Today we have a new variety of Cover Art Coverage to share, as we compare and contrast the cover art of familiar books around the globe.  Rather than thumbs up and down, Abigail and I have picked our favorites and I hope you do, too! 




 

 

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?

*This title will be released on May 24, 2011*

Title: Blood Magic Author: Tessa Gratton Series: Blood Journals #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Amazon Vine Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 24, 2011) ISBN-10: 0375867333 ISBN-13: 978-0375867330 Sexual Content: Kissing and mild sensuality. Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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Description

This page-turning debut novel will entice fans who like their paranormal romances dark and disturbing. It's a natural next-read for fans of Stephanie Meyer, Carrie Jones, and Becca Fitzpatrick. But instead of mythical creatures, blood magic has everything to do with primal human desires like power, wealth, and immortality.

Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.

Review

Author Tessa Gratton is a member of the illustrious Merry Sisters of Fate writing group (which includes Maggie Steifvater and Brenna Yovanoff), so before even cracking the cover of her debut BLOOD MAGIC, I expected the writing to be lovely, the romance bittersweet, and the emotional payoff to be huge.  Check, check, and check!  But I was also pleasantly surprised to find a chilling mystery and a villain so believably evil, that my blood boiled while reading.

The chapters alternate points of view between Silla, newly orphaned and living with the horrible aftermath of her parent’s alleged murder-suicide, and Nick, returning to the family home left to him by his grandfather with his father and despised new stepmother.  There are also sporadic journal entries from a magic user that spans the 20th century and serves to connect the mystery to modern day.  All three perspectives, especially Nick’s, are distinctive and feel real enough that I think magic may actually have been used to trap real people in these pages.  As impressed as I was with the characterizations, it was the love story that stole my heart.

The romance between Silla and Nick is swift and all consuming.  It’s one of those instant attraction scenarios that actually works.  And the more time they spent together, the deeper that attraction grew until it bloomed into something so beautiful I almost couldn’t stand to look at it.

BLOOD MAGIC is an amazingly powerful debut about love and loss and the relationships that define lives.  There is beautiful and deadly magic in the story and equally bewitching writing.  These are characters I won’t soon forget and can only hope that Gratton chooses to write more about them.  For now, I’ll have to be content with news about THE BLOOD KEEPER, a stand-alone companion novel to BLOOD MAGIC, “about crows, sacrifice, and yes, kissing” that will be published in Summer 2012.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Heaven, Hell and Purgatory The Book Smugglers Teen Book Fanatics