The Chosen Child

In Deer Creek, Colorado after three miscarriages in two years shake their marriage, Nikki and Cody Somers decide to try vitro fertilization with her sister Amanda as the surrogate mother. Everything is going smooth until Amanda stops at a roadside situation on an isolated mountain road, and a hit and run drunk plows through her. Baby Anna is dead before she is born and a badly battered Amanda goes home in Tennessee to physically and mentally recover. Four months later, Nikki and Cody still grieve with the teacher heading east to see her sibling while the cop is unable to move past catching the culprit. Their marriage looks over. While Nikki is in Tennessee, Cody "busts" preadolescent Dustin Holbrook for vandal. The kid's foster parents agree to leave Dusty with Cody. After Nikki returns home to the surprise of having a former student residing with them, she and husband struggle to move on with Dusty's needs serving as a solid incentive if they can get past their loss. THE CHOSEN CHILD is obviously not a romance, but more a character study that concentrates on grieving being personal as each person must move on at their pace and style. The lead couple's exertions are realistic and deftly handled so that anyone who has suffered a loss will empathize with them. Though Dustin is a convenient impetus to bring the pair together, readers will appreciate this strong family drama. Harriet Klausner