R.L. Merrill - Romance Author
Contemporary + Paranormal + Horror
NEWS from the world
of Rock 'n' Romance
Come Join Us!
I've put together a great group of authors for this event and I'm grateful for Renee at Books on B for supporting Bookstore Romance Day!
Join us at the very first Romance Retreat! Fans of The Historical Romance Retreat SWEAR by Renee Bernard's vision for reader-author events and I'm so looking forward to it!
Blast off into the Magic and Mayhem Universe with me! That's right! Robyn Peterman invited me to join this fantastic crew and I'm thrilled to be here! Now, go ahead and pre-order the books, including Shifted: An MMU/Minded story and see what happens when Maggie and Louis wind up in Assjacket, West Virginia with an alligator and a wonky witch! Out June 24th. Click on the image above for all the deets. Stay Tuned...
Worst Holiday Ever and
Worst Valentine's Day Ever Collections
Follow the antics of rock star Orrie Jones and his tech-whiz paramour Dalton Bishop as they navigate the holidays in these two anthologies.
Typhoon Toby out January 22!
On the surface, Toby Griffiths appears to have it all—talent, money, a brilliant mind, and model good looks. With his best friend, Reese, he’s built an empire as a singer/songwriter.
But beneath that glittering exterior, Toby suffers the lasting effects of abuse. To keep his tempestuous past where it belongs, he insists on anonymity with lovers—no names, no personal information. But a vacation fling in Bali changes all that, and he can’t get his recent playmate out of his mind.
Therapist Spencer Hart left Bali with a bad case of pneumonia and a broken heart. Although he’s recovering, he’s shocked to find his secretive partner on TV, and he’s determined to see him again. Spencer arranges to attend one of Toby’s fundraising galas, and their reunion is tense.
Toby tries to stick to his rules… until a New Year’s kiss with Spencer washes away the last of his resistance. But Toby is a man with secrets, and when the storm comes ashore, it could devastate not just his professional life but his fledgling love affair and his longtime partnership with his best friend.
Will Spencer stand by his side and help him weather the storm as Toby faces his worst fears?
Publisher's Weekly says of Typhoon Toby "While handled with exceptional sensitivity, the discussion of sexual assault and suicide may distress readers who have undergone similar ordeals—or may show them they’re not alone. With a strong plot, an expertly crafted cast of supporting characters, and deep empathy, Merrill’s novel will keep readers hooked."
Typhoon Toby receives a Crowned Heart Review from Ind'tale Magazine!
Summer Fair Anthology out August 21, 2018
I'm grateful to the StoryPenners for inviting me to join them this summer. My f/f story Salty and Sweet follows the adventure of one hilarious teacher joining a university summer theater program to earn units to clear her credential and the instructor who fascinates her. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Hurricane Reese from Dreamspinner Press
Celebrate Christmas, R.L. Merrill-Style with
Father F'in' Christmas: A Minded Story
Fans of Minded and Blossomed will enjoy seeing one of Louis's early solo Interventions in this wacky and sweet new tale from the afterlife.
When deceased firefighter Tommy Quintana wakes up in a gymnasium and is told he suffers from Death Denial Syndrome, he knows the one thing he must do in order to move on: mind his wife, Kimberly. Assigned to work with Intervention Specialist Louis Sheffield, he soon learns that he has much more to make up for than he thought as his widow is literally dying of a broken heart. With the help of a 1980s-era punk rocker, a gargoyle, and an alley cat, Tommy will attempt a friggin' Christmas miracle to save her.
The gals of Sex, Gods, an Rock 'n' Roll go Historical for some Horror Romance
“Each installment of this compilation will tantalize and terrify you. An absolute must read!”
Kerrigan Byrne
International bestselling author of the Victorian Rebels Series
The Banes of Lake’s Crossing - Origins
The Biggest Little City in the World was founded on a lie. History tells us that the city called Reno, Nevada, was founded as a gambling haven for silver miners and later the divorce capital. But it goes deeper than that. It goes as deep as the lines from which the silver came. In 1860, four brothers tunneled beneath the surface, looking to find the next Comstock Lode. They left their families behind in search of the valuable metals being brought forth from the Earth in order to do the Lord’s work.
Legend has it that the four men who went down into the Earth as good, solid Christian men returned as something more sinister, their good intentions abandoned. They became possessed by a force more evil than could be imagined, and their hold on the residents of what was known then as Lake’s Crossing allowed them to gain unfathomable powers.
Marcus from Maggie's Bones tells his side of the story in Bated.
Bated: A Haunted Story Volume One
Releasing on Amazon 2.13.17
Catch up with Maggie's Bones frontman Marcus Lambert and the woman he can't seem to win over, manager Sherry Jordan. Bated is a series of vignettes showing us just what Marcus and Sherry were up to before and during Haunted. Just a little love story from me to you Pre V-day. I hope you enjoy!
Road Trip: A Rock Season Novel!
The long-awaited follow-up to The Rock Season is nearly here! I can't wait for you to meet Abra and Kelly. Special thanks to Reggie from R + M Photography, Scott Secor Cover Model and Freya Barker for delivering a superb cover that really brings out the tone of the story. Here's the blurb:
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?
Paranormal Spring 2016 welcomes back Maggie and Louis!
Minded: A Haunted Story is re-releasing on Friday, May 13th! Fall in love in the afterlife.
Readers first met Maggie and Louis in the story Minded: A Haunted Story in the Santa's Naughty List Anthology, which was a limited release for charity. These two have been busy getting into mischief so I wanted to make sure everyone gets a chance to meet them! I've added a new chapter and there are excerpts from Blossomed: A Minded Story in which these two have a cameo on their first assignment, The Gods of Rock 'n' Roll which will be featured in the Wicked Gods Anthology on June 12th, and a teaser from an upcoming sequel in which they continue their adventures! I'd love for you all to fall in love in my version of the afterlife. If you've never read one of my stories, this one is kind of the "gateway drug." In it you'll get a taste of my Contemporary/Rock Romances as well as my recent dabbling in the Paranormal. Thank you for your continuing support! Stay Tuned for more Rock 'n' Romance!
Paranormal Spring 2016 begins with Blossomed: A Minded Story on 4/1
El Corazón Sabe - The Heart Knows available February 13th! PreOrder your copy today. Meet Leah and hear her tell her story:
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.
I am so excited to share with you all the long-awaited follow up to Haunted. Maggie's Bones, the Metalcore boys from Houma, LA, are back with the next chapter of their story. This time our narrator is a lovely reporter from Feedback Magazine.
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.
