02 July 2012

Great covers

It's that time of the year again, when the results of Cover Cafe's cover contest come in. This year, since the winner is on a book by four of my favorite authors, I thought I would start with the paranormal category.

First place:
 There is something very evocative about this cover, the way his wings wrap to embrace her, the drape of the cloth..  there is a great sense of connection between the characters.

Few other comments:
Dina said: “AR is always my favorite category since the art work is consistently good. I was drawn to a few of these covers, but kept coming back to AoD. I usually don't like being given a visual of what the characters look like, but in this case the Pre-Raphaelite feel of the artwork made a strong impression on me.”

Kara P.: “When every cover these days seems to be going for the ultra-photoshopped photograph look, this cover has a painterly feel.”

Sandy: “I can just feel all the sensations going on in this cover - his lips, his breath, his hands, and his wings. Soft and rough and oh-so-sensual all at the same time.”

2nd Place:
This was actually my favorite cover, although is was a very close call. I love the feeling of magic between these two.

Cover Cafe's Katherine voted for this cover: “The cover is beautiful and I love the mix of light and shadow. My favorite part is the speckling of lights. It almost looks like the lights are are twinkling. The sweet embrace of the couple makes the cover look romantic and the twinkling lights make it look magical. This cover is fresh, romantic, and magical. What more could you ask for?”

Malvina said: “Gorgeously romantic. That's what it's still all about, isn't it? Romance? Lovely kiss, lovely sparkles all around them.”
Yuri: “One Thousand Kisses' is a lovely image, really sweet and romantic. I love that there is actually a couple on the cover and that the image matches the title so well.”

3rd place:
 This was another lovely cover, not quite as clearly a romance, but again something a bit magical about the gold dusk over the flower.

Cover Cafe's Christine voted for this cover: “The light from within, reflecting the light on the pearls got my attention. Even if half of her head is missing!!!”

Many voters loved the colors: Sue T. was one of them and said: “ I love the colors, the sparkles on her hand and the leaves twining about the title and authors name.” Linda L. was another: “Love the color and the use of the muted/hazy background with the dimension and the flower centered with the large title of the book with the vines--very lovely!”






4th & 5th place:
These two cover are both very nice and seen alone would probably catch my eye. The only trouble is seen together they look a bit samey.

4th: The colors in this cover also caught voters attention: Raeline G.: “I love the colors and the fancy scrolling, how it starts above and works into her dress.” Darcy B.: “Gorgeous colors and design. I can't stop staring at it.” Kim W.: “Gorgeous colors, love the artwork and the title - all combined make a compelling and eye-catching cover. Just lovely.”

5th:  Cover Cafe's Mary Alice voted for this cover and gave us this reason: “I get the sense that this woman is hovering between two worlds, and the evil world is winning.

6th place:
This cover had a wonderful emotional feel to it, my only trouble is I wasn't sure that emotion was romantic, it felt more like grief. I would pick this up, but I wouldn't feel like I was guaranteed a HEA. 

RRK: “I love the emotion portrayed in stone and that it does not look like any other cover I've seen lately.”

Tersia: “The cover is just perfect representation of the story within. Hauntingly sad”

More of the nominees here

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