Bitterbound

A PROMISE SEALED IN FLESH AND BLOOD

Kin Jole is an indentured assassin, forced to serve those who ripped her soul from her body and stripped her of her conscience. When Kin is ordered to kill Verias Hartwell, a beaten-down sorcerer unwillingly bound to a war machine, she sees his power as an opportunity to do the one thing that will set her free-reclaim and destroy her own soul.

Kin offers Verias a trade. She'll spare his life in exchange for his help stealing her soul.

To retrieve it, Verias must join the very guild of sorcerers that turned Kin into a killer. With the fate of her soul in his hands, Kin must now protect Verias from enemies new and old, including a former friend with a bitter grudge.

But the closer Verias gets to Kin's soul, the closer he gets to her darkest secrets. And if the enemies closing in on all sides don't destroy them, those secrets just might.

"Loved the slow burn of the building relationship and the sense of Kin and Verias slowly growing to depend on and trust one another. The worldbuilding is fascinating, especially the different types of magic, and the implications of being fleshbound are well thought out and underlie the whole story. The portrayal of OCD is thoughtful and it's so good to see that in fiction." -- Juliet Kemp, author of The City Revealed

"Indulgent, romantic adventure fantasy that does not shy away from the grotesqueries of love beyond death, BITTERBOUND explores what it means to truly trust someone else--with your soul." -- M. Daniel McDowell, author of Bringer of the Scourge