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Happy Publication Day to Dark Tides Kimberly Vale! In this highly anticipated sequel to our favourite pirate fantasy in Crossbones Kimberly Vale is back with another spellbinding story of love, danger, and adventure!  From the blurb: Kimberly Vale’s swashbuckling pirates return for another high seas, high stakes adventure where Csilla and the Bones crew must battle more otherworldly creatures seeping in from Limbo, and threatening to swallow them whole. The Dark Tides are rising . . . When love is an anchor, the sea can swallow you whole. Csilla Abado has a full plate after becoming the first Queen of Bones. While leading Cerulia, she needs to find a way to mend the lingering crack between Limbo and the mortal realm. And when Lorelai and Nara go missing, the crew takes to the seas once more to try and find them . . . facing the worst of the villains and even more otherworldly creatures spilling in from the crack. Kane Blackwater, desperate to find Dominic Rove, washes up at Death’s Cove where he comes face-to-face with creatures who have no place in this world. When he’s wounded, his magic-laced injury seeps throughout his body, spreading an unknown evil into his veins. His time is running out and he must decide what's more important to him: Lorelai’s life or his own. Lorelei Storm isn't the same since her return from the realm of Limbo. A menacing and powerful magic rests under her skin, and she fears it as much as she craves its potential. When she flees Cerulia, she’s captured and taken prisoner by an Incendian Scout, and learning to control her powerful new magic may be the only chance she has at saving her own life. As the war between gods and mortals builds to a crescendo, Csilla, Kane, and Lorelei must not only protect their world from destruction, but also their hearts from looming devastation. The seas darken and not everyone will survive the rising tides.  Crossbones Goodreads / Crossbones Amazon / Crossbones B&N Dark Tides Goodreads / Dark Tides Amazon / Dark Tides B&N EXCERPT: “I don’t deserve you,” he murmured. “What you deserve is to be happy.” She traced the golden weavings on the collar of his coat. She meant to say more. That he deserved to find happiness with or without her. That he should love with his whole being and forgive himself his past. But his lips met hers before she could say anything else. His kiss was a burst of warmth that spread over her cheeks and down her neck. Then he was gone, shying away from her as he searched her face “Is this okay with you?” he asked, his voice a rasp, nearly pleading. “Is this what you want? She answered by grabbing the collar of his coat with both hands and pulling him to her. He chuckled under her lips and kissed her back, his hands fitting back into place around her like it was where they were meant to be. She bowed into him as his hand traveled up her spine, his fingers twining into her hair. She’d kissed a boy once back in Port Barlow, but not like this. Not with this type of hunger. She could kiss Kane under the stars until they faded into the bleeding light of sunrise and it still wouldn’t be enough. One moment they were holding each other, the next they were stumbling to a nearby pillar. Lorelei’s back pressed against it as Kane leaned into her, kissing her again, deeper this time. Their rushed breaths filled the quiet space of the terrace. His hands roamed over her ribs and onto her hips, clenching the black fabric of her dress. She lightly scratched the back of his neck and he sighed against her lips, the sound of it unraveling her. Sparks started in her core, spreading up her chest, through her arms and into her fingers before she even realized what was hap- pening. Her wild magic summoned itself so quickly, she didn’t have time to bite it back. Like an uncorked bottle, magic poured from her. The moment her sparks left her; Kane jolted. He convulsed under her touch, his entire body shaking like lightning swam through him. She let go of him, her heart in her throat as he crumpled to the ground. Though she no longer touched him, he still shook with tremors, his breaths more like ragged pants. Lorelei moved to crouch down next to him, her trembling fingers reaching. But then she straightened back against the pillar, looking at her hands, afraid she’d lose control again. Attempting to make fear a stranger had only left it clawing at her door. “What . . .” Kane said between breaths. He groaned as he rolled onto his side. “What was that?” Her tongue turned to sand. Words were lost to her, swept away with the sea breeze. “Lorelei?” he looked up at her from the ground, searching her with concern. “What happened? Were you harmed?” Her heart throbbed. He worried over her even though he was the one shivering on the ground. She’d put him there. Her lack of control could’ve killed him. The more she thought of her grave mistake, the brighter the spark inside her grew. She glanced down at her hands, her breath hitching. Her fingertips looked like they’d been dipped in gold. The terrace melted away and she was back in Limbo, her arms coated in the very same gold. In that realm, the power of her storm magic was unfathomable. Perhaps monsters weren’t the only thing slipping through the cracks in Limbo. Lorelei rubbed her fingertips together, but the gold remained like paint smudged into her skin. She couldn’t stay there. No, she couldn’t stay anywhere near the ones she cared about. It was foolish of her to think that she could find a sliver of peace, even for just one evening. A cloud of regret hung over her. Kane grunted, drawing her attention back to him as he crawled onto his knees. He lifted his head back to look at her, blinking as if trying to see clearly. “What’s wrong? Was it—was that you?” His expression was unreadable. She’d never seen him look at her like that before. It was a mixture of shock and wonder, but did she detect disgust or was that her mind playing tricks on her? “I’m sorry,” she managed to say. Her voice didn’t sound like her own, like she was speaking from behind a glass window. “I didn’t mean to. I can’t believe I—” Kane rose to his feet, the movement wobbly and labored. “Shh, I’m fine.” He reached out and cupped her cheek with his palm. “Are you?” His thumb softly stroked her cheek and sparks pricked at her fingertips again. She stepped away and curled her fingers into fists as if her golden fingertips would cease to exist if she couldn’t see them. “I have to go.” Lorelei’s voice cracked. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go.” She turned away from him, her face cold, her stomach churning, but she couldn’t take the chance of hurting him again. “Wait,” he rasped, grabbing her wrist. His hand was warm. She wanted so much to hold on to it tightly. “Please. Stay.” The pools of his eyes and the scratch in his voice nearly pinned her where she stood. She’d stay with him. She’d let herself lie in his arms until the sun woke up. She’d kiss him and he’d kiss her like nothing else mattered, like they were the only two in the world. But she couldn’t risk it. She tore herself away from him before she caved in. “I have to go,” she said, unable to hide the way her voice quivered. “Please. Let me go.” Kane dropped her wrist, his warmth leaving her skin much too fast, the evening chill sweeping into her quickly. Tears welled as she half-ran away, spilling onto her cheeks as she stumbled through the empty side halls of the courtyard. Faded guitars and laughter drifted on the wind, deepening the cold in her heart.
About the author:
Kimberly Vale is a reader, a bit of a hopeless romantic, and started writing on Wattpad as a teen. In the years since then, she has accumulated millions of reads online and has volunteered her time to mentorship programs and other efforts in the writing community. With a BA in Education, Kimberly teaches remediation and dyslexia intervention in public schools and lives in Arkansas with her husband, two children, and two dogs. She also enjoys playing video games, trying new recipes, and coming up with ridiculous theories about her current tv-obsessions.
Angel of Ashes and Dust
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo -- SNEAK PEEK: I glared at our wilted set of crops, trying to reconcile myself to the idea that the Earth’s soil was likely poisoned. One thing after another, I thought. We can’t overcome everything. “Kali.” I glanced over at him, meeting his even gaze. He smiled at me then, slowly, and I let the warmth of it spread through my body. “We will get through this,” he said, and I almost believed him. There was something about being with him—it was a feeling that everything was right, like some cold, wayward pieces of a puzzle were falling into place. I bit my lip and looked back over the field. But I can’t be with him… We can’t… And then I was warm. His arms circled around me, his chest pressing against my back. Without thinking, I leaned into him, and he brushed his lips along my neck. My emotions exploded and fire burned in my chest. I gripped his arms, holding him against me, trying to keep my reactions in check. “We will find a way forward,” he murmured, his breath against my skin. “And if we discover there is no way, then we will forge a new one. Together.” Together. An impossible word. Impossible, yet I wanted it more than anything. Here, so close to him, I was burning. I was drowning. Not able to resist any longer, I turned and kissed him, and the flame in my chest responded, exploding through my veins. My fingers curled into his shirt as his hands wound through my hair. I let myself float in it for a moment—a pure, blissful moment—before I gently stepped away. I moved out of his arms—to a place where I was cold. To where I was empty. His eyes were like an animal’s, wild and electric, and we watched each other as we silently reined ourselves in. The loss of him settled like a pit in my stomach. “There is no, ‘together,’ Tiamat. Not for us.” His lips parted, his face going blank from shock. “What?” “This is nothing new. We can’t even be near each other. It’s killing me!” “Kali,” he pleaded, grabbing for my arms. His nose had started bleeding, but he briskly swiped it away. Did he think I wouldn’t notice the blood? I backed up, yet he continued toward me, one step after another. “You’re wrong,” he said. “What you just said is entirely new! Proximity is difficult for us, I know. And yes, we have to be careful.” I climbed up on a mound of earth and debris we had cleared from the field, trying to put some space between us. Seeing it, he stopped his advance, his hands dropping to his sides. “But … we are meant to be together,” he continued. “Can you not feel it? Kali! Tell me you don’t feel that.” “I feel it,” I whispered. “And it’s too much.” “Don’t say that.” “I have to say it!” I blurted. “I can’t do this anymore, Tiamat,” I said, gesturing at the space between us. “I want to get close to you… I need to. Something inside me feels wired that way. And it isn’t fair.” His eyes were wide, swimming with a look of disbelief. And loss. I ripped my gaze away, fixing my stare on the dirt by my foot. “Have we been reduced to this?” he asked. “Where you won’t even look at me? Where our love has become pain?” “You’re wrong,” I said. “Our love isn’t just pain. It’s death.” “Then I choose death.” His voice was a growl. “I have said it before. It is mine to choose.” “No!” I shouted, snapping my eyes to his face. “I won’t argue about this anymore. It’s the same thing, around and around and around!” I felt my eyes burning and beginning to fill. I blinked, trying to keep the tears at bay. “Every second we’re close, I can feel your Shadow slowly killing you.” My voice softened as I took in his stricken expression. “Tiamat … How can I be okay with that? How can I allow myself to be the cause of that?” “Kali… you have never been the cause. It’s the Shadow.” He scrubbed his hands over his face in agitation. “I can figure this out. Just … hang on a little longer.” 
Giveaway! --
Like A Hero
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play -- SNEAK PEEK: Dennis lay face down on the soccer field, while men in ski masks strolled among his prone classmates waving semi-automatic weapons at anyone who moved. He considered employing his martial arts skills, but being skinny and only passably good, such foolish courage would probably get him killed. He shook his hair from in front of his eyes with a slight jerking motion and focused on James and Linda, lying on the field off to the side with the rest of the parents. James had his head slightly raised and Dennis caught his eye. When a gun- man approached, James quickly returned his face to the grass. James wanted to intervene. That was obvious by the way he kept looking around for some kind of opening. But could he do anything without getting people killed? The masked men called themselves “anarchists” and were well armed. Despite lying prone for the past forty minutes, Dennis had managed to spot sentries pa- trolling the rooftops, apparently stationed there to prevent the cops outside from storming the school and making their way to the field. He’d also noted the types of weapons these guys carried and considered how best each could be disarmed if this was a comic book scenario. Except it wasn’t. He considered the anarchists’ claims. They said they were “anti-capitalism” and “anti-public-school indoctrination,” but then they demanded twenty million as ransom for not killing him and his classmates, which sounded pretty capitalistic to him. Raising his eyes once more, he noted a big, broad-shouldered dude wearing a black and blue ski mask, staring right at him while chatting with a burly guy holding an Uzi. Dennis averted his eyes and hoped he hadn’t called too much attention to himself. He’d overheard them earlier as they conversed by walkie-talkie. Masked guy was called “C-1” and burly guy “C-2” by the other anarchists, so he figured they ran the show. He glanced over at Jackson and Kenny lying a few feet away. His two best friends looked terrified. Jackson’s curly hair partially hid his brown eyes, but Kenny’s bright blue ones screamed pure fear. Dennis tried for an encouraging smile, but it was difficult with his cheek pressed against the grass. All his comic book scenarios started much like this one, except the hero al- ways knew what to do. As annoying as Robin could be, he’d know what to do even if Batman wasn’t around. Dennis’s mind raced with ideas. He knew James was packing—on duty or off, James always packed. But if he pulled his gun, kids would die. I wish I’d thought of something when these guys first showed up. Instead, he’d frozen with fear when the masked men flooded onto the field. And now with everything that had gone down since, Dennis trembled with the terrifying possibility that someone would die. Maybe him. Sadly, he wasn’t the hero of his dreams. He peered at the administration buildings. Long and single story, the two main wings spread the length of the field. His gaze traveled up and he squinted with confusion. The sentry who’d been on duty at the north end was gone. What the…? Dennis knew his weaponry from playing Call of Duty and other war games, and that guy had been patrolling with an Artic Warfare Super Magnum sniper rifle, likely a .338 Lapua Magnum, but Dennis was too far away to be sure of the model. Only now the guy was gone. With C-2 barely ten feet away, Dennis used caution to scan the south roof. That sentry was gone, too. SWAT maybe? He knew James’ mean-ass boss would have called in the big guns for something like this. But he was also sure those sentries had been up there no more than two minutes ago. Could it be Invictus? His heart thumped with hope. Vincent must know about this by now. Dennis pressed his face into the grass and pretended to look scared. Hell, he didn’t have to pretend. He was scared! 
GIVEAWAY! Hosted by:
Designed
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks -- SNEAK PEEK: “Warning. Collision alert. Warning.” The loud electronic voice reached me a second too late. I’d already stepped off the curb into the street and directly into the path of a delivery van. A flash of white and chrome filled my peripheral vision as the bumper made contact with my left hip, sending me to the pavement with a wince and a yelp. The good news was I wasn’t flattened by the thing. The nearly silent electric vehicles were programmed with collision avoidance tech that slowed them automatically in case of a sudden obstacle, which meant it hit me hard enough to knock me over but not hard enough to crush bones. The bad news was I could already hear the shouting of the obviously perturbed operator through the van’s closed windows. No doubt the accident had surprised him as much as it had me. He’d probably been relaxing in the back of the self-driving vehicle watching vids or reading when he’d felt the jolt and sudden stop. Now he was storming around to the front of it, spewing a stream of profanities. “What the hell are you doing?” the van operator demanded. “Didn’t you see me coming?” Before I could respond or get up on my own, a pair of strong hands slid beneath my arms. He picked me up off the ground and set me upright. I would have protested the invasion of my personal space, but it all happened too fast. Brushing off the seat of my uniform, I tested my footing, lifting and wiggling one foot then the other. The ache in my tailbone told me I would be sporting some very colorful bruises tomorrow, and my butt couldn’t have been any wetter if I’d cannonballed into a swimming pool. Lovely. “So are you okay? Say something.” Anger still emanated off the guy in waves, but his deep voice now held a note of concern. What could I say? I felt like an idiot. “Of course I saw you. I just thought getting run down would be a good way to score some tech augmentation in my lower limbs.” I finally glanced up at the man– who hadn’t responded and was not laughing at my joke. My hair was in my eyes, disheveled from my fall. I pushed it from my face, and the sight in front of me nearly knocked me backward again. Technically, I supposed he was a man, but he was younger than I’d expected, close to my age. He was big. And angry. His dark brows were drawn together tightly. It wasn’t the forbidding expression that stunned me. It was his eyes. Their color was like nothing I’d ever seen before– a spellbinding combination of blue and green so beautiful, so piercing, it almost defied reality. I was so mesmerized it took me a second to realize he was staring at me, too. He’d been in the middle of a question. “So then you’re not hur–” but he’d broken off mid-word. After a long pause during which he continued to stare at me like he’d never seen a girl before, he spoke again. “Your eyes. They’re brown.” “Yeah…” I dragged the word out into a question. “… last time I checked.” Something about his troubled expression struck a cord of recognition. I glanced from his incredible eyes to the shock of dark hair above them and down to the breadth of his shoulders then the rest of his tall, big boned frame and then at the name badge on the front left pocket of his company uniform. Heath. “Have we met before?” The guy blinked rapidly and back-stepped toward the delivery van, his head moving in a tight, rapid shake. “No, I don’t think so. You’re okay? You’re not hurt?” He paused for my answer, but his back and shoulders were plastered against the front of the van like I was dipped in flu virus and he hadn’t had a vaccination in years. The instant I said, “I’m fine,” the guy turned and climbed into the van. Within seconds it was whispering away down the road, the unmistakable Gideon Corp logo on its back doors shrinking then disappearing as the vehicle rounded the corner. Oookay. It was obvious why he was a delivery man for the world’s largest biotech company and not employed in some capacity where he might have been required to interact with actual humans on a regular basis. Totally awkward. But cute.
GIVEAWAY! Hosted by: Attention all fans of Kimberly Vale's Kingdom of Bones: the wait is almost over and the highly anticipated sequel to the unforgettable adventure Kimberly took us on in Crossbones is about to hit the stores!  From the blurb: Kimberly Vale’s swashbuckling pirates return for another high seas, high stakes adventure where Csilla and the Bones crew must battle more otherworldly creatures seeping in from Limbo, and threatening to swallow them whole. The Dark Tides are rising . . . When love is an anchor, the sea can swallow you whole. Csilla Abado has a full plate after becoming the first Queen of Bones. While leading Cerulia, she needs to find a way to mend the lingering crack between Limbo and the mortal realm. And when Lorelai and Nara go missing, the crew takes to the seas once more to try and find them . . . facing the worst of the villains and even more otherworldly creatures spilling in from the crack. Kane Blackwater, desperate to find Dominic Rove, washes up at Death’s Cove where he comes face-to-face with creatures who have no place in this world. When he’s wounded, his magic-laced injury seeps throughout his body, spreading an unknown evil into his veins. His time is running out and he must decide what's more important to him: Lorelai’s life or his own. Lorelei Storm isn't the same since her return from the realm of Limbo. A menacing and powerful magic rests under her skin, and she fears it as much as she craves its potential. When she flees Cerulia, she’s captured and taken prisoner by an Incendian Scout, and learning to control her powerful new magic may be the only chance she has at saving her own life. As the war between gods and mortals builds to a crescendo, Csilla, Kane, and Lorelei must not only protect their world from destruction, but also their hearts from looming devastation. The seas darken and not everyone will survive the rising tides.
If you still haven't discovered this spellbinding series, here are some links: Crossbones Goodreads / Crossbones Amazon / Crossbones B&N Dark Tides Goodreads / Dark Tides Amazon Pre-order/ Dark Tides B&N Pre-order
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