Have the Wenches got a Saint Paddy's Day surprise for you! Keep reading ... and get out your sunglasses - you're about to be dazzled!!
First and foremost - Happy Saint Patrick's Day to one and all! It's a fine day for the wearin' o' the green for good luck! If you have Irish blood in you, the luck and the green will bring good fortune your way today (and if you don't have Irish blood, the green will bring luck to you too, for the Irish are not only a lucky but a generous sort!). So enjoy the day with some green clothing, Celtic jewelry, Celtic music, green beer, Irish stew, colcannon, shamrock cookies and what-all else reminds you of Ireland. Being more than half Irish (and loving green), I have to say that March 17 is a particular favorite holiday of mine.
The Wenches have found a great way to celebrate today -- the generous cover gods have smiled upon us lately at Word Wenches, and some of us have received beautiful new covers for upcoming books! We'd like to share the good luck and the beauteousness with you -- here we go ... we hope you enjoy this sneak preview!
Patricia Rice, The Wicked Wyckerly, Signet/Eclipse, July 2010
In
Regency society the best hope for sustaining the family fortune is to breed “an
heir and a spare.” But if the heir claims the title and all the wealth,
what’s the spare to do?
Inheriting a bankrupt earldom and acquiring a hoydenish five-year-old daughter, John Fitzhugh Wyckerly does what any self-respecting gambler would do ... he hunts for a wealthy wife.
As the sole remaining heir to the Earl of Daventry, battle weary Major Alexander Randall knows his duty: find a demure, ladylike wife and sire a son. But the woman who haunts his imagination is Julia Bancroft—a widowed village midwife with shattering secrets that thrust her into Randall’s protection.
Though a union with the handsome, enigmatic major she barely knows offers safety, Julia fears she can never trust any man again. But as passion slowly warms her damaged heart, she starts to hope that perhaps a Lost Lord can teach her what a true marriage can be…
Nicola Cornick, Confessions of a Duchess, MIRA Books, June 2010Laura, Dowager Duchess of Cole, has sworn never to marry again. But the arrival of Dexter Anstruther, the man with whom she once shared one forbidden night of passion, throws her plans and her heart into turmoil...
Jo Beverley, The Secret Duke, Signet, April 2010
A Georgian romance:
His secrets could break her heart, but her own could cost her life...
Cara Elliott, To Sin With A Scoundrel & To Surrender With a Rogue
Because of my graphic design background, I think I tend to annoy art
departments. Whenever I am shown cover sketches, I offer LOTS of
detailed suggestions, complete with color swatches asking (quite
politely, I might add) for tiny changes in hue . . . Most of the time,
I'm politely ignored. However, I was quite delighted with the new cover for my Cara Elliott launch, To Sin With A Scoundrel.
I love the simple, striking image of the couple, as well as the colors
(and I must say, they did adjust the headline color, which I thought
was lovely of them!)
The upcoming June cover for To Surrender To A Rogue is very pretty too, though I would have liked to see the figures a little larger . . . see, I told you was a pain!
And here's my own new cover ...
Susan Fraser King, Queen Hereafter: A Novel of Margaret of Scotland, Crown/Random House hardcover, December 2010
A Saxon princess in need of sanctuary--and a roughshod king in need of a bride...
Shipwrecked on a Scottish shore while fleeing the enemy, the Saxon royal family must beg protection from the powerful, brutish King Malcolm Canmore, who bargains his help for the chance to found a dynasty. Soon a foreign queen in a strange land, Margaret must learn quickly who is friend and who is foe in an era where trust is a dangerous thing...and her own courage is the key to all she could ever desire...
There's the lot of the new Wenchly covers for now (more gorgeous new covers in the works!). As you can see, our cover karma is in pretty good shape just now! We hope you'll look for these in bookstores starting soon . . .
And may the lovely luck o' the Irish be with you today and always!
Susan