The cover for THE TAMING OF MEI LIN (excerpt), my September Undone release is here! First of all it’s gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. The colors are beautiful and the backdrop is sweeping.
Let the cover kibitz begin:
- I think the hero looks a bit like Daniel Dae Kim from Lost, don’t you? I do love a nice strong jawline.
- Time period: the clothing and hair isn’t Tang Dynasty. They had to take some liberties with that. The Undones are digitally published and so they create the covers from the Harlequin art bank, which leads me to the best part of the cover…
- The heroine and hero may look very familiar because they also graced the cover of my favorite Harlequin Blaze, THE CONCUBINE by Jade Lee. Perhaps her lovers had met before in a previous life hundreds of years earlier in the Tang Dynasty? They were simply fated to meet again and fall in love eternally…
Cover models get reused all the time. I’m just tickled pink that Jade’s models reappear on my cover. I’ll always associate them with THE CONCUBINE, which is sitting proudly on my keeper shelf.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 04:55:34
The hero totally looks like Daniel! And he’s hawt! But I am kind of snickering about the cover reissue. September can’t come soon enough. 🙂
Jul 13, 2010 @ 05:08:14
Don’t you reach a special level of romance writerdom when your cover gets bogarted?
Jul 13, 2010 @ 05:20:56
Hmm, how steamy is this story going to be? I want to read it, but if it’s too R-rated…
Jul 13, 2010 @ 05:50:02
Well, I can’t lie Rita. It’s steamier than Butterfly Swords as is typical of the Undone line. I think the steaminess is more in the emotional tension than the physical description, but I don’t want anyone to be shocked or disappointed. I don’t know what rating I’d give it. I’d say there’s more words devoted to fighting then to the umm…you know…
Well, that’s intriguingly vague, don’t you think? It’s definitely a romance and sexy and actiony with sword fighting and honor and kissing in between. 🙂
Jul 13, 2010 @ 05:56:35
LOVE.IT.
Funny, I hadn’t scrolled down yet and I thought Wow he looks a lot like Daniel Dae Kim…
Thrilled for you – you’re two for two on your covers being awesome.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 06:10:24
Katrina – Funny that you thought so too about Daniel. 🙂
I’m so thrilled about both the covers. I’ve been lucky, very, very lucky. I could just hug the HQN art department about now if I could get to them.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 06:24:50
That is absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 06:53:04
haha, okay, I think I can read it then. Just didn’t want to get an NC-17 ‘splosion of physical description + euphanisms. Looking forward to it!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 07:06:05
The art dept must love you as this is your second cover that’s ROCKED! Congrats. I thought, gee, he looks familiar, then scrolled and there was my answer. Great colors, terrific tension already. As to rating? Your writing is A+ so whatever you do with sex/sexual tension will be a great read.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 07:26:16
It’s beautiful, Jeannie.
Rita, it definitely doesn’t go into the erotic romance lingo. It’s a beautiful story and about the heat level of a typical romance novel. Maybe a little steamier than most. 🙂
Jul 13, 2010 @ 07:34:01
WOW. I can’t get over what great art karma you’ve got. That is STUNNING. And Asian. Hot DAWG.
Congratulations and cannot wait to read these!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 08:20:09
Excellent reusage and damn hot!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 08:37:34
I love that they were recycled…you could write a whole new book from that inspiration. Love it!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 08:40:57
Wow! The cover is GORGEOUS! The colors lend to a warm, romantic “evening in front of the fireplace” feeling. Very sensual.
So glad you got your “clinch” 🙂 Can’t wait to read this!
Congrats!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 08:48:29
Gwennie, you don’t know it yet, but you may have just given me the inspiration I needed.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 09:01:00
That is a great cover! Woohoo!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 10:27:22
Amanda Berry: Thanks for the reassurance! I’m not a regular Romance reader…when I try, I usually grab something random that has scenery or just a face, maybe a person running into a doorway, etc. It’s run the gamut of very sweet to lol-tastic explicit, so I no longer have any idea what to expect!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 12:12:13
I love it!
Jul 13, 2010 @ 12:44:30
that is a beautiful image! I kind of want the shirt he is wearing though…its my kind of blue you know?
Jul 13, 2010 @ 13:14:24
So beautiful, Jeannie! Congrat! 🙂
Jul 13, 2010 @ 15:15:46
Yep, Jeannie, the cover gods are goooood to you 🙂
Rich, mysterious, inviting…
I never watched ‘Lost’ so I didn’t identify the hero with anyone else–I just thought he was luscious.
Can’t wait to read it!!
Jul 14, 2010 @ 03:08:55
Lovely cover, Jeannie. I do hope that Harlequin has more than one image of an Asian couple to choose from, though? 😉
Jul 14, 2010 @ 04:40:46
Barbara – The cover gods have been very good. The hero is quite nice. 🙂
Jamie – Hopefully there will be more in the future!
Jul 20, 2010 @ 09:12:23
Love love love!!!!