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 :)

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 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...

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...


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

Kindle Romance Covers of the Week - 12th May 2013

Okay, here we go! I've done my wander through a week of written Romance, and pulled out what I think is the best and beautiful in Kindle Romance Covers. And yes, I took a week off, partly due to busyness but also due to there being a strange lull in good covers. I found a few reasonable ones, but not enough to write home about. Of course, this week I found more than you can shake a stick at, and I'm up to the brim with loverly-coverly goodness!

Before I get started, some words for anyone joining the party for the first time. I review covers of Kindle eBooks published in the past week on Amazon UK  categorised as 'Romance'. I have no affiliation with Amazon or Kindle, nor do they line my (empty) pockets in any way. It's just an easy way for me to gather a manageable number of covers and pick out my favourites!

And for my usual, secondary disclaimer: I have no idea if the writing IN these books is any good. I will read the blurbs to see how the cover art ties into the story/genre, but that's IT. Any judgement of writing quality is up to YOU, fair reader. I just look for prettiness!

Before I get to the runners-up, I have a few things to note:

OOPS, YOU DID IT AGAIN

That's right. Now that I've started to spot trends in repeated images used in cover art, I am obsessed with spotting Wore-The-Same-Dress-To-The-Ball incidences. Here's your dose of duplication for this week - and YES, they were both releases in the SAME WEEK.

To be entirely fair to authors, cover designers and publishers alike, how would you know that someone else is going to pick the exact, same image from a database and release those precise books in the same week? You don't. But it's an unfortunate mishap for these two authors. I will say, I much prefer the cover of 'Beyond a Doubt' by Felicia Rogers - the text on 'Lady Catherine Brandon's Leap Day Adventure' is almost entirely unreadable! 

TREND SPOTTING: SUN'S OUT, GUNS OUT

Sorry. I heard that phrase for the first time this week and can't get it out of my head. The Urban Dictionary tells me it has something to do with muscly young men wanting to get their kit off and wear short sleeves the moment the temperature goes above 15C to show off their 'guns' (a.k.a. arms/biceps). But I'm talking about LADIES with guns. Real ones. Noticed a number of covers with strong women and their not-so-concealed-carrying.

And for the first of this week's runners up...

CUDDLY COUPLES

I'm usually really NOT into the clutchy-couples thing on romance covers, but this week showed up a little crop of rather decent ones! For me, if you going to show both protagonists on the cover, it's got to be more than just a way of indicating whether it's a Scottish historical (KILTS! SWORDS! BOSOMS!) or a vampire fantasy (NECKS! FANGS! BLOOD!). I want to see emotion in the interaction between the couple, not just pretty bodies.

Title: Forces of Nature
Author: Cheris Hodges
Publisher: Kensington Books

Cover Artist: n/a
Genre: Contemporary Romance

This upside-down-backwards-Spidey-kiss pose seems incredibly popular these days, don't you think? But this cover does work, and the fact that our couple are canoodling on the grass (something I always found more romantic in one's mind than in reality. Grass itch. Ants. Dog walkers. Say no more.), is a nice change. What pulled me to this cover was the palpable tenderness between the couple. I'm all about a cover expressing something, particularly emotion. The font and title are nicely spaced, contrast well, and don't interfere with the main image. The fact that the story revolves around a farm (nature), and they're rolling around in the grass (nature!), ties right into the title. The pose may seem relaxed, but you could stretch this a little and say that they are still at cross-purposes with each other, just a little, which adds a nice tension.

Title: Lost in You
Author: Heidi McLaughlin
Publisher: Mad Beak Publishing

Cover Artist: Sarah Hansen - Okay Creations
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Maybe it's thoughts of moving to Texas someday, but I have a fascination with the way a southern girl can put together a dainty dress and a pair of boots and it just looks darn-tootin' good. (I should stop talking like that. Okay. I will stop talking like that). Not sure I have the calves  for it, but I might try it someday. [FOCUS, BEATRICE.] Yes, so...the cover!

I've decided that I often prefer it when the models on covers have their heads cropped out of the image. Sounds brutal, I know ("OFF with their heads!!"), but while I want to get a FEEL for who the characters are from the cover, I want my imagination free to roam when I start reading. I don't want to be trapped into one impression of some actual, real people who are not actually the characters in the story, no matter how well their hair colour or chin-cleft matches their descriptions. So I'm a fan of this one - I can tell something instantly about our gal (well dressed, confident), and our guy is a little more down-to-earth, boy-next-door. That, and he has her a little bit backed into a corner, so to speak. The blurb backs this up, so I'm giving this one a thumbs up. Oh, and the colours are verrry pretty!

Title: Connected
Author: Kim Karr
Publisher: Penguin

Cover Artist: Unknown - re-released with Penguin
Genre: Contemporary Romance

I actually worry about how fascinated I get by design amendments and alterations. Befores and Afters. Version 1s and Version 2s. Here's a great example of what the most subtle changes can do for a cover. I picked Kim Karr's Connected out of the line-up this week, not knowing that there was a first version from her self-published (assuming - correct me if I'm wrong!) edition of the book (Version #1 below, in black & white). The version I spotted was Version #2, in colour.

Maybe it's my imagination, but just the colour change alone changes the mood entirely. From dark and brooding in greyscale, the colour version is much warmer, sexier and approachable. The photograph is identical in composition, but just the change in colouring and contrast and the new position of the title mean we can see that her arms are actually wrapped around his waist. This means he goes from looking slightly more overpowering in V#1 to her almost holding his hands behind his back in V#2. Hey presto, you have a complete change in relationship dynamic. We're very attuned to body language, and what you show vs what you reveal is incredibly important.

The colour version has a much clearer version of the title, but I love that they've kept the pink/grey mirroring of the word. Symbolism in a title and in the text is a big winner for me, and to have mirroring/ying-yang/feminine-masculine all tied into a word like 'Connected' is perfect. I'm voting for Version #2 (fingers crossed it's actually the current one!).

Version #1

Version #2

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES

Okay, so my secret's out. I'm not generally a big fan or follower of pop music, but I've always thought Beyonce was pretty incredible. Though I did get in trouble thanks to her 'Single Ladies' song at a party once. Apparently the birthday girl was celebrating her recent split with her ex, and specifically wanted to celebrate with all the OTHER single ladies. I just liked the song, so got up and did my thing (in other words, I swayed to the music and shuffled my feet a bit. A dancer I am NOT). That was until I was firmly chastised by the birthday girl for dancing to a song about 'single ladies' when I was, in fact, a MARRIED WOMAN. Shock. Horror. \Tail between my legs, I scuttled back to my table. Won't be making THAT mistake again. But if I ever need cheering up, there's nothing like that video of the baby busting a move to Beyonce to do the trick!

Title: Breathe

Author: Ani San
Publisher: Amazon/Self-published

Cover Artist: Ani San
Genre: Contemporary Romance

What's not to like? Clean, clear design. The font style works beautifully with the wavy lines of her hair. It's all about contrast and leaving room for that all-important (and in this case, literal) 'white space'. Simple, and lovely.

Title: In My Own Shadow

Author: Susan A. Royal
Publisher: Museit Up Publishing

Cover Artist: Marion Sipe
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal ROmance

In contrast, this cover has a whole lot going on, but then again, so does the plot. There's time-travel, a Book of Secrets, telepaths, and alternate universes. What grabbed me particularly is the girl, her face, and again...the emotion. Lost, but strong, you want to find out what she's about to go through. The actual echo/shadow on the word, Shadow, is very clever, and pulls the title together with the fact our protagonist has an alternate in this alternate dimension. Careful placement of the elements keeps this from being what could be a very busy cover.

Title: Cursed

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Cover Artist: n/a
Genre: Young (or New?) Adult/Fantasy/Romance

More lying down in grass! Okay, so maybe we all do a whole lot more of this since Bella and Edward went daisy-swimming and we met the sparkly people. But I do like this cover, and with the story appearing to be about/for a younger audience, I think it's fitting. I like the fact she's posed upside down, which gives us some idea that things have gotten rather topsy-turvy (do people even SAY that any more?!) in her world. Simple, but evocative.

Title: Pieces of You
Author: Cassia Leo
Publisher: Amazon/Self-published

Cover Artist: Sarah Hansen - Okay Creations
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Could it be? Am I a new-found fan of Sarah Hansen's cover designs? Have a lookey up at our cowgirl cover. That's right, Sarah is listed as the designer for Lost In You as well! Someone's been busy. This time we have only one of our characters on the cover but we've also got an expression and emotion that we have ALL felt at some point at some time. More lying-upon-the-ground (sensing a theme here), but it indicates to us a lowness - of mood, of spirit, you name it. Rock bottom emotions. The perception of depth in the image makes us want to get closer to her. The title, and presumably those things about him that are Pieces of You, appear to weigh on her and press her down. Gorgeous, soft colours.

PICK OF THE WEEK

Title: Reclaim My Heart

Author: Donna Fasano
Publisher: Hard Knocks Books

Cover Artist: Najla Qambar (Updated - thanks for Najla's info, Donna!)
Genre: Contemporary Romance

I love this cover more every time I look at it. It has contrast, dark and light, green and red. A perfect example of how on a very basic level you can make complementary colour schemes work for you (green in the background, red in the figures and the title). It gives the whole image a 'buzz' and unconventional harmony like nothing else.

I've actually seen these figures before, photoshopped differently, on another cover. But I much prefer this full-length version of them, and the additions that have been made to personalise the characters. The male character in this story belongs to the Delaware Tribe/Nation, something we may be asked to pick up on immediately from the tattoo on his arm.

Whatever stock image was used originally, the treatment of it here has imbued the couple with a vulnerability, a delicacy of emotion, a poignancy and a threat of darkness which is both beautiful and intriguing.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Let me know what your favourites were, or if you thought I missed the GEM of the week!

But before we go, would I let you get away without...

ABS OF THE WEEK AWARD!

That's right. can't live without a little dose of manly perfection (KILTS! SWORDS! BOSOMS!). Okay, maybe man-bosoms in this case. 

See you next time!

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

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