Cover Awe: Going for Gold

We’re back with more Cover Awe, where we discuss covers that make us take notice. This “gold” theme was completely unplanned, but we noticed that several of the covers we were loving at SBTB HQ had golden elements.

Lady Eleanor's Seventh Suitor by Anna Bradley. Golden lights shine in the background, illuminating a large ballroom. The heroine stands in the center, looking over her shoulder. She's wearing a gorgeous deep pink dress.

Amanda: I love the colors on this.

Sarah: That is actually glowing. If I had transition lenses, i’d be wearing sunglasses now

Elyse: Oh! I love warm colors like this. This makes my eyes so happy.

CarrieS: Much color. Happy.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. A young woman is shrouded in shadows. There is one ray of light that illuminates half of her face and the axe she holds over her shoulder.

Amanda: Oh hello.

She looks like she’s about to fuck shit up.

Elyse: And I’m 100% here for it.

Sarah: Does she need someone to hold her axe when she’s not using it? I volunteer.

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli. In shades of black, white, and gray, a young woman from the nose down holds the flat of a dagger up to her lips. The title is in gold and gold sparkles rain down across the woman's face.

Elyse: Clearly I’m into covers that feature women and weapons. I love how this is like “I used a Lush glitter bath bomb earlier but also will still kill you.”

Amanda: I hope this is as glittery in person. Also…nothing makes me feel like more of a goddess than a Lush glitter bath bomb.

Sarah: I also volunteer to hold her weapons. You know. If she needs a hand.

CarrieS: I actually don’t like this one. Do not kiss your sword/dagger/whatever. Just don’t.

Amanda: I had middle-of-the-night thoughts about this cover. The position reminds me of a shushing motion when you put your finger up to your lips. But instead of a finger, she has a dagger. It gives me “I’m going to silence you forever” kind of vibe.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi. The background is a muted pink. In black and gray are a man and woman curled up on their sides facing away from one another. They're both looking at their phones. The title is in gold script across the center.

Amanda. I wonder how beautiful this would be in person. I think I need to check a bookstore…for research purposes.

Sarah: WOW

Elyse: I bought this book based entirely on the cover. I love the black lining without color. It’s so striking.

CarrieS: I like it because I feel like the cover instantly tells me exactly what the book is about.

Comments are Closed

  1. Ellie says:

    OMG that Anna Bradley cover. *swoon*

  2. KateB says:

    I want to read Sky in the Deep SO MUCH.

  3. Sandra says:

    I dunno. The first cover has a bit of Thomas Kincaid look going. All that light. The colors are pretty, but I am so tired of historical heroines running around with their clothes falling off. Especially in a public space.

  4. Kareni says:

    I’m wondering if the lower individual on Emergency Contact has lost a contact!

  5. LML says:

    The cover I see in a side advertisement here for Lady Gone Wicked is beautiful. Not that I think of it as an advertisement. To me the books along the side are “Look! A book you will probably enjoy.”

  6. Hazel says:

    The Anna Bradley cover has lovely colours, but that dress is most improbable. What period is this meant to be?

  7. Emily C says:

    Sky in the Deep called to mind 2017s Wonder Woman for me – particularly when Diana hides the sword in her dress. It’s “I’m beautiful, bad ass and hiding a secret”.
    But Emergency Contact- wow. I immediately clicked on it, it just grabbed me to know more. And while that’s really not my genre (YA or NA I guess) the cover is striking and If I was about 20years younger I’d want it on my wall in my college apartment.

  8. LOVE Anna Bradley’s cover!

  9. Kate says:

    @LML, the sidebar cover that keeps distracting me is The Sins of Lord Lockwood. I’m worried that the heroine has a fever.

  10. I love all these covers too … BUT the painting in the background of the Anna Bradley cover – it’s not the Duke of Wellington, at least not a portrait I can find (and the red fur-lined cape isn’t in any of his portraits that I can find). Can someone identify it for me, or is it just a composite or figment of the cover artist’s imagination? I’ll be thinking about it and making random searches for days if someone else can’t solve it.

    Thank you!

  11. Kat says:

    The Anna Bradley cover is nearly the same as the cover for Maya Rodale’s Chasing Lady Amelia, though the Rodale version is less golden: http://www.mayarodale.com/chasing-lady-amelia/

  12. Joy says:

    There is an amazing resemblance between the Anna Bradley and Maya Rodale covers. I’m wondering if they use a generic model and setting and then color and adapt the backgrounds. Rodale was published by Avon in 2016. Bradley was published in 2017 by Lyrical Publisheing (Kensington Press).

    Look at the back of the gown. One is bare and the other is filled in but the right hand is the same on both covers. The pose and the position of the shoulders and other aspects seem very similar with just the background edited.

  13. LMC says:

    Good catch, Kat!

    It love the Emergency Contact cover. Great drawing, composition and minimal use of color!

  14. Vasha says:

    @PetiteJ: You’re right. That’s hilarious! For a book set in England in 1815 to feature a portrait of a French Emperor, even if it’s one who wouldn’t be crowned for another four decades… I think there ought to be a cover snark edition devoted to anachronisms and historical incongruities. Everyone send in your examples.

  15. THANK YOU on the portrait ID! It is Napoleon the Third indeed! I had already been searching through the Apsley House on line stuff and zooming on the photos to see the paintings in the background, and trying searches that kept giving me various Dukes and Prince George portraits with the red fur cloak, but they were all much less slender and more jowly. Thank you for finding this! And I can indeed laugh about the incongruity.

    I do love having the detailed background, thought. It is superb.

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