Sealed inside the towering city walls of Acadia, magic users known as Wielders are feared and hunted for the abilities they have been blessed with. They're living in hiding, terrified of revealing themselves to the Authorities that hunt them. But while Acadia digs into the earth for the magical stone that weakens the Wielders, they are unaware of the ancient evil, known as Foulings, trapped underneath. Three young Wielders, scattered across Evaros, have the power to not only end the oppression of innocent Wielders, but also stop the Foulings from repeating a history of chaos and death. Determined to save her brother, Marina fights to control the ice she manipulates. Going against her own rules, she makes dangerous deals with a flame from her past. Adira, imprisoned for powers she has just discovered, gives hope to the others that one day her unique abilities will free them. She doubts she is the savior they want, when she doesn't even understand the powers she has. Soren struggles to reconnect with a girl seared into his memories. Controlled by a dark Wielder whose plans put the world in jeopardy, he realizes that the girl might be the key to restoring his humanity. Against the odds, Marina, Adira and Soren fight for freedom, strength, and love with their lives and their hearts on the line. / Fantasy / Romance / Young Adult / **First Draft** **Current Cover by @sugarcrystals**

Abased- the Exiled Warrior is a part 2 of a fantasy trilogy set in a Central Asian inspired land of long winters and warring clans. It is full of adventure, action, and more than a hint of romance. Copyright © 2018 | All rights reserved.

Waking up in a new body, a young man struggles to make a place for himself in a world of political intrigue and competing nations while assisting the last member of a royal family.

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

In a world with two suns, Tesni Kendrick has been taught to fear the blue sun and the people it shines over. In the South, the Wilde can harness the blue sun's power to perform great and terrible feats of magic. Tesni makes her home in the North, where the Wilde are the enemy, the blue sun doesn't shine and magic doesn't exist. Or at least it's not supposed to. For five years, Tesni has hidden her ability to wield magic and suppressed her powers. But when her father, the king's most loyal general, captures a group of Wilde men, Tesni's curiosity gets the best of her. From a handsome Wilde boy, she learns there is more to her magic than she ever imagined. Tesni's quest for knowledge--and the consequences it brings--takes her on a journey to the Wildelight, where the blue sun shines in full force and magic runs rampant. Can she learn to tame her magic from a people as wild as their name?

*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.

"Who will we send after the little witch?" The room went silent as one of them stood up from her throne, pacing forward. Her skirts flowed over the marble floors as silently as a whisper. Every eye was drawn to her. "I will go after her and make her my slave." She revealed flawless white teeth in a playful smile. "It will be fun. Like a game." The other Gods relaxed, confident that Alice Cunningham didn't stand a chance. After all, no one could resist Aphrodite.

*completed*The Jotun have been fighting amongst themselves for centuries. But now Valka, a young servant from the ice palace, is about to discover a new and terrible enemy has arisen. Note: FLOOD is a stand-alone book set in the Jotun world. It is not book 2 of the Frost series (that will be published by Patchwork Press later this year). Cover art by @SeventhStar

**Completed**Can smoldering resentment and attraction exist at the same time? Jess Parker has made a number of mistakes. The first was burning her school to the ground. The second, getting caught by the handsome, yet maddening boy who calls himself Asher, who tells her things that can't possibly be true. Now Jess finds herself blundering through a new and alarming world, leaving a trail of blazing destruction behind. She must choose between warring factions, two sides of an ancient war that both want her. And most of all, she must try to harness her explosive powers before they consume her. Note: FIRE is a stand-alone book set in the Jotun world. It is not book 2 of the Frost series (that will be published by Patchwork Press later this year). Cover artwork by @SeventhStar

The #1 Bestseller! From #1 Bestselling author Morgan Rice comes a sweeping new epic fantasy series: RISE OF THE DRAGONS (KINGS AND SORCERERS—Book 1). Kyra, 15, dreams of becoming a famed warrior, like her father, even though she is the only girl in a fort of boys. As she struggles to understand her special skills, her mysterious inner power, she realizes she is different than the others. But a secret is being kept from her about her birth and the prophecy surrounding her, leaving her to wonder who she really is. When Kyra comes of age and the local lord comes to take her away, her father wants to wed her off to save her. Kyra, though, refuses, and she journeys out on her own, into a dangerous wood, where she encounters a wounded dragon—and ignites a series of events that will change the kingdom forever. 15 year old Alec, meanwhile, sacrifices for his brother, taking his place in the draft, and is carted off to The Flames, a wall of flames a hundred feet high that wards off the army of Trolls to the east. On the far side of the kingdom, Merk, a mercenary striving to leave behind his dark past, quests through the wood to become a Watcher of the Towers and help guard the Sword of Fire, the magical source of the kingdom’s power. But the Trolls want the Sword, too—and they prepare for a massive invasion that could destroy the kingdoms forever. With its strong atmosphere and complex characters, RISE OF THE DRAGONS is a sweeping saga of knights and warriors, of kings and lords, of honor and valor, of magic, destiny, monsters and dragons. It is a story of love and broken hearts, of deception, of ambition and betrayal. It is fantasy at its finest, inviting us into a world that will live with us forever, one that will appeal to all ages and genders. Book #2 in KINGS AND SORCERERS is now available!