New Novel, "Merging Souls," Unravels the Entangled Lanes of Faith, Love, and Regret in a Godless World

[SACRAMENTO, CA] - [11.10.2025] - Ed Telfeyan's riveting new novel, Merging Souls, comes as a bittersweet and intensely human inquiry into the spiritual dilemmas of contemporary life. This epic tale, rooted in the author's own life, takes us on a winding path with three main characters-Chuck, Chris, and Stacy-as they struggle with faith, love, and the anguished reminder of what might have been.

The tale begins with Chuck Simon's Lament. A newly retired, very successful lawyer who handled lots of litigation, Chuck is left to drift in an ocean of idle time and disturbing nightmares. Pressed into self-reflection for the first time in his life, he returns to a childhood shaped by his zealously religious grandmother, whose hell-and-damnation theology imbued him with a long-standing fear of physical craving vs. spiritual cleanliness. The story follows his path from a socially inept, guilt-ridden teenager to a college man undergoing sexual awakening and ultimately to one who attains professional excellence but whose personal life lacks love and belief. This is a tale of deep loss-the loss of his first love, the loss of his dearest friend, and ultimately, the loss of belief in God, leaving him with an emptiness he cannot replace.

Counterpoint to Chuck's religious despair is Chris Forbes' Redemption. As far back as he could remember, Chris had a sense of call to the ministry, sparked by his kind, loving father. A devout man with a staunch, compassionate faith, Chris becomes Chuck's best friend and advisor in college. He directs Chuck through his turbulent younger years with patience and unjudgmental insight. However, Chris's own journey is far from untested. His platonic conception of love and his vow of celibacy before marriage are tested in ways he could not have imagined, and he is led to the realization of the complications of the human heart and the difficult decisions between friendship, love, and devotion.

The set is rounded out by Stacy Hollister's Revelation. A gorgeous, vibrant, and gifted freshman, Stacy crashes into Chuck's life like a tornado, becoming the very picture of the passionate, all-consuming love he had been searching for his entire life. There is a relationship that grows steadily, characterized by a physical closeness that does not meet the deeper emotional and spiritual requirements of Stacy. Her tale exposes the "double standard" she lives with and her quest for something more than body, something that takes her into a terrible triangle that will change all of their lives forever.

Merging Souls is a character study, but it is far more than that. It is a hard and intense exploration of the very question of faith in a higher power. Telfeyan gives no easy answers. What he presents instead is a gritty and honest picture of how faith-or even its absence-influences our decisions, our relationships, and our knowledge of ourselves.

"These are stories about the topic of faith as it relates to the lives of the three main characters," writes Telfeyan in the Author's Note. "In writing the life stories of Chuck, Chris, and Stacy, I have been deeply rooted in my own life experience. In a very real sense, I have been Chuck and Chris and have known Stacy. The story of their lives is my story."

The novel's multi-perspective format allows readers to view the same turning-point events through different eyes and, in the process, develop a rich, textured concept of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. It's a story for anybody who has ever questioned their beliefs, regretted a past choice, or wondered what could have been.

Merging Souls is already available for purchase in paperback and e-book through all major online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Contact information:
Author Name : Ed Telfeyan
Email Address : edtelfeyan88@gmail.com
Postal Address : Sacramento, California
Website : http://authoredtelfeyan.com/

About the Author:
Ed Telfeyan is a retired attorney and dedicated writer with a passion for exploring the profound themes of faith, humanity, and the human condition. His life experiences, from his upbringing to his career in law, deeply inform his writing, lending it an authenticity and emotional depth. Merging Souls is a testament to his literary talent and his insightful understanding of the struggles that define us. He lives and writes in California.

This release was published on openPR.