To avoid an unwanted marriage, Lady Cordelia Rowley must run away to the Highlands and disguise herself as a servant until her 21st birthday when she comes of legal age and regains control of her destiny. Captain Lachlan Shawe has found success and wealth in the Royal Navy, but he's made a few enemies too. While dodging the efforts of a dangerous assassin, Lachlan must find a capable, sensible wife to run his estate before his leave ends. Even though his childhood sweetheart has renewed her interest in him, Lachlan is drawn to an intriguing chamber maid who stirs something in him he let grow cold in the midst of the grim realities of war.

When Letitia Sharpe is pursued by her odious guardian, coerced to give him her hand in marriage, she flees to the only friend she has: the dashing Lord Archie Pemberton... her favorite author. Except the man she flings herself onto isn't Lord Pemberton at all, but Robert Lilley, his beleaguered secretary. At first, pretending to be Lord Pemberton-- as Archibald commands-- is a bit of a lark. But then Robert finds he enjoys being able to take the credit for the books he wrote, and quickly realizes Letitia is far more brainy than Lord Pemberton and her guardian both assume. But he knows he can't fall in love with her-- she thinks he's Lord Pemberton, and Lord Pemberton is engaged. But when Letitia's guardian comes to take her away and wed her against her will, and Lord Pemberton's elegant fiance descends on Brook House, the truth will have to come out...

************************************************************************************** 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.

Flash warriors are the protectors of this enchanted world, but they were no match against their biggest adversary yet, the three-headed dragon known as the Devastruction. Their hope? It all lies with sixteen-year-old MaXabiere Berrygrewd, who happens to survive and awaken his powers he never knew he had in the beginning. He must join with the warriors, partake in a prophecy, and slay the dragon once and for all.

Noelle Clarke hates Christmas. After years of disappointment from her barely present mother and promise breaking father, Noelle gave up looking forward to the joyous season. But when her best friend needs her to bring the Christmas cheer, she makes it her mission to do just that with the help of Tristan Anderson. Spending hours with Tristan, trying make her best friend happy, leads to unexpected feelings and a complicated situation. Throw in her parents deciding this year is the year they want try to make things work between them and Noelle is in for a whirlwind Christmas.

❝You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to face them.❞ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ After wiping out on the waves and spending the last six months in a physical therapy centre recovering, pro-surfer Thalia Monroe, heads to the small coastal town of Sandy Cove to escape the limelight. Still recovering mentally from her near-death experience, getting back on the waves has not come back to her as easy as she hoped. Maybe all it takes to get back on the board is a local, Atlas Hayes, who wants to show her that maybe the strength she's been looking for has been there all along. One thing Thalia wasn't expecting was that falling in love is like surfing a wave, it's an adrenaline rush that can throw you ten feet under.

{ BOOK 1/2 IN THE 'COST OF MAGIC' DUOLOGY } Enter the Age of Aenna where war whispers on the horizon and threatens nobles and smallfolk alike with its poison; where the Seven watch in the shadows waiting to claim their fifth member. © B.G / bgwrites_

🏆 PARANORMAL FAVORITE - THE AMBYS 2024 🏆 The Mayaware's reign must end. In a world of demonic beings with a hunger for human flesh and thirst for blood, Hesi Renen knows it well. When her siblings are taken to the harvesting farms, she must do everything she can to get them out, even if it means masquerading as a potential bride to the Mayaware prince. As Hesi wades through a sea of blood and secrets, she must win over not only allies, but maybe even the demon prince, himself. With ties forged and heart burning with want, she discovers how much she is willing to sacrifice to grasp the one thing she must destroy: the Mayaware king's throne. The race to the top is at hand. There is a chance, but not without a price to pay. Delve into a tragic tale about the fight for freedom, the blood borne from betrayal and failure, and the fate of a kingdom built upon the ashes of the innocent. Victory spells freedom, but don't forget―death does too. ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• © 2023 (First Edition) © 2024 (Second Edition) C/TW: Some scenes in this story contain depictions that might upset or trigger the reader. Please read at your own risk. [70,000 - 75,000 words] [All graphics are made by @sardonictabby] 🏆 MOON AWARD (2nd) - OPEN DOOR AWARDS 2024 🏆 PARANORMAL WINNER - OPEN DOOR AWARDS 2024

[2021 WATTYS Winner] Giovanna joins a handsome nobleman to save a friend from an arranged marriage, but they discover a plot that may have victims of Venice's Black Death rising from their graves. * * * As a child, Giovanna Visconti learned the arts of bloodletting and elixir brewing from her father with an intent to simply support his work, not take it over. But when he falls ill from the pestilence that's been ravaging Venice for months, she reluctantly dons the beaked mask of the plague doctor. Vowing to protect her father however she can, Giovanna hides him away and sees her first patient--the handsome, but alarmingly feverish Matteo Barozzi. Although she successfully treats this son of a high-ranking official, in a careless moment Giovanna fails to properly conceal her identity. The only reason she isn't tossed into a dank jail cell is thanks to the young man's honor and feelings of indebtedness. The association between the charming aristocrat and the clever commoner should end there, but when Giovanna's dearest friend goes missing right after her betrothal to the Doge's son and amid strange reports of nighttime attacks, violent commotions, and inexplicable behaviors in the community, the only person Giovanna can turn to for help is Matteo. Together, they must carefully navigate Venice's increasingly deadly canals to uncover a sect peddling false cures and a smuggling plot involving the highest levels of government or risk the entire Republic falling victim to something even worse than the plague: the risen dead. Historical Fiction with Fantasy Elements THE BORGIAS X FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH * * * WATTYS 2021 winner for Historical Fiction and special HQ prize for "Catchiest Hook" AMBYS 2022 winner for Best Zombie story Content Warning for adult situations including assault and death.

Some relatives are meant to stay distant. * * * Josephine Lyttleton-Bradley can't understand why she must leave her London home - in the middle of the night during a wicked storm, no less - to live with a relative she's never even met. When Josie realizes she's stuck indefinitely in Great Aunt Donatella's lavish, but spooky mansion in the English countryside, she must uncover why her parents kept details about this branch of the family a secret or risk missing her chance to ever leave. [Approx. 30K word Novella] (c) 2014 All Rights Reserved - R.S. Kovach