K.T. Vale K.T. Vale
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The Colonel’s Shadow: A Protector Romance

by K.T. Vale

One shot is all she needs. One touch is more than she can handle.

Gunnery Sergeant Elena Vance, the legendary 'Phantom of Helmand,' has spent a decade observing the world through a sniper’s scope. She is the Marine Corps' most lethal asset—cold, precise, and profoundly alone. She doesn't need a family; she needs a target.

Colonel Julianna Sterling is the architect of her own destiny. The daughter of a four-star General, she’s climbed the ranks through strategic brilliance and an iron adherence to protocol. She has built a fortress around her heart to survive in a man’s world, leaving no room for mistakes or desire.

When Elena is assigned as Julianna’s personal security detail, the desert heat of FOB Bastion is nothing compared to the friction between them. Forced into close quarters, the rigid lines of rank and protocol begin to blur. Elena sees the woman behind the uniform, and Julianna finds herself drawn to the lethal stillness of the woman sworn to protect her.

As their clandestine affair ignites, the stakes reach far beyond the battlefield. In a world defined by a chain of command, falling for each other is the ultimate act of mutiny. When their secret threatens to dismantle two legendary careers, will they retreat to the safety of the shadows, or will they fight for the only thing worth more than their medals?

The Colonel’s Shadow is a high-heat military romance featuring forced proximity, a protector hero, and a workplace attraction that breaks every rule in the book.

More books by K.T. Vale

Steel and Silk: The Price of Protection

To the world, Elena Vance is the volatile, 'wild-child' heiress to a global tech empire. But behind the sheer silks and provocative headlines lies a brilliant coder hiding a profound loneliness—and a secret project that could dismantle her father’s legacy. When a lethal kidnapping threat emerges, she’s assigned a new shadow: Jade Sterling.

Jade is the physical manifestation of discipline—a former Special Forces commando who lives by rigid routines to mask a devastating past failure. She’s a wall of steel, hired to protect a woman she views as a reckless socialite. But as they’re forced into the high-stakes proximity of the Obsidian Safehouse, the masks begin to slip.

Elena realizes that Jade is the only person who truly sees the woman behind the wealth. At the same time, Jade finds her 'wall of steel' crumbling against the irresistible force of Elena’s vulnerability. From the sterile luxury of Vance Tower to a high-tech vault buried beneath a mountain lake, their professional boundaries shatter into a scorched-earth passion.

In a world where everyone has a price, can a bodyguard who lost everything and an heiress who has it all find a way to protect each other? Or will the secrets they’re guarding be the very thing that destroys them both?

Sighting the Heart: A Sniper, a Doctor, and the Risk of a Lifetime

She has the world’s most dangerous profession and a heart she’s kept under lock and key.

The Colonel is a legend—the most lethal Marine sniper in the world. Raised on the stories of her military ancestors, she lives for the mission, the discipline, and the silence of the ghillie suit. But behind the sharp eyes and the high-ranking uniform is a woman who has spent her life hiding who she is, navigating the treacherous waters of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'

Enter the Doctor. Brilliant, persistent, and warm, the new medical officer is everything the Colonel is not. While the Colonel is used to watching through a scope, the Doctor looks right at her, seeing the woman behind the medals.

What starts as a professional necessity becomes a slow-burn attraction that threatens the legacy the Colonel has sacrificed everything to build. In an era where one wrong look can end a career, the stakes couldn't be higher. As an investigator begins to dig into their past, the Colonel must decide: Is she willing to risk the only life she’s ever known for the only person who truly sees her?

Sighting the Heart is a high-heat, slow-burn Sapphic military romance filled with forbidden longing and the courage to find love in the crosshairs. Can they survive the military’s rigid protocols, or will their connection be their downfall?

The Cabin at Crystal Clear Lake: A Small Town Lesbian Romance

She climbed the corporate ladder until there was nowhere left to go—except out.

After a grueling career as a CEO and a divorce that left her soul empty, she’s trading boardrooms for pine needles and city lights for the stars over Crystal Clear Lake. Inheriting her great-aunt’s cabin was supposed to be a solitary retreat, a chance to finally learn the meaning of self-sufficiency. But the silence of the woods is broken by a woman who makes her heart race faster than a closing bell.

Enter the gorgeous local caretaker who has been the cabin's heartbeat long before the new owner arrived. She is everything the former executive isn't: grounded, connected to the land, and fiercely independent. As they work together to restore the old property, the sparks between them ignite a slow burn that neither can ignore.

But when a hidden tin box beneath the floorboards reveals secrets about her family’s past, she must confront a difficult question: Is she just visiting this life, or is she brave enough to stay?

In this high-heat, small-town romance, K.T. Vale explores the beauty of mid-life reinvention and the healing power of a fresh start. Will the city woman find her way home, or will the ghosts of her past drive her back to the life she tried to leave behind?

Secrets Under the Sun

Stephanie 'Steph' Vale has spent fifteen years as a ghost, hidden from the world by her father’s suffocating billionaire empire. She yearns for one thing: the truth behind the polished glass and the freedom to live on her own terms. Shedding her name for the alias 'Stella,' she escapes to a luxury tropical resort to finally see the world she’s inherited—only to realize how ill-equipped she is for the heat of the real world.

Jo Alvarez built her career from nothing and has one ironclad rule: never trust the elite guests who think they own the sand under their feet. As the resort manager, she runs her island with precision and a guarded heart. When the mysterious Stella arrives, Jo sees a woman who expects the room to adjust to her, yet possesses a vulnerability that Jo can’t ignore.

Under the shimmering sun, a slow-burn attraction ignites between the undercover heiress and the self-made manager. But their connection is built on a foundation of deception. As Steph falls deeper for the woman who represents everything her father’s world is not, the stakes grow perilous. If the truth of her identity comes out, the trust they’ve built will be shattered. Can a love born of secrets survive the light of day?

Secrets Under the Sun is a high-tension, 4/5 heat Sapphic romance featuring hidden identities, class friction, and the ultimate search for self-discovery.

The Major’s Resistance: A Forbidden Military Romance

Major Jackie Reed sees the world as a series of tactical threats and exit strategies. As a black-ops officer, her heart is a fortress—compartmentalized, disciplined, and strictly off-limits. But when she’s assigned to oversee a front on the sprawling Thorne Ranch, she encounters a variable she didn't account for: Olivia Thorne.

Olivia is more than just a civilian complying with a military takeover. She is a woman of the earth, soulful and grounded, protecting a legacy that goes deeper than the soil. While she plays the part of the cooperative hostess, she is secretly the heart of a dangerous rebellion. Her mission? To disarm the Major using the ranch’s beauty—and her own magnetic presence.

As the clinical isolation of Jackie’s military world collides with the sensual, sun-kissed heat of Olivia’s ranch, the friction sparks a forbidden fire. Jackie has never learned how to exist without a chain of command, but Olivia’s touch promises a freedom she never dared to crave.

With a high-ranking Colonel closing in and secrets buried deep beneath the ranch’s surface, Jackie must make a choice: uphold the duty she’s bled for, or commit treason for the woman she can’t live without. In a world of black-ops and hidden agendas, love is the most dangerous subversion of all.

Will the Major follow her orders, or will she join the resistance?

The West Protocol: A Forbidden Medical Romance

To the world, Ava West is the ice queen of Metropolis General--a high-powered COO who maneuvers through hospital politics with the same surgical precision as the men in her family. She's built a life of Italian silk suits and corporate optics, masking a soul weary of being treated like a transactional asset. She doesn't have room for earnestness, and she certainly doesn't have room for Isabelle.

Isabelle is a dedicated oncology resident with a bright future and a dangerous connection: she's the protégée of Ava's own brother. When their paths collide, the professional distance Ava has spent years perfecting begins to crumble. Isabelle's warmth is intoxicating, a direct threat to the clinical coldness of the West family legacy.

Falling for the resident is more than a scandal--it's professional suicide. As secrets leak from the boardroom to the bedroom, Ava must decide if she will remain a variable in a profit margin or finally become the woman she was meant to be. But in a world where efficiency is king, can love survive the protocol?

Featuring a sizzling 4/5 heat level, this slow-burn, best friends' sibling romance is perfect for fans of forbidden medical drama and high-stakes emotional journeys.

The Blue Ledger A Story of Ambition, Surgery, and Secret Desire

Dr. Simone Thorne is a glacial force of nature--a surgical genius who has built a fortress around her heart to protect a painful past. In the sterile, glass-and-steel corridors of Metropolis General, she is the undisputed queen of the operating room. Until Kaia Rossi arrives.

Kaia is everything Simone is not: rebellious, charismatic, and dangerously unorthodox. A rural intern with a 'Blue Ledger' full of secrets and a habit of challenging the hospital's elitist hierarchy, she's a virus in Simone's perfectly clean room. Simone is supposed to be her mentor, not her downfall. But as they are forced into close quarters, the cold professional distance between them begins to thaw into a scorching, undeniable heat.

From the private scrub rooms to the rainy streets of London, their forbidden connection violates every hospital regulation and threatens to dismantle both their careers. Simone has spent years hiding her trauma, but Kaia's touch is a catalyst she can't control. As the pressure of a malpractice suit and hospital politics closes in, they must decide: is the surgical precision of their lives worth more than the messy, beautiful desire that's rewritten their futures?

Can a surgical tower built on secrets survive the truth of a heart that refuses to be silenced?

A Delicate Operation

One mistake cost Claire Fontaine her career. Now, the high-profile neurosurgeon has been exiled to the remote Silver Pine Clinic, a place where 'high-tech' means a working generator and the nearest MRI is a mountain range away. She's here to hide, not to feel. But the Blackwood Range has other plans, and they come in the form of Sarah Miller.

Sarah is a rugged rescue medic who knows every treacherous inch of the pass. She has zero patience for city-bred egos and even less for a surgeon who looks like she belongs on a billboard. Sarah's life is built on grit and pine-scented solitude, protecting a community that is the only family she has left. She doesn't need a cold, guarded doctor disrupting her peace.

But as the first winter storm rolls in, the friction between Claire's calculated precision and Sarah's raw intuition sparks a desperate, steaming passion neither can escape. In the shadowed corners of the Eagle's Nest cabin, Claire's lonely heart begins to thaw, and Sarah's fierce independence is challenged by a yearning she's long suppressed.

When a life-and-death rescue forces them to work as one, they must decide: Is this a temporary detour, or is the most delicate operation the one involving their hearts?

A standalone Medical Romance featuring a steamy 4/5 heat level, the 'opposites attract' trope, and a rugged mountain setting.

Salvaged Hearts: A Rescue Romance

Lennox Miller lives for the pull of the cold Atlantic and the adrenaline of the save. A former Olympic swimmer turned elite Coast Guard rescue diver, she has no time for the idle rich who treat the ocean like a playground. But when a rogue wave destroys a multi-million dollar yacht, Len pulls a woman from the wreckage who challenges every prejudice she's ever held.

Celeste Vane is the heir to a fortune that feels more like a mausoleum. After the disaster, she wakes up in a driftwood cabin with no memory of her name--and a desperate need to stay in the arms of the woman who saved her. For the first time in her life, Celeste is seen for who she is, not the empire she represents.

As the heat between them burns through the coastal chill, Celeste's memory begins to return, bringing with it the crushing weight of the Vane legacy. She must maintain her humble facade to keep the only person who has ever truly known her. But Lennox's disdain for the upper class runs deep, and a secret identity is a dangerous thing to hold when your heart is already on the line.

Can a love built on the ruins of a disaster survive the truth of the Gilded Cage? Or will the secrets they've salvaged pull them both under?

The Archivist of Harbor Glen: Finding the Truth in a Town That Remembers

Taryn Wilder gave up everything for her reputation in the archival world--until a public scandal left her with nothing but a professional disgrace and a mysterious inheritance. When she arrives in the rustic trail town of Harbor Glen to claim 'Shelves of Us,' a bookstore-café left to her by a stranger, she expects a quiet place to hide. Instead, she finds a community that treats her like an intruder and a bookstore manager who wants her gone.

Rae Whitaker has spent years protecting the sanctuary of Harbor Glen. She knows every trailhead, every local regular, and exactly why Taryn's past makes her a danger to the shop's future. But when a polished developer arrives with plans to strip the town's character for profit, the archivist and the outdoorswoman are forced into an uneasy alliance.

To save the shop, Taryn must dive into the journals of the store's queer founder, uncovering a hidden history of maps and letters that could change everything. But as the forced proximity turns the cold friction between Taryn and Rae into a slow-burning heat, they both realize they are risking more than just a building. In a town that remembers every mistake, can two guarded women find the vulnerability required to save their sanctuary--and each other?

Featuring a high-heat enemies-to-lovers romance, found family, and the lush atmosphere of a mountain trail town, The Archivist of Harbor Glen is a sapphic story about finding where you belong when the world has cast you out.

The Compass and the Crown: A Modern Royal Romance

Princess Fallon is a bird in a gilded cage, her life a series of diplomatic galas and rigid traditions enforced by her father, King Alaric. She has always known her duty: to be the vessel for the throne, stoic and selfless. But then she meets Rowan Logan, an adventurous photographer with wanderlust in her veins and a Leica that sees the raw truth behind the royal mask.

From the rain-slicked streets of Paris to the lush sanctuaries of Bali, Fallon and Rowan indulge in a secret, international affair that challenges everything they thought they knew about freedom. For Rowan, autonomy has always meant running--until she finds the one person who makes her want to stay. For Fallon, love isn't just a distraction; it's the catalyst for a revolution.

Bound by the crown but fueled by a yearning that spans continents, Fallon faces an impossible choice. Tradition demands she abdicate for love, but Fallon is tired of hiding. She's ready to risk the throne not by walking away, but by fighting to rule as her true, authentic self.

Can a modern princess change an ancient monarchy, or will the weight of the crown crush her only chance at soulmate love?

THE COMPASS AND THE CROWN is a high-heat, LGBTQ+ royal romance featuring the 'soulmates' and 'vacation romance' tropes. Perfect for readers who crave emotional depth, pining, and a heroine who chooses to lead with her whole heart.

The Orchard of Mirror Bones: A Bellweather Orchard Mystery

The dead don't lie, but the living are masters of deception.

Eden Shaw, a reclusive forensic artist, has built a career on the belief that bones tell the only truth left in the world. When she is summoned to the decaying Bellweather Orchard to identify a skeleton unearthed from the roots of an ancient tree, she expects a routine reconstruction. What she finds is a nightmare: the skull she is reconstructing looks exactly like the woman standing right in front of her.

Maren Bell is the elegant, guarded scion of a family haunted by whispers of a generational curse. With sharp cheekbones and a secret behind every glance, Maren is as magnetic as she is dangerous. As Eden works to pull a face from the clay, the atmosphere in the estate grows suffocating. Forced together by a mystery that defies logic, the professional distance between the two women begins to erode, replaced by a slow-burn attraction that is as chilling as the mist in the orchard.

But the Bell women have a history of repeating tragedies, and a shadow known only as the Prowler watches their every move from the dark. To break the curse, Eden must uncover the truth hidden in the marrow of the past. But in a house where the mirrors seem to hold the faces of the dead, she must ask herself: Is she falling for a victim, or the next killer in a long line of Bell tragedies?

If you love atmospheric lesbian gothic romance, psychological suspense, and the tension of a high-heat slow burn, step into the orchard--if you dare.