Review: The Chosen by Theresa Meyers

Posted March 8, 2013 by Jen in 4 stars, Paranormal Romance, Rating A, Steampunk Fiction Tags: , , , ,

The Chosen
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Zebra
The Legend Chronicles #3
ISBN: #978-1420121261
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Steampunk Western
Format(s): Paperback (352 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
Attorney by day, demon-hunter by night, Remington Jackson is used to being on the sunny side of the law, even in the Wild West. But it’s showdown time, and Remy and his brothers are getting desperate. They don’t have the relic they need to slam the door shut on evil—so Remy is going to have to find and steal part of it.
Enter China McGee, shapeshifter, thief, beauty, and current prisoner. When Remy offers her freedom in exchange for a little light-fingered help, she’s pretty sure she’s going to end the association with a good old-fashioned seductive double cross. But there’s something about fighting through a jungle full of Mayan ruins that makes you want to settle down together. China could change. Remy might be special. But none of that matters if the devil takes them all…
What I’m talking about:
The Chosen is the third full-length story from Ms. Meyers’ paranormal romance, western steampunk trilogy, The Legend Chronicles. The series centers on  the Jackson brothers, who together make up “the Chosen,” the three Darkin Hunters foretold in prophecy, who will collect and unite the three pieces of the mythical Book of Legend to prevent the coming of the creatures from Hell to end of the world. *phew* The first two books each focused on one of the Jackson brothers. In The Chosen, we follow the adventures of the middle brother, Remington, as he looks to find his piece of the missing Book. In addition, this book overlaps in time and content with the first two stories (all three books take place all at the same time). The difference between The Chosen and the first two books is that the story goes beyond finding of the missing pages, and focuses on the brothers’ attempts to reunite the book and stop the impending apocalypse.
The opening of The Chosen is a lot of fun and indicative of the tempo and feel of the series. Lawyer Remington is paired with unpredictable shifter China. Note: shifters are “shape shifters” and not “weres.” Stuck in jail after working with the youngest Jackson brother, China is reluctant to trust Remington. I love that confident Remington is tossed into jail when he tries to free China. However the pair make and exciting escape only to be attacked by some snake demons. The fast adventure makes for an engrossing read from the get go.
Along the way we learn that China has some very interesting and potentially deadly secrets. Since the story is told from shifting third-person POVs, the reader is privy to China’s true plans while accompanying Remington to find his section of the Book of Legend. (For the record, each set of pages can only be recovered by a team of both a Hunter and a Darkin.) Her secret is a doozy, and I was pretty baffled how she could come to love and crave affection and attention from someone so rotten (this is a spoiler-free comment about her life before meeting the Jackson brothers). Her motivation for wanting to betray Remington just felt a little off, and eventually, even China begins to realize the same thing. I love that we witness her path to self-realization, and I cheered out loud when she figured out that what she really wants is true and meaningful love, not approval.
I really liked China, and she is by far my favorite Darkin heroine from the trilogy. She is very confident and free. She doesn’t abide by anyone’s rules or constraints, giving her a strength that the previous heroines did not have. She is also insightful, with some of the best scenes in the book coming from her POV. She is feisty and a joy to read.
As for Remington, he is a blend of his younger and older brothers, yet a character onto himself. However, as China so adeptly observed, Remington tends to hide behind fancy clothes and big words. He’s lived that way for so long, he doesn’t know how to be himself sometimes.
The bulk of the book revolves around discovering the third section of the Book of Legend. The long journey affords China and Remington the opportunity to get to really know one another and of course, fall in love. Their unreleased passion and heat sizzles off the pages.
Once the couple find their section of the Book, all three brothers, together with their Darkin loves meet up with my favorite inventor, Marley (who has a wonderfully touching scene when he meets his daughter, Octavia). The group must figure out how to stop demon lord Rathe from opening a gateway to hell and begin armageddon. Other than one awkward scene involving China and the other two Darkin females, the end of the book flies by. It was exciting to have everyone working together.
In conclusion, China and Remy’s story was enjoyably entertaining and my favorite of the trilogy. I admired that the pair were always on equal footing, and the trust they had to put into one another made for such a wonderful relationship. I also appreciated how their story concluded in a manner different that what the previous two couples had to overcome in order to be together. All-in-all a very fitting ending for the trilogy, with enough opening for future installments.
My Rating:
 
Enjoyed – strongly recommend (A-)
 
 
 
 
 

Purchase Info:

Reviews in the Series: