Happy Mother’s Day!  While it’s true that most urban fantasy heroines tend to fly solo, there are a handful that manage to balance supernatural smack downs and motherhood. 

Top 5 Urban Fantasy moms

Title: Timeless Author:  Gail Carriger Series: Parasol Protectorate #5 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal Steampunk Excerpt: Yes Source: Bought Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Orbit (February 28, 2012) ISBN-10: 0316127183 ISBN-13: 978-0316127189   Sexual Content: Kissing. References to heterosexual & homosexual sex. Scenes of homosexual sensuality. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Hi Guys, Abigail here. I’m filling in for Julia this week (although her comments are still included). We’re introducing some new changes to the Cover Art Coverage posts including an updated graphic, a new layout for the covers, and the Cover Submit form is linked at the bottom instead of being embedded (let us know in the comments if you’re not a fan of the changes).  There are two series that are featuring new looks, one of which I’m a big fan of, the other gets my pick for Worst this week.  We’ve also got several highly anticipated reveals including Kresley Cole’s first YA, and the first in Gail Carriger’s new series.  And the busiest man in paranormal romance adds yet another cover to his resume.  Can you spot model Paul Marron below?

There are some very interesting Omnibus covers this week, can you arrange them in the order of Most, Less, and Least like their series covers (I think our feelings on the matter are pretty clear).  There’s some amazing use of fire, a few homemade covers that look great, and at least one cover that looks homemade when it shouldn’t.   

Eternal Starling by Angela Corbett 

(Click to enlarge)

Description: A love so strong, even eternity can’t separate them. Evie Starling has lived a relatively uneventful life hanging out with friends, gossiping about boys, and driving her 1966 Mustang. All of that changes when she moves to Gunnison, Colorado, to start college and meets two mysterious men. For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie—but they each have their own reasons for wanting to be with her. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was. Soon, Evie finds herself in the middle of an age-old battle between the Amaranthine Society—the soul protectors, and the Daevos Resistance—the soul destroyers. With a past she doesn’t understand, and a future rife with danger, Evie has to decide who she can trust. But Alex and Emil aren’t the only ones who want Evie, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.   “I hope you like it as much as I do!!!!” – Angela Corbett

Series: Emblem of Eternity #1 Artist: N/A Goodreads: Link	Publisher: Pendrell Publishing Release Date: December 6, 2011 Source: Author’s Blog
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
This is a lovely, soft cover.  I think the title font may be a little too difficult to read, but that may just be on smaller, digital images.	I agree about the title font, but otherwise, I like the soft vintage feel.

 

Previous Covers in This Series

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**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Deadly Destination tour of Leslie Parrish’s Savannah from Detective Gabe Cooper & a chance to win COLD TOUCH**

I was ecstatic when I secured the tour guide for today’s Deadly Destination.  He’s from one of my all time favorite paranormal series: The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger…Lord Akeldama!  I spend a delightful evening with the aristocratic vampire earlier this summer and invite you to do the same if you haven’t already (you can even get the first three books in a discount ebook bundle right now for $9.99).  Below you’ll find his letter inviting you to his London home.  And if that wasn’t enough, Orbit Books has generously provided copies of the latest book, HEARTLESS, to giveaway to five commenters on this post!  See details below

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Lord Akeldama’s tour of London
by
Gail Carriger

London 1874

A Letter of Invitation:

First, my moon of the raspberry sunset, I must welcome you in to my humble abode. Do excuse my droney-darlings, they will leave top hats and playbills on every available surface. One must excuse this as the flightiness of youth. My domicile is no where near as grand as those of the local vampire hives, but then I have no queen to keep happy, so the decorating is to my own peculiar fancy. Perhaps you will excuse its eccentricities? I should warn you, I am very fond of gild, and tassels, and frescos of cherubs frolicking. Whimsy, my dear. One is never too old for whimsy.

Now we will have to see you freshened up and changed. I will, naturally, see to such necessities as costume requires. I should never expect someone from the country to have a wardrobe to London standards. Perhaps, if we have the time, we will visit bond street and procure the necessaries, otherwise I believe Biffy may be your size. Biffy has more velvet suits and silk cravats than anyone else I know - except yours truly, of course.

Then, I think, Clarets Vampire Club for a little nosh. Not on you my dear, never without invitation, but they put on a marvelous spread even for those who are not - shall we say? - of the neck inclination. I have finally convinced them to make me a Pink Slurp - blood mixed with champagne, delectable refreshment.

After that, we shall hail a Hackney and it's on to this amiable little theater in the West End. There is a delightful romp of a play on right now. Death in a Bathtub, I believe it is called. Charming execution, and the dancing girls - oh the dancing girls! - if your taste bends in that direction. If we are lucky we shall avoid Lord Ambrose, not a very nice kind of vampire and he is courting the lead actress, more fool him.

Perhaps after the play I might impose upon you further with an introduction to my dear Alexia? You will want to meet her, she's Soulless. You don't encounter one of those every day, quite the practical creature almost and artist in pragmatism, if you can imagine. Unique perspective on the world, and, I must say, her table at tea is beyond compare.

So my dearest honeysuckle,

I do hope I have tempted you to visit my little corner of London Town.

Yours, etc...

~ Lord Akeldama

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About Gail Carriger

Ms. Carriger began writing in order to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She now resides in the Colonies, surrounded by a harem of Armenian lovers, where she insists on tea imported directly from London and cats that pee into toilets. She is fond of teeny tiny hats and tropical fruit. Soulless is her first book. Visit Gail Carriger online: Website|Blog|Facebook|Twitter

Want to read more from Gail Carriger?

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Giveaway provided by Orbit Books

5 copies of HEARTLESS by Gail Carriger

Available now from Orbit

Description:

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

Read our review

Order from

Giveaway Guidelines

1. Open to International addresses

2. Leave a comment for Gail & a way to contact you unless it’s listed in your profile

3. All Deadly Destinations winners will be announced on August 7th

4. See our Giveaway Policy if you have any questions

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Interested in guest blogging on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME

*This title will be released on June 28, 2011*

Title: Heartless Author: Gail Carriger Series: Parasol Protectorate #4 Cover Art: Lauren Panepinto  Genre: Paranormal Steampunk Excerpt: No Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Orbit; Original edition (June 28, 2011) ISBN-10: 0316127191 ISBN-13: 978-0316127196 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to homosexuality. References to sex Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

Review

Few things in life are more delightful than a new Alexia Tarabotti book.  In HEARTLESS, the best installment since the debut, every single page is embellished with equal parts wit and farce.  The Parasol Protectorate series, a comedy of manners set in a paranormal steampunk Britain, chronicles the adventures of Lady Alexia Tarabotti and her latest escapades involve attempting to thwart as assassination plot on the Queen, keeping the local vampire hive from killing her yet again, and finding a solution to a former vampire wannabe’s unwilling induction to the werewolf pack…all while eight months pregnant.

I’m going to be using the word delightful a lot in this review because it so perfectly describes nearly every aspect of HEARTLESS from the absurdly charming characters, to the outlandishly entertaining plot, and the endlessly witty—and thoroughly British—writing.  Never a dull page, never a flat line, and never a wasted opportunity for preposterous frivolity.  All of the characters we’ve grown to love and loath over the series are present in HEARTLESS, most prominently Lord Akeldama, Biffy, and Professor Lyall.  We learn a number of very revealing details about the latter as well as Alexia’s father. 

One of my complaints about the last two books was how little page time Alexia and her husband shared since their relationship and interaction was one of the things that made the first book so fantastic.  I have nothing to complain about on that point in HEARTLESS.  Alexia and Conall are together in nearly every other scene.  I loved watching him fuss over her because of her pregnancy and then grit his teeth when he had to let her run off—or waddle off as Alexia called walking at eight months pregnant—into potential danger. 

The end of HEARTLESS was unbelievably good.  So much is set up for the next book, specifically regarding the infant-inconvenience.  Exactly what kind of baby will a preternatural and a werewolf have?  I would never have guessed and I’m predicting it will add significantly to the already very unique mythology in this series.

Overall, book four in this indomitably clever and charming series, is as delightful as I hoped.  The fifth book in The Parasol Protectorate series is called TIMELESS and will be published on March 1, 2011.  It is currently the last book planned in the series, but I will always hope for more.  We will be getting a spin-off YA series set in the same universe twenty-five years earlier called The Finishing School series.  The first book is tentatively titled ETIQUETTE & ESPIONAGE and will be published in 2012.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Soulless - 5/5 Changeless - 3/5 Blameless - 4/5	what sarah reads

*Cover Art may not be final*
Click author names to visit their webpages

Julia and I plan to comment on these posts together from now on, but due to time constraints I’m flying solo this week.

  Much Ado About Vampires by Katie MacAlister 

Series: Dark Ones #9 Date/Publisher: N/A Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Katie MacAlister Author Comments: Newly Returned to Me Editor Kate has sent me the cover for Much Ado About Vampires, the book that features Alec (and has lots of Pia and Kristoff and Ulfur), and once again, I'm absolutely in awe of the art guys at Penguin.   Abigail’s Thoughts: I love the purple gray colors, but his eyes look a little off—and not in a deliberate vampire way…

Stepback inside…

Description:
N/A

Previous Covers in This Series
  Viper Moon by Lee Roland 

Series: Dark Huntress #1 Date/Publisher: July 5th 2011 by Signet Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Wicked Scribes Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: Ooh very cool with the snake coiling around her shoulders.

Description:

A dark, sexy debut set in a small Missouri town where evil waits at the end of every alley...

Cassandra Archer is the huntress. She has faithfully served the earth Mother for years, rescuing kidnapped children from monsters—both human and supernatural—dwelling in the ruins of the Barrows District. But when two children are kidnapped under similar circumstances, all clues point to a cataclysmic event on the next dark moon. Now Cass must race against the clock and prevent a sacrifice that could destroy the entire town...

Previous Covers in This Series
N/A Bloodlands by Christine Cody 

Series: Bloodlands #1 Date/Publisher: July 26th 2011 by Ace Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Chris Marie Green/Crystal Green Author Comments: Big announcement about the Bloodlands books.... I'll be writing under another pen name--Christine Cody. This is because of the switch in sub-genres (post-apocalyptic western paranormal) as well as the switch from trade to mass market format. I'm going to try to post the mock-up cover here, too! (Just keep in mind that the pdf-to-jpg conversion blocked out the BLOODLANDS title near the bottom. The final version won't look like that!)   Abigail’s Thoughts: You had me at post-apocalyptic western paranormal I love the soft muted colors.  Gorgeous!

Description:
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Previous Covers in This SeriesN/A  Daybreak by Ellen Connor 

Series: Dark Age Dawning #3 Date/Publisher: December 2011 by Berkley Sensation Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Moira Rogers Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: This series looks and sounds amazing.  And the fact that it comes from Ann Aguirre and Carrie Lofty who combined Ellen Ripley (from Alien) and Sarah Connor (from The Terminator) to create their pen name makes me want it all the more.

Description:

Their mission was to save the world.
Their destiny is to fall in love.

It's been twelve years since the Change, and Penelope Sheehan is one of the few still practicing magic for the good of humanity in this dark, dangerous world. Determined to infiltrate the notorious O'Malley organization, she poses as an abducted girl–until a furious lion thwarts her mission. When the beast turns into a devastatingly handsome man, she recognizes in him the troubled boy she once knew.

Since becoming a skinwalker, Tru Daugherty has allowed his animal nature to take over. Aloof and cynical, he takes no interest in making the world a better place. He's a creature of instinct and impulse, living only to satisfy his senses–ignoring the scarred heart nobody has ever reached. He's also the best man to help Pen bring down the O'Malley crime ring.

Fighting alongside the last holdouts of humanity, they unleash a passion that tempts them to risk everything for love. But if they succeed, Tru and Pen hold the power to brighten the Dark Age for all time

 

Previous Covers in This Series   Heartless by Gail Carriger 

Series: Parasol Protectorate #4 Date/Publisher: July 1st 2011 by Orbit Cover Artist: Lauren Panepinto & Donna Ricci  Cover Source: Orbit Books | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy Author Comments: This is possibly my favorite cover, I like how light-hearted it is. Alexia looks almost coy. I think that ties into the comedy of manners side of things more strongly than some of the previous covers, of course it is also less steampunk. Now the fact that Alexia has her back to the camera and that Woolsey castle is in the background ties beautifully into the story. And of course, how can I frown when they put her in a teeny tiny puce colored bowler? Abigail’s Thoughts: I actually thought this was one of the mock up covers they’ve been posting on Orbit.  Can it just be the hair?  The color purple again (I was hoping for green)? I don’t know exactly, but it doesn’t have the same wow of the previous covers. I still can’t wait to read it though. *DO NOT READ THE DESCRIPTION IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THIS SERIES*

Description:

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband’s past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux’s latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf’s clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama’s second best closet?

 

Previous Covers in This Series
  Undercurrent by Tricia Rayburn 

Series: Siren #2 Date/Publisher: July 12th 2011 by EgmontUSA Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Tricia Rayburn's blog  Author Comments: I'm so excited to be able to share both the Siren paperback and Undercurrent covers! You'll notice Siren has a brand-new look. This is because after much discussion about the sequel's cover with my agent and publisher, we agreed a new approach would be best. And since we want the books to look like they're part of the same trilogy, that meant the Siren paperback also needed a new approach. I couldn't be happier with the results, and I hope you like them, too!   Abigail’s Thoughts: It’s fine but I liked the original styling better. Although with the girls standing on the rocks it does conjure up more of the traditional mythological siren idea.

Description:
N/A

Previous Covers in This Series
  The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon 

Series: N/A Date/Publisher: Fall 2011 by HarperTeen Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Life After Twilight Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: Very cool.  I love this trend of clothes dissolving into smoke, flowers, birds etc.

Description:

A move to Ireland is about to introduce Megan to her destiny, her real destiny, can she embrace it and will she survive it?

A tragedy in Megan’s past set her on a predetermined course. A chain of events has been set in motion that brings Megan to Kinsale, a small town in the south of Ireland where her destiny awaits her. Her life starts to fall into place as she makes new friends and settles into her new school. However, the reclusive and distant Adam DeRís calls to her body and soul.

She finds herself increasingly drawn to Adam and his strange family. Adam knows a secret from her past and he and his family hold the key to her future. A future that binds her to Adam and his world, a world of power, mystery and ancient orders. A world that unbeknownst to her, she very much belongs in.

 

Previous Covers in This Series
N/A  Changeling Dream by Dani Harper 

Series: Changeling #2 Date/Publisher: June 28th 2011 by Kensington Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Wicked Scribes Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: What the holy hell is wrong with her back/chest? I cannot fathom how no one in the art department said: We can’t use this.  It looks like her heads on backwards.  It’s going to freak people out!”

Description:
N/A

Previous Covers in This Series
  Elemental Reality by Cesya Cuono 

Series: Elemental #1 Date/Publisher: 2011 by Revolution Publishing Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: The Bookologist Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: This is so pretty with the swirling rainbow colors.  The description in fairly vague, but I’m intrigued by the cover alone.

Description:

Drastic changes in Callie's life aren't unusual, but this time it's different. Now she's fighting to save her family while she adjusts to her new, supernatural reality. Life will never be the same. . . .

 

Previous Covers in This Series
N/A  Tighter by Adele Griffin 

Series: N/A Date/Publisher: May 10th 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: The Bookologist Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: This is just too bland and blurry to make any impact.

Description:

When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Brilliantly plotted, with startling twists, here is a thrilling page-turner from the award-winning Adele Griffin

 

Previous Covers in This Series
N/A  Damned by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie 

Series: Crusade #2 Date/Publisher: August 30th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: /- LA FEMME READERS –/ Author Comments: N/A Abigail’s Thoughts: Apologies for the small cover art, I could not find anything bigger.  But I do like the change over to one figure that they’ve used in the redesign of book one and now book two.

Description:
N/A

Previous Covers in This Series
 

And my picks for this week’s Best & Worst…

Best Cover	Worst Cover

 What do you think?  Do you agree with my picks? Which are your Best and Worst covers from this week?