Cover Love 7: New Year, New Covers

Well, it's been a while since I recapped covers! Some of these garnered national tv spots, others tried to sneak in under the radar!

Let's just get this out of the way, shall we? I'm not loving this. In fact, I believe I may prefer the placeholder to the actual cover. I liked the way the original three cut the faces because I just do not love Clary's face (to be fair, I didn't love Simon or Jace's either; I also like the models for the first three better, even with their faces cut off). And I get that it's a metaphor, but the fact that Sebastian is all black and shadowy freaks me out. I do plan on buying this immediately and loving it, but this cover is a miss in my book.

City of Heavenly Fire
The Mortal Instruments #6

Cassandra Clare

Margaret K. McElderry (S&S)
May 26, 2014

Summary:

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.
I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

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This next one is another series book I'm excited about, but again, not wild about the cover. The Hundred Oak books have lovely matching photographic covers. The Sourcebooks team seems to be going in a different direction with this one, and I don't particularly care for that direction. However, again, I know I'll love what's inside. I only wish they'd use prettier wrapping!

Breathe, Annie, Breathe
Hundred Oaks #5

Miranda Kenneally
Sourcebooks Fire

July 1, 2014

Summary:

Eighteen-year-old Annie Winters can barely run a mile without wheezing. Still, she’s training to run the Music City Marathon in seven short months. Running is so not her thing, but she has to finish what her boyfriend started… before he died.

Annie feels guilt that she’s still alive and blames herself for his death. Plus, training gives her something to do, it’s a distraction. So is Jeremiah Brown.

He’s an adrenaline junkie who runs marathons backwards. He flirts with Annie on the trails and it makes her feel alive and happy and guilty all at the same time. She wants to both race into his arms and sprint in the opposite direction – because loving is a risk she’s not sure she’s ready to take again…

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I have another cover to UPDATE (not post for the first time)! I didn't care for the original cover of Synchrony by Cindy Ray Hale. In fact, I didn't care for it so much that I put it on my TTT for covers I'd most want to redesign. It's not a bad photo, per se, but it has the look of being amateur. For the record, that's a real couple in the picture. There's nothing wrong with it; it's just not a book cover. Then Cindy had a professional photoshoot for another version, and I'm happy to say I think this is a winner! It matches the first book, Destiny, so much better, and that's always a plus in my book!

Synchrony
Destiny #2

Cindy Ray Hale

2014

Summary:

When her parents discover she’s been sneaking out with Isaac Robinson, the forbidden Baptist boy, Mormon girl Destiny Clark decides it’s time to keep their relationship quiet. As their relationship moves to shakier ground, Destiny discovers that Isaac has a terrible secret, and she is left completely shattered.

The moment Destiny feels all hope is lost, Preston Nelson, her longtime church friend and Isaac's bitter rival, arrives like a beacon of light. It isn't long before two separate disasters strike for Preston and Destiny's best friend, Hannah. As Destiny helps them through their issues, she discovers that sometimes the best way to forget about your own problems is to help a friend in need.

Just as her heart begins to mend and her friendship with Preston begins to heat up, Isaac walks back into her life, threatening to rekindle the feelings she’d hoped to bury forever. Will Destiny and Preston find the synchrony they so desperately need, or will she find a way to forgive Isaac and return to his outstretched arms?

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This next one, I just find gorgeous. This cover has magic. It reminds me of a movie poster in the best way.

Orenda

Ruth Silver

Patchwork Press
2014

Summary:

Lil has a gift, one she never thought possible as she finds herself awake after a strange dream with the tell-tale sign that what she dreamt was in fact real. The dreamscape, was more than just a premonition it happened. She’d been momentarily tossed into another dimension. Where most would consider her crazy, not her best friend Bray.

In another reality, one similar and yet slightly different Willow has been kidnapped by the sorceress turned demon, Eilith. Rawlie, Willow’s friend and companion crosses to our universe for help and brings Lil into his world. Filled with frightening creatures and magical elements, Lil demands to go home, until she discovers Bray has been taken by Eilith as well. Unable to watch her best friend die, she joins forces with Rawlie, Jamie and the others to hunt down Eilith and rescue those they care about.

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This cover is darling, and I can't wait to read start this series!

Broken Hearts, Fences & Other Things to Mend
Broken Hearts & Revenge #1

Katie Finn
Feiwell & Friends

May 13, 2014

Summary:

Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?

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Not a bad cover, but it doesn't grab me. The summary is pretty interesting, though. I think I'll be checking this one out.

The Kiss of Deception
Remnant trilogy #1

Mary E. Pearson
Henry Holt

July 15, 2014

Summary:

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assasin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

So, what do you think of this brand-new batch of covers? Are there any you'll read just based on the cover? Let me know!