He owned half of the state,with the casinos and clubs just a small part of them. Relationships disgusted him and one night stands was all he could afford for the flock of girls that followed him. Untouchable ,was what fangirls referred him to him as and second times was unheard of in the dictionary of Victor Kingston. Unless his eyes took interest in a brunette, whose clothes resembled to that of men and etiquettes that of a roadside thug. Her comebacks gave a blow to his inflated ego and her innocence a blow to his manhood. He has never met a girl like her before and he may not in the future. Because she was not just his type,but no man's type either. She was Rose Evans ,an independent and headstrong girl despite the struggles of her life. A girl who didn't needed any man in her life .

************************************************************************************** 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 book 2 of the Ryonan series we are once again pulled into the lives of the Seizan sisters. Will Alyssa finally take her place as queen and rule or will she continue to run?

✯✯✯✯ prequel to secret elite | can be read as a stand-alone

"Sell your virginity to me and I will clear your father's debt." ~~.~~ Angelique Ryans had a promising future ahead of her. Prestige school, lovable personality, talent. She had it all, until the day her father gambled away their lives to a man famed for brutality. The choice was simple - strip for the mafia or die a miserable death. Or..to strike a deal with the devil himself. Nikolai Ivanov had his sights set on her. An innocent and pure Angel - all his to break. Ruling with an iron fist and wicked heart, he was ought to ruin her. Every curve of her was made for him to take and ravish. Only, this Angel is fiercer then she seems. She's the light to his darkness. The calm to his storm. In the end...who will break first?

Damon was happy. He had everything he wanted: a strong family, awesome friends, great grades, a beautiful girlfriend... He had never had any reasons to cry...until the accident. After that, the world had no colors for him. He never smiled again and almost everyone left him because of that. But had he ever dreamt about a smiling, brown-eyed angel? Had he ever hoped for such salvation? Did he deserve it? To him, Evangeline was nothing... And everything. Would he let her heal him? ~ *OFFICIAL TRAILER ON THE RIGHT SIDE OR HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFZJ56rZaC8* ~ Copyright © 2013 *ALL RIGHTS RESERVED* All rights are reserved by the owner and creator of this work (username/pseudonym: XenaraDaolftan) and any infringement of copyright is punishable by law. ~ *I DO NOT OWN ANY FRAGMENTS FROM DIFFERENT BOOKS THAT MAY APPEAR HERE.*

"Why would you do that?" "So that I can have my Rosie with me, forever." Jackson Black and Rose Harper were high school sweethearts who were inseparable, until Jackson decided to join the military. Now, after 8 years of serving the country, he comes back to Fairfield. The place where he grew up and the place where his entire childhood was spent, with his Rosie.

Right when Silvia Ellington is about to start her senior year, her mother decides to have her move in with her aloof father and his "perfect" family in California. She promises to be on her best behavior, and for the most part, she's able to keep her snappy attitude in check...until she ends up going to a party one chilly night. In the adolescent madness, she finds a tattooed boy named Dakota. He's ungodly tall and has crystal blue eyes that can sway any good girl to do bad things. When they first meet, he makes it his job to show that he doesn't like Silvia. And he's got reasons. All she has to do is disarm this bad boy and unlock the secrets he's keeping deep inside. Before they know it, Silvia and Dakota embark on an emotional roller-coaster of a relationship that is bound to ruin a few lives. But when Silvia's own secrets come knocking on her door, will it tear them apart or will love prevail? HIGHEST RANKING: #1 in Action #2 in Humor #2 in Teen Fiction #1 in Drama #8 in Romance --- written in 2015-16 rewritten in 2022-26