Shadow Bound: first peek.

I'm working on copy edits for Shadow Bound today, so this seems like a good time for the official announcement...



I think this cover's kind of perfect. I love the gritty urban background and the colors. The shadowy smoke is both moody and relevant. I like that Kori and Ian are touching, but upright and fully clothed. I like that they're face-to-face and on even footing (I worked really hard to make sure that they both got equal facetime in the book). And I have to say, the models are perfect.

So, what's it about? Here's the back cover synopsis:

If you live in the dark long enough, you begin to forget the light…

KORI DANIELS is a shadow-walker, able to travel instantly from one shadow to another. After weeks of confinement for betraying her boss, she's ready to break free of the Tower syndicate for good. But Jake Tower has one final job for Kori, one chance to secure freedom for herself and her sister, Kenley, even if that means taking it from someone else…

The job? Recruit Ian Holt—or kill him.

Ian's ability to manipulate the dark has drawn interest from every syndicate in the world, most notably an invitation from Jake Tower. Though he has no interest in organized crime, Ian accepts the invite, because he's on a mission of his own. Ian has come to kill Tower's top Binder: Kori's little sister.

Amid the tangle of lies, an unexpected thread of truth connecting Ian and Kori comes to light. But with opposing goals, they'll have to choose between love and liberty….

If you've read Blood Bound, you no doubt remember Kori, who narrates half of Shadow Bound. And yes, this time the chapters are labeled by narrator.

Kori:

The dark and I used to be friends. No, lovers. When I was alone, I walked around naked just to feel it on my skin, cool and calm, and more intimate than any hand that had ever touched me. The dark was alive, and it was seductive. We used to slide in and out of one another, the shadows and I, always touching, caressing. Sometimes I couldn't tell where the dark ended and I began, and at some point I'd decided that division didn't really exist. I was the dark, and the dark was me.

But the darkness in the basement was different. It was false. Broken. Weakened by infrared lights I couldn't see, but I could feel blazing down on me. Caging me. Draining me. The shadows were dead, and touching them was like touching the stiff limbs of a lover's corpse.

Ian is a new character, and like everyone else in the Unbound world, he has secrets. He also has a decent sense of humor and a dangerous job to do.

Ian:

"Have I told you you're an idiot?" Aaron asked, staring through the windshield at the tall iron gate and the even taller house behind it. If such a monstrosity could even be called a house. It was more like a modern fortress.

"About twenty times since my plane landed." I flipped down the driver's side sunshade and checked my tie in the mirror.

"Has it sunk in yet?"

I glanced at him in the thick shadows of the car's interior, lit only by the green numbers scrolling across the radio's display in the dashboard. "Your puny verbal barbs are no match for my thick skull."

"You do have a freakishly thick skull," Aaron said, flipping through the stations on my rental car's radio. "But that won't stop a bullet. They may look civilized in tuxedos and sequins, but they're really monsters in men's clothing, every single one of them. They're going to eat you alive in there, Ian."

"Then may they choke on my corpse."

Shadow Bound is currently scheduled for a June 1 release, but because that's more than seven months away, there are no pre-order links available yet. So I may repost this entire entry in a couple of months, when those links go up. But you can add Shadow Bound on Goodreads. ;)