Color By Number

Do you believe in destiny? Or just coincidence? Or maybe a little bit of luck and hard work? Perhaps a combination of all three affected the lives of Jules Walker, Jasper Cole, and Jake Maddox, three Marine Corps' lawyers, one who will ultimately become the Marine Corps' top lawyer. Orchestrating their opportunities is Colonel Laurie Wallace, a charismatic man, who through a process of instinct and personal choice, picks lawyers to mentor and groom for greater responsibilities. Spanning a period of fifteen years, from peacetime to the aftermath of 9/11, each of the three young lawyers chooses paths and is forced down paths, leading each one to very different outcomes. Jules' path takes her to exciting and once-in-a-lifetime jobs, consuming her time, and ruining her marriage to her best friend. Jasper's path, initially taken to escape the embarrassment of his wife running off with an enlisted Marine, leads him from deployment during the first Iraq War to school for a degree in Operational Law, to the position of being in the right place at the right time. Wallace's golden child, Jake Maddox, with a bigger than life personality, intelligence and looks, struggles to manage his stellar professional life against the mental illness of his wife, the beautiful daughter of a Marine Corps general. Throughout their careers, Wallace is there to provide advice, encouragement, and a buttress against the issues plaguing them. Secretly, hoping that one day, Jake will make it to the top.

This is the second book in a trilogy about Jules Walker, a Marine Corps Judge Advocate.  The first book, Embrace and Flow, detailed her experiences in Bahrain during the 2003 War in Iraq.  This second book starts at the beginning of her Marine Corps career, and follows her career and that of two other judge advocates, one destined to become the Marine Corps' top lawyer, the Judge Advocate to the Commandant.

Laulie Sue Powell retired from the Marine Corps in 2008. A graduate of the University of Florida Law School, she joined the Marine Corps in 1987. In addition to prosecuting and defending criminal cases, her jobs included: appellate defense counsel, Adjutant Marine Barracks 8th and I, Aide to the Secretary of the Navy, Staff Judge Advocate at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate Marine Corps Central Command in Bahrain, and staff lawyer at U.S. Pacific Command. She lives on Lily Lake in Melrose, Florida.