Review & Giveaway: Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

Yep, it’s another review tour stop for me! This is a review of Chosen, an urban fantasy novel by author Denise Grover Swank. Of course, there’s a giveaway, too. Read on to know more about the book and the giveaway.

About the book

Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase she moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma’s never needed help before. And even though she’s learned to trust her son, it doesn’t mean she trusts Will.

Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma’s freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake’s proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn’t know she has.

Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will’s overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it’s too late.

This book was surprisingly fast-paced and exciting. Although the review copy I received was a little hard to read–all quotation marks were missing for some reason–the story line was exciting and interesting enough for me to plow through it. The three main characters were also easy to like, although I found Emma a little annoying towards the end because she became far from the strong tough woman at the start of the book. There was reason for her becoming that way, but it was still a change that I didn’t like so much. The kid Jake was the typical wise powerful child who accepted his destiny and Will was your typical reluctant battle-scarred “chosen one” slash hero. All of them played well into the story. The twist at the end wasn’t something I expected from this book, but at least it was slightly different from the usual. No fairies or wizards or sorceresses. Think powerful people, secret societies and conspiracy theories.

Like I said the book was pretty fast-paced and exciting, but for me the ending was a little “meh.” I’m not sure what kind of ending I wanted, but the actual ending of the book didn’t really close anything. I guess it’s all in preparation for the next book in the series. If you like urban fantasy and secret societies, you might enjoy this book!

I received a review copy of this book at no cost and with no obligations. All opinions and views expressed here are my own.

Giveaway

Denise will giveaway a digital copy of her paranormal YA, Here, to one commenter at each stop and a $50 Amazon Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter from the tour. Visit the other tour stops here for more chances of winning!

Read an excerpt

“We can trust him,” the boy repeated.

She turned to look out the windshield and hung both of her arms over the steering wheel. “Are you sure?” she asked, staring straight ahead.

“Yes.”

She rested her chin on her hands and closed her eyes. He decided she must be trying to figure out how to deal with this change of events. Personally, Will thought it was going too far on the permissive parenting scale letting a preschooler make a decision like that, but hey, it worked in his favor. He sure wasn’t going to protest.

“Okay,” she finally said, sitting up. “I need to leave town. They know we’re here so we’ve got to leave as soon as we can.”

“Who exactly are they?” Will asked. As far as he knew, he was the only one on this job. He’d be pissed if they hired someone else as backup.

“You don’t need to know that,” she said, turning at the corner. “How do you plan on helping us?”

“I can help you leave town.”

“Why would you do that?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked behind for signs of the SUV.

Will had seen the damage. The SUV wasn’t going anywhere. Where the hell had she learned a move like that?

He gave her his rugged, bad boy smirk and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

“Do better than that,” she snorted.

He liked that she wasn’t easily snowed, even if it made his job more difficult.

“Let’s just say I’m hoping to get lucky, and maybe if I’m nice enough, I will.” He gave her a slow, lazy smile as he leaned against the door, crossing his arms.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t count on it.”

“Don’t crush a man’s hopes. Just wait and see. I might grow on you.”

Raising her eyebrows, she twisted her lips into a wry smile. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

About the author

Denise Grover Swank lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. She has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading or writing her next book. You will rarely find her cleaning.

You can find out more about Denise and her other books at her website, on Facebook, and Twitter. You can also reach her through email.

About Here:
Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.

Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can’t ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.