Cover Awe: Flowers, Color Palettes, & More

It’s about that time for some Cover Awe. This is the opposite of Cover Snark; we talk about covers we like and why we like them!

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim. A gorgeous illustrated cover of a woman holding a navy and gold flag with a bird of prey behind her.

Elyse: YASSS!

Amanda: The movement is fantastic. Also…it’s “Project Runway meets Mulan.” I love both of those things!

Carrie: The movement, and also I love the balanced composition with the wing and the flag, and just in general the unique imagery!

Do You Feel It Too by Nicola Rendell. A shirtless dude standing in front of a wall of red and pink flowers.

Amanda: I don’t know what it is about this cover. But the fact that the shirtless hero is surrounded by a bunch of soft, delicate flowers has my attention.

Elyse: Feel the need for Benadryl maybe?

Amanda: Oh, I’ll smell those roses all day long.

Carrie: Are flowers in? All of a sudden we have a lot of flower covers. Which is great!

A Touch of Forever by Jo Goodman. A woman in a green waistcoat and a cowboy are standing in front of the mountains. The man is holding a lantern.

Sarah: Ok. His expression is a little awkward, but they have clothing on, she’s got a great waistcoat and jacket going on, and they’re not half naked and o-facing at each other.

Elyse: WAISTCOAT

Sarah: The previous two in the series are also photographed like that and I don’t know how I missed them.

Usually photography covers on historical bug me but I like these.

A Touch of Frost by Jo Goodman. A woman with a rifle at her side is standing next to a cowboy wearing a very fitted, gray henley shirt.

Amanda: I had to look up the other covers and here’s the first book in the series. I think this one is my favorite because you can see the butt of a rifle in the heroine’s hand. And the hero is looking at her like, “Go head, honey. Give ‘em what for.”

Promises and Primroses by Josi S. Kilpack. A soft navy background. There's a profile of a blonde woman with braided crown. She's wearing a pale green dress and is surrounded by adorable yellow flowers.

Sent in by K. Schmidt. Thanks so much!

Amanda: It’s a very tender cover.

Sarah: What beautiful restraint with the color palette, too.

That’s really beautiful and elegant.

Carrie: I love the colors.

Elyse: That is so beautiful and simple.

Comments are Closed

  1. Lobo says:

    Also a plus that the woman with waistcoat looks like Shannon Doherty.

  2. Julia says:

    Yes, those photo covers are particularly nice. I hate the Harlequin Historical photo covers showing the hero with stubble,especially since 90% of them are supposed to be dukes. Fer pete’s sake, get a shave! You have a valet to do that for you!

  3. LauraL says:

    Looks like the primroses on Promises and Primroses benefited from a good dose of fertilizer to this gardener! That said, that is one beautiful cover … the colors and image say it all.

    I like the heroines touching the heroes on the Jo Goodman covers.

  4. Jazzlet says:

    The Spin the Dawn cover is gorgeous.

    Question about American English, I often see ‘vest’ used in the context you’ve used ‘waistcoat’, is there a difference to you? To a Brit a vest is something you wear under your other clothes to keep warm and it always gives me pause when I see someone desribed as wearing a vest over a shirt or blouse.

  5. hng23 says:

    UK vest – USA undershirt
    USA vest – UK waistcoat

  6. Ren Benton says:

    Robin (@Tuphlos on Twitter) posted the cover of WAR GIRLS by Tochi Onyebuchi, which juxtaposes soft, misty pastel blue and a pop of lavender with a young Black woman who has a mech arm. It’s pretty and hardcore at the same time.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/Tuphlos/status/1112764253608370176

  7. EC Spurlock says:

    I feel kinda bad for the guy in that second cover. He looks like he’s just shoved his way through that rose hedge and is full of thorns and scratches. That’s one determined prince busting his way through to Sleeping Beauty’s place. But not smart enough to put on that shirt he’s carrying first. I mean, I realize you want to look good when you first meet her so you don’t want to be wearing a torn-up shirt, but is it any better to put on the shirt afterward and bleed all over it?

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