A sweet, flirty, and heartfelt romance with two roommates that spend one enthralling summer together. After her car accident, Monica believes her dance career is over, despite the positive outlook everyone else has. Instead of trying to get back on her feet, she works on perfecting the art of couch surfing. Famous author, Gabe Mitchell, doesn't fare much better. On top of watching his roommate letting her life pass by, he also suffers from a major bout of writer's block. Hoping a change of scenery will get them both out of their rut, Gabe takes matters into his own hands and whisks Monica away to his own personal haven. What neither one of them expects is the attraction to each other to bloom even though Monica will leave Brooksville in a matter of weeks. Their time together is filled with skimpy bathing suits, sexy fantasy book inspirations, hot tub make-out sessions, and new job prospects. It's plenty to reignite their creative flames, but will it be enough to turn their one short summer into something more? ***Sample Chapters of One Short Summer, which is book two in the Brooksville series (Book one is Baking With A Rockstar and features Gabe's brother Hudson.)***

*COMPLETE* There are whispers across the kingdoms that the Paragon, that strangely gifted person who can wield all four Skills, has been found. They're wrong, of course. No one has caught the Paragon. Allayria should know: she's it. But Allayria doesn't want to be the Paragon, and in her pursuit of freedom she finds herself enmeshed in a web of lies, caught in a group who might be even more dangerous than she could have imagined. Still, she's not the only one who has problems: bigger tides of change and danger are shifting across the world she has been assigned to protect. The Jarles, a kingdom in the east, has begun moving across its borders, and there are strange murmurings about what they have done, and where all the children they abducted have gone. Faced with responsibilities she never wanted, and a life she thought she could never have, Allayria must decide how she will help--and if she will be the Paragon at all. _____________________ WIP Cover art and written work by Azi. Highest ranking: #66 in Fantasy 2/3/2018 Hi everyone! Thanks a ton for taking the time to read Paragon. I'm so excited to share it with you, and to hear your feedback, theories, and insight. It's just me, myself, and I on this one (no beta) so if you catch any errors or inconsistencies, give me a shout--it will be much appreciated. The plan is to release a new chapter each weekend until we reach the end. - Azi Note: violence, sexual themes, and some coarse language will appear in Paragon.

*COMPLETE* "People don't believe in us anymore. They don't believe that in the end we will do what is right. We can't let them down. We can't let Ben win." Decisions made on top of the lonely, wind-swept cliff of Lethinor reverberate around the five kingdoms as war begins in earnest. This is a sequel to Paragon, it's my very, very, very strong recommendation you read it first, otherwise you will be totally lost. I am not joking. If your interest is piqued, here's a quick blurb for Paragon: _____________________ There are whispers across the kingdoms that the Paragon, that strangely gifted person who can wield all four Skills, has been found. They're wrong, of course. No one has caught the Paragon. Allayria should know: she's it. But Allayria doesn't want to be the Paragon, and in her pursuit of freedom she finds herself enmeshed in a web of lies, caught in a group who might be even more dangerous than she could have imagined. _____________________ You can read Paragon here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/95374969-paragon Highest ranking: #86 in Fantasy 2/10/2018 WIP Cover art and written work by Azi. Please note: violence, sexual themes, and coarse language will appear in Partisan.

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

This is the sequel to The Jack of Souls. As of today, March 12, 2017, it is95% complete. S

A jealous, vengeful goddess. A ruined land. A woman alone, desperate to survive. When the goddess Kogoren was betrayed by one of her worshipers, she took out her rage on her realm. In her righteous anger, she shattered the continent, raised razor-sharp mountains from the earth, and turned clear streams into burning rivers of molten stone. Fire rained from the sky and ashes blanketed cities and fields. The eruption of the Queen's Crest, Kogoren's holy mountain, killed every one of her priests. The world ended that day. Kogoren's people prayed. They wept. And when no help nor mercy came, they were lost. The Cataclysm was many years ago, before Sarka was born. The broken land and the hopeless people who survived it are all Sarka has ever known. No one speaks of the goddess now; her dark legacy is a shadow over the starved realm that still bears her name, a place where the best one can hope for is to survive the day. One day, a brush with death grants Sarka tragic clarity: if she stays in Kogoren, she will live a half-life punctuated with danger, hunger, and pain. What if there is a world out there beyond the reach of the goddess who left her children to die? Cover by @Abyss-of-Crazy

A LINE UNBROKEN. A TRUTH UNSPOKEN. Born into wealth and privilege as the niece of an emperor, Starborn Lady Mhera never dreamt that tragedy would shatter her world. But darkness roils beneath the peaceful facade of the Holy City: a rebellion is brewing among the Arcborn-the dangerous, magic-blooded undercaste of Penrua-and they will stop at nothing to destroy the peace of the realm. That much is proven to Mhera when she is just a girl and her greatest treasure is taken from her. Years later, still wounded by the evil the Arcborn wrought against her, she is on the brink of professing her final vows as a nun...but before she can accept the life of safety and solitude she doesn't truly desire, she is offered a chilling compromise with fate that threatens everything she has ever known. FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2018 Clash of Swords (hosted by The Fae Folk) - Dark Fantasy Category SECOND PLACE WINNER - 2018 Sunset Awards - Fantasy Category SECOND PLACE - 2018 X Factor Awards - Overall!

BLOOD IS POWER. The Blood-Bound Sovereigns, Matei and Mhera, have been leading the Penruan Empire as best as they can since the Arcborn Rebellion shattered it half a decade ago. Together, they've weathered many trials and borne many burdens, but the time of their deepest suffering was yet to come... Matei and Mhera's daughter, Princess Uarria, disappeared from her bedchamber late one night. The mutilated corpse of her guard, stuffed unceremoniously into a wardrobe, makes it clear that the princess is in mortal danger. With tensions broiling in the southern provinces of Narr and threatening to escalate into all-out war, the terrified parents must balance their fear for their daughter with their duties to the realm. Meanwhile, Uachi u Rora struggles with the revelation that Ealin, the unmarked Arcborn woman he has loved for years, is the one who has taken the princess. He cares for Ealin more than he's ever cared for anything in his life and now, faced with the horror of her betrayal, he is honor-bound to bring her to justice. His journey will take him farther from home than he has ever gone, where he will meet people stranger than any he's ever known and face down monsters he first met as a boy.

Ginelle Hayes is orphaned, and after escaping her abusive guardian with a dark secret, she finds herself alone on the cruel streets of London. Then Eloise Ashford arrives to take the impoverished child under her care and back to her lavish plantation manor where she raises the skittish child as her own. He is an intense and challenging man, with dark secrets and a guarded heart. Dorian Don Ashford returns from sea, eager to seek the comforts of his manor home, only to find an unwanted distraction in the form of a small, orphan girl. As time transpires, the girl transforms into a remarkable beauty that stirs feelings unknown to Dorian, slowly thawing the ice around his heart. But when a sudden tragedy occurs, will it bring Dorian and Ginelle closer, will their desire and destiny bound them together in the thralls of love or will the past resurface and the perilous truths shatter their lives forever? Cover done by M_Rainberry.

[Formerly Featured/Award-Winning Novella/#2 in Horror] There is something eerie about this village -- this hole of silent, maddened people. In 1922 my Papa told me of a faceless entity that lurks amongst us in our isolated slice of Russia. The locals have kept this horror alive for a century, though the only ones who claim to have seen the Folveshch have succumbed to a life of sightless silence. My name is Stefan Alyovich and the people around me are changing. They slip into worsening madness every winter, and I ask myself: how much longer before I'm the only sane one left? ... The only one left alone with the Folveshch. ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟- ↟ • 21,000 word novella • Rank #2 in Horror • Rank #4 in Mystery • Horror winner of Greatbelt U.F Award 2015 • CBY October Book of the Month 2014 • The Cryptic Awards Best Horror Winner 2017 • Wattpad HQ Winter Escapes Reading List • Wattpad HQ Stranger Things Reading List • Fright Top Horror/Featured Horror/Stranger Things Reading Lists • Mystery Paranormal Mystery Reading List • ThePurgeMovie Urban Legends Reading List • TheGallowsMovie Best of Thrillers Reading List • Blairwitchmovie Top Horror/Thriller Reading List • OuijaMovie Top Horror Reading List • IncarnateMovie Top Horror ↟- ↟ - ↟ - ↟- ↟- ↟ - ↟ - ↟ - ↟- ↟ - ↟ - ↟ - ↟ - ↟-