This week Kim Harrison fans will be pleased to see a piece of the next Rachel Morgan book, A PERFECT BLOOD due out this coming February, but they may be disappointed with what’ s been unveiled. HEARTS OF ATLANTIS shows BOUND BY DESIRE how to use tiger clip art right, and DRAGONSWOOD does the YA flowing dress tradition proud. Scroll down to see our likes and pet peeves this week, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.
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Description: Alpha, Connor Armstrong, will do anything to protect his intended mate and newly founded pack. Unfortunately when he offers protection things don’t go quite as planned. His new mate is as stubborn as she is sexy and getting her to submit proves almost impossible.(
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| A little trashy, a lot of attitude, this lady does look like she can pull off “alpha.” | This is the exact same model and outfit from Marjorie M. Liu’s Hunter Kiss series. Why would they do that? |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| The muscles and the tiger are in common with last week’s BOUND BY DESIRE cover that got two thumbs down, but this composition is so much better done. Of course, this cover model’s posture reminds me of Tweeter in Varsity Blues staring down the waistband of his football pants with a worried look on his face… but that was not a negative then, and certainly isn’t one now. | This looks like it should be a Lora Leigh Breeds cover. I agree the composition is well done and I really like the colors…but otherwise not a fan. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Cassiel seems more “business like” on this cover than any of the others, I like how she’s mounted up and head on to ride. The thumbs down is just for the sand and mustard color scheme. I know it’s setting strong sense of place, but it just seems so blah to me. Couldn’t they have punched it up with a little more gold? | While this is my least favorite of the series, I still really like all the elements. The bike is awesome and Cassiel looks super tough. I wish more cover in this genre would trend this way. |
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Description: Lucy is the Etruscan goddess of the moon, hunted by a powerful demon. One misstep and he will trap and consume her in his bid to escape the underworld. Lucy has stayed one step ahead of him, but she didn't count on falling for minor league hockey player John Stevenson. John's not one of her worshippers, but he is determined to win over the gorgeous woman who watches him at every game and won't give her up without a fight–even if it means releasing the beast he holds inside.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Something about the style or color scheme of this cover is adding an inappropriate YA feel to it. Or is it the cover model… anyone else think she has a baby face? It’s not appealing when paired with all that bare skin. Not for me, anyway. Book one has this style, but manages to feel thoroughly adult, I prefer the cover on WHAT A GODDESS WANTS. | YA? Really? This looks very much like erotica to me. |
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Description: After a bad relationship and an even worse divorce, Carolyn decides to go on a long overdue and much needed vacation with the 'girls'. Only the rest of the vacationers didn't get the memo. Around every corner there seems to be another couple celebrating their honeymoon or anniversary and the few single men she does see are far too young to even consider, including an irresistibly attractive rock violinist she meets. It's really too bad he's so young but in the end it doesn't matter because according to his cousin, Giacinta, women in general aren't Christian's type.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| The covers for all of the Argeneau books are a little campy, and this one hits that tone. I’m not very keen on the title font, but I like the glow effect around his chest. As to what he’s doing shirtless in the woods… I’ve got nothing. | I’ve seen this cover a million times. |
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Description: Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth — a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can’t be done without Rachel’s blood. As a bounty hunter, Rachel has battled vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more. But humanity itself might be her toughest challenge.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| This thumbs down is more for the tone of the series than anything overtly wrong with this cover. Starting with FISTFUL OF CHARMS, the other covers have so much subtle power and mood built in. This one looks perfunctory; pop a squat, do some magic… it’s missing the mystery of prior covers. I like how they cast Rachel, I just wish she was staged more subtly. This looks more like a Cat and Bones cover to me. | I thought it was Cat & Bones for a second too, but I think it so much better than the silver minidress mess on PALE DEMON. I love the black and red colors too. |
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Description: Wilde Island is in an uproar after the recent death of its king. The uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is fraying, and a bloodthirsty witch hunter with a hidden agenda whips villages into frenzies with wild accusations. Tess, a blacksmith’s daughter from a tiny hamlet near the mysterious Dragonswood, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of fate when she is accused of witchery and has to flee for her life along with her two best friends. Not even Tess’s power to see the future can help the girls as they set off on their desperate journey, but she keeps having visions of a man wielding a sword. And when she finally meets him, Tess has no idea how to handle the magnetic attraction she feels for him, or the elusive call she hears from the heart of the Dragonswood. In this epic romance, an ancient prophecy comes true in a way neither dragon, fairy, nor human would have predicted.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| It’s worth looking at the enlarged cover to see the motion in this cover. Some of the effects are a little stiff, but the over all composition is very high impact. I like it a lot. | Agreed. The bigger this is, the better it looks, like a watercolor paining. Soft and beautiful and a little bit like it will break your heart. |
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Description: Miranda has lived on Whym Island since the death of her parents. She has taken comfort in its seclusion and in the folklore that claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and its surrounding waters. It's easier to believe things are out of her control. But when a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy that haunts her dreams. As the guilt of the accident consumes her, she finds refuge in her late night swims. Until she meets Christian, a boy who seems so familiar, but won't tell her where he is from and why they can only meet at the beach. As Miranda falls for Christian and begins to put the accident behind her, she discovers that there are secrets that Christian is keeping to protect her that may only end up bringing her nothing but harm.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Very, very contemporary and stark. I’m having a hard time getting a sense of time from the blurb, but this cover doesn’t sell anything historical. | Sounds like a reverse Little Mermaid story…interesting. The cover is working for me too. The black & white with the hints of blue. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| This looks more like a movie poster than a book cover, but I mean that in a good way. I feel like I should recognize that skyline. | All I know about this is that it is paranormal romance…I wonder if the reversed tanks they are wearing will be significant? |
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And our picks for Best & Worst…
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That cover for Wrecked is really awesome and I will have to add that book to my wishlist ASAP.
ReplyDeleteI can't decide how I feel about that tiger on the cover of Heart of Atlantis. Could be worse, probably. It really is sort of too bad that Alpha Instinct by Katie Reus has the same cover model though.
Great post ladies! How to Worship A Goddess... I'm not sure who said it was YA. But I'm pretty sure it's a Paranormal Romance/Erotica. :)
ReplyDeleteI like Kim Harrison's A Perfect Bloo, it caught my eye. Wrecked is a cool black and white cover too. Love when you guys post up coming book covers.
ReplyDelete@CSILibrarian - WRECKED is on my watch list, too, can't wait.
ReplyDelete@Anna - I didn't mean to imply that the story is YA (as you noted, it's anything but). I just meant that the cover had a Lolita-like feel that I didn't like, I can't figure out if it's caused by the color scheme or young cover model.
@Rain Maiden - A PERFECT BLOOD may grow on me, but anything by Kim Harrison is on my instant-buy list regardless. Is it February yet?
I agree with your picks, although the muscled-torso and tiger combo is probably a little worse. I'm not a fan of body segments - man or woman (cut off heads, legs only, etc). and the tiger is just so cheesy. I would never pick up that book. I feel bad when I see a terrible cover because it's like the author's time was wasted. All the effort in writing the book and if the cover is bad, people will ignore it.
ReplyDeleteI think the woman on the "How to Worship a Goddess" cover looks like Elena from The Vampire Diaries. That's why it looks like a seriously inappropriate YA cover.
ReplyDeleteAhh I thought maybe it was stated somewhere as YA. The model cover does look really young, so I can definitely see someone mistaking it for YA.
ReplyDeleteI like the colors that stand out in How to Worship a Goddess, but A Perfect Blood is my favorite. :)
I just saw the new Marjorie Liu book yesterday! Already pre-ordered it. Was so excited to see a new one in that series come out.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the new Kim Harrison book either!!!
www.booksandbarks.com
Before reading the comments I also thought the How to Worship a Goddess was a YA. I think it is a combo of the pink colors and the pattern/placement of the title together. It looks very youthful, maybe too youthful? :-)
ReplyDelete@Stephsco - I read so many eBooks, it's always a bit of a shock to walk through the bookstore and pay attention to covers rather than descriptions. There are lots of books with gorgeous covers that I couldn't even finish and books that I love that never would have caught my eye based on cover alone.
ReplyDelete@Britt - Good eye, she does look like Elena!
@Anna - I'm a sucker with anything that says "Kim Harrison", and Abigail agrees with you on love this cover. It looked a little too stark and unambiguous to me, but maybe I'm just not ready for Rachel to be so clearly branded. Then again, how many covers can you have just showing main character body parts? This cover does tell a story, though, and that's one of my favorite things.
@Jennifer - This next Liu has me on the edge of my seat, I can't get over how the Hunter Kiss series has swept me away.
@Sherri - The cover model from WHAT A GODDESS WANTS looked much more age appropriate, and I think you're right, the color + young face just tripped my YA sensor.