Borrowed Souls

March 20, 2017
In this fast-paced urban fantasy debut, a young woman who needs to pay off her brother’s debt to a drug dealer ends up taking a job as a collector for a man who rents souls to the desperate and foolhardy. If Callie Delgado works for the Soul Charmer for just two weeks, she’ll get the money she needs. With sexy, mysterious Derek backing her up and providing the voice of experience, Callie learns how to retrieve wayward souls from deadbeat clients. When they discover a new player in town is cutting into the Soul Catcher’s business, the two are sucked into a ruthless struggle for control of the soul market and Gem City as a whole. Meanwhile, Callie is caught between loyalty to her family and resistance to their increasingly selfish demands. A blossoming attraction to Derek provides her motivation to break free and live for herself. Mueller explores an intriguing concept in a seedy, visceral setting that pops to life on the page. The romantic subplot is standard fare, but Callie’s personal development is genuinely interesting, laying the groundwork for even stronger future installments. Agent: Cheryl Pientka, Jill Grinberg Literary.

March 15, 2017
In Mueller's debut novel, a young woman struggles to save her brother from the mob but is sucked into a world of shady magic and a partnership with a handsome bad boy.Callie Delgado has always believed that family comes first--even when family abuses that loyalty. When her brother Josh's drug addiction embroils him with organized crime, she tries to clear his debts via bad bargains with his dealers--and with the Soul Charmer, Gem City's creepy trader in souls. Need to cheat on your spouse or embezzle some funds? Do so with a rented soul, and keep your own sin-free, with the tacit endorsement of the Catholic Church! Mueller sets up an interesting modern take on historical indulgences but, sadly, offers a conventional paranormal romance instead. Granted soul-sensing powers by the Charmer, Callie is partnered with his ruggedly handsome enforcer, Derek, to do repo on overdue souls. But Callie spends more time making out--or dwelling on her empty bank account and sense of guilt--than she does actually exploring the potential of tradeable souls. The plot rides around on Derek's obligatory motorcycle from one soul reclamation to another, as Callie and Derek uncover a vaguely sketched plot by an equally vague villainess to do...something with people's souls, anyway. (A full explanation looks like it's coming in the sequel.) There's a concurrent plot--also vague--that requires Callie, a woman with no criminal skills, to steal evidence for the mob from a police station. The real challenge is whether Callie can open her wary heart to brooding-but-soulful Derek and learn to love again. (She can.) A quick, if predictable, ride for urban fantasy fans. Mueller tries for emotional depth with her leads, but the themes of guilt and family are handled too heavily to get much traction.

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May 1, 2017
Mueller's debut is slated as the first book in an already promising series. Callie Delgado risks her own safety and well-being to save her addict brother from the hands of his suppliers, Gem City's vicious mobsters. Gem City is a complicated place, as Callie realizes when she is thrust into an alliance with the mystical Soul Charmer and his handsome enforcer, Derek. Joining Derek in repossessing borrowed souls and dealing with the competition is a tricky businessand a booming one. With the help of a borrowed soul, the inhabitants of Gem City can commit sins without jeopardizing their own souls, an attractive prospect of which the religious population takes advantage. It's no surprise that competition tries to edge in on the Soul Charmer's business, upping the stakes of Callie's deal with the devil. Borrowed Souls combines classic and modern fantasy elements in a fresh take on the genre; readers who like dark worlds and compelling heroines will enjoy this smooth read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)