Chosen by K.F. Breene

I completely enjoyed "Chosen". 3.6 Stars. I recommend it to fantasy fans who love female protagonist and like books with a good dose of sexual tension. It's PG13 for language, violence, and sexual innuendo.

Shanti, our protagonist, is a clone of Millicent in Fate of Perfection in Ms. Breen's Finding Paradise series and the sexual tension is the same as well. I thought Millicent was fun, but Shanti, not so much in the romantic push-pull Ms. Breene likes to write. She did a lovely job of having Shanti speak a foreign language and pick up the local language quickly. I would recommend the book on that alone if you're a blooming writer. It was the kind of humor that deeply amuses me.

The sales pitch is Shanti is The "Chosen" one, who, via prophecy, will bring powerful warriors out of some mystery place and conquer raiding hordes of Tolkienesk dark and evil foes.

I think that sales pitch will eventually be accurate for the entire series. That isn't what happened in this book. I admit I can forget what I read yesterday and read it today like I'd never read it before, but I was paying attention as this is good book with interesting characters.

Ok, I believe it is time to tell you as much as the sales blurb spoilers, so if you like going in blind, get the book and move along. If spoilers whet your appetite for more, dig in.

Chosen by K.F. Breene

There's a flash of action in the beginning but it is too vague to really grasp what is going on. That's not an entirely bad thing as you do know folks were slaughtered and our hero is devastated. I started recording in my mind when she was dying of thirst trudging through a barren and ravaged landscape.

Then, a group of boy scouts pretending to be soldiers run across her and believe her a corpse. There is apparently one person who figures out she's not dead and they haul her back to town which is some days away.

Gratitude isn't really Shanti's strong suit, and she's hyper-critical of near all she observes. When she's recovered to some degree she is hauled to see the Captain who isn't cooperative in regard to her personal plans which she sees as saving the world, and he just thinks it suspicious. I did enjoy the back-story on "the captain" and his royal background.

Shanti's assigned guards. She promptly usurps them into her own defense force. She's practical that way. If she's going to be guarded she should be guarded by folks who can actually do the job, so she takes on the task of training them. Before long Shanti has the troop of keystone cops whipped into a disciplined military platoon that near matches the real military in that city. Worse they follow her orders, not the Captain's leaders.

As the conflict between "the Captain" and Shanti escalates, so does the sexual tension. The reader gets to understand she's in the company of friends, while it is obvious Shanti just won't accept anyone as being kind to her for the sake of kindness.

As time goes on things change and ultimately, against her strenuous objections the Captian decides to open trade relations with folks she claims are her enemies. Worse the Captain has been offered a generous bounty if he happens to encounter a woman fitting Shanti's looks and increasing peculiar skills.

As readers, we also get to enjoy a host of other tension filled conflicts. Much of it is supplied just because Shanti is obnoxious. Ms. Breene does a good job at letting the reader know she's kind, thoughtful, and generous so her bloviating and coarse behavior doesn't give the reader ample ammunition to despise her. The same goes for the Captain. You often see him through her eyes but you also get enough information that you know they are both "good guys".

Such is how the book goes while Shanti believes she is being held captive. When the trade relations go south the action picks up and the fireworks begin.

If you're looking for the powerful warriors from mysterious lands... don't hold your breath. My impression of the "Chosen" meant to unite the far off warriors with her entirely destroyed people is highly unlikely. But what do I know? The book ended with a cliffhanger. Maybe it'll still happen in a different book.

I read "Chosen" between August 25 and August 29.

See my Goodreads reviews here.