Cover Reveal: Political Capital

You may remember the story of how the Political Gain cover came to be. You can read the full story here, or, to recap: 

• I didn’t want an illustrated cover – the story is too gritty for that. 
• No bright colors – can you imagine Political Gain with a cheerful yellow or pink cover? 
• It needed to reflect the grit and underbelly of the story. 
• It needed to be something that could be easily replicated across five books in a way that showed each book is a part of the same series. 

The Political Gain cover came to me easily enough. The Political Capital cover? I was fighting with it right up until this week. I couldn’t find the photo for the cover. I wanted something “New York,” but gritty, something that reflected how this book shifts to a darker space as secrets threaten to unravel. I must have looked at 500 photos of New York over the last few months, but none of them were quite right. 

Except… one of the first ones I came across. 

I went into the cover design phase thinking “darker.” Political Capital gets darker, and I wanted the cover to reflect that. The photo I kept coming back to had splashes of pink and orange as the sun set over the city. Despite how much I loved it, especially seeing it mocked up, I kept thinking “it’s not dark enough, though.” 

Then, one day, it clicked. 

Political Capital does get darker, but there is also an undercurrent of hope – hope for what could be tomorrow, when a new day dawns. That’s what this photo – this cover – reflects: the sun setting on life as Lyla, Kage, and their friends know it and the dawn of a new day. 

And so, I used this beautiful shot of New York at sunset by Matteo Catanese, the third photo I reviewed way back when. I can’t truly explain it, but it fits Lyla and Kage’s journey in this book. It fits the love they share, the darkness they navigate, and the hope, however faint, they cling to. 

Without further ado, allow me to share the cover of Political Capital. 

Lyla Adler has spent her life surrounded by power.

Now she’s beginning to understand what people will do to keep it.

Determined to uncover the truth behind her father’s death, Lyla follows a trail of secrets that leads deeper into a world of influence, corruption, and carefully constructed lies. The deeper she digs, the more dangerous her search becomes.

For Kage Kensington, falling in love with Lyla was never part of the plan. As their relationship deepens, so do the secrets between them. Kage knows there are truths he can’t afford to reveal, truths that could destroy the trust they’ve built and put Lyla directly in the crosshairs of people far more dangerous than she realizes. But the closer Lyla gets to answers, the harder it becomes for Kage to separate the woman he loves from the secrets he has no choice but to keep.

With enemies closing in, loyalties tested, and secrets threatening to surface, Lyla and Kage find themselves caught in a deadly game where power is currency, trust is fragile, and love may be the one thing they can’t survive.

*Paperback will be available via Amazon and anywhere books are sold on June 25th!