What a great start to a new blog - I'm still amazed at the positive response to
last week's post! It's all down to the fantastic job the authors and their publishers are doing of promoting their books, so well done. I'm just thrilled to be along for the ride and invited to the party. Reading up on each of the authors in their release week is incredibly exciting, and now I wouldn't miss it.
Thank you to everyone who retweeted and reblogged and made a fuss - it's a absolute pleasure to promote you all.
YOU PUBLISHED HOW MANY?
That's right, guess how many Kindle eBooks are published on Amazon UK in the 'Romance' category in just 30 days? I was stunned. 4,321?! Look!
Thankfully I only have to dig through the past week's worth (still, that's got to be over 1,000 covers to get through!), but that's a whole lotta love. Out of these I've selected my favourites, as well as my Pick of the Week. As I've mentioned before, I'm now rating my 'POTW' out of a possible score of
5 (check out the
Review Criteria page to read more).
But first...
AND THE MOST INEXPLICABLE BOOK TITLE AWARD GOES TO...
I'm rather upset, actually, as this title has since been taken off of Amazon (by the author, I assume), and I couldn't get a nice big version of the cover (apologies for the pixelation), or link to it. You'll have to take my word for it, but the title is, 5 Toads & Along Came a Viking. I love it. I want to read it. Shadowstorm! Put it back up on Amazon!
THE MOST PUZZLING COVER IMAGE AWARD GOES TO...
There are no words. Are there?
Maybe...
"Ow...!"
"Uhhh..."
"Ahhhh...."
Okay, here are some of my favourites from the past week of Romance covers...
DARK & DRAMATIC
I love a dark, moody romance, and these covers promise mystery and some rather dangerous (and erotic...oh my!) undercurrents...
Title: The Lady's Tutor
Author: Robin Schone
Publisher: Kensington Books
Cover Artist: Unknown
Genre: Historical Romance
What's to Love: Simple, but perfectly balanced composition. Dark, sharp detail against brighter softness.Great text placement.
I have to say I like this version of the cover rather significantly more than ANY of the historical versions of the same book! Talk about cover-art-evolution...
Title: The Pleasures of Summer
Author: Evie Hunter (pseudonym for joint-authors Eileen Gormley & Caroline McCall)
Publisher: Penguin
Cover Artist: Unknown
Genre: Erotic Romance
What's to Love: Keeping it simple leaves more room for intriguing 'log lines'. Screams 'dark' and 'erotic'.
Title: Soul Stripper
Author: Katana Collins
Publisher: Kensington Books
Cover Artist: Unknown (please let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Paranormal Erotic Romance
What's to Love: Edgy font, atmospheric background, and a woman that OWNS that cover. Attitude +.
BRIGHT & BOLD
It's that dreaming-of-the-beach time of year, where summer feels just around the corner. Perfect time to have those juicy-candy-bright colours splashed all over the front of what you're reading...
Title: One Pink Line
Author: Dina Silver
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Cover Artist: Unknown (please let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
What's to Love: It's. Just. So. Pink. Strong, feminine and memorable. Reviews always mention THE COVER.
Title: A Hundred Summers
Author: Beatriz Williams
Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)
Cover Artist: Unknown
Genre: Historical Romance
What's to Love: Gorgeous Art-Deco font, lovely little corner details, and an image that says SUMMER.
SOFT & PRETTY
These covers prove that you don't necessarily need to make big, bold statements to catch a reader's eye. You can capture a moment, an emotion, vulnerability. It's all good.
Title: Blood's Gem
Author: Gloria Conway
Publisher: Gloria Conway
Cover Artist: Consuelo Parra
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
What's to Love: A little window into a different world. A single, poised, intimate moment.
Title: The Edge of Darkness
Author: Melissa Andrea
Publisher: India Girl Ink
Cover Artist: Sarah Hansen -
Okay Creations
Genre: Contemporary Romance
What's to Love: (How is it that I always pick a cover and THEN find out it's a Sarah Hansen special? Yes, I am now officially becoming creepy and stalkerish.)
That hair. That text. Simplicity in colour palette, great texture and contrast. Balanced, and all ties together.
Title: The Language of Spells
Author: Sarah Painter
Publisher: Carina UK
Cover Artist: Unknown (let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
What's to Love: Pretty and dream-like. Colours that remind you of lying too long in the sun and the world turning that funny shade of faded bluey-green.
PICK OF THE WEEK
Title: Rose
Author: Kirsten Osbourne
Publisher: Unlimited Dreams Publishing
Cover Artist: Phatpuppy Art
Genre: Historical Romance
SCORES OUT OF 5
Thumbnail-ability: 4
Font & Text: 3.5
Genre-fit: 4
Overall Composition: 4.5
Overall Concept: 4
OVERALL SCORE:
4
This is one of those covers where the longer you look, the more you see. You wonder at first why your eye is drawn back to it again and again. I mean, it's just a posh chick in dress...isn't it?
For me, this cover is a masterclass in the subtleties you can achieve with digital art. I love the mixture of elements - the photographic quality of the model contrasted with the mythical symbolic style of the rose she's holding. She's surrounded by trees, but there, just on the right, we get a glimmer of a stately house and a curving drive. The hazy effect focuses us in on her face and her expression and at the same time, has us feeling the muggy heat of a summer's day. We have depth. We have atmosphere.
The font choices are simple, yet effective. I had difficulty deciding how to rate the text - there isn't very much of it, which can make it less of a challenge to format. But on the other hand, something done well can just make it LOOK easy. It took some wracking of my brain, but between the image and the flowing centred title text, I finally realised what was tugging at my subconscious. The concentration and style of text is very like that of books that were well-loved on my bookshelf growing up:
Anne of Green Gables. GENIUS.
I could go on for a whole lot longer, but let's just say this: I love the graduation of colour and contrast from bottom to top. I love the subtle light haze behind the title. I also believe this cover is an open door a reader can walk through, right into the first page of the story.
Okay - I'm done now!
What do you think?
Oh - before I go. My DEEP apologies for neglecting the INCREDIBLY important...
♥ ABS OF THE WEEK AWARD! ♥
Usually I add this as a bit of a laugh. I'm not really one to be attracted to wall-to-wall photoshopped washboard abs on a book cover (not sure why that is - I should probably get myself checked out). But this cover...? Phwah. Is it hot in here, or is it just me? *fans self*
Title: Falling for a Bentley
Author: Adriana Law
Publisher: Amazon/Self-Published
Cover Artist: Unknown (Wish I knew...then maybe we could find out who the model is... @_@ )
Genre: Contemporary Romance
What's to Love: You'd have to be blind to not know. Do I have to spell it out for you?
Thanks for joining me for this week's romance cover romp - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! See you next time...
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