[12 Chapter Preview of 2019 Edition-2025 Edition Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble] When an army of darkness falls from the sky, Alex Kingsley enlists the help of her male peers and ventures into spirit-infested lands to save humanity. ***** She's an outcast cursed to consume the memories of anything she touches. A woman fated to repopulate the nation's army. A breeder barred from the sword. And she's desperate for a taste of freedom. So when a tournament is held to recruit the army's best candidates, Alex Kingsley does what she does best: she intervenes. But it's only after dark forces are unleashed upon humanity that Alex finally has the chance to prove herself -- and put her curse to good use. ***** 2020 Watty Award Winner: Fantasy 1st Place Admiration Awards 2020: Fantasy

Makiya is a young heiress whose way of life is shattered when her family is killed in a brutal attack by the Bulala. She escapes death with the help of a royal guard and along with a handful of refugees, finds herself crossing the vast desert in a near hopeless bid to reach a haven. Against all odds she must survive, her will spurring her on but it's not just survival on her mind. She seeks vengeance. __________________________________________________________ An epic story portraying the life and history of the kanuri, and the kanem empire, one of the greatest empires in African history. Cover from Pinterest. Copyright © 2023 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author and publisher.

**Preview Only** When a wounded dragon falls from the sky, Claire Evans runs into a cornfield to rescue it. This isn't just any dragon, he's a shifter, one of six royal protectors, and helping him has consequences. Claire finds herself traipsing--or rather, flying--across the kingdom of Dragonwall. She must face Dragonwall's king. King Talon is not like those before him. Troubled and temperamental, he is scarred by more than the events that shaped him. Worst of all, he is mateless. With no queen and no heir, his subjects are demanding he abandon tradition and marry into nobility. There is a rising threat at his borders, whispers of a sorcerer. Soon, he will have greater problems than that of finding a wife. Modern meets medieval in this seven-book series filled with magical creatures and adventure. This epic fantasy is a slow burn romance that follows multiple POVs, woven together around Claire, a small town Indiana gal. If you've ever wondered what it might be like to get sucked into a fantastical world beyond our own, look no further! **Read Exclusively On Wattpad**

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

"Mooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeee, this book is like air, i need it!" @noromance101 "These chapters are written BEAUTIFULLY! You are, without a doubt, my favorite writer on this site. " @nagykt "Reading this feeds my soul." @Yrthraethra Sixteen-year-old Mirra can see people's memories. She is a Shadow Weaver, one of the outlawed, glitter-eyed race feared in her land and forced into brutal slavery as children. She and her brother Kel have escaped their fate by hiding near the frozen mountains. But when bounty hunters snatch Kel, Mirra injured and unable to track long distances will lose him unless she gives herself up to his captors. As as a Shadow Weaver who's survived childhood and whose golden-flecked irises have faded, concealing her talent, Mirra's own value is priceless on the black-market. Taken to a lawless town in the northern territories, Mirra convinces her captors to sell her to a mysterious young man destined for the same province as the officer who has bought her brother. The young man is the Kingdom's missing Prince, feared dead after his escort was attacked on an expedition. He has been in hiding, waiting for a Shadow Weaver whose skill he can use to discover who ordered his assassination. But before he will risk breaking his father's law and taking Mirra to the royal court, he must test her talent and her ability to hide it. If Mirra fails, her hopes of seeing her brother again will be cut by the noose around her neck. HIGHEST RANKING #1 in Fantasy on Wattpad. #1 Amazon Sword & Sorcery This book was taken down in DEC 2017 due to publishing restrictions. It is now possible to put it back up on wattpad. From March onwards 2 chapters will be posted per week until the completed book is available.

WINNER OF READERS CHOICE AWARDS 2020 (Historical Fiction) Stone hearts. Silver to gold. And the fierce need to prove oneself. [THIS STORY IS PENDING MAJOR EDITS TO CHARACTERS AND PLOTS]. Sequel: Silver Skies Highest ranks: #1 in Arabia || #3 in History || #51 in Assassin || #90 in Spiritual

Almost a year ago, Olivia Shadowheart and Jason Frostsong had to figure out how to protect a city from its own possessed citizens without anyone knowing they'd had anything to do with it. They are Banshee and Cryophoenix--two of six Luminaries that save the Manifested from themselves when the Other takes their minds and turns them into twisted monsters bent on revenge. But like all Luminaries, Banshee and Cryo's true identities are a secret, even from each other. As the newest Luminary pair, not much is expected of them except to learn and train for their eventual responsibility in a few years but Banshee's got ambition. She's determined to be more than Olivia ever could, and with Cryo by her side, they find themselves in the middle of a battle they aren't ready for. Their lives, both civilian and Luminary, are about to collide. The question is whether they can learn to trust each other--both with and without the transformations--or if the Other's growing power will claim more than just their secrets. *+*+*+* [ Both books are in this work. Book 1 is chapter 1-38, book 2 continues straight after] [ NaNoWriMo16 & 17] *+*+*+* Cover by @Prisim

After bursting onto the fantasy scene with his acclaimed debut novel, Elantris, and following up with his blockbuster Mistborn trilogy, Brandon Sanderson proves again that he is today’s leading master of what Tolkien called “secondary creation,” the invention of whole worlds, complete with magics and myths all their own. Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

[Completed] In a kingdom ruled by a cruel king, no one is out of the watchful eye of the royal family. Not even Roux Aimrey herself, hidden away in a refugee village built from the ground by her parents. If dealing with the looming eye of their leader wasn't enough, Roux's power, an immortal strength, is dangerous and untrained. She believes facing the hypocrisy of the village is the worst of her problems until a powerful storm invades their home, and it's not just any storm. Standing in the chaos, Roux finds the prince of Esaria has come for her; he requires her power to aide his own. Roux must navigate her new life in the castle and learn to leave her old one behind, all the while learning to trust her power and what it must take to force her way into the prince's black heart. Beautiful cover made by @scmimi Book one of a four-book series! Reached #1 in darkfantasy Reached #1 in prince Reached #1 in magic Reached #1 in witch Reached #1 in sword Reached #1 in king Reached #1 in castle Reached #1 in epicfantasy