Chosen by Desire

Kate Perry

Without a stunning doctoral thesis, Carrie Woods will not get a professorship at Berkeley. She wants the position so much it's worth it to use all her savings to fly to China to sneak a look at some old scrolls that may give her information about the Guardians of Destiny myth. She slips away from the tour into the document room and finds the scroll she wants. But other scrolls fall as well and soon she has more than she needs. The tour group returns sooner than expected, so she shoves all the fallen scrolls into her bag. She leaves the monastery, reasoning that she'll take expert care of them and will return them when she's finished her thesis. One man dressed as a monk watches her intently as she leaves but lets her go. It's not until she has returned to San Francisco that Carries discovers she has one of the Guardian scrolls - The Guardian of Water.

Max Prescott had been betrayed by his best friend seven years earlier. He is one of the Guardians and is at the monastery But he sees Carrie and knows what she carried away. His master tells him it is time to return to San Francisco and face himself. Max returns and hires Carrie to come start documenting the ancient Chinese artwork he has collected. He also wants to retrieve the scrolls. But he has also learned that Carrie is connected to Rhys Bowen, the man who betrayed him. Perhaps he can use Carrie to get back at Max. The major problem he has now is keeping his mind on the scrolls and Rhys. Carrie's presence keeps pulling him in so he ignores that she is dangerous.

Someone is trying to hurt Carrie. She is sure the scrolls she possesses are in danger, so they stay with her at all times. Yet even in Max's secluded, guarded mansion in Santa Monica she isn't safe. She is certain someone has gone through the bag holding the scrolls but doesn't know who. Accidents keep happening that are potentially deadly. And then there is her attraction to Max as well. She needs to get back, finish her thesis, and settle into an academic life at Berkley...if she can live that long.

Kate Perry continues with her supernatural world with the Guardians of Destiny in this second book of the series. Chosen By Desire is over the top in a fun way and is a good example of the paranormal romantic suspense genre. The bedroom scenes are somewhat graphic so Chosen By Desire isn't for everyone.

Carrie is a mixture of an intellectually smart with enough innocence to attract a jaded man like Max. Her intellectual prowess doesn't really show except in her references to her work and the accolades given by others. Her relationship with her mother is a bit unbelievable, yet what most women would like to have with their mothers. Max is a rugged, rich, worldly man who is a Guardian and was badly betrayed, leaving him little room for trust. Kate Perry makes him quite likeable even when he is plotting against Rhys (the Guardian and hunk in Marked By Passion).

This is a good book to sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself with.

Notice:  Explicit sexual content, Non-graphic violence

Publicist provided for review

Marked by Passion
Chosen by Desire
Tempted by Fate