I’m pleased to be a part of the blog tour for Chosen.

Chandra Hoffman’s Chosen tells the story of  Chloe Pinter, director of the domestic adoption program for The Chosen Child. Chloe works to bring together birth mothers and adoptive families. Although rewarding and an escape from her own tumultuous personal life, the job is demanding and unpredictable, especially with birth parents like Jason and Penny: young, impoverished, manipulative but with the baby desperately wanted by the wealthy McAdoo’s.  The Novas are former clients of Chloe and friends of the McAdoo’s. After years of infertility, they are finally expecting their own baby. When a baby is kidnapped, the lives of these characters are brought together in unexpected ways.

Chandra Hoffman shows the darker side of adoption- the desperation of both some birth and adoptive parents. She shows how the decisions we make in a moment- because of desperation, courage, or sheer exhaustion- can irrevocably alter lives in unanticipated and sometimes heartbreaking ways. These very human moments that stayed with me for several days after I finished the novel.  I’d find myself thinking about Penny, who loved her child enough to give him up, although not without reservation. At the same time, I’d think about Francie McAdoo, whose wealth could get her the baby she’s wanted for years, but it still can’t buy her a happy marriage.  And the Novas, who wanted a baby for so long and are finally giving birth. Like most new parents, though, they are wholly unprepared for how much their new baby truly will change their world.  Each of the characters is sympathetic to some degree, even the manipulative and criminal Jason.

I like that this story stuck with me. I can’t imagine the courage it takes to give up a baby for adoption. Nor can I imagine the emotional toll it takes on adoptive parents when prospective adoptions fall through.  Chloe, stuck in the middle of it all, just trying to make everyone happy and give the baby the best possible life, finds herself put in an untenable position with the very future of a baby at stake.

I turned the pages of this book quickly, wanting to know what happened next. Hoffman does a great job of drawing her characters. Francie McAdoo, for example, isn’t necessarily someone I would like in real life, but I still found myself sympathizing with her, and empathetic to her circumstances. Even with Jason, villain that he is, Hoffman finds ways to make the reader sympathize  with him, to a point.

This book had all the elements: conflict, great characters, a few curve balls, and an interesting plot.  I hope to read more by Chandra Hoffman in the future.

By the way, this blog tour is a giveaway tour, so click here to get to the tour page. Comment, and you’ll be entered for a chance to win!  You can also connect with Chandra at her site,  and on Facebook and @chandraKhoffman on Twitter.

Happy reading!