Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
You Can Make Me: Carnival of Mysteries
By R.L. Merrill

Carnival of Mysteries Novel

Journalist Cooper Harris received a dire warning from a psychic early in his career as an investigative reporter: Your curiosity will lead you to death’s doorstep. That prediction came true when he ignored instructions from law enforcement friends, and showed up to a crime scene only to become the latest victim of a serial killer. He was rescued by the man he desperately loves but denies at every turn—Detective Dennis Hamilton—and left with gruesome and debilitating injuries.

Three months later, Denny is at his wit’s end. He’s done everything in his power to help Cooper heal, but the reporter is obsessed with finding a mythical carnival that is rumored to possess some “woo woo fountain of youth and vitality.” Denny desires Cooper just as he is, but the reporter has always gotten by on his looks and investigative skills. Cooper refuses to give up hunting for answers, even if it means making a deal with the very devil responsible for his scars.

With the help of his trusted friends, and two men not of this time, Denny will fight to stop a killer from finishing what he started with Cooper, the man he has come to cherish. Cooper will have to choose between exposing the secrets of the Carnival of Mysteries, and accepting that love is more important than the truth he seeks.

You Can Make Me is the third book R.L. Merrill has contributed to the Carnival of Mysteries shared world. It can be read as a standalone, but readers will more fully enjoy the story after reading You Can Do Magic and You Can Save Me. Each book in the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series stands alone and includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. Recommended for readers 18+

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Exclusive Excerpt from You Can Make Me:

Gene laughed at something in the other room, and Cooper stiffened in my arms.

Here we go.

“Why do I think that’s not the TV?” I pressed my lips together. He sounded like his snarky self, not like he was panicking. I crossed my fingers behind his back.

“Because it’s not?”

He sighed—and snuggled in even closer. “I knew this would happen sooner or later.”

“You knew that I’d bring your folks and the Ochoas out here?”

He groaned and kissed my throat. “I knew I’d be such a pain in the ass that eventually you’d call for an intervention.”

I barked a laugh, more out of surprise that he’d kissed me than over what he said. I gave him a squeeze. “Does that mean you forgive me?”

He pulled his hands out of my shirt and ran his fingers through my hair, tipping his head back so he could look at me.

“If anyone can make me, you can. I’ll punish you later.”

My breath caught. He was so close, his eyelids heavy from sleep. He ran his fingers over my cheekbone. 

“Cooper,” I breathed. 

His eyes searched mine, and then he patted my cheek. “I’m not kissing you. That’s your first punishment. Well, actually, it would be a punishment to kiss you with nap breath. But I’m not ready to have you grossed out by my lip—”

“Don’t you dare,” I said, holding him when he tried to roll away. I’d let go if he insisted, but I was going to take this opportunity to put a few things straight between us.

He stared up at me with big eyes.

“First, you are even more beautiful to me now than you were the night you seduced me over pizza.”

“What? I seduced you?”

“Second, I would kiss you anytime, anywhere, even with a mouthful of anchovies, puke breath, or after you had an onion and garlic orgy in your mouth.”

“Oh, Den… You need some fresh air. This place is getting to you.”

“Third, I have informed our guests that if you want them gone, I will honor your wishes. You are my priority, don’t ever forget that. And I brought them here because, as my priority, you needed a reminder of how much you are loved.”

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