Sheri Lewis Wohl chats about Bridge of Souls

Welcome to Paranormal Romance Month! This week it’s my pleasure to interview Sheri Lewis Wohl about her latest release, Bridge of Souls. Be sure to leave a comment to win a free copy of Bridge of Souls and a $5 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press!

Bridge of Souls

Adrian Meade is on the run from her rich, powerful, and vengeful ex-husband, so she creates a new identity as Anna Koch to keep herself safe. Tired of running, she has no sooner put down temporary roots in Spokane, Washington, than she finds herself in the midst of an unexpected romance with her landlord, Jason “Bigs” Bigelow, and also confronted with the century-old mystery of a missing boy. Full of dark secrets, she keeps Bigs at arm’s length until their fiery passion becomes too great to deny. Love, lies, and a ghost complicate Adrian’s life even more than it already is. As secrets begin to crack and mysteries begin to unravel, the line between the past and the present fades. Can Bigs keep her safe from an evil that transcends time or will he lose the one woman who has finally healed his heart?

SKY: A warm welcome, Sheri. Great to have you!

SHERI: Hi Sky. Thanks for having me here today. I’m excited to spend a little time with you and your readers.

SKY: Wow! I can tell already that Bridge of Souls is my kind of read. When did the idea for this story take root? Was there a defining moment?

SHERI: There’s a brick school well over a hundred years old near where we live and it’s intrigued me for years. I’ve always wondered what stories it could tell and every time I’d drive by my imagination would run wild. I’ve also always been a fan of dark, gothic tales with danger, mystery and ghosts. So one day I’m driving by the school, the sky is dark, a little starts to fall and I think…hey, what if…and the story was born.

SKY: I couldn’t help but smile…what a name your hero has─ Jason “Bigs” Bigelow. Love it! Who is he? What makes him tick? I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say, “Can I meet him?” Please, take us inside the pages of Bridge of Souls and make our mouths water for ‘Bigs!’

SHERI: Besides being married to an ex-cop, I’ve spent almost 20 years in the judiciary and hence have come to know many different law enforcement officers. Bigs is a bit of my husband as well as touches of the Deputy Marshals, DEA and FBI agents I see every day. Stir it all together and voila, a tough, sharp and handsome hero is born: a man who might have been taken down but was never taken out. He’s still handsome, smart and motivated scars and all.

Here’s a little peek at Bigs when Adrian comes knocking early one morning with muffins and lattes:

Back out in the hallway at Bigs’ apartment, she knocked hard. He could still be in bed and a thoughtful tenant might just wait until later in the day. However, she wasn’t even going to pretend to be a thoughtful and patient tenant. She was impatient, excited, and wanted a little company. His company to be exact.

Bending down, she picked up the lattes and muffins while she waited for him to answer her not-so-subtle summons. When he opened the door a long minute later she almost dropped the lattes. As some of her younger students would have exclaimed, Yo! She’d seen her share of bare chests but my oh my, what a bare chest Jason Bigelow possessed. With flannel pants slung lazily on slim hips and his feet bare, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out he just got out of bed. He wore the disheveled look well. Very well.

“I’m so sorry.” Her heart raced, reminding her of those teenage years when a boy did nothing more than look at her and it would send a flush up her cheeks. How she hoped her face didn’t mirror her hormonal reactions at the moment. Wouldn’t that be just dandy?

Damn him, there was that smile again. He was going to have to tone it down or she’d be taking an unusual number of cool showers.

SKY: Very nice! Adrian Meade─ AKA Anna Koch─ is a heroine well worth talking about. Tell us…if she could share what it’s like to be on the run, what would she say?

SHERI: For the well-educated Adrian, life on the run turns out to be more difficult than she anticipated. Though she knew it would be different, she didn’t realize how lonely and isolated it would make her. She didn’t realize how looking over her shoulder would wear down her spirit. By the time she makes her way to Spokane, strong as she is, Adrian is growing weary. Here’s a little peek early on at the toll running away takes on her. She and Bigs are sitting out on the front steps:

He gave her a sideways glance and liked the way the sun made her burnished brown hair shine. “What brings you out bright and early?”

“I couldn’t sleep and was pretty anxious to get moved in. I don’t have a coffee maker, or even dishes for that matter, so I took a walk down to the grocery store. Guess I didn’t think things through all the way.”

He believed the part about no sleep. She was a woman with a quiet, yet decided beauty about her, marred today by deep dark circles around her eyes. Demons or anticipation? He hoped it was anticipation, though the dusky purple of the marks made him believe it wasn’t. He knew about demons. He didn’t wish them on anybody, particularly not a beautiful, graceful tenant who made his heart beat faster than he would admit to anyone. But walk down to the store? That was taking things a little far. What was she, a health nut?

“Good God woman, the store’s at least two miles down the road.”

“Just a good morning stretch.”

“You keep doing things like that, you’re gonna make me look like a slug.”

SKY: I’d love to crawl inside the pages of Bridge of Souls and look around at what you consider the best location in this story. Give us a sense of the setting. What was the one location you knew had to be inside this novel?

SHERI: Besides the school up on the prairie, there are two other locations I had to include. One is the Monroe Street Bridge in downtown Spokane because it has an incredible view of the Spokane River falls. When you see it every day like I do, you tend not to see it any more. But, when you take a moment to stop, it hits you how absolutely incredible the falls really are. I wanted to show that in the book. The second location is Coeur d’Alene, our Idaho neighbor. Coeur d’Alene is so lovely that I just wanted to get a glimpse of it in the book as well.

SKY: Almost out of time. As I’m sure everyone is curious, what’s next for you, Sheri? Have you any upcoming releases? Anything you’re working on now?

SHERI: I have two new releases in the near future. Souls of Sorrow will be coming out from the Black Rose Line at The Wild Rose Press. It’s a story of reunited love, forgiveness and hope. There are demons, ghosts and a psychic. Oh, and don’t forget passion. The second release doesn’t have a single paranormal element---gasp! Dirty Deeds is a romantic suspense coming out from Liquid Silver Books. You’ll meet Louise “Louie” Russell a bail enforcement agent who takes great offense at being called a bounty hunter, and Paul McDonald a former NHL star and current hockey coach. There’s murder, mystery and yes…love!

SKY: This has been great! Thank you so much for joining me this week, Sheri.

SHERI: Loved being here Sky and thank you for having me.

Visit Sheri at her Website.

Purchase Bridge of Souls. Click here.

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Bridge of Souls and a $5 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press!

~Sky