It’s exciting to see the covers coming in, thank you to everyone who submitted links! This week SUCH WICKED INTENT reminded me how much I *adore* men’s formalwear and THE TEMPTATION has a cover sultry enough to carry off the title. Of the nine series that have new titles coming out, I’m behind on more than half of them! Anyone else hear Abigail’s TBR Pile sneaking up on them?
   | Description: When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again—just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother's betrothed. If only these things were not so tempting. When he and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with Victor's twin, Konrad, and their friend Henry, the four venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledge to raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return. N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
 |
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I am such a sucker for a guy in a vest and shirt sleeves. The stance of these models is so intimate, I love it. | Love the title detailing, and the contrast between the couple's somber clothes and the beautiful sunny field they are standing in is really working for me. |
 |
 | Description: N/A N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I love this jump back to the style of cover #1, the warmer colors are great, too. | This is a qualified thumbs up. I love everything but the crazy close up head. The necklace is exactly how I pictured it, ditto with the school, and the dagger 'T' is supper cool. |
  |
 | Description: N/A N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| The covers in this series do a great job maintaining continuity, this latest installment is no exception. The darker cover looks great, I wonder if it matches late-series Callie? | Love her dress with the skull buttons and the hellhound, but her face looks a little weird, not natural somehow. |
   |
 | Description: Don’t Close Your Eyes. Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin’s strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she’s put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep…forever. Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family…? Happy Thanksgiving! I’m celebrating with friends and family today, and for the rest of the weekend, so in my absence, here, have a pretty! Yes, that’s Sophie, not-sleeping on the cover of “Never To Sleep.” |
” – Rachel Vincent
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I’m not a big fan of matching the model’s eye color to the cover’s palette, but this cover does a nice subtle job. I would have liked a little more green than teal on the title, based solely on color preference, but it looks nice over all. It matches the character-oriented cover of the previous Soul Screamers novella, as well. | So fun to 'see' what Sophie looks like. Love that Harlequin goes the extra mile to give even their novellas great covers |
       |
 | Description: N/A N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| These elements are perilously close to “homemade”, but in the end I feel like they’re blended well enough to work. I’m rather ambivalent over all, however. | I go back and forth with these covers. I love how unique they are, but they aren't the type of covers that would make me pluck a book off a store shelf to read the description. Still, I like this cover more than the previous one. |
 |
 | Description: Lydia Bentley has heard stories about the Montauk Project all her life: stories about the experiments that took place at the abandoned military base near her home and the people who’ve disappeared over the years. When she stumbles into a vessel that transports her to a dangerous and strange new reality, Lydia realizes that all the stories she’s ever heard about the Montauk Project are true—and that she’s in the middle of one of the most dangerous experiments in history. Alongside Wes, a darkly mysterious boy whom she is wary to trust, Lydia begins to unravel the secrets surrounding the project. But the truths behind these secrets force her to question all her choices. And if Lydia chooses wrong, she might not save her family but destroy them...and herself. N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
 |
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I don’t like the border effect on this one, it looks too Instagram. The crisp cover image isn’t working with for me either with so many elements competing. | Not loving the tagline. It's hard to read against the clouds. I was really surprised to see that this was a Harper Teen cover...it has a self-pub feel to it for me. |
N/A
|
 | Description: This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won. Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters.... Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series. N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| The image is pretty standard emo-YA, but the backwards “R” and the corruption of a common phrase are both grating on my nerves. | Now this looks like a Harper Teen cover (and a Fallen cover). Love the R & K font detail in the title. This has to be a Fernanda Brussi cover, but I couldn't find this image on her site. |
N/A
|
 | Description: His touch was electric. His eyes were magnetic. His lips were a temptation.... But was he real? After crashing her car on an empty highway, Shane is miraculously saved by Travis, a mysterious cowboy who walks out of nowhere. She is instantly attracted to him, and for the first time, she believes in “soul mates.” But Shane soon discovers that Travis is dead and that strict rules from the Underworld govern kindred spirits of different dimensions. Breaking these rules could destroy both their souls. And while Travis is almost impossible to resist, temptation proves to be the kindest enemy they encounter. Can true love surpass the power of pure evil? Part love story, part supernatural thriller, this first book in the Kindred trilogy will leave readers lusting for more! N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| The shadowy guy a whisper away from her ear is subtle and sexy, this one is simple and effective. | Love the colors and the faded quality he has...very intriguing. I'm more than a litter leery of the 'instantly attracted' bit from the description, but the cover is an easy thumbs up. |
N/A
|
 | Description: N/A “ZOMG! Looky here at my book's gorgeous new cover! I LOVE it*! |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| This series melds old fashioned photography with magic and reminds me a bit of a version of the Kage Baker covers I’ve seen. Nice. | I've always liked the worn edging details of these covers. I wish there was a little more to distinguish one from another (from the UK covers), but they look good. |
   |
 | Description: It's been three months since Alexis helplessly witnessed Lydia Small's violent death, and all she wants is for her life to return to normal. But normal people don’t see decaying bodies haunting photographs. Normal people don’t have to deal with regular intrusions from Lydia’s angry ghost, sometimes escalating to terrifying attacks. At first, it seems that Lydia wants revenge on Alexis alone. But a girl from school disappears one night, and Alexis spots one of Lydia’s signature yellow roses lying on the girl’s dresser the next day. Soon, it becomes clear that several of Alexis’s friends are in danger, and that she's the only person who can save them. But as she tries to intervene, Alexis realizes that her enemy is a much more powerful ghost than she's ever faced before... and that its fate is tied to hers in ways she couldn't possibly imagine. Not even in her worst nightmares. “So here’s the gorgeous cover! Isn’t it deliciously creepy?” – Katie Alender |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I agree with the author, this is a super creepy cover (but not half as creepy as the series title). I like how they’ve carried forward the border through all of the covers. | How have I missed this series? I agree with the author that the covers are 'deliciously creepy' & hopefully the book is too. |
  |
 | Description: In Trickster's Girl, when Kesla's journey comes to an end, she pass the pouch and the quest on to someone else. She picks Jason, a native boy she thinks will be able to finish the job. But in fact, a family feud has cut Jason off from his traditional roots, and he is even more doubtful and resistant than Kesla was. But Raven, now a beautiful girl, is quite persuasive and manages to convince Jason this is something not only that he can do, but that he must if he wants to heal his family and the earth. N/A |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I like the close up smile, but the raven overlay doesn’t work at all this time around. Especially on the left side, it took me awhile to figure out what that was. | I love the hint of a smile on his face, and the stylized photo look is really working in this series. |
 |
  | Description: Seventeen-year-old Gene struggles to survive in a society where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. When Gene is chosen to participate in the government-sponsored hunt for the remaining humans, he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow hunters whose suspicions about his true human nature are growing. “I'm so happy to be able to show you the cover for The Hunt. St. Martin's Press and James Porto did an amazing job, and I'm beyond ecstatic over the end product. I've heard horror stories of authors detesting their cover, and of being given zero input by their publisher. So not true in my case. In fact, just the opposite. I love this cover! And, let it be known, St. Martin's Press (especially my editor, Rose Hilliard) has been incredible. Every step of the way, they were gracious to ask for my (and my awesome agent, Catherine Drayton's) input, even down to selecting the models. The cover has undergone quite a few iterations (perhaps I'll blog about it in detail in the future) and the amazing Design team kept outdoing themselves each step of the way. I think the end result is wonderful. The mood of the cover fits perfectly with the book.” |
|
|
Julia’s Thoughts
|
Abigail’s Thoughts
|
| I’m looking forward to reading the author’s description of the cover development process, I think this cover is totally worth the effort. The lighting and the colors draw the eye, and my curiosity is piqued by the details they included. | Love the full cover with the different skys. The description is making the cover probably more impressive than it actually is, but it sounds awesome! |
N/A
|
And our picks for Best & Worst…
Best
|
Worst
|
  |   |
Which are your Best and Worst?
I love the cover posts! I appreciate how thoughful your critiques are, and I laughed out loud at emo-YA. You're right, that cover and the title and everything feel so rehashed. It might be a decent book but it already feels like it's been done before. And I love the pretty dress covers!
ReplyDeleteSuch Wicked Intent I would definitely pick up and read the back cover, and maybe even buy. I'm a sucker for pretty covers.
@Stephsco - I'm glad you enjoy them, they're certainly a lot of fun to put together. I definitely added SUCH WICKED INTENT to my TBR pile, just for the cover. I'm such a sucker for men in dress clothes *purrrrr*
ReplyDeleteSUCH WICKED INTENT honestly has the best cover of the lot! I also like THE TEMPTATION and NEVER TO SLEEP.
ReplyDeleteDARKNESS BEFORE DAWN makes me wanna roll my eyes. It's pretty, but, you know, SO Fallen-like. Makes me think that the story is similar to Fallen's as well and honestly, I'd pass up such a book. Which would be a pity for the author if the story's nothing like that and the cover is misleading enough to turn off some readers. I like some originality in my books.