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WORK TITLE: Borrowed Souls
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://chelseamueller.net/
CITY:
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and journalist. Chair, Geeky Giving campaign.
WRITINGS
Author of the Vampire Book Club blog.
SIDELIGHTS
Chelsea Mueller is a blogger, journalist, and philanthropist, and she may be best known to readers for Vampire Book Club, her popular book review blog. Mueller’s blog features reviews of horror, fantasy, and urban fantasy novels, so perhaps it is not surprising that Mueller’s debut novel, Borrowed Souls, is also an urban fantasy. Discussing her career in an online Qwillery interview, Mueller reported: “I’ve always been a writer. (Every author says that, don’t they?) I actually started as a journalist, though. I worked for magazines and newspapers for many years, before moving into another field. I found myself missing writing every day. I was already a voracious reader of genre fiction, and so I found myself beginning work on novels in every bit of spare time I could find. (Still do.)” Mueller added: “I have no shortage of ideas, but finding the one that needs to be told and that has the right kind of heart is the trick.”
Borrowed Souls serves as the first installment in the “Soul Charmer” series, and it introduces readers to series protagonist Callie Delgado. Callie lives in Gem City, where bad deeds are marked against the souls of those who commit sin. In order to circumvent this consequence, residents mask themselves with borrowed souls, and these loaners are supplied by the Soul Charmer. Callie, however, is unconcerned with such matters; she’s focused on rescuing her junkie brother, Josh, from his violent dealers. In order to succeed, Callie has to pay off Josh’s debts, so she takes a job working as an enforcer for the Soul Charmer. Callie’s new employer pairs her with the handsome Derek, another enforcer, and sparks inevitably fly between them.
Discussing her inspiration for the series in an online Scandalicious interview, Mueller stated that the idea “actually came from the Soul Charmer himself. I had this idea of a slimy, greedy, creepy-as-hell guy who pawned souls. Just a really stark visual. So I started thinking about the world that would need a guy like that, who would shop from him, who wouldn’t want to and what would make them go there? That’s how I found Callie and her story for the series.”
Critiquing the author’s efforts in Kirkus Reviews, a critic found that “Mueller tries for emotional depth with her leads, but the themes of guilt and family are handled too heavily to get much traction.” An online Speculative Herald columnist was also skeptical, asserting: “I hate to sound like I’m really criticising because obviously the book was an easy read and quite entertaining and I thought the concept was interesting—even if it needs a bit more fleshing out. I suppose the main thing for me was I wanted a little more from Callie. At the moment she feels very much like a puppet being controlled and manipulated by everyone around her and just moping about it all.” The columnist went on to comment: “It will be interesting to see how the next book develops, at the moment, I’m erring on the side of caution and thinking this series might not be one for me. I can certainly see the appeal for others.”
In a far more positive assessment, a Publishers Weekly contributor announced that “Callie’s personal development is genuinely interesting, laying the groundwork for even stronger future installments.” A Fangirlish Website reviewer was equally laudatory, declaring that Borrowed Souls is “great. It’s one of those books that you have to stop and think, ‘Did I miss something else by this author, cause she can weave a story. She can build a world.'” The reviewer concluded: “Overall I loved the characters and I loved hating them. Dear Lord, Josh you are a douche. But the main character, Callie–the way we watched her grow is really what kept me interested.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2017, Nicole Foti, review of Borrowed Souls.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2017, review of Borrowed Souls.
Publishers Weekly, March 20, 2017, review of Borrowed Souls.
ONLINE
Chelsea Mueller Website, http://chelseamueller.net (November 14, 2017).
Fangirlish, http://fangirlish.com/ (November 14, 2017), review of Borrowed Souls.
Scandalicious, http://www.scandaliciousbookreviews.com/ (November 14, 2017), author interview.
Speculative Herald, http://www.speculativeherald.com/ (November 14, 2017), review of Borrowed Souls.
Qwillery, http://qwillery.blogspot.com/ (November 14, 2017), author interview.
Chelsea Mueller, Author
Chelsea Mueller writes gritty contemporary novels packed with lots of action and a steady undercurrent of sexual tension.
Her urban fantasy novel Borrowed Souls is out now. (Read what people are saying about it.)
She spends too much time at the gym practicing MMA skills, but makes up for it by counseling other authors on writing dynamic and realistic fight scenes. Get those tips in her Write Like a Fighter series.
Chelsea spends her free time overseeing the fantastic Vampire Book Club, dishing on the latest book and TV goodness for Heroes & Heartbreakers, raising funds for Barrow Neurological Foundation as chair of the Geeky Giving campaign, and hanging out with her awesome, cyclist husband and two giant dogs. She loves bad cover songs, dramatic movies and TV vampires.
She lives in Texas and has been known to say y’all.
Borrowed Souls
Nicole Foti
Booklist.
113.17 (May 1, 2017): p62.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Borrowed Souls. By Chelsea Mueller. May 2017.312p. Skyhorse/Talos, paper, $14.99 (9781940456829).
Mueller's debut is slated as the first book in an already promising series. Callie Delgado risks her own safety and wellbeing
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
business--and 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.--Nicole Foti
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Foti, Nicole. "Borrowed Souls." Booklist, 1 May 2017, p. 62. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA495035098&it=r&asid=7c8901bf8dd6afd6e1678faaf053a04e.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495035098
10/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1508701527789 2/3
Mueller, Chelsea: BORROWED SOULS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Mueller, Chelsea BORROWED SOULS Talos Press (Adult Fiction) $14.99 5, 2 ISBN: 978-1-940456-82-9
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.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Mueller, Chelsea: BORROWED SOULS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA485105346&it=r&asid=fc4acb3c6ef046b4ecc3236ac853c400.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A485105346
10/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1508701527789 3/3
Borrowed Souls
Publishers Weekly.
264.12 (Mar. 20, 2017): p60.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Borrowed Souls
Chelsea Mueller. Talos, $14.99 trade paper
(312p) ISBN 978-1-940456-82-9
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. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Borrowed Souls." Publishers Weekly, 20 Mar. 2017, p. 60. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA487601777&it=r&asid=4888c9c8a9ed8246fa40801461726181.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487601777