kid - and the reason for the extra star. Cody and Nikki, however, I found easy to pity and impossible to like. They were both so wrapped up in their own feelings (again, understandable given the circumstances, just not pleasant) that they found it impossible to understand or communicate with each other. Considering that their marriage had been on the rocks for a long time, I couldn't understand why they wanted to sort things out, and thought they'd have been better odd going their separate ways.
There's something really wrong when you finish a romance novel and find yourself wishing that hero and heroine HADN'T ended up together. I really don't know why this book was published under the Superromance line, because I found it decidedly unromantic. (If it had been a standalone book, advertised as a story of life after tragedy rather than a romance, I might have been more forgiving.)
I'm now halfway through the next book about this tragedy - Caitlin Kramer's story. (Caitlin was the other woman involved in the car crash.) So far it seems a little easier to read than this one, but I'm still uncomfortable with the bleakness of the books, and will be glad when I'm done. Insanely depressing. 2 stars.
This book is a perfect example of why I don't like reading romances featuring people who've recently been through a huge tragedy. People in crisis don't make attractive heroes and heroines. They act in illogical ways that are hard if not impossible to understand unless you've been there. They often make terrible choices, because rather than thinking things through they're in a reactionary mode. They're big messy balls of emotion. Which is understandable. If you've recently been traumatised or are grieving over a great loss, you're not going to be at your best. I've been there. Most of us have been there in some shape or form. It's normal, even expected. But it doesn't make for a good love story, IMO.
Just an FYI: adopting a child in the hopes that it'll a) save your broken marriage; b) pull you out of your grief for the child you just lost; or c) all of the above, is a really REALLY REALLY bad idea.
Basically, I hated this book. I hate saying that, but it's the truth. Dustin was the best thing about it - I loved his mix of smartass teenager and vulnerable kid - and the reason for the extra star. Cody and Nikki, however, I found easy to pity and impossible to like. They were both so wrapped up in their own feelings (again, understandable given the circumstances, just not pleasant) that they found it impossible to understand or communicate with each other. Considering that their marriage had been on the rocks for a long time, I couldn't understand why they wanted to sort things out, and thought they'd have been better odd going their separate ways.
There's something really wrong when you finish a romance novel and find yourself wishing that hero and heroine HADN'T ended up together. I really don't know why this book was published under the Superromance line, because I found it decidedly unromantic. (If it had been a standalone book, advertised as a story of life after tragedy rather than a romance, I might have been more forgiving.)
I'm now halfway through the next book about this tragedy - Caitlin Kramer's story. (Caitlin was the other woman involved in the car crash.) So far it seems a little easier to read than this one, but I'm still uncomfortable with the bleakness of the books, and will be glad when I'm done. Insanely depressing. 2 stars.
March 23, 2015
Nice story. Parts of it are hard to read, because of the subject matter. The story is about a terrible tragedy and a marriage in trouble, and those things are hard and painful to read about. I think Mott handled it pretty well. I did keep wondering what had broken this couple apart-- their issues weren't clear, and Mott might have done a better job of showing that the characters didn't really understand it themselves. The ending felt rushed and a little pat as well. But I liked it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews