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Cover Reveal

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Not long ago, Becky Wade revealed her wonderful new cover here on this blog. And since Becky and I have books releasing about the same time next year, I thought it would be fun to follow in her footsteps.

This cover design takes me in a slightly different direction than most of my previous covers. My covers have been known for creating a scene, as if someone had taken a snapshot from a page in my story and captured it in visual format. I love that style (especially when I can manage to get my hero on the cover somewhere – ha!), but for reasons that will soon become clear, that style just wouldn’t work for this story.

You might recall a previous post I did when I asked for help in coming up with title ideas for this book. (Notice that my publisher did settle on one of the choices we discussed in that post. Yay!) I introduced my heroine to you, Evangeline Hamilton. A young woman with a big heart and two impossible to ignore mismatched eyes. Eva has heterochromia. This is a huge part of her identity and plays a significant role in the story. Plus it’s just a cool character trait. So, I needed a cover that would offer a close-up on Eva in order to highlight her eyes. This wouldn’t be possible with my current cover style. So we changed things up a bit.

I have to say that I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Her eyes are front and center and immediately noticeable. The art director has mentioned that he might work with intensifying the colors of the eyes a bit more to fit the dramatic eye color I had envisioned. I hope he does, but even if that doesn’t come about, this still looks like Evangeline to me.

Perhaps because my covers are usually so stylized, it’s rare for me to see more than one iteration of a cover before the team makes their decision. But this time, they were torn between two final options and allowed me to weigh in.

Here is the other version they offered:

Same model, different pose, different clothing. I decided that I liked the first one better. Eva’s eyes were much more noticeable in the first where she faced the camera more directly. And while the second pose gave the heroine more of a feisty, independent look, the first one captured Eva’s sweetness and kind heart. Plus the white blouse blended better with the clouds and the lacy title area.

Weren’t they clever to mimic the heterochromia in the title? I LOVE that!

The only thing I liked better about the second option was having the word “Eye” blue in the title. I personally liked having the colored words in the title match the order of Eva’s eyes. And with the blue color popping more – the word “Eye” has more story significance than the word “More” so it made sense to me to have that be the word with the greatest pop. However, the art department felt doing so would skew the balance, so they decided to switch the word color order. They certainly know more about these things than I do, so I bow to their greater experience. Besides, they put my hero on the cover, so they get big props for that. Ha!

The book is now available for pre-order from Amazon. Other retailers should be getting it soon.

Here’s the blurb:

Many consider Evangeline Hamilton cursed. Orphaned at a young age and possessing a pair of mismatched eyes–one bright blue, the other dark brown–Eva has fought to find her way in a world that constantly rejects her. Yet the support of even one person can help overcome the world’s judgments, and Eva has two–Seth and Zach, two former orphans she now counts as brothers.

Seeking justice against the man who stole his birthright and destroyed his family, Logan Fowler arrives in 1880s Pecan Gap, Texas, to confront Zach Hamilton, the hardened criminal responsible for his father’s death. Only instead of finding a solitary ruthless gambler, he discovers a man not much older than himself with an unusual family. When Zach’s sister, Evangeline, insists on dousing Logan with sunshine every time their paths cross, Logan finds his quest completely derailed. Who is truly responsible for his lost legacy, and will restoring the past satisfy if it means forfeiting a future with Evangeline?

  • So what are your thoughts on the new look for my cover?
  • Which iteration do you like best?
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Karen Witemeyer

For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Karen is a multiple award-winning author and a firm believer in the power of happy endings. She is an avid cross-stitcher, tea drinker, and gospel hymn singer who makes her home in Abilene, TX with her heroic husband who vanquishes laundry dragons and dirty dish villains whenever she's on deadline. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.
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Comments

  1. GREAT cover, Karen! One of my nephews, a former U.S. Marine, has heterochromia. It is such a distinctive and COOL character trait, and I love how they really played it up on your cover. Great title too!

  3. I love the new cover. I think the front facing heroine is perfect for showing her eyes!!
    Different from your others, but perfect for this novel!

    • Thanks, Melissa. It is a different design from my other covers, but like you said it works for this one. I will be interested to see if they keep the same design features for the second book in the series or if they return to my usual style.

  4. I like the first one, too. Interesting idea for a character trait. It must be rare? I’ve never met anyone with it. Best wishes on your book launch, Karen.

    • It is fairly rare, Lynn. And with the historical setting, I was able to work in superstitions, too, to make life difficult for my poor heroine. She triumphs in the end, of course. 🙂

  5. Love the cover and agree the front facing view is much better along with the white blouse. I am excited for this book.

  6. Absolutely love the cover! I do think the first one is the best one. The way it highlights her eyes and the pose, with her hands slightly clasped, gives the appearance to me that she is dreaming of or looking into the scene below.

  7. I love the cover! The first one is my favorite because you can see her eyes better with her front facing. I also like the white blouse she is wearing in the first cover. The white does not distract from her face and the color of her eyes. I feel the second one did distract from her eye color. Thank you for the cover reveal. I can’t wait to read Evangeline’s story. Blessings!

  9. It’s such fun to get a peek at your new cover AND the runner-up cover, Karen. This two-image cover type is new for you — but I really like it. Very pretty!

    • Thanks, Becky. It is a different style, and at first the team was hesitant to move away from a design style that seemed to work well for me, but it was really important to capture the heroine’s eyes, and that just couldn’t be done without some kind of close up. This is the first in a short series, so I imagine the design style will stick for the next book, but maybe it will revert to my original style after that. Or who knows? Maybe I’ll go in an entirely different direction. We’ll see!

  10. Both covers are absolutely stunning, but I think I love the first one more. The model’s eyes really stand out in the first cover, and the parallel between the model’s eyes and the blue “More” and brown “Eye” really stand out. I really can’t wait to read this book!

  11. Love the cover! My daughter has heterochromia though hers is more subtle. One green eye, one hazel. We like to say she got one eye from me and the other from her father. 😉 (Though after some research, I suspect she specifically has central heterochromia in one eye which is what makes it look hazel compared to the other.) I’ve always loved her eyes.

    • How funny that you mention the inheritance thing with your daughter. That is EXACTLY the reasoning Evangeline’s brother uses to help her feel better about her mismatched eyes. (Who cares about the actual biology. LOL) One blue eye from her mother and one brown from her father. Since they are orphans, this helps her feel closer to the parents they lost and helps her see beauty in a condition others don’t understand.

      • Ha – that’s great! Since the day she was born, I’ve been excited for her eyes, knowing that they are a beautiful, rare quirk her future husband is going to adore one day.

  12. I love your new cover and everything about it. It is a different look for your books, but I think your team did an excellent job! I also love the premise if this book and your hero’s name…Fowler is my maiden name! Going to preorder this book right now!

  14. I like the first cover that shows the difference in the eye colors. Sounds like a very good read.

  15. I love the cover you choose for your newest series!! It’s perfect. I feel like it shows you’re changing & evolving as an author!
    I’m so excited to read “More Than Meets The Eye” when it’s released next year…let the countdown begin!! 😉

  16. I like the first one best! I wish they would have “eye” in blue too. I like that you can see both of her eyes better. The second one is nice too but I think the color of her shirt and the bow at her neck detract from her face.

    I can’t wait to read it!

  17. Looks like another fantastic book from you…Can’t wait to get it…you said it can be purchased at Amazon and should be released soon …Is there an official release date?Need to hit up my local Lifeway as soon as it comes out…Love the first cover and can’t wait to see how you handle the story…always love the history and humor worked into your story lines…:)

  18. I LOVE This!!! I like the first cover better than the second and I’m super excited to read this wonderful story!!

  20. I like the first one where she is facing more front. It’s really great. Makes her look so sweet!

  21. Congratulations on the great cover, Karen! I love it. I’m another who prefers the front-facing image BH chose to go with. I’m glad you explained the part about the colored words in the title. Like you, I wondered why they don’t match her eyes, but then I tapped into my scrapbooking knowledge. The model’s blue eye catches my eye and draws it right to the blue word on the title, which is where it should go, since it’s the first one.

  22. I love both covers but I think I would pick the first one too because you can see her eyes really good. I bet this book will be interesting.

  23. I LOVE this cover, Karen! It makes me want to grab the book and read! I guess I’ll have to wait a while, though. Thanks for the interesting post. Both covers are beautiful, but I like the chosen one best.

  24. Love all your books!!! And the new cover is amazing! I like the first one. Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to read it.

  25. Wonderful cover,Karen!! From the description of the story the first one suits it perfectly,and love the use of color in the title. 🙂 Will be looking forward to this story! Congratulations!!

  26. I love all your books Karen. I am sure this will be no exception. The cover is amazing. The front facing cover really does set off the eyes. Looking forward to reading the book.

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