Tessa Young is an 18 year old college student with a simple life, excellent grades, and a sweet boyfriend. She always has things planned out ahead of time, until she meets a rude boy named Hardin, with too many tattoos and piercings who shatters her plans.

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

Vhalkira is a fighter. Once, she was blessed. Her gift was seen as heaven-sent and the world had rejoiced upon her birth, but then it quickly changed. Before Vhalkira could even utter her first words, an evil man used her godly power to rule the world. With her by his side, blood and death engraved itself upon the land. Then, a single moment presented itself and she took it. In the end, Vhalkira sacrificed herself for people she had never meet, for a name she was never given, and for the love she had never felt. Yet, as fate would have it, her death wasn't enough to forgive the crimes she had committed. Now, in another time and place, Vhalkira is presented with the same accursed fate. But now, she finally knows kindness, friendship, and the feelings of love. She will fight, kill him again, sacrifice herself again if it will protect the ones she loves. But will it be enough this time? Vhalkira is consistently ranking in the top 10 for strategy out of 3.3k books. Thank you to all that read and vote!

The first branch of the Uchiha never approved of those from the second branch. As Etsuko Uchiha discovers, the second branch are never tolerated. So, when she befriends Shisui and Itachi - and create the Golden Trio, the main branch of the clan has objections. Will the trio's friendship be enough to sway the coup d'état or was it destined to fail from the beginning? Does Etsuko have the strength to stop their personal tortures before Fate claims them all?

Hikari, prodigy and first female leader of the Uchiha, stumbles across Madara's compound before the Senju's call truce. However as the years progress and her love for Madara flourishes, she finds herself sealed in a jar on the border of the Land of Fire almost a century after Madara's rein with no recollection of her previous life―Hikari was the forgotten Uchiha, but she'll be remembered. . .soon enough.

Čtyři neškodná, nevinně vyhlížející písmenka. Nic víc, nic míň. A i přes to mohou být pro někoho nepochopitelnou úchylkou, pro jiné životním stylem.

After falling in love with Hades and moving to the underworld, an ambitious, untried demigoddess makes a bid for the position of queen. ******* In the sequel to LEXI'S UNDOING, Lexi ditches her old life to live with her handsome god in his castle of the dead. Actually, the place is not so bad, and she forms a bond with some of the inhabitants who have suffered under the rule of their oppressors. Lexi's compassionate nature doesn't let their exploitation go unchecked, and egos fly when she challenges the gods to change their evil ways. Oh, and there's also the matter of Hades's mate to manage. CONTENT WARNING: This story may offend the sensibilities of those unfamiliar with the sexual exploits of the gods. I suggest you drop your inhibitions at the door and embrace your inner nymph. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This work is owned by the author. Please do not attempt to plagiarize or Zeus will strike you down with a lightning bolt. IN OTHER WORDS: If you find this story on any platform other than WATTPAD, I did not allow this. You may also be exposing yourself to malware. If you wish to read this story in its original, safe form, do it here on WATTPAD. COVER ART for this story and the rest of the Lexi series was done by @arpeggio-

Ten pult za ní? Přesně tam bych ji v ten moment přitiskl. Šílel bych z jejího dechu, z jejího měkkého těla. Ze stonů, co by se jí draly z pusy, když by opakovala moje jméno. Kompletně bych ji obalil do svých rukou, aby už nikdy nemohla odejít. A pak bych ji líbal, přivlastnil bych si její rty, až by nám oběma nezbyl žádný vzduch v plicích. Až do toho momentu, kdyby naprosto zkrotla a přiznala, že je moje. Jenom moje. *** Zhluboka jsem se nadechla a pak jsem udělala tu největší chybu, jakou jsem jen udělat mohla. Já se na něj podívala. Bylo to v jeho očích, něco, co se odráželo. Něco, co by mě položilo na kolena, kdyby mě nedržel tak pevně přibitou ke zdi. Nejspíš to bylo tím. Nebo jeho blízkostí. Nebo pevnou náručí, ve které mě držel jako bezbranné dítě. Možná tím dechem, co mi pořád brněl na krku, nebo vůní, co mě opanovala. Nebo zkrátka tím, že jsem tam s ním v ten moment prostě být toužila. Ačkoliv jsem si to odmítala přiznat. Jednoduše jsem zkrotla. Mohla jsem se snažit ignorovat to jakkoliv jsem chtěla, stejně to nešlo, necítit jeho oči na sobě. Byla to jako nějaká pošahaná síla, co mě k němu táhla, a já se nedokázala na něj nedívat. Nevracet mu ten pohled zpátky. A v tu chvíli pro mě přestal existovat svět. Zůstal tam už jen malinký prostor, slabá světla, já přitisknuta ke zdi, on, přitisknutý ke mně, mé bušící srdce a jeho hluboký dech. On byl jediný, koho jsem kdy milovala.

... „Hej chlapi, myslím, že jsem si našel hračku!" uslyšel jsem hlas. Poprvé za tu dlouhou dobu lidský hlas, který nedoprovazeli ječící zvuky a nářek. Byl to úplně normální hlas. Hlubší hlas... Nacházíme se ve světě, kde už málo kdo žije. Svět pohltili Nakažení, kteří se zbláznili potom co se nakazili nemoci. Nikdo neví jak se přesně přenáší, než se stačil vynálezt lék tak už většina světa byla.. Pryč.

A lovestruck demigoddess, unaware of her royal status, makes a shocking discovery about her family, and impulsively follows Hades to the underworld to escape Zeus's wrath. ******* Lexi Maxwell has grown up surrounded by wealth and privilege, but also by rules. The rare moments of freedom that she enjoys come when she's out horseback riding, but even then there are strictures on where she can go-and with whom. When she arrives home for a weekend-long celebration, Lexi is surprised by the number of eligible bachelors who vie for her attention. She doesn't have a lot of experience with the opposite sex, but these loudmouth, arrogant boys fail to impress her. Enter the mysterious Luke Carrington. Lexi is instantly drawn to him, but despite his charm and intelligence, her parents and godfather warn her to stay away from him. Lexi, however, cannot be deterred. When she learns that her life has been one long lie, and the people claiming to be her family aren't who they say they are, Lexi turns to Luke for solace. It doesn't take long for him to earn her trust, and her heart, and suddenly Lexi is willing to follow him anywhere to keep him close. Even into the underworld. A Goddess Unraveled is now a published book! Not only is the retail version longer, it includes a surprise about Lexi's parentage! AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND EBOOK THROUGH penguinrandomhouse.com AND VARIOUS RETAIL OUTLETS THAT SELL BOOKS. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This work is owned by the author. Please do not attempt to plagiarize or bad karma will befall you. IN OTHER WORDS: If you find this story on any online platform other than WATTPAD, I did not allow this. You may also be exposing yourself to malware. If you wish to read this story in its original, safe form, do it here on WATTPAD, or purchase the book at any retail outlet.