R.L. Merrill's Blog

I like to use my words for good, so I've put together this collection of stories previously released in charity anthologies, and all proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood.

For The Girls: A Sapphic Contemporary Romance Collection

For bold women making tough choices

For brave women overcoming adversity

For brilliant women starting over

For beautiful women falling blissfully in love

These diverse and inclusive contemporary romance stories feature women loving women and a whole lot of hope, love, and rock ‘n’ roll. They were previously released in various charity anthologies and are now available together for the first time.

Salty and Sweet

Pinups and Puppies

Joy Is A Phone Call Away

Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire

Love And Pride

The Maiden and the Crone

All proceeds from this collection will be donated to organizations fighting for reproductive freedom and justice.

Preorder today! https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Sapphic-...

Moonwish was released 2/13 and so far it has received several five-star reviews. Here are a couple of snippets:

“... I’m torn. I don’t know if I should love it because the storytelling is fantastic… or hate it because it sucked me in from page 1, messed up my sleep schedule, and now it’s over.” ~ Carla, Goodreads

“I was completely captivated with the first book and was avidly awaiting this one! …Plenty of on the edge of your seats moments making me devour this in one go! Highly recommend.” ~ Deb, Goodreads

Sundowners Book One will be 99 cents for a few more days, so pick up your copy now and start reading this unique vampire romance series. Also in KU.

Ro is currently writing stories for several charity anthologies:
Craveable Cocktales Anthology, Love & Devotion, donating to Women’s Cancer Research Foundation (June)
To LA With Love, benefits the Palisades and Altadena Libraries (June)
Love Is All (June) supports LGBTQ+ organizations
Read The Rainbow Signing in Havre De Grace, Maryland in April, our event-only anthology, Safe Space, will be donating funds to the ACLU.

I love being able to use my words to do positive work. Please follow me on www.bookbub.com/profile/r-l-merrill for release information and purchase links.

Up next will be a re-release of The Heart Knows, a Rock 'n' Romance story first released in 2015. It's had a facelift, revisions, and a new ending, and I can't wait for new folks and old pals to take a look! I'm shooting for April, so keep your eyes peeled. Meanwhile, the audiobook for Road Trip is out and You Fell First is in production!

I'll also be putting out a collection of my FF stories this spring for charity, so keep a look out for For The Girls coming soon.

My next full-length release at this point is You Can Make Me, which is slated for September, but who knows? A lot could happen between now and then!
Stay Tuned for More…

Thank you so much to everyone who preordered the book! All proceeds from preorders and first day sales will go to Odd Paws cat rescue!

Here's a fantastic first-day review that made me all warm and squishy inside:

"Okay, RL Merrill made me cry (in the very best way) with this one. Small town, grumpy-sunshine tropes, with main characters that are well developed.

Luther is a Marine veteran with disabilities, mourning his canine colleague which died in the attack that left him disabled. He lives with Violet, who shared a foster home with him back in the day, and with whom he’s formed a family of choice. Together they are co-parenting foster daughter Mila, who’s 8 years old with a traumatic past.

Luther meets Doug – a former Air Force, current cybersecurity consultant, when they have neighboring booths at a weekend market. Luther is selling his art, Doug is selling merch to benefit Goth Dog Rescue. (See Merrill’s Pinups and Puppies for a fuller story on that – without a spoiler I can say that Doug is the cousin of a main character in that story!)

Their meet-cute is more of a meet-needy, in that Luther literally falls trying to get into his own van and Doug catches him. There’s an attraction there, though, so while Mila attends day camp they have day dates to get to know one another better.

There’s a lot here about chosen family, and the difficulties involved in foster care. I loved the interactions between Mila and the adult characters, who are all invested in helping her have a happier life that she has had. And OMG, the ending… that’s when I cried. Go read it, enjoy the fact that it’s not focused on Christmas, and support your local dog rescue organization.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review." ~ Lori on Goodreads

Thanks to Lori and thanks to all of you! Have a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate, and happy reading

Greetings! I received word last night that the audiobook for You Can Do Magic: Carnival of Mysteries went live on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes! This award-winning novel was beautifully narrated by Lance West and Victor Quixabas and I hope you'll check it out! Book two will hopefully go into production in early 2025 and I hope to release the third book in the trilogy next summer. I swooned while listening to the audio files and I think you will too! Stay Tuned for more...

Ibook:You Can Do Magic: Carnival of Mysteries|203593899]

HAPPY PUBLISHVERSARY! Ten years and over sixty titles later, I'm so freaking happy to be here writing my swoony and shivery romances. I'm ridiculously happy to have made so many great friends and to have been a part of Romancelandia fundraising efforts, shared world projects, and anthologies over the years. What a ride. I've made so many incredible friends, and I've met the absolute best people, both in MF and queer spaces. I love you all and I'm so thankful for you. I have self and traditionally published books, I've had an agent, I've been a part of several organizations and efforts to improve inclusivity in our genre, and I've mentored several new authors. It's been a huge blessing in my life and I'm so grateful.

Today I celebrate the release of Feuds and Interludes, another tale influenced by the rock music I love. The book was inspired by the true story of the Clapton/Harrison/Boyd love triangle, and the struggles metal singer Howard Jones experienced as a result of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis—a struggle I've been dealing with for the past three years as well. I hope you fall in love with Shane and Boone and "grandpa boyfriend" Bruce and the lovely Vera Jean.

If you've read a book, thank you. If you've reviewed, bless you. If you're just here for a good time, awesome. Welcome. Stay Tuned for More...Feuds and Interludes

Greetings! If you would like a chance to win You Can Do Magic, the first in my Carnival of Mysteries series, there's a couple hours left to enter the giveaway!

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

You Can Save Me has had some lovely reviews so far! Check out the page and click it as Want To Read! You Can Save Me

A few hours before…
“Busier night than usual.”
Pokey leaned against the wall separating our booths and flicked his toothpick between his teeth as he attempted to make conversation.
I’d shared a trailer with him since I arrived at the carnival, whenever that was, and he frequently complained about the few times I was able to scrounge a cigarette—said it was a nasty habit, that it smelled foul. I was so tempted to make a comment about how it was hypocritical to bellyache about my vices when he had that nasty piece of wood in his mouth all day, but I was trying to be the bigger person, and Pokey had looked after me ever since I could remember, which wasn’t very long. He was a good enough guy.
“Sure is. My brain is like mush by now.” I picked up the guitar—playing helped clear my mind—and had my back to the carnival, just picking at the strings. Another one had broken earlier so I was down to three. The challenge of playing melodies like this was good for me.
Most days, I had maybe five or six customers, but today I’d had double that and only gotten a second to breathe the past few minutes. Thankfully, it was almost closing time. I’d worked my magic and made people happy with my words, or at least the words that had come to me, through me, through the board from… somewhere.
“You the poet guy?”
I turned and found a twitchy man standing before my booth. He was ordinary-looking, in light blue jeans and a gray t-shirt, his black hair cut short, his bright blue eyes shiny, his smile wide. He rested his hands on the lip of the booth and tapped his fingers.
He took my breath away, only it wasn’t in the way folks wrote love songs about. This was like the crushing weight of a knee to the chest, a garrote around the neck being pulled by strong arms, or a plastic bag pulled tight over your head.
Why those specific images came to me, so vividly, I had no idea.
“I’m the poet guy,” I finally said, gripping the lip of my work table in my hands. He was a mere three feet away, and his abrasive energy washed over me and left a metallic taste in my mouth. Like iron.
Pokey turned away from his goldfish and leaned a bit more over the wall between our booths. He watched the stranger intently, as did the fish. They weren’t like any fish I’d ever seen, creepy little buggers. I supposed since he was the one who’d apparently brought me into the carnival, Pokey felt the need to protect me? Normally it bugged me a bit, but tonight his presence was welcome.
“So how do we get started?” The young man pulled out his wallet and held it open to show off a thick wad of bills. “I’ve got money. You gonna use your board?”
He had a lot of cash for a guy dressed so plainly. Something told me it might not all belong to him.
“Well,” I rubbed my hands together, “we’re kind of wrapping up for the night—”
“Oh, come on. I came by several times and you always had a line. I just want a poem from the… Troubadour. That’s you, ain’t it? Come on. Use your talking board. Write me a poem.”
His smile was too wide, like the corners of his mouth pulled out so far it looked painful. His teeth were clenched in his mouth, and he was way more excited than he should have been about a silly poem.
There was something wrong about him, and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew he shouldn’t be here.
Maybe I could just make something up. I could leave the board out of it. I wished I had rhymes inside my head. I felt like I should have them—used to have them—but something kept them from me. I wouldn’t even have to ask him a question if I could do it myself. He couldn’t contaminate me with whatever darkness he was carrying if I didn’t—
“Ain’t you supposed to ask me for my question? I watched you do it with some people before. You ask for their question and then they tell you. I want you to ask me for my question.” He’d pressed himself up against the front of my booth, and his belt buckle kept scratching against the wood, the sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. My teeth hurt at the sound and ringing started in my ear.
“Right, right,” I said, rubbing my jaw. “A question. You gotta know, though, you may not get the kinda answer you think. Sometimes—”
“You’re not talking me out of this. I've been waiting all day. He told me I’d find you here, so let’s get going.” He rubbed his hands together and the sight turned my stomach. Once more, I found myself fighting for air.
I cleared my throat and ignored the blackness creeping in around my vision. I cracked my knuckles and gazed up at the guy. He was built a bit bigger than me but was still slim, and only a few inches taller than my 5’7”. He licked his lips and that smile stretched even farther. The guy was giddy. I had half a mind to make up some excuse. I wished for an interruption. Anything to not touch the planchette.
“Come on! Carnival’s gonna close soon.”
His smile slipped a little and his upper lip curled. The scar on my face began to itch, but I resisted the urge to scratch it.
“All right then. What’s your question?”
His beady, soulless eyes flared and he licked his lips. “I wanna know how you got here.”
I frowned. What an odd question? I blew out a breath and placed my fingers gingerly on the planchette.
The blackness creeped a little closer, sending cold spikes up and down my neck. I sucked in a breath and saw the swirl of words coming toward me.
“What do you see?” His words broke through, sending waves through the vision like disturbing a still body of water. I was about to reprimand him when his arms shot out and he planted his hands on the planchette, plummeting us both into the blackness.

Pick up You Can Save Me Now at a special low Pre-Order price! You Can Save Mehttps://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Save-M...

You Can Save Me: Carnival of Mysteries, Part 2 of Chapter One:
And then I heard it. In my mind. Calliope music.
I’d never gone to see it. I hadn’t done much exploring. I’d only gone from my trailer to my booth and back for however long I’d been employed there. Didn’t seem long, but then, time did weird things at the carnival.
“The Troubadour’s Talking Board,” Kal said. He gripped my arm a little tighter as he brought me back up to standing. “The booth in the arcade. I know you.”
“That’s right. That’s me. Well, it was. I left. Got something I gotta do.”
Ryan grabbed Kal’s arm. “The promise. Babe, we have to help him.”
Kal continued to stare down at me, and though he seemed good—the big man oozed honor from his pores—he was a scary guy. His hand could have wrapped around my bicep twice. Or my throat. He looked from Ryan to me, and then he let go of my arm.
“We shall help you along your path.”
Seemed like a strange way of saying “sure, we’ll give you a ride,” but I’d take it.
“Thank you.”
Ryan gestured to the truck. “Hop in.”
Kal remained at my side and when we reached the cab, he opened the front of two doors. I’d never seen a pickup with two sets of doors before. This thing was unreal.
“You ride up here,” Kal said, taking the guitar from me. “I’ll be right behind you. If you hurt my husband, I will hurt you.”
“God, Kal. That’s hot, but babe, don’t scare the kid. We promised we’d help him.”
“Promised who?” I asked as I climbed into the tall pickup. “And I’m not a kid.”
Kal shut my door after I sat, and then he climbed in. I turned my back to the door. I didn’t like having him behind me. Didn’t like anyone at my back, especially after what had happened to land me at the carnival in the first place.
“I think you know,” Kal said as Ryan started the pickup. “Ryan and I are married because someone else made a promise to help us on our path. Ryan made a promise to Mr. Ame. Now we will do the same for you.”
I’d known cats who lived together, maybe even called themselves husbands, but marriage couldn’t happen between homosexuals. This was all too much. It was like I’d left one odd place and wound up in another.
But what he said about promises put my purpose front and center in my mind.
I sighed and turned just a bit, still able to see Kal out of the corner of my eye as he sat in the middle of the backseat. He rested a hand on the seat behind Ryan’s shoulder, his fingers tangling in the man’s shoulder-length copper hair.
“Thank you for stopping,” I said before I let my eyes drift closed. I needed to rest. I would need my strength when we arrived.
“What’s in Buttonwillow?” I heard Kal ask Ryan.
“All I know about it is there’s a pair of rest stops on either side of the highway. Creepy-ass place. Every time I stop there, I’m sure a murderer is going to jump out of the bushes.”
You don’t know how right you are.
As I drifted off, my last customer of the night came back to me…
Out 8/21! You can enter to win a copy of book one through Goodreads Giveaway!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D...

That's right! The Carnival of Mysteries is back again with new adventures and some new authors!

Once more we bid you Welcome, Travelers, to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries! Join us for another round of fantastic, space-and-time spanning tales by a talented group of some of the best authors to be found in M/M romance. Whether you enjoy mystery, action, danger, or just sweet romance, there is something for everyone at the Carnival! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5Y5Z1RH

Rook’s Time -- Kim Fielding
The Wrong Familiar -- Megan Derr
The Villain Who Wasn’t -- Liv Rancourt
Blue Lightning -- BL Maxwell
Magic Escaping -- Kaje Harper
Light in the Darkness -- Eden Winters
You Can Save Me -- RL Merrill
Go for the Climate -- Ander C. Lark
Flames of the Arcane -- Nicole Dennis
Airs Above the Ground -- Rachel Langella
Midnight on the Midway -- Morgan Brice
Dust Bowl Magic -- Zam Maxfield
Dragonspark -- Elizabeth Silver

Because I'm so excited for You Can Save Me to get here... I'm going to post the first two chapters here on Goodreads! Today you get part one of Chapter one, so read on:


You Can Save Me
Chapter One
Dane

December 2019

You can get lost
You can be found
You can exist underground

You can bring joy
You can cause pain
You can start your life all over again

You can do magic
You can stop evil
You can run like mad from the devil

But you can’t change your soul
You can’t change your fate
And you can’t escape from the mess you create

Only you can know
What I see
Only you can save me


On a dark desert highway somewhere in California, I walked alone on the dusty shoulder with a borrowed acoustic guitar strapped to my back and my sole possession tucked under my arm in a brown paper bag. I shivered as though evil was breathing down my neck, when in reality, I was the one in pursuit. The sky had a purplish hue with some storm clouds off to the north but directly above me, the stars flickered in a surreal dance.
I walked with purpose, and it was a very important one.
I’m the only one who can stop him.
I passed a sign that said Highway 58 to Mojave, and I pulled my salvaged coat tighter around my scrawny self. The ground was warm beneath my tattered boots, but the air bit into my skin like an icy monster gnashing its teeth, hungry.
I turned to look behind me and spotted headlights coming my way. It had been at least an hour since another car had passed. I stuck out my thumb, hoping they’d stop. The boots I wore were also borrowed, as were my clothes and hat. I chose them because they were the only ones in the carnival storage that were the right size and fit.
I had only one memory from before I’d started working with the traveling carnival, and it was awful enough to make your blood run cold.
The lights hurt my eyes, and my energy flagged, but I kept my thumb out. I had something important to do, and if this car didn’t slow down, I’d keep going until the next one came. Someone had to stop. How else did people get anywhere if not for thumb power?
The headlights grew nearer and were impossibly bright. I had to cover my eyes briefly as I was nearly blinded. I heard the crunch of gravel as the vehicle pulled over and coughed at the cloud of dust that rose. A door opened and a male voice called out.
“Hey, man. What are you doing out here?”
The bright lights faded and only the yellow ones down low on the front of what I gathered was a pickup truck were left on. It was a massive thing, jacked up high, with big tires and a shiny chrome grill.
What does it look like I’m doing? The large concrete sign with the strange name loomed in my consciousness, and though every cell in my body struggled against my purpose, I stood tall and called back, “Need a ride. To Buttonwillow.”
The truck door closed, and I saw the man’s shape pass in front of the dim lights. What was he doing getting out of his ride? I backed up a step, trying to play it cool. He wasn’t the person I was worried about.
Then the passenger door opened, and a much larger man got out.
“Ryan, don’t.”
There were two of them. I didn’t like my odds, but I had no choice. I had to get there. I had to stop…
“Forget it man, I’ll walk.”
“Wait, come back. You can’t walk that far. That’s, like, almost a hundred miles away.”
The driver came closer, but the big man stepped in between us. I reached for the guitar on my back. Maybe I could whack him with it and run away. I was pretty fast.
“Do you have any weapons?” Then the passenger barked an order at me. “Let me see under your jacket.”
“Come on, man. I just need a ride. I don’t have anything.”
The driver pushed past him. “Kal, it’s okay. Hey, kid, what’s your name?”
“Dee Dee.”
The driver held his hand out, and I shook it. “Dee Dee, I’m Ryan, and this is my husband, Kal. Damn,” he said, letting go of my hand and slapping his together, the loud crack making me jump. “I love saying that.” He turned and smiled at the large man, whose scowl seemed to lessen the slightest bit. “We just got married in Vegas.” He held up a hand and the light flashed off of his wedding band.
“Congratulations?” It came out like the question it was. How were they married? Two men? Guess they really do let anything happen in Las Vegas.
“Where’d you come from?” Kal asked, standing next to Ryan as if to protect him from me. Not sure I’d ever been seen as a threat to anyone, but I didn’t blame him for being cautious. Wish I’d had someone to look after me like that.
“Back that way. Was working at a carnival, and I needed to—”
Ryan put a hand on my chest and his eyes went wide. “Did you say carnival? Like, ‘Welcome, Traveler’ carnival?”
“How’d you know?” I tried to step back and my heel caught on a rock. I was about to go down, but Kal caught me—and then I was caught up in his gaze.
“I came from there, too,” Kal said.

That's right! The Carnival of Mysteries is back again with new adventures and some new authors!

Once more we bid you Welcome, Travelers, to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries! Join us for another round of fantastic, space-and-time spanning tales by a talented group of some of the best authors to be found in M/M romance. Whether you enjoy mystery, action, danger, or just sweet romance, there is something for everyone at the Carnival! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5Y5Z1RH

Rook’s Time -- Kim Fielding
The Wrong Familiar -- Megan Derr
The Villain Who Wasn’t -- Liv Rancourt
Blue Lightning -- BL Maxwell
Magic Escaping -- Kaje Harper
Light in the Darkness -- Eden Winters
You Can Save Me -- RL Merrill
Go for the Climate -- Ander C. Lark
Flames of the Arcane -- Nicole Dennis
Airs Above the Ground -- Rachel Langella
Midnight on the Midway -- Morgan Brice
Dust Bowl Magic -- Zam Maxfield
Dragonspark -- Elizabeth Silver

Because I'm so excited for You Can Save Me to get here... I'm going to post the first two chapters here on Goodreads! Today you get part one of Chapter one, so read on:


You Can Save Me
Chapter One
Dane

December 2019

You can get lost
You can be found
You can exist underground

You can bring joy
You can cause pain
You can start your life all over again

You can do magic
You can stop evil
You can run like mad from the devil

But you can’t change your soul
You can’t change your fate
And you can’t escape from the mess you create

Only you can know
What I see
Only you can save me


On a dark desert highway somewhere in California, I walked alone on the dusty shoulder with a borrowed acoustic guitar strapped to my back and my sole possession tucked under my arm in a brown paper bag. I shivered as though evil was breathing down my neck, when in reality, I was the one in pursuit. The sky had a purplish hue with some storm clouds off to the north but directly above me, the stars flickered in a surreal dance.
I walked with purpose, and it was a very important one.
I’m the only one who can stop him.
I passed a sign that said Highway 58 to Mojave, and I pulled my salvaged coat tighter around my scrawny self. The ground was warm beneath my tattered boots, but the air bit into my skin like an icy monster gnashing its teeth, hungry.
I turned to look behind me and spotted headlights coming my way. It had been at least an hour since another car had passed. I stuck out my thumb, hoping they’d stop. The boots I wore were also borrowed, as were my clothes and hat. I chose them because they were the only ones in the carnival storage that were the right size and fit.
I had only one memory from before I’d started working with the traveling carnival, and it was awful enough to make your blood run cold.
The lights hurt my eyes, and my energy flagged, but I kept my thumb out. I had something important to do, and if this car didn’t slow down, I’d keep going until the next one came. Someone had to stop. How else did people get anywhere if not for thumb power?
The headlights grew nearer and were impossibly bright. I had to cover my eyes briefly as I was nearly blinded. I heard the crunch of gravel as the vehicle pulled over and coughed at the cloud of dust that rose. A door opened and a male voice called out.
“Hey, man. What are you doing out here?”
The bright lights faded and only the yellow ones down low on the front of what I gathered was a pickup truck were left on. It was a massive thing, jacked up high, with big tires and a shiny chrome grill.
What does it look like I’m doing? The large concrete sign with the strange name loomed in my consciousness, and though every cell in my body struggled against my purpose, I stood tall and called back, “Need a ride. To Buttonwillow.”
The truck door closed, and I saw the man’s shape pass in front of the dim lights. What was he doing getting out of his ride? I backed up a step, trying to play it cool. He wasn’t the person I was worried about.
Then the passenger door opened, and a much larger man got out.
“Ryan, don’t.”
There were two of them. I didn’t like my odds, but I had no choice. I had to get there. I had to stop…
“Forget it man, I’ll walk.”
“Wait, come back. You can’t walk that far. That’s, like, almost a hundred miles away.”
The driver came closer, but the big man stepped in between us. I reached for the guitar on my back. Maybe I could whack him with it and run away. I was pretty fast.
“Do you have any weapons?” Then the passenger barked an order at me. “Let me see under your jacket.”
“Come on, man. I just need a ride. I don’t have anything.”
The driver pushed past him. “Kal, it’s okay. Hey, kid, what’s your name?”
“Dee Dee.”
The driver held his hand out, and I shook it. “Dee Dee, I’m Ryan, and this is my husband, Kal. Damn,” he said, letting go of my hand and slapping his together, the loud crack making me jump. “I love saying that.” He turned and smiled at the large man, whose scowl seemed to lessen the slightest bit. “We just got married in Vegas.” He held up a hand and the light flashed off of his wedding band.
“Congratulations?” It came out like the question it was. How were they married? Two men? Guess they really do let anything happen in Las Vegas.
“Where’d you come from?” Kal asked, standing next to Ryan as if to protect him from me. Not sure I’d ever been seen as a threat to anyone, but I didn’t blame him for being cautious. Wish I’d had someone to look after me like that.
“Back that way. Was working at a carnival, and I needed to—”
Ryan put a hand on my chest and his eyes went wide. “Did you say carnival? Like, ‘Welcome, Traveler’ carnival?”
“How’d you know?” I tried to step back and my heel caught on a rock. I was about to go down, but Kal caught me—and then I was caught up in his gaze.
“I came from there, too,” Kal said.