About the Book

This romantic suspense novel has a touch of fantasy:

Life is becoming more complicated for soul reader Honor Melanie “Mel” Sullivan. Her boss needs help with his rebellious teen daughter who believes rules are made to be broken and Mel’s current boyfriend, Homeland Security agent Mick Petrov, is becoming an absentee lover, dropping hints about a major decision he faces. To make it worse, Mel’s ex, 3 Peaks detective “Billy the Kid” McCarty wants her back.

And those aren’t the only challenges. When a paramilitary group called New Dawn wants her soul-reading skills, Mel meets five-year-old twins who steal her heart. Unwilling to abandon the motherless children, she strikes a deal with the compound’s charismatic leader.

Drawn deeper and deeper into New Dawn’s twisted agenda, Mel must figure out a way to save the twins and herself before it’s too late.

A Special Note from Marilee Brothers

Thank you, Regan, for featuring me on your blog. Here’s a bit about the Soul Seeker series and my writing process. Of the ten books I’ve written, I’ve only managed to write one without a touch of fantasy. Call it a character flaw –LOL! Since I’d already exhausted the magic jewelry trope with my young adult series featuring a magic moonstone (Unbidden Magic), as well as a book about a baby capable of disappearing when danger appears (Baby Gone Bye), I had to come up with something new. I began to think about how fascinating, not to mention scary, it would be to have the ability to read the contents of a person’s soul by looking into his/her eyes. Good? Evil? Guilty? Innocent? Not to mention the problems this would create for the soul reader who may not want all that information.

My next challenge was trying to figure out how to describe what souls look like. Believe me, I visited an amazing number of weird websites hosted by people who believe they can read souls. I finally settled on a variety of colors and distinctive markers like stains, blotches, streaks and ragged edges. I’ve kept a notebook describing the souls of my characters and find it a valuable reference tool. It helps that my protagonist, Mel, is able to identify a lie as it flashes across a soul.

Even though I’m considerably older that twenty-two year old Mel, I had absolutely no trouble channeling her. Does that make me schizophrenic? She’s insecure, yet feisty, determined to make it on her own and is a sucker for the underdog. I’m also extremely fond of Uncle Paco, Mel’s huge gangbanger uncle who is devoted to her. I have an on-going cast of characters that appear in all three of the books in the series, Affliction, Allegiance and Hope and Honor.

In my humble opinion, there’s nothing easy about the writing process. That said, I do love creating new characters who often develop minds of their own, grab the reins and lead me in a direction I never intended to go. Gotta roll with it!

Since I have a thing about twins (Mel is a twin and twins were featured in my Unbidden Magic series), Hope and Honor, book 3 and the last in the trilogy, features a set of five-year old twins are. My challenge was was to tie up all the loose ends and give Mel a happily ever after ending.

So, if your readers enjoy romance with multiple plots, mystery and suspense, they might want to give the Soul Seeker series a try. You’re all invited to visit my website, www.marileebrothers.com. Click on Work in Progress and take a peek at my new mystery, A Woman Scorned.

Enjoy an Excerpt of Hope and Honor

My peripheral vision catches sight of a sudden movement. I walk down the steps and turn right until I reach the edge of the building. I peek around the corner and see a little girl pressed against the rough siding. Her dark hair is braided. Her jeans and jacket are too big and look like boy clothes. Her gaze is fixed on the ground. Her thumb is in her mouth. She’s clutching a stuffed rabbit.

I take a step toward her and smile. “Hi. Are you waiting for your dad?”

She nods.

I take a step closer, trying not to spook her. “I’m Mel. What’s your name?”

Without removing her thumb, she mumbles something unintelligible. I take a step close and squat down until we’re eye level.

“I didn’t quite get your name. Maybe if you take your thumb out of your mouth it will work better.”

She lifts her head and I’m looking into eyes identical to those of the little blond boy. Bright and blue. My heart breaks when I look into her soul. Streaked with pale blue accents, it’s a soft shade of pink and bisected with a jagged black line. This little girl has experienced severe trauma.

“I think I saw your dad and brother go into the hall. Am I right?”

She nods. The thumb comes out of her mouth. “Papa and Gunner.”

“Can you tell me your name again, sweetie?”

“I’m Kimber.”

“Do people call you Kim?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. People call me Kimber, ‘cause that’s my name.”

“Got it,” I say. “How about you keep me company until the meeting is over. I’ve got nobody to talk to and I’m lonesome. We could go sit on the stairs and wait together.”

“Not there. No females. We can sit on the bench, though.”

She takes my hand and leads me to a rickety bench a few yards in front of the porch railing. We sit in companionable silence for a few minutes. I’m dying to know more about Kimber, but don’t want to bombard her with questions.

“This is Blossom Bunny,” she offers, thrusting the stuffed rabbit in front of my face.

Blossom Bunny is not attractive. Her fur is dull gray and splotchy. Her long, floppy ears droop down to her skinny legs. Black, beady eyes peer straight ahead atop a little pink nose.

“Very nice,” I lie.

“I love Blossom Bunny. She has zippers in her ears. I keep important stuff there.”

She lays the bunny across her lap, lifts one of the floppy ears and points out the zipper.

“Very cool. It’s good to have a place to keep important stuff.”

She nods solemnly, unzips one of the ears and pulls out stubby pencil, a little rubber ball and a hair ribbon. Seeing her sparse array of treasures makes me sad.

Giveaway

Marilee will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflcopter. Use the form below to enter and be sure to follow all of the blog tour stops to increase your chances of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Marilee Brothers is a former teacher, coach, counselor and the author of ten books. Marilee and her husband are the parents of three grown sons and live in central Washington State. After writing six young adult books, Marilee is once again writing romantic suspense for the adult market. She loves hearing from people who have read her books. Feel free to contact her at http://www.marileebrothers.com and sign up for her newsletter The Obsessive Page Turner.

Her author page on Facebook is: www.facebook.com/marilee.author and she occasionally tweets @MarileeB. Check out Marilee’s Amazon page.

Marilee’s blog is Book Blather at http://bookblatherblog.blogspot.com where she features aspiring and published authors as well as some tidbits of her own.

Live the adventure!

9Apr2018