Firebird Wilder is beloved by her family and considered a miracle child as the first female child in over a thousand years to be born to a member of the Varinski family tree.  A thousand years ago a brutal Varinski warrior traded his soul and those of his descendants to the devil for the ability to transform into the world's most fearsome predators.  The Wilder branch of the family, the ones the prophecy say can break the curse, fled to America and changed their last name in order to hide from their Varinski relatives who have no desire to lose their abilities.  The prophecy says four brothers are needed to break the curse.... but Firebird is total mystery as she has no powers and the curse says only males are to be born to the Varinski line.

Doug Black is a cop searching for answers to his own life.  He was abandoned as an infant and is seeking his birth parents to find answers to his mysterious ability to transform into a cougar.  In college, Firebird meets and becomes lovers with Doug Black until she sees him transform into a cougar and figures he must be a Varinski hell bent on wiping out her family.  She flees back into the protective arms of her family even though she knows she's pregnant with Doug's child.  They must overcome their mistrust of each other and mistakes they both make in order to find love and play their part in breaking the family curse while battling with the Varinskis dead set on wiping them out. 

This is book three in the Darkness Chosen series by Christina Dodd.  Dodd makes the characters human and believable even with otherworldly powers.  Both Firebird and Doug have fears and insecurities that plague us all making them come to life and seem real in a book surrounded by the unbelievable.  The close-knit Wilder family made me laugh with its brotherly interactions and root for "good"--or a variety of it-- to win out over evil.  I found it to be very enjoyable and easy to get caught up in quickly.  I look forward to more books from this author.

August 18, 2008