Kindle Romance Covers of the Week - January 15th, 2019

Happy New Year, Romance lovers!!

Nothing better to kick off January than some of the loveliest Contemporary Romance covers from the past few weeks. I've compiled some of my favorites, and I see some trends (in what I'm liking, at least).

The Purples

"The Magnolia Inn" - Carolyn Brown
"Seductive Temptation" - Anthology
"Once Ghosted, Twice Shy" - Alyssa Cole
"Wrong Bed, Right Roomate" - Rebecca Brooks

The Pinks

"The Kiss Theif" - L.J. Shen
"Sophie" - Kelsie Rae
"These Scars" - Amanda Heath
"Let Me Go" - Aliyah Burke

The Darks

"Matrimonio por contrado de Amor" - Sophie Rose
"Shadows of Truth" - Tanya Jean Russell
"Serendipity" - Moruena Estringana
"The Consequence of Falling" - Claire Contreras
"Wild Crows: 1. Addiction" - Blandine P. Martin

The Doppelgangers

The new release in this line-up is #3: "Come a Little Closer" by Chrissy Brown. And while the others do well with the same image, I'm loving the contrast and texture in "Come a Little Closer", and the title is the most readable of the four.

I am always fascinated with duplicate images in book covers. In a genre that has such high turn-over of books, it's somewhat unlikely your book will get mistaken for someone else's. But if you're going to pick a popular stock photo, make sure the designer knows how to make it fit the unique mood and feel of your book. Seeing these covers side-by-side is a great way to learn about what makes a good cover design that pops.

Until next time, happy reading!

Kindle Romance Covers of the Week - 30th December 2018

I've said this a few times before on this blog, I'm sure. But I do so judge a book by its cover. That might not be right. Or fair to the writing. Particularly if the author hasn't had total control over the final design of that cover (traditionally published) or struggles to find the resources to hire a great cover artist (self-published). 

But I am totally sucked in (or totally put off) a book by what it looks like. And I don't think I'm alone.

So I'm back doing what I did some years back which was to trawl through the latest releases on Amazon Kindle (they aren't paying me, I wish. I haven't even got affiliate links sorted out, folks) in the past 30 days and grabbing a few of my favorites, which you can see in composite (in no particular order) above. In this case, I filtered specifically on Contemporary Romance, as I'm doing my own tiny bit of market research.

The things that typically make me want to read the back cover copy:

• Font choice and use of font (see above, 'There Was This Boy')
• Color (see above, 'Love You', 'Lost and Found'
• Balance of text/image (see above, 'Romy and Juliet', 'Wall of Flowers')
• Novelty (have I seen this a million times before? See above, 'Dateless' - interesting camera angle)
• Tie between the image and title that isn't the usual generic clinch/abs that gives me a stronger sense of the contents (see above, 'Love Unleashed', First Time Player')

...among other things my subconscious is most certainly doing on my behalf that I have no clue about :)

Alice and Chris: Work-in-Progress Playlist

There's something about the right music that puts my brain just where it needs to be for the words to flow. Every story I write comes with its own musical exploration, searching for songs that capture the mood and emotions of my characters.

Sometimes it comes with surprises! One character, an intense and angsty guy, only seemed to want to come out on the page when I played Adele non-stop. Don't ask. I haven't a clue why.

Here are some of the songs that are helping fuel my current work-in-progress. Set in one of my favorite places, eclectic east Austin, it's all about living through deep loss, found-family, second-chance love, and some symbolism around fire. Enjoy!

Struggles of a Non-Visual Writer

I spent most of my life collecting images. I have boxes full of faded magazine clippings and expired calendars. I'd always been fascinated by color, shape and contrast. I even spent time as a studio-dwelling art major in university.

You can imagine my shock to learn that I'm not, in fact, a 'visual person'.

We have many senses - hearing, taste, smell, touch. Apparently, you can determine a person's predominant senses simply by the language they use. Just ask someone to describe their favorite holiday, and if you listen closely you'll begin to notice if they speak about it in terms of what they saw, what they heard, what they tasted, and so on. Key words relating to each of the senses will crop up every time.

Someone tried this exercise with me, and while I described the smell, and feel and sound of a village in the south of France, I used a surprisingly few number of visual cues. I know from photographs that the sky was blue, and the tree blossoms were pale pink and there were bright yellow dandelions everywhere, and an incredible natural waterfall in the middle of the town. But that's not what I talked about. I talked about birdsong, and the taste of the fresh goat's milk and the feel of the spring sunshine on my skin.

But how can an art major 'flunk' at being a visual person?!

Thinking back, I can see now that I never was able to draw anything straight out of my head. I always needed a model. It's the internal visual sense that I lack. And my continued attraction to external visual things is likely a way of compensating for my lack of 'inner eye'.

So what does this have to do with writing?

The writer is the eyes of the reader. The writer looks around that internal landscape and paints the reader a picture. That descriptive function is vital for building a sense of place, mood and context. So what happens if you're not all that hot on the visual stuff? How is your reader going to 'see' if you can't? Is all lost? Do I just quit now and go back to my scrapbooks?

Not necessarily.

Just because you're a non-visual writer, doesn't mean you'll be bad at description. Quite possibly the opposite, in fact.

Think of all the other senses you can activate in your writing! Instead of just relying on visual cues, you're giving your reader the tastes, smells, and sounds. When you do focus on what things look like, you will likely need to take your time and really force yourself to look around internally. All this makes the work richer and builds a deeper sense of setting and place

Like anything else, you can work on strengthening your visual sense. Visit locations and take photos and notes. What do you actually see if you look closely? Not what you think you see, but what is truly there.

Bonus!

Guess what? Not all readers are visual readers. Maybe they like to smell, taste, and touch their stories too! And if you're non-visual as a writer, your tendency to overcompensate and try harder to fill your descriptions with visual cues will thrill those less-visual readers too.

I should know. I'm one of them.



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Getting Serious.

Writing is a little like falling in love.

You meet writing for the first time. 

You dive in recklessly and with abandon, without any real aspiration other than just seeing if you CAN. Seeing if what's in your head looks good on paper in the first place. It's a heady feeling. You are the consummate artist, tapping frantically into your laptop in the back of a coffee shop, fueled by an irrepressible idea and too much caffeine.

But as with any love story, things don't go smoothly...

Conversation is always a little awkward on the first date. 

Where do those pesky quotation marks go anyway? Do you start a new line? Hit the tab key for dialogue? What do you say after or before or in the middle of the conversation other than...'he/she said'?! Why is this so complicated?

On the second date, you start getting a few niggling doubts. 

Do you really have a plot? How long is it going to take to get to THE SCENE that's been burning a hole in your mental pocket since you typed the first word? Can you even make it that far? And is it lying or laying? Really. That just doesn't look right.

Then...

A friend reveals your writing's true feelings for you. 

You finally pull together enough courage to actually SHOW your writing to someone, and they come back to you raving and saying that they LOVE IT and please WRITE MORE and I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE SO TALENTED. It is a revelation. The relationship takes a whole new serious tone. This isn't just playing around with a few ideas and paddling in the shallow end of the writing pool. Now you're considering getting serious with writing.

So, you take a bit leap and...

You bring your writing home to meet the parents (a.k.a. real reviewers). 

Oh. Not good. They really REALLY disapprove. A debrief reveals that out of an entire chapter, one partial sentence might truly show promise. Your writing has been tried and found wanting.

You consider breaking up with writing. It was obviously not meant to be. You turn to your good friends quilting and Facebook as a focus to get your mind off of the train wreck that is your relationship with writing. Quilting lets you tell sad stories over a glass of wine and doesn't judge you. You decide it's all over with writing.

But...

Writing just won't leave you alone. 

It keeps bugging you with new story ideas. New characters wandering around your head wanting to be let out. What has writing done to you? What horrific brainwashing has taken place?

So...

You confront writing, and agree that you want to go steady. 

You write not one story, but two. You're hitting 2000 words a day, despite your full time day-job. You buy Scrivener so you and writing can spend more quality time together. You start a blog to tell the world about the journey you and writing are on in your relationship. You start to tweet with other people who are also in love with writing, and laugh together about the foibles and struggles of being in love with writing.

Then...

Writing gets down on one knee and asks if you want to make this relationship...permanent.

And you panic.

You run away. Far away.

You are too busy. You have no time. Your laptop has a virus. Writing has so many other lovers, why would it need you? And how would you make a living, married to writing? Everyone knows there is no money in it.

You and writing 'take a break'. 

So, now what? The fence is a painful place, especially when you find yourself perched on it for nearly a year. You halfheartedly check twitter every few weeks. You occasionally pick up one of the twelve stories you started and never finished. You change a few words here or there. Change them back again. Watch 'Breaking Bad' from end-to-end. Eat a lot of ice cream.

*Siiiiiiiiiiigh*

You decide to go see writing. Just to say 'Hi.'

You look deep into writing's eyes (stay with me, no matter how thin the metaphor is stretching here). You take a deep breath.

Okay, It's time. No more denying how you feel. Let's do this thing.



Ryan Gosling memes courtesy of  http://goslinggetswriters.tumblr.com/
Balloon image Copyright: federicofoto / 123RF Stock Photo

Why I Haven't Blogged for a Year (and other excuses).

That was a bit of a shock. Checked my blog and saw that next month will be a full year since I blogged anything at all!

There is a good reason.

I moved countries. Well, both me and my husband moved countries. Together (of course). We have left the damp streets of London, England for the sun and heat of Austin, Texas. The whole process started at least three years ago, heated up when we applied for the Green Card Lottery in 2012 (better known as the Diversity Visa), and went stratospheric when we were granted the chance for an interview. When we were actually granted the visas in January this year, we went into a sort of deep shock and have only just started to thaw out now, five months later.

Our life has been in utter limbo for nearly a year and a half. Emotionally/psychologically for a lot longer than that. We are now finally landed (but barely a month ago), in Texas, and are up to our eyeballs with the whole getting-settled process which includes buying everything we need from scratch and having no friends. Oh, that and I have to find a job. Like...yesterday.

Are you still writing??
Yes. Yes, I am. I actually finished a draft of a story that hit over 100k in word-count, which shocked me, I can tell you. I'm now left with the quandary of what exactly to do with this mammoth tome, as it clearly needs some editing down. That and it's the raciest thing I've ever written and I'm not sure it's exactly what I want to lead with when submitting to publishers! Eventually I will take the leap and put the, "But what will your MOTHER think?!" issue behind me. Eventually.

What's next?
I need to get my feet on the ground. Get a job. Move into our house. Find furniture to sit on/lie on/cook on. But as much as I tell myself this, there are already two new characters running around inside my head making eyes at each other and whispering all sorts of stuff I should probably write down before they find someone else to write it for them. So...who knows. Writing is one of those things that doesn't ever, entirely let you go.

Oh, also what is next is another 'Kingpin' taco at Torchy's. Because they are AMAZING. You should try one.

Kindle Romance Cover End-of-Summer Catch-up!

Hello you lovely readerly and coverly-loverly folk - we're back!

Okay, so that didn't feel like quite so long a 'holiday' as it should have done, but if the kids (others', not mine...I have none of those!) are back at school that probably means I need to hang up the flip-flops, stop overdosing on Bones reruns and find me some purdy Romance covers to share with you all.

I didn't give up on cover-hunting over the holidays, don't worry - plenty covers from around the genres added to my Cover Lover Pinterest board!

CUTE BLUE

Both of these are cute, sweet and clean and use that bright blue with just a punchy little highlight of red or pink to set it off. You get a sense of blue-sky optimism from these covers, with a little passion thrown in.

Title: I Dream of Johnny
Author: Juliet Madison
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Cover Artist: Unkonwn
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Title: Olivia
Author: Paola Calvetti
Publisher: Ediciones Martinez Roca
Cover Artist: Unknown
Genre: Contemporary Romance

A FEW MORE OF MY FAVOURITES...

There are so many!! I really just couldn't pick from them all. So much gorgeous cover goodness! Here's a sampling from just the past week...

And of course, it couldn't be KRCOTW without a Pick of the Week...

PICK OF THE WEEK:

Title: Left
Author: T.R. Graves
Publisher: Amazon/Self-Published
Cover Artist: Claudia McKinney of Phatpuppy Art
Genre: New Adult Romance

SCORES OUT OF 5

Thumbnail-ability: 3.5

Font & Text: 4.5

Genre-fit: 4

Overall Composition: 3.5

Overall Concept: 3.5

OVERALL SCORE: 3.8

What's to love...
Clean, simple, pretty but strong. I think what I liked best about this cover was the fact it was just somewhat different than the usual formula. No couples embracing, no cowboy or kilted rogue looking back over his shoulder. The ribbon feels a bit more like the tenuous connection between two people and not too bondage-y (something I think we're all pretty much over these days!). Simple body language with just two hands. Maybe she's pulling him. Maybe he's reaching out to her. Or maybe both? Nice simple palette. Very pretty brush-script for the title. I don't even mind the little embellishment under the author's name, as it grounds the whole area of text.

Let's see what next week brings us!

Now, off to even out my sandal-tan in the last of the late-summer sun. Oh that's right. It's raining. *sigh*

Is it nearly Christmas yet?

Kindle Romance Covers is taking a Summer 'Blog Holiday'...

It's finally hit me. I need a break. A summer break. 

Working a full-time day job, writing three 1st drafts, revising two second drafts, two blogs, two twitter accounts and Pinterest is usually okay. I can do all that. I don't have kids. I don't have a diabetic dog. It's not so bad.

But folks, it's summer. It's damned hot. And I seem to have guests coming to stay almost every weekend.

So I'm treating myself to a break from blogging for a few weeks. I need to recharge. I need to be excited about doing this and not phased by the fact only Google bots read my posts.

So what's to look forward when I'm BACK?

• 'Official' Book Cover Review - Set Me Free by Jennifer Collin (my first real review request!)
• Kindle Romance Covers of the Week
• Updates on my Overused Cover Images

See you when it cools down, lovely readers! Have a most wonderful summer...

xBeatrice



Top background image Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos 

Fabio Friday! -={ 12th July 2013 }=-

Yay - it's Fabio(esque) Friday again! What better way to usher in a summer weekend than a steamy cover of yesteryear? 

I've chosen 'HIGHLAND ROGUE' this week, in honour of Scotland's own Andy Murray and his valiant victory at Wimbledon on Sunday:

But why is this particular rogue not even bothering to wear a kilt? Or was this perhaps during the time the kilts were illegal? Gosh...gotta go swat up on my Scottish history, or I'll get myself into a right pickle...

Is it hot in here, or is it just me? Or is it the ENORMOUS FIRE burning in the grate? No wonder they haven't got many clothes on...

P.S. I'd like to go with option a) a scoundrel set on seduction, please.

Fabio Friday! -={ 5th July 2013 }=-

Heard it's been hot hot hot in the US, and it's been almost summer-like here in the United Kingdom as well (apparently miracles DO happen!). So what better to suit the week than a Fabio-esque cover so hot and steamy that the couple can barely keep their clothes on?

He's 'Seizing the Fire' alright...along with a few other things! *fans self*

Kindle Romance Cover Pick-of-the-Week - 4th July 2013

I'm keeping it short & sweet from now on - wow, those posts were getting LONG. There just isn't time to write OR read that much cover goodness. So I'm diversifying. My favourite 'runners up' will get some raving tweets and shine their little lights on my Pinterest boards, and I'll review one lucky cover a week right here on the blog.

That leaves me MORE time to investigate duplicate-cover-image scandals (not really a scandal, I'm just a nerd), and carefully select a Fabio-esque cover for your Friday enjoyment. And other things I haven't even thought of yet. I like to keep you all on your toes (and by 'all' I mean the 6 people who read this. Or maybe the 6 Google bots who visit the blog).

I've been in two minds about this pick as STRANGELY enough it shares exactly the same colour scheme as my last pick of the week. Either I am exceedingly limited in my taste in covers, or it's just some big coinkidink.

Title: Fractured
Author: Dani Atkins
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Cover Artist: Unknown (please let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Contemporary Romance

SCORES OUT OF 5

Thumbnail-ability: 4

Font & Text: 3.5

Genre-fit: 3

Overall Composition: 4.5

Overall Concept: 4

OVERALL SCORE: 3.8

What's to love...

Maybe it's my recent 'discovery' of Mad Men, but I'm liking this retro 'flat' style of illustration. The contrast of hot red against cool sea-green makes it pop. The black line art helps balance out the whole composition and gives some hint at dark things in the past or to come.

The split caused by the 'reflection' is a great mechanism, and ties the title into the composition for me - 'Fractured'. I already get a sense of a person in two parts, or a story in two chapters. So what will it take to flip the whole thing around and it be a couple greeting each other joyfully and not just a woman walking alone? I do so like a cover that makes me wonder...

Déjà Vu #2: Overused Cover Image of the Week

It happens. A great picture shows up on a stock images site and you JUMP on it. Unfortunately, so do several other people. Or more than several.

You might remember when I started tracking several images that seem to reoccur in Romance covers over and over (and OVER) again. I've managed to find this image used in covers sixteen times (and counting):

But that's not the END of the story, by any means. These covers all went live on Amazon Kindle WITHIN THE SAME WEEK:

Cover # 1:

Cover #2

Cover #3:

(#3 is by far my favourite - gorgeous job by Stephanie Nelson of Once Upon a Time Covers)

You can bet I'll be keeping an eye out for this image from now on - let's see how high the count gets!

It's...Fabio Friday! -={ 28th June 2013 }=-

Because...what else is better on a Friday than a dose of Fabio-esque man-wonder?

Nah. I couldn't think of anything either.

Is it just me, or is that striped purple throw-cushion getting a bit fresh with her thigh? 

*tassel tassel*

Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) - Mistakes of a Rookie Writer

Yes, so, I thought I'd get some objective feedback on the first portion of one of the first stories I wrote. Second draft. Much snappier than the first. Was certain it would get some sort of positive feedback. I mean, my writing isn't Man Booker Prize-worthy, but it's better than some books I've PAID for, right? Right?

No. Not so much.

So before I bury my poor wounded writer's head in the sand and follow that insane impulse to NEVER WRITE AGAIN EVER EVER AGAIN EVER...I thought it best that I just write down a couple of things I need to learn from the whole experience. Maybe they'll be useful to someone else, or at the very least it will help me remember (as if I could forget).

1. TSTL

My first lesson was on the acronym 'TSTL'. New one for me, but a quick Google session told me that every time someone was calling my leading lady 'TSTL', it meant she was 'Too Stupid To Live'. As in, 'How on earth did she get from being born to being an adult without accidentally getting herself KILLED. Killed from sheer STUPID.' Other words used to back up the 'TSTL' label were such glowing descriptors as 'twit' and 'such a ditz'.

Now, I'm not about to go into detail about the actual piece (particularly as it's still partaking in a ceremonial burning on the back patio and LET'S JUST NOT GO THERE), but here are a few more things I'm taking away from the experience.

2. FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

Your character is allowed to be human, make mistakes, and be flawed. But (apparently) you cannot show all their WORST traits in the first two pages without turning at least a few readers into haters. They want to get pulled into the life of someone they can either relate to or at the very least, vaguely respect. So if all I give them is a series of reasonably dumb mistakes and nothing much in the way of redeeming qualities, apparently ...that's a turn-off. Being dramatic is not enough. Being dramatic and DUMB is bad.

This might seem entirely logical and obvious when you read it. You're nodding to yourself now. You're thinking, "Nah, I'd never do that." But how easy is it to forget that we know our characters intimately - especially if we've written the entire book and know their whole story. How easy is it to forget that our character still has to make a first impression on a completely 'cold' audience who don't yet know about our character's winsome smile or quirky laugh or extended butterfly collection? First pages do sorta have to be all about that first introduction. A polite how-do-you-do, or at least NOT a display of all your beloved character's worst traits. Like I did.

3. IF YOU THINK YOU'VE CUT ENOUGH BACK-STORY...YOU HAVEN'T

I really thought I had this down. I'd read enough excruciating 'laundry-list' intros to books that I thought I knew what I was doing. I cut a lot out. I thought I'd been brutal. I wove subtle details in. I thought I'd been clever. But instead of the gripping wash of introduction to my heroine's dilemma that I'd intended, it mainly just came across as navel gazing. Too much thinking. Not enough doing. WAY too not-enough-doing. So, if you think you've been sparing? Cut more. Snip snip. You have a whole book to bore people with the details. Or at least...I do.

4. GO WITH YOUR GUT / STOP OVERTHINKING

Ironically, but probably not very surprisingly, the one line that someone picked out as being reasonably on the way to showing a tiny glimmer of potential was one of my weird, out-of-rear-brain-nowhere things I just chucked in and shrugged about. Wasn't bad enough to cut, so I left it in. And THAT is what they liked.

So often I catch myself writing the way I think writing SHOULD BE. As in...not obeying the words on the tip of my brain's tongue (that sounded weird...but I'm going with it), but reformatting the whole thing until it sounds the way writing is 'supposed' to sound. And in the process, the pure voice of it gets muddied. Muffled. Stamped out. Out goes the visceral. Out goes the instinctual. If there's one thing I am really taking away from this is...give myself permission to BE MYSELF.

That might take a while. Work In Progress.


Lastly...

5. I SURVIVED

That's all.




Top background image Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos (with a few little amendments by moi)

Kindle Romance Covers of the Week - 11th June 2013

NOT A REAL BOOK! Just having some fun :D

It's that time of the week again! I've tumbled through the torrents of torrid love story book covers on Amazon Kindle UK, and picked out my favourites...just for you. That's right. YOU, lovely reader.

(That didn't sound stalkerish at all, now did it?)

ANYWAY...if you're new to the Kindle Romance Covers of the Week, I scroll through the 1000+ book covers in the Amazon UK Romance section for the past 7 days. And I find the pretty. And I find the weird. And sometimes I find the downright inexplicable-what-were-you-thinking-are-you-MAD covers. But I like to keep things positive and generally point out more about what I like than what I don't.

That being said...I can still speak my mind...

FIFTY SHADES OF...*YAWWWN*

Am I alone in this? Am I the only one that is getting just a teensy little bit tired of the grey-scale "Aren't I dark and mysterious and wearing silver-plated bespoke nipple-clamps under my clothes," covers? I picked out all of these covers from the line-up because of their exquisite composition and balance. They are lovely.Yet, I find myself going a little cold for this style. I want real, human warmth from my love story. Not (yet more) complicated power games and highly-choreographed acrobatics. How about some hot, damn-sexy down-home love? Am I crazy? That and I'm just bored. I LOVE COLOURS. Gimme COLOURS. Okay. I'm done now...

THE BODICE BUSTER LIVES ON!

That's right folks, fear not. The quintessential Bodice Buster can live on in your Kindle. Granted, these days the busty ladies (breaking bodaciously from their brimming bodices) seem to have a little more of the upper hand, if the body-language is anything to go by. You go girls. Kilts up.

WELL, THAT'S A LITTLE...DIFFERENT

I find myself intrigued, yet a little frightened by these. 

A BEVY OF BUTTERFLIES

These two are actually very pretty and I'd consider them not-far-off runner's up this week. But there does seem to be a lot of butterfly-theme going on lately, along with the desaturated colour style of the Instagram Generation (of which I've just proven I'm not a part. Oops.).

AND THIS WEEK'S FAVOURITES ARE...

Title: Following Bliss

Author: Heather Strang
Publisher: Amazon/Self-published
Cover Artist: Jim Thomson
Genre: Paranormal Romance

What's to Love: Cute image, lovely open feel, and great scripty-font choice! Feet!

Title: Listening to Brahms
Author: Rosemary Allen
Publisher: Matador
Cover Artist: Unknown (let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Historical Romance

NOTE: I know it looks like I'm breaking my own NO GREY-SCALE rule here (though technically this would be considered 'sepia'), but this cover is NOT of the same ilk as 50 Shades. Seriously folks. This is a forest. Not a red room of pain.

What's to Love: Atmosphere, buckets of atmosphere. Simple, yet intriguing.

Title: Diamonds in the Rough
Author: Portia Da Costa
Publisher: Mills & Boon Spice
Cover Artist: Unknown (let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Contemporary Romance

What's to Love: Just such a pretty picture. Elegant, yet vulnerable. Not sure I'd like it as much WITHOUT the big red dot. The red dot sort of adds to it.

(trying not to sing tunes from Disney's Aladdin now. You know the ones I mean.)

Title: Can't Buy Me Love
Author: Summer Kinard
Publisher: Light Messages Publishing
Cover Artist: Unknown (please let me know so I can credit!)
Genre: Contemporary Romance

What's to Love: Clever combination of elements. Inviting, hints at a bigger story hiding behind the cover. That flaky paint is just right.

Title: Sins & Needles
Author: Karina Halle
Publisher: Eternal Romance
Cover Artist: Najla Qambar
Genre: Romance

What's to Love: Picked this without knowing it was by Najla (who designed my Pick of the Week a month ago!). Great, moody image, oodles of Girl-With-The-Dragon-Tattoo attitude. Suits the story blurb to a T.

MY PICK OF THE WEEK

And finally - the Pick of the Week!

Title: Eversea
Author: Natasha Boyd
Publisher: Amazon/Self-published
Cover Artist: Adrian Rapasch
Genre: Contemporary Romance

SCORES OUT OF 5

Thumbnail-ability: 4
Font & Text: 4
Genre-fit: 3.5
Overall Composition: 4
Overall Concept: 4

OVERALL SCORE: 3.9

I practically grew up by the ocean, long ago, way 'down-under'. Sea glass was one of my favourite things to find, and when I'm wandering the English beaches, I still can't stop myself picking it up. So I'm with Natasha on the cove/beach theme of her novel here.

The colours are gorgeous, and for the SECOND time I'm just loving the pop of just-enough red. The turtle motif hasn't got any correlating plot-related clues in the blurb, but it has me curious..

Natasha and her designer, Adrian Rapasch, actually ran a cover-design-vote before settling on this one! Great way to publicise and see what people really like. Check out the other designs here.

I've been in two minds about this being my POTW ('Sins & Needles' is SUCH a close runner-up, with an awesome title and cover art), but my eye kept being drawn back to this one. It's just beautiful, deceptively simple, and wonderfully balanced in a 'trying not to try too hard' sort of way. That piece of red glass is the glowing heart amongst a sea of cold bluey-green. I love it.

What do you think?


Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! See you next time...


Top background image Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos (with a few little amendments by moi)

Kindle Romance Covers of the Week - 3rd June 2013

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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