#Review - Lost Souls by Chelsea Mueller #Fantasy #Paranormal

Series: Soul Charmer # 3
Format: Kindle Edition
Release Date: February 25th 2019
Publisher: Chelsea Mueller
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Romance

Get out of Hell free card? Not for Callie Delgado, Gem City's newest soul charmer. Sin and salvation collide in this gritty and action-packed urban fantasy.

Callie’s magic is finally her own. She and Derek dispatched Ford. They should have been able to breathe, but layers of sin run deep beneath Gem City. Another mob boss quickly rises, and his sights are firmly set on Callie—and her family.

Mobile soul rental shops begin to bite at the Soul Charmer’s business. His retribution is wicked, but the blowback threatens to crush Callie. If she can’t maintain the tenuous balance of souls in Gem City, more lives will be lost.

Only the more magic she uses, the more danger finds her. A break-in, pools of blood, and bare shelves at the Soul Charmer’s store force Callie to choose the fates of others.

But which can she live with? Losing her city, her love, her family …or her very soul?

"Sin can drag a soul down just as the lack of it can raise one up."

 

Lost Souls is the third installment in author Chelsea Mueller's Soul Charmer series. If you've read Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series, you will likely enjoy this series as well. Lost Souls picks right up where Rogue Souls left off. 24-year old Callie Delgado lives in Gem City. A place where you can rent a soul for a night to do whatever you want to do without being judged. Escaping judgment is what keeps the Soul Charmer in business. Callie just happens to be apprentice to the man. Callie has a lot on her plate in this installment. 

 

Her mother has been taken by a man named Nate. Soul dealers have been popping up all over town. Her brother Josh is allegedly on the straight and narrow, but blames Callie for her mother's situation. To make matters worse, Nate wants his soul back that Callie took and several others or her mother dies. Oh, and just when you thought the situation couldn't get any more dangerous, the Soul Charmer disappears along with a bunch of souls that are not the purest souls in his inventory.

 

Forgive me for saying this, but I loathe Callie's self flagellation when it comes to blaming herself for things her own family does. I don't want to hear that family is first when her family never thinks about their own actions before ending up with Callie having to bail them out over and over and over again. The one good thing in Callie's life is Derek. I love Derek for not wanting to reach out and slap Callie when she blames her self for things that she had no control over. I love Derek for not abandoning Callie and for always thinking that there is a way out of this for both of them if they remain strong together. 

 

I'm happy to say that there is no comparison's to Callie and Chess. When it comes to being a pill popping addict mess of of a church witch, Chess takes first place. Callie is just learning that she may be as powerful as the Soul Charmer. She is able to take souls from people, as well as enter the soul well beneath the Cortean Church to keep the balance between realms. I think that both characters struggle with self-esteem issues. Now for the similarities between this series and Downside Ghosts. First is the churches. In this series we have the Cortean Catholic Church which sits on top of a well of souls. In Downside Ghosts, you had the Church of Real Truth which deals in ghosts. Chess Putnam, from Downside Ghosts, has a sidekick named Terrible. One could say that both series are dark, and gritty, and sexy, and a speculative fantasy series that people should be reading. This book does end on a cliffhanger ending. I do hope Chelsea has plans on writing a 4th book.  

 

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#Review - Rogue Souls (Soul Charmer #2) by Chelsea Mueller #Fantasy

Series: Soul Charmer # 2
Format: E-Galley
Release Date: July 9, 2018
Publisher: Jill Grinberg Literary Management
Source: Author
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Callie Delgado volunteered to apprentice to Gem City's Soul Charmer. He'd forced the soul magic ability into her, but now it was hers. She'd learn to control her body's reaction to rented souls or go up in flames. Literally.

She exchanged her chance to escape the darker side of Gem City to save her brother. Now she needs to keep him sober and safe, try to mend family ties, and avoid the mobsters who have too much interest in the magic of borrowing souls.

But when bodies begin dropping at the Soul Charmer's door, it's up to Callie and her partner Derek to track down the person killing soul renters. The Charmer wants retribution, but Callie is determined to get justice even if it means putting herself directly in the sights of the murderer.

If she wants to stay on the Soul Charmer's good side, Callie must confront her enemies head-on and learn to command rogue souls.

...and hope someone she loves doesn't become the next victim.

Rogue Souls is the second installment in author Chelsea Mueller's Soul Charmer series. Having saved her older brother Josh in the previous installment, protagonist Calliope (Callie) Delgado made the choice to apprentice with the Soul Charmer. Renting souls is big business for the religious population of Gem City. Those looking to take part in immoral—or even illegal—activity can borrow someone else’s soul, for a price, and sin without consequence. All condoned by the Cortean Church which founded the city.

Callie and her partner Derek Shepherd are responsible for repossessing rented souls from those who attempt to delay returning the borrowed souls. To top it off, Callie has become a human soul detector and things really get weird whenever she's around someone who has borrowed a soul before like her mother. Callie doesn't really own her own body. She's stuck with the Soul Charmer's magic without the skills to contain it. Whenever she's near a soul renter, her hands get icy. Other times, she feels as though she is burning alive without any way to save herself.

If she can't control the power within, she's going to have to learn quickly since the Charmer himself is rather elusive when it comes to giving Callie any sort of instructions. Callie's learning by sinking or swimming begins in earnest when Derek discovers a dead body near the Soul Charmer's business, and they are ordered to find out who is responsible, and cut them off before the situation gets out of hand. Soul Charmer has more enemies than one can shake a stick at. Every one of his enemies wants to encroach or take away from his business. 

Callie and Derek must become investigators and track down those responsible for the dead body being left behind. This means dealing with Nate, Ford's favorite goon who wants something from Callie, as well as Josh, who is a recovering addict, and Zara, Callie's mother who believes that family comes first over anything and everything else. Besides her day job at Cedar Retirement Home, her one constant in her life is Derek. One of the main things I love about this series is Derek. As Callie's struggles with learning about her own abilities that takes her to places she's never dreamed about, Derek is Callie's rock. Derek has Callie's back no matter what problems arise, or what issues Callie has with her family, especially her mother. Callie will definitely need Derek's strength and guidance if she ever has hopes to actually understand the great responsibilities she's been given. 

I've said this before, and it bears repeating; There are similarities between Borrowed Souls and Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane. The sad part is that we haven't seen a new story by Kane in years which gives hope that Mueller's series will pick up the slack. With the twisted ending, readers will definitely be eager to see what the author has up her sleeves for the next round of Callie's adventures.

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Wednesday #Review - Borrowed Souls by Chelsea Mueller #Urban #Fantasy

Series: Soul Charmer # 1
Format: E-Galley, 312 pages
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Talos
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Callie Delgado always puts family first, and unfortunately her brother knows it. She’s emptied her savings, lost work, and spilled countless tears trying to keep him out of trouble, but now he’s in deeper than ever, and his debt is on Callie’s head. She’s given a choice: do some dirty work for the mob, or have her brother returned to her in tiny pieces.

Renting souls is big business for the religious population of Gem City. Those looking to take part in immoral—or even illegal—activity can borrow someone else’s soul, for a price, and sin without consequence.

To save her brother, Callie needs a borrowed soul, but she doesn’t have anywhere near the money to pay for it. The slimy Soul Charmer is willing to barter, but accepting his offer will force Callie into a dangerous world of magic she isn’t ready for.

With the help of the guarded but undeniably attractive Derek—whose allegiance to the Charmer wavers as his connection to Callie grows—she’ll have to walk a tight line, avoid pissing off the bad guys, all while struggling to determine what her loyalty to her family’s really worth.
Losing her brother isn’t an option. Losing her soul? Maybe.

Borrowed Souls is the first installment in debut author Chelsea Mueller's Soul Charmer series. As the synopsis indicates, 22-year old Callie Delgado is the protagonist for this series. She's put in a difficult situation because of her older brothers habits. Habits that have cost more than any one person should be subjected to. But, still it's not enough. Not after he is taken. Not after she agrees to work with the thug who vows to hurt him. Not after her motto is that family comes first no matter what.  

It's because of this motto, that sends Callie to the town's Soul Charmer to borrow a soul to do something for the person who has taken her brother. Callie finds herself working for the Soul Charmer in order to make enough money to borrow a soul for a day. But, what she doesn't count on is Derek, her partner in the soul collection business. What she doesn't count on is that she is given magic by the Soul Charmer himself. Magic that is more than comfortable in Callie's skin.

I find myself hesitating to review this book for fear of offending the author who really does come up with a story that is part original and part Downside Ghosts. I give Chelsea a whole lot of respect for putting herself, and her writing out there for all the world to see. I am encouraged that she has set a pretty high bar for herself to ensure that the sequel will be as good, or even better than this book. 

My Rating Reason(s):

1. I wanted to jump into this book and punch Josh in the throat. I appreciated that he did a whole lot for Callie in the past, but making someone put their life on hold in order to continually help him out well, the hell with that. Doing the same thing over and over and over again and then not taking the blame for your messed up life just makes you a pathetic loser.

 
2. I wanted to push Zara (the so called mother) down a flight of stairs, but changed my mind. Not going to waste a whole lot of time or effort describing what a truly awful person she is. 

3. There are similarities between Borrowed Souls and Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane. However, let's not compare Callie Delgado to Chess Putnam. Chess was involved in drugs, and found herself owing Bump lots of money, and chases after ghosts to debunk their existence. Callie's brother is into drugs not her. Callie puts her own life on the life for her brother and ends up retrieving souls from borrowers who use them to do stupid things, sometimes breaking the law. 

4. Drug dealer Bump meets Drug Dealer Ford. Simple. Avoid them both if you can.

 
5. If you want to compare Derek to Terrible, well, I'll stand over here on the sidelines and just watch. I happen to adore Derek for his patience, his concern when it comes to Callie, and yes, OK, their connection that stirs up what may come later. Derek may soon become one of my favorite male characters in an Urban Fantasy setting.

 
6. Kane's Church of Real Truth meets Mueller's Cortean Catholic Church. I'm Ok with bashing churches for past failures to reign in things, or past mistakes, but let's make it bashing of ALL religions across the board fair and balanced. We can't blame one religion for the worlds problems, while ignoring all others.

7. I would love more of an explanation pertaining to the soul magic, and why Callie seems to have a connection to it, while Derek doesn't. I would also love a bit more world building. This book seems as though it takes place in New Mexico. The setting is very similar to Albuquerque. I love it. I do dare to hope any sequel is as good, or better than this first installment.

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