Blind Speed Dating #13 (YA)

Title: A SEA OF HOLLOW HEARTS

Genre: Upper YA Epic Fantasy

Word Count: 88,000

Query:

On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Kaia Threed was supposed to sacrifice herself to the sea. Her death would ensure the strength of the Firewall, the last barrier protecting what remains of the Lone Empire. Instead, she abandons ship and finds herself marooned on an isle with a pirate and a curse.

The notorious, serpent-hunting pirate Alek Stryder hoped to find freedom when he was forced to walk the plank. But after being bound to Kaia with a curse, the two are given only one way to be free: Find five ancient relics before the next solar eclipse, or the Basilisk—the legendary king of the sea who cursed them—will turn them to stone. The last thing Alek wants is to fight for his freedom yet again, especially against the very monster that almost killed his brother.

But as they sail across the Bitter Seas and fight their way through treacherous temples guarded by beautifully terrifying monsters, Kaia and Alek begin to realize there is more to who they are than the fates life has given them. With secrets turning deadly and a man bent on revenge after them, time is running out…and their curse is beginning to take hold. 

Pirates of the Caribbean, Supernatural, and Indiana Jones collide in A SEA OF HOLLOW HEARTS, which will appeal to fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J. Maas, and Rae Carson.

First 250:

It took eight hundred and thirty-nine steps to wander the circumference of the isle, and Alek thought he knew every one of them. He’d paced around it yesterday after washing ashore with saltwater in his ears and brine on his tongue. He’d etched carvings into palm trees with bird nests or coconuts to keep track of food. The single pond of fresh water would probably last him two weeks. Three if he rationed what he drank.

And now there was a girl.

He stood with his hands on his hips a distance from her collapsed figure. The shadows of several palm trees reached for her across the sand. The rise and fall of her stomach was steady enough he knew he didn’t need to try to revive her.

Alek shaded his eyes and scanned the empty ocean. There was no way he could have missed a ship. No storms had passed, so it was unlikely she’d been shipwrecked. Maybe she’d been marooned, just like him. The balmy breeze rushed at his face, carrying the scent of gunpowder. He dismissed the thought as wishful thinking. He only missed the blazing stench.

The girl moaned, drawing his eyes back to her. He trudged her way but stopped when his shadow touched the fingers of her outstretched arm. The brand on the inside of her right wrist was familiar. This wasn’t the first time he had seen the triangles, one inside the other, but for the moment its source escaped him.