COVER REVEAL: SWEET LEGACY

If you have been reading Tera Lynn Child's medusa trilogy, then you will be interested to see the cover reveal for the third book in the series, Sweet Legacy. This series sees teenage descendants of Medusa, triplets Gretchen, Grace and Greer, face their toughest test yet as the mythological and the modern collide in a fast-paced urban fantasy adventure. 

I love the modern feel of these covers, and in particular I love the blue/purple colours of Sweet Legacy. What do you think of the covers?

Book 2 in the series, Sweet Shadows is out this March and Sweet Legacy is publishing in the UK in September 2013. If you are yet to read the first in the series, Sweet Venom, you can read my review here.

And you should definitely check out the fab guest post by Tera Lynn Childs on Gretchen's Top 3 mythical creatures.

You can find Tera on Twitter or on her website.

TRAILER TUESDAY #6: THE LOST PRINCE, BROKEN AND DANCE OF SHADOWS

The purpose of my weekly trailer teasers is to highlight some fab books (and/or their related movies). Here are this week's trailers:

First up, isn't actually the trailer for a book, but I couldn't resist showing you. It is actually a trailer showing the behind the scenes of how the cover for The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa was made. It will be published by Mira Ink in January 2013. It's absolutely amazing what some people can do on Photoshop. Take a look:

Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

*****

Yesterday, the trailer A.E. Rought's Broken was unveiled (thanks to The Pewter Wolf for bringing it to my attention). Based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this looks set to be an interesting modern retelling. It will be published by Strange Chemistry on 8th January 2013.

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry's boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.

When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she's intrigued despite herself. He's an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely... familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel's.

The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there's something very wrong with Alex Franks. And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks' estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows.

*****

Having just read this next book, I was excited to excited to hear that the book trailer for Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black, was revealed on MTV's Hollywood Crush blog last week. Dance of Shadows will be published by Bloomsbury in February 2013.

One step into passion. Two steps into danger. Three steps and there's no going back...

Vanessa Adler isn't so sure she really belongs at the School of American Ballet. But dance runs in her family. It's been a part of life for as long as she can remember. Her grandmother and mother were prima ballerinas, and her older sister Margaret was, too. That is, until Margaret mysteriously disappeared from school three years ago. Vanessa is heir to the family's gift and the only person who can fulfill her sister's destiny. She has no choice.

But she never could have guessed how dangerous the school is. The infamous choreographer, one in which the school's dancers - prized for their beauty, grace, and discipline - become pawns in a world of darkness...

For extracts from Margaret's diary, fabulous giveaways and inside information about the book, become a Facebook fan today!

You can read my review for Dance of Shadows here, or you can watch the trailer below.

COVER REVEAL: EMILIE AND THE HOLLOW WORLD

The cover art for Martha Wells' forthcoming book Emilie and the Hollow World has been released. And it is looking pretty cool.

Emilie and the Hollow World will be released by Strange Chemistry in April 2013.

I love the map imagery and the steampunk feel it has. It makes me think of Phileas Fog! I'm so excited to read this :D In case you are too, here is the synopsis:

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

The cover art was produced by studio amazing15.

What are your thoughts? Love the cover?

COVER REVEAL: INSURGENT

Set for release on the 1st May 2012, the sequel to the ground breaking Divergent is set to be one of the most anticipated books of the year. HarperCollins have now exclusively revealed the fabulous cover look for Insurgent. This fantastic new cover will tie in with the new look for the paperback of Divergent, due for release on the 2nd February 2012. 

Personally I cannot wait for Insurgent to come out!

THE MAKING OF A BOOK COVER

As my partner Dani is such a wonderful beauty and fashion photographer (and I'm nosy enough to watch on his photo shoots), I really loved the blog MacKids recently posted on the making of book covers. They look at picking the model, props, shooting the model and selecting which image to use.

You can visit Dani Riot's website for a peek at his lovely work.

To see how the jacket of historical mystery The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines went from the first image to the full jacket....then visit MacKids blog.

NEW 'FOREVER' COVER ART

Thanks to 'Down the Rabbit Hole', I discovered that the new cover for Maggie Stiefvater's book 'Forever' has been unveiled. And it looks so cool. Well, this is the US version anyway.

I don't imagine the UK cover art will be quite as cool, but I'm still looking forward to it coming out.

What do you think of the new cover?

THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP

In order to find more book bloggers, I've decided to join The Book Blogger Hop. It is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books.

The Hop is a fantastic way to get your blog noticed more and visit some other cool blogs that you didn't know about before, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! If you want to join, visit Jenn at 'Crazy-for-Books'!!

This week's question is:

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Absolutely yes! Aesthetics are important...it's like food. Food should look good as well as taste good. Who doesn't fall in love with a gorgeously decadent french pastry while its still sat in the shop window?! Whilst a beautiful cover won't guarantee a good read (we all know the saying), it can certainly help you decide which book to read next. In most cases you will pick up the general feel of the book through the cover. You know if it's going to be a feel good summery book, or a dark thriller. If I'm in the mood for something that will give me a bit of a scare, I'm not going to pick up something all pink and flowery. A good cover draws you in, makes you want to find out more. Its the start of pulling you in. The start of the journey. It can be the start of a beautiful piece of work.

Here are some gorgeous starts to a book...

* Paranormalcy

* Fallen

* Matched

* Nevermore

What about you? What are your favourite covers?