Reborn
The Wanderer book 2
By Jessica Miller
Review by Sandra
This novel begins where book one left off-----a depressed Ella is back home wit h her family following the brutal murders of her best friend, Josie, and her boyfriend, Tristan, by the rogue vampire, Jack. She has learned that she will not be returning to that school, but will be transferring to her brother, Dean’s, school, where she will learn the history of her kind and how to identify and make the best use of her super powers. Ella had never been told that she was half vampire and half human so this all comes as a total shock to her and just adds to the mental anguish she has been dealing with from the deaths of her friends.
She learns that her family is the “royal” family in their vampire world and her dad is the leader. Her brother, Xander, was supposed to be his successor but he declined and since her brother Dean is considered too much of a party boy to be considered as a leader, Ella is expected to take over when her father steps down. For that reason she must attend the school because she knows absolutely nothing of their history or their roles. We also learn that Xander has agreed to hang around and help dad until Ella is ready. Xander has a new girlfriend named Jasa who has moved in with the family but in the background we sense turmoil between Jasa, Xander and the family maid, Danni. Danni was Xander’s high school sweetheart but they broke up when she obeyed his parents and told him that she was pregnant by another man. We learn that Danni had gone to Xander’s parents before telling him that she was pregnant with his baby. They sent her away, refusing to tell Xander the truth, but later worried about her and wanted their grandchild so they gave her a job as their maid and a home for her and the baby with them.
The little girl is now 5 years old and Xander still doesn’t know the truth. It is obvious to the
reader that these two still care about each other so there is a background storyline that keeps us hoping they get back together and he learns the truth.
Ella does not want to replace her dad and she rebels in the only way she can since she is
under such close supervision, she finds a tattoo parlor and gets as many tattoos as she can conceal beneath her clothing. Of course, her parents eventually see them and so tighten the security around her. We learn that this rogue vampire, Jack, has been after her powers for a long time. In fact, he was responsible for the wreck that resulted in the death of her high school sweetheart and he was the man with the shiny eyes standing in the road that caused them to swerve and then wreck. He was coming to get her when another man with shiny eyes came to her rescue and saved her life. We meet him later in the story as he is a student at the paranormal training school Ella attends.
The shock of learning she is half vampire and heir to the role of leader of the clan, combined with the deaths of her loved ones, all change Ella’s personality from happy-go-lucky , to reserved and bitter, so she has trouble getting along with a lot of people. She resents having to go to the new school and what makes it even worse is she is roomed with the most obnoxious, most conceited, cruelest witch in the entire school, a girl named Mackenzie.. And even worse is this girl’s boyfriend looks so much like her lost Tristan.
Ella finds this school has a lot in common with her last school with exceptions being everyone here is either a vampire, witch, warlock or werewolf, all teens training for their adult roles. She begins to make friends and to learn more about this new world she is a member of but never knew about growing up. Like any other school there are good kids and bad kids and they seem to find each other quickly and form their own little cliques. Ella finds her gay warlock friend Dixon, from her last school, is there, and she quickly makes new friends. Her major problem seems to be her roommate.
Everyone tells Ella that Roman, her roommate’s boyfriend, is the nicest boy in the school and they think she has cast a spell on him making him date her. Apparently she did that to the school’s handsome young headmaster when she first came to the school and she soon casts the same spell on Ella and the headmaster, trying to get Ella kicked out of school. After almost going all the way, Ella somehow breaks the spell and remains a virgin. She then ends up with Roman and Mackenzie starts spreading rumors that Ella did have an affair with the headmaster and has now cast a spell on Roman and that was how she managed to take him away from Mackenzie. Confrontations with Mackenzie continue throughout the book.
A lot of this story also focuses on Jack, the rogue vampire, and his plans to get Ella’s powers. The last book ended with a huge fight in which he killed Ella’s best friend, Josie, and her boyfriend, Kristan, but escaped without killing Ella or getting her powers. He is somewhere gathering and training an army .of rogue vampires ready to attack once they locate Ella,the relationship between Roman and Ella keeps getting closer. Eventually Mackenzie moves out of the room, leaving Ella a private room, and Roman sends more and more time there.
Eventually, as we would expect, he and Ella consummate their relationship. This leads to a fight between her brother Dean and Roman, but this too is eventually settled peacefully.
This book is lengthy and much of it deals with the various para-normal creatures/people
attending the school. The author makes them real to us, believable and most of them even
likeable. It ends with an all out attack on the school by Jack and his gang but thanks to Josie, who left Paradise where she was an angel, to warn Ella, the guardians are prepared for this attack so it is not as bad as it could have been. Josie, however, learns she is to be punished for violating the rule about interfering with events on earth and she is not allowed to go back, at least for now.
During the final battle, Jack ad Ella fight almost to the death, but he springs a surprise on her that causes her to be distracted long enough for him to escape. He told her that Tristan was not dead, but was living in Ireland and thought Ella was dead. According to Jack that was why Kristan had made no attempt to find or contact her. As proof, he produced Ella’s grandmother’s locket that Kristan had said he would always keep as a reminder of their great love.. Jack is missing and Kristan is hospitalized but with the help of Josie, Josie’s werewolf boyfriend Billy and their witch friend Candence, Ella leaves the hospital and the friends leave for Ireland to find Kristan. As in the last novel, the author leaves us hanging, dying to see what is going to happen next, but having to wait for the next book.
As a general rule, I am not a big fan of paranormal stories but this author brings them across in a way that makes us feel as they are the same as us and that we could easily be one of them. This is the best series of paranormal books I have read since the Twilight series and I would not be surprised to see this story on the big screen one day. Two thumbs up and stars.
I live in a fantasy world and have an over active imagination. But the best part about that is I never stop creating new characters and new stories to share. I love writing and expressing myself in a way that everyone else can enjoy as well. I work in the salon most days, but when i'm not doing hair, I'm writing or reading.
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