Next to Die

       Joe is evacuated from Afghanistan to recuperate at home. He is overwrought with grief, back pain, and -yes--survivor's guilt. After all, he'd taken the place of a younger, enlisted SEAL. Would circumstances have been different if he hadn't been thinking of himself?
       Joe drowns his misery in whisky and women. Only his next door neighbor and physical therapist, Penny Price, suspects the truth behind his sudden fall from God's-gift-to-man to wounded warrior.
       Having had a crush on Joe for years, Penny sets out to heal him, body and soul. But the tables soon turn, and it is Penny who needs Joe as her father's killer, faced with the possibility of exposure, threatens to silence her forever.
       There's nothing like the threat of murder to make a person realize what's important to him. With her tender touch and unconditional friendship, Penny changes Joe for the better. For the first time ever, he's in love. The opportunity to be her true-life hero could heal him forever. But if Joe's too late, then Penny will be "next to die."

Marliss Melton spent her preschool years frolicking under the tropical sun while a war raged in neighboring Vietnam. In grade school at the American School of Paris, she ran through Paris's parks and palaces. Three years in Bangkok, Thailand completed her formative year and contributed to this author's global consciousness. The fourth daughter in a large family, she carved a creative niche and combined it with a gift for language, teaching Spanish and Linguistics. Romantic by nature, she penned a handwritten manuscript at thirteen. Musician, medievalist, and linguist, Marliss now utilizes her many contacts in the military, including her Navy veteran husband, to pen tales that reflect the realities faced by America's bravest warriors, while offering readers a heartwarming escape into a world where good overcomes evil and love prevails.

Marliss Melton
Marliss Moon