************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

🏆Wattys 2019 Winner for Mystery & Thriller🏆 Sister Mary has lost her way, or so people think. Kicked out of her convent and sent away to be reformed, this jolly nun discovers her gift of glee is perfect for solving murders and the occasional naughty peek. ________________________________________ Merry Sister Mary is the world's most happy-go-lucky nun, and where the nuns are concerned, possibly the worst. She has none of the qualities reserved for a traditional lady of the cloth: a fear of water, an odd relationship with an umbrella, and no talent in teaching or nursing, yet Sister Mary believes she has a special God given power, laughter. Such a belief has led her to be kicked out of her convent in Chicago for accidentally flashing a group of churchgoers and deemed in desperate need of reform. She is sent on a bus to a stricter convent in New Orleans, Louisiana, but in a drama fueled twist, God has different plans for the joyous nun. She is to solve a murder. After missing the bus Sister Mary is forced to seek refuge with a Catholic family in the small town of St. Francisville. A horrific murder occurs sending the town into a frenzy of bittersweet joy. The person killed has long been despised and so named the Stanton Witch for the mystery surrounding her husband's death and the decades of misfortune since her arrival. In an effort to expose the truth, Sister Mary finds herself in the middle of one family's terrible and insidious secret. As the bodies pile up she uses her gift of glee to uncover the clues missed by the police and hopefully stop the killer from claiming another innocent victim. Her goal-- prove to the world once and for all that one does not need to be traditional to make a difference. Comedy ■ Mystery ■ Thriller [COMPLETED] Copyright © Jules Haigler No parts of this book may be distributed, copied, or sold on any media without permission of the author. All names, places, and themes are a work of fiction.

Ever since 17-yr-old Leiv learned she was next in line for the Dragon Throne, her life has turned into an endless cycle of of death and destruction. It seems everyone will do what it takes to get Leiv on their side. But Leiv knows she is no ones pawn and she's out to prove she is a force to be reckoned with. Cover was made by the amazing Christina. You can find more of her work here: http://surehuinel.deviantart.com/

*Sequel to Paladin* The kingdom of Thule stands on the brink of civil war between two armies -- the Paladins and the Uriel -- each claiming the right to serve as Thule's protector. Once a Paladin trainee, Lady Samantha of Haywood -- Sam -- has been named a traitor to king and country by the Paladins' High Commander, with a bounty set on her head. Only Sam and her friends know what the people of Thule do not: the High Commander is no ordinary man but something more--something evil. The supposed military hero holds a dark alliance with the demons that have ravaged mankind for millennia, commanding them as easily as he does his men. Worse, he can control Braeden, Sam's half-demon lover, through blood magic long thought extinct. Sam and Braeden set sail across the sea in hopes of finding a way to nullify the High Commander's power. But the secrets they uncover reveal Thule faces an even greater threat. They must return to Thule and warn the Uriel...before it's too late.

Lydia Anabor's life was one full of peace and adventure growing up side by side with her father. The only thing that really bugged her was the constant, repetitive dream she's had ever since the day she turned 18. She tried to ignore it early on and act like the constant reminder of a dream she didn't understand didn't bother her, like the hours of research it caused her weren't that valuable. She told herself to just not think about it. To just accept it as something that she wasn't going to understand. Except the day that her dream finally changed brought her face to face with a wolf. A wolf that brought her a day full of aggravation, confusion, and a strange feeling she couldn't quite explain. ~~~ "Okay. So what, you're like a dog... person... wolf thing?" He bit his lower lip in what looked like an attempt to stop a laugh. "Sure. But personally we call ourselves werewolves." "Were...wolves?" Another nod. "Yup, and judging by you're reaction to all of this, I take it that you're unaware of the fact that you're one as well." My eyes bulged. "I've never even seen a wolf until today. I think I'd know if I was part wolf." I countered. "I'd think so as well, but we can figure that out later I'm just happy that I found you." "Why?" His lips quirked up. "Because Lydia, you and I are mates, and I've been looking for you for a very long time," he said, with a grin that showed off his ridiculously sharp canines. My body seemed to shiver at the very word itself, despite my confusion that just seemed to keep growing. "Mates? Like buds? Friends? Chummy chum pals?" I think my desperation for some common sense was becoming a little too evident. His smooth chuckle filled the room. "Not quite." Is all he said "Then what?" I was surprised to see him actually reach a hand through the bars towards me. "Come here and let me show you."

Highest ranking: #1 in Teen Fiction -- "Sunshine, what guy do you know has a weird fetish with sign language?" She's the aftermath of a high school party nightmare. Tragedy robbed her of her innocence and stole her voice before she had the chance to speak out. The court called her a liar, and the guilty was set free. Now memories plague her mind and trap her in solitude. She was forced to learn sign language, struggling to find a way to voice her silence. He's the definition of the boy she tried to stay away from. The epitome of harsh rumors and hopeless fantasies. The source of lies and blame. He's analyzed, misunderstood, and utterly mysterious. And he may be the one to find her voice. When they meet, she gets accustomed to his arrogance and he gets accustomed to her silence. An essay is what brings them together, but what happens when he starts asking too many questions? Will her past continue to drag her down, or will he save her? Fate has a funny way of bringing people together, but it doesn't always work how it's supposed to. *different summary inside* "Perfect amount of tragedy, humor, and romance!" -Sparkles530 "I feel like I learned a lot from your story, thank you." - 980Sarah "This book is beautifully written. Thank you for sharing it on Wattpad." -AKRathan "I just want to say that Silently Falling was one of the best books I've ever read. It's so beautiful and heartwarming and the way you described the progress of their relationship was beautiful." -Rafyrofy "Perfect ending." -TaylorxTaterxTot COVER: Ensurel

***The wrong girl is sometimes The Right One.*** Charlotte Samuels thought she'd be stuck waiting tables at Marlow's until all her debts are paid off-in about ten thousand years or so. She definitely didn't expect a marriage proposal from the arrogant Brandon Maxfield who was blackmailed by his father to make her his wife if he didn't want his least favorite cousin to run Maxfield Industries. Charlotte's instinct was to say HELL NO! but she's stumped by a few obstacles: 1.) His old man Martin Maxfield is dear to her heart and has been recently deteriorating in health. 2.) She gets a million dollars if she stays married to Brandon for a year. 3.) She would rather like the opportunity to teach the attractive but awfully rude man a few lessons he didn't think he needed from a 'teenage gold-digger' which was his term of endearment for her on their first date-er, business meeting. So what's a girl got to do, right? Sure, she's young and a little rough around the edges but there's something her would-be husband didn't know about her yet-she's nothing like he ever expected. Thrust into the glitzy world a standard-issue Mrs. Maxfield would fit perfectly and rule with impeccable social grace, Charlotte will either have to force herself into the mold or break free of it, risking what little she has left for everything that she can gain. *** Copyright © 2014 by Nina Tippett. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Nina Tippett. This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Images, music and videos used in the cover art and any of the multimedia content posted in this story are the sole property of their respective owners.

Is it an invasion if they're already here? Six months have passed and Iris and Jonas have reached a conclusion about their future, one that will leave many unhappy. Left alone in the Society by Jonas, Iris finds herself "blackmailed" by Colton when she stumbles in on him. Dying inside, Colton is fed up with being melodramatic. His cousins have had enough. He's the Beta, and it's kind of difficult to intimidate peasants when he's bemoaning his fate in life. When an accidental photo of Vienna with the Prince and Princess of France appears in a newspaper, Colton is determined to have Vienna back, traitor or not. His family's not in charge of him. The Society isn't either. And if they are, he really doesn't care anymore. When Iris (and Bently) discover Colton's plan, Colton forces them to come with him to France so they don't divulge his future whereabouts before he can depart. Once there, Iris finds Erik in a worse state than when she last saw him, while Colton and Vienna. . . well who knows if they'll ever actually get back together. They've got about as many problems as Iris and Erik. Every moment Iris is in France she grows more anxious that Jonas will find out where she is, but when dead bodies start showing up with Expiration Dates tattooed on them, the monarchy forces the Beta to take action, sweeping Iris into a dangerous invasion for Earth amidst the glittering, bewitching lifestyle of the French court. Highest ranking: #6 in Scifi

It took one bite to change her life forever. Now Charlotte has found herself in the middle of a war that has been brewing for longer than anyone could have imagined. And it's all in the blood... Join them as they race against time to try and solve the mystery that could destroy or deliver them from this horrible bloody mess. Also included in this book: Ass beatings Fantastic vampire cooked meals Snarky remarks from our favorite brothers Wine Plenty more from the Penelope-Lyle love saga The new best friend duo of Lyanna and Bernard And twists that you may very well kill me for The third book in 'The Bite' series! Must be read in order! Series order: The Bite, The Rise, The Blood.

Sequel to 'The Bite.' *You need to read 'The Bite' first before you read 'The Rise,' otherwise you're going to be very lost down this rabbit hole. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It takes more than a bite. Charlotte has gone from being a broken human to a strong she-wolf and a damn Thorne, but now she and her mate, are standing on the edge of deliverance or doom as they grapple with a revelation that changes everything. They have to move fast to protect the ones they love, protect their pack, and most of all each other; but will it be enough? Will they rise to the occasion or fade into ash as the fires of failure lick them up? There's will be blood. There will be your two favorite vampires and a lot of good food. There will be ass beatings, twists, turns, and whole lotta Levi. It's either rise or fall, and this time, it's going to take more than a bite to save them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highest Ranking in Werewolf: #22