R.L. Merrill - Romance Author
Contemporary + Paranormal + Horror
THE BOOKS
My novels are heavily influenced by my love of music. I've listened to many genres in my life, but I'm a Rock n' Roll girl at heart. Going to concerts and festivals is kind of an obsession, and my experiences have made their way into my creations. I've also been an educator in many different capacities over the past twenty years. Those adventures have been woven into my stories as well. Enjoy my first two releases, Haunted and The Rock Season. My third release, Teacher, will be out March 13, 2015 with more to come later in the year!
Haunted
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ASIN: B00PG7G7LS
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Print coming soon!
Ink and art are in Jaylene Charles' blood. When her overbearing father died unexpectedly, Jaylene quit her internship with a prominent Berkeley therapist and followed her heart to New Orleans. Finding kindred spirits there, she got back to her tattooing roots and realized her dream of owning her own tattoo shop. Jaylene had everything she thought she wanted when five tattooed, pierced, and broken-hearted rock n’ roll boys challenged her to put her skills, and her heart, to the test.
Maggie’s Bones were Metal’s next big thing when tragedy struck, leaving them devastated and at each others' throats. Their label demanded a follow-up to their latest insanely successful album, and they were running out of time. Hiding out in Louisiana to salvage their career, they sought Jaylene’s help. She immediately felt a connection with D, the broken man with the sorrowful eyes and missing smile, but refuses to let him in.
Can Jaylene trust that D's feelings are more than gratitude? Can the man with the sad eyes make her accept that sometimes love really can cure the haunted?
FOR 18+ READERS: ADULT THEMES AND SEXUAL SITUATIONS.
The Rock Season
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ASIN: B00RY9ZMJE
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Print coming soon!
Stevie Wilson is about to welcome a new life into an unsure world. Estranged from the father of her unborn child, she turns to her love of attending concerts with her vivacious best friend to deal with the stress and uncertainty. As a teacher and blogger, she counts on the magic of the music to ease her troubled thoughts of what will come next. What she wasn’t counting on was meeting a “savior” with fathomless, dark brown eyes.
Aaron McShane gave up a lucrative Silicon Valley career to live the dream of owning an independent music store in downtown Hayward. His responsibilities have kept him from finding and settling down with the right person, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. With his bicultural, multigenerational family all under one roof and giving him grief, he takes on a second job doing security at his favorite venue so he can escape and be close to his first love: music. What better place, especially when one gets to rescue a pregnant damsel in distress with a gorgeous mane of fiery red hair?
These two music lovers are thrust together just when they each needed something to hold on to. Can their fledgling love withstand the pressures of family, grief, and violence? Music brought them together, will it help them heal together?
FOR 18+ READERS: ADULT THEMES AND SEXUAL SITUATIONS.
Teacher
A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy Book One
After receiving yet another pink slip, teacher Jesse Martin is desperate for a way to make ends meet. As a woman who makes it her life's work to help others find a second chance, never did she think one would be offered to her in the guise of an angry, reclusive, rock god and his troubled teenaged daughter. Danny Black should have it all, but an unbalanced ex, a fragile daughter, and a threat to his livelihood have him ready to make changes, changes that involve a stubborn, beautiful woman. Can Jesse accept that when it comes to love and struggles, sometimes love is the best teacher?
Teacher: Act Two
A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy Book Two
In Teacher, Jesse Martin and Danny Black find a love that neither of them ever thought possible under the most unusual circumstances. Many obstacles stood in the way of their budding romance, including their student-teacher relationship, an unstable ex-wife, and the question of whether Danny’s voice would ever be rock-ready again. But when Danny’s 12 year-old daughter Jane removes the most important obstacle by giving them her blessing, it's time to celebrate. The Second Act finds these two lovers navigating a fresh relationship with new roles and expectations. Together they share new experiences that bring them closer, and really bring on the heat. Danny works at chipping away the wall Jesse has built to protect herself and she tries to keep him grounded as Blackened heads to the studio to record their masterpiece. Then life places new obstacles in the way of our adoring couple. Jesse’s health takes a turn for the worse, Danny scrambles to finish school, and a meddling mom sticks her nose in where it doesn’t belong making Jesse question, once again, whether or not she’ll ever fit into Danny’s world. A whirlwind turn of events brings them closer, then threatens to tear them apart. Will their new love survive the insanity that is Danny’s life? Will Jesse fight to keep her new family together? Will Cosmo accept that Sunday Shower Day is detrimental to his love life? These questions and more will be explored in Teacher: The Second Act.
THIS NOVEL IS MEANT FOR READERS 18+ DUE TO EVEN STEAMIER SEX, CRAZIER HIJINKS, AND ENOUGH FOUL LANGUAGE TO MAKE A ROCK STAR BLUSH.
Teacher: The Final Act
8/13/15
In Teacher, Jesse Martin gets sucked into the vortex that is the life of Danny Black, rock god and lead singer of the metal powerhouse, Blackened. She thought she was just taking a home instructor position for the summer, but things got complicated quickly as she and Danny fell madly in love. In Act Two, the lovers maneuvered the tricky path from dating to living together, with pitfalls at every turn. At the end of Act Two, we left our lovers on a dark precipice. Jesse’s doubts and the chaos of Danny’s life threatened to tear them apart. Instead, they are now closer than ever and ready to take that next step. But nothing will ever be easy for our teacher and her rock god, including planning the perfect wedding. A jilted colleague from Danny’s past, a desperate ex, a potentially fatal tragedy, a remodel, a parent-teacher conference, illness, a drag queen, and many many more obstacles are piled in their path. Will Jesse and Danny ever find their happily ever after or will they forever be as those famous doomed lovers, kept apart by circumstances beyond their control?
Fated: A Haunted Story
11/13/15
Sammara Gunderson
Hollywood, California
September 2012
As a music journalist, I’ve interviewed rock stars from all over the globe, using my special “intuitions” to pen some of the most in-depth and personal interviews in the business. Meeting Maggie’s Bones—and especially their intense bass player, Mage—proved to be a life-changing experience. I was immediately drawn to this strange but intriguing man, and we spent an amazing night bonding over our similar experiences growing up “freaks”. We had a fantastic connection, unlike anything I’d ever experienced…
Until Mage started talking about dreams, about destiny and fate, and it brought up too many painful memories…ones I’d buried long ago in a desperate bid to function as a normal human being. That didn’t quite work out as planned. Now I’m spiraling down a depressing, anxiety-filled hole, and while I want so desperately to believe that I can heal from my past and love again, love Mage, I’m afraid I may be Fated to be alone…
Take another wild ride with the hard-rocking members of Maggie’s Bones, and see if love can once again cure the haunted.
Author Note: While Fated is a stand-alone story, readers will get greater enjoyment (and more hot, emotional rockers) by first reading Haunted.
When landing in Purgatory, no matter the cause of death, a soul must experience an awakening, establish awareness, and ultimately, achieve acceptance of inevitable circumstances.
For Maggie Stone, none of these options was ideal. She was a woman in control of her own destiny, not a pawn in some afterlife game! But in order to “move on,” she’ll have to accept help from an unlikely source dressed in black denim and pissed off at the world. Will she be able to complete her task, work her magic, and mind her kin still struggling with her death?
Louis Sheffield has spent an eternity in Purgatory for reasons beyond his control. When he’s given an opportunity to earn his ticket out of his holding cell, he’s irritated to learn he’ll have to hold the hand of a pretentious, know-it-all, party girl whose every action grates on his last nerve. But Maggie is not all she seems, and once he’s exposed to her world, suddenly he’s tempted to finally accept his destiny and embrace hope.
These two lost souls must work together against the clock to complete their seemingly impossible task. When their charges refuse to cooperate, Maggie and Louis must resort to unorthodox methods to create harmony from bitter chaos. In the end, it all comes down to choices and consequences they never imagined possible.
Revisit the crew from Haunted and find out if, once again, love can cure the haunted.
Blossomed: A Minded Story
On Samhain, the veil between the spirit world and the material world thins. Anything can happen, including the rebirth of those souls who weren’t given the chance to live to their full potential. One such soul had accepted her early death as her destiny. Fate has much more in store for her.
Discover a sweet tale of new life, new love, and puppies! For Readers 18 and Up.
The Gods of Rock 'n' Roll from the Wicked Gods Unleashed Anthology
Allison Joy just wrapped up her first Warped Tour and has fallen in love with the stage in a way she never thought possible. When a singer from another band on the bill brings her along on an “audition” for a powerful agent in Las Vegas, she comes face to face with…
Philip has been master of his domain as long as he can remember. With his powerful build and relentless voice, he literally has the heart of rock ‘n’ roll in his hands. As the god of music’s right hand man, he’s charged with granting wishes for fame and fortune, and accepting payment upon the termination of contracts. It’s a bloody job but someone’s got to do it. Until a voice comes before him so pure and full of innocence…
Phillip and Allison could make beautiful music together, if he’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Will rock ‘n’ roll save their souls, or tear them to pieces?
El Corazón Sabe - The Heart Knows
My name is Leah Mariana Trujillo Roberts and I teach English from mi corazón - my heart. My fragile students are my purpose in life and I give them my all every day. At least I did, until a violent act of retaliation nearly ended my life. I became a shell of a woman, paralyzed with grief, hiding in my closet with my booze-of-the-day wishing the pain would just disappear. But no self-respecting Latina is allowed to let life get her down, not in mi familia. They scooped me up out of my miserable existence and forced me to face my demons until I was well enough to move on. Which I did—cross country to a new town, new school, and new purpose. I’d never expected to like Iowa. I definitely never thought I’d have room in my life for a tall, goofy, blond, gringo Science teacher. The first time he hit me with a door, a chain-reaction began and I suddenly found clarity after months of despair. The more we collide, the more conflicted he becomes after experiencing his own devastating loss. Pero cuando el corazón sabe—when the heart knows—it’s time to listen. For Mature Readers This is Book One of a planned trilogy
Road Trip: A Rock Season Novel
High school counselor and heavy metal fan Abra Mora spends her summer vacation traveling in her gutsy Mustang GT to escape a dark family history of depression. Late one night while making an emergency pit-stop, she comes to the rescue of an off-duty police officer in peril and saves him from a fiery end. The straight-laced, model-handsome cop happens to be running away from some major baggage of his own. These two opposites decide to run away together, but soon realize they've embarked on more than just a fling. Can their newfound love survive once their road trip is over and their realities end up on a collision course?
Ages 18 and up due to adulting, road-side violence, lots of sexy time, and some pretty raunchy innuendo including a major concert fail.
Haven
Coming Soon
School Counselor Delaney Frost is at a crossroads. A combination of perceived failures in both her personal and professional lives have left her a shell of a woman. One night, in a desperate attempt to pull herself out of a depressing existence, she finds a job posting for Haven Academy and sends off her resume. A meeting with their attractive representative leaves her unsettled, paranoid, and utterly intrigued. Should she take a chance on a what could be a dream job halfway across country to work with children who are victims of trauma? Take the word of this handsome stranger she is inexplicably drawn to that this place is everything she's always wanted? Saying yes means learning more about herself and this mysterious academy where the children are like none she has ever met. But when Delaney and her boss are sent to rescue a young girl from an abusive megalomaniac, she is forced to accept that within her she possesses a power so rare and precious that it can be used to heal others, or for more nefarious purposes. Haven is a story of one woman's quest to overcome her demons and to discover whether love can truly heal all wounds.