#AuthorInterview: David Blixt, author of Master of Verona

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author David Blixt to Flashlight Commentary to discuss book one in the Star-Cross'd series, The Master of Verona.

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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary David. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about The Master of Verona.
Delighted to be here. This novel was recently called “Romeo & Juliet meets Game Of Thrones”. I hope it’s not quite that bleak, though combining characters from Shakespeare’s Italian plays with the real people of Dante’s time, things aren’t always going to end well. Paradise beckons, but first you have to go through Hell.

At risk of sounding impertinent, where did you find this story? Did it strike like lightening out nowhere or was is something that came to you over time? 
Like all great ideas, it came to me in the shower. I was about to direct Romeo & Juliet, and the idea of the feud’s beginning leapt out of my head like Athena, fully-formed and armed. It was only later, diving deep into the research, did I find that Dante mentions the Capulet-Montague feud in the Divine Comedy. Which means that Dante was in Verona during the birth of the feud. So was Giotto. So, a little later, was Petrarch. The feud became a thread in a larger tapestry of the birth of the Renaissance in Italy.

The Master of Verona was originally published ten years ago, but you recently revisited the novel to record the audiobook. How did it feel to immerse yourself in this story after so long?
Surreal, both as author and actor. I can’t count the number of times I paused in the middle of some really long sentence to say, “Who wrote this?” The happy discovery was how much I enjoyed the story, especially the characters. Finding their voices was a real challenge, in a good way. There were also several things I had forgotten were in there, little allusions and nods to plays and poems, historical events and figures. And I was able to cut a little excess verbiage from the previous edition, so that this one flows better. A book is never finished, only published.

The Master of Verona brings together the characters from Shakespeare's Italian plays with the real people from Dante's time. Was it difficult to combine the two? 
Actually, it took several running starts. I kept trying to write from the point of view of Shakespeare’s characters, but that felt trite. The lynchpin ended up being Dante’s son, Pietro. A very real person, with some solid facts about his life, yet with no real timeline for his early years. Through him I was able to link the historical and fictional characters. Right away he becomes friends with young Capulet and Montague, while at the same time he’s brought into the confidence of Dante’s patron, Cangrande della Scala, the titular master of Verona.

Do you have a favorite scene in The Master of Verona? 
Two. I very much like the duel in the middle of the book, where Pietro’s sense of justice gets him in far over his head. And the final scene, which was as surprising to me as it has been to readers. No spoilers, but I’ve had friends show up at my house to curse at me after reading Chapter 40. I really like surprises, but only if they’re earned. Since that scene surprised me when I wrote it, the shock seems very honest.

Is there a character you felt particularly close to while writing The Master of Verona? 
To this day Pietro remains my favorite character to write. I’ve been asked how much of me is in him. The answer is, none. Pietro is a far better man than I am. His sense of honor and need for justice are unfailing and unfaltering – and often unfortunate. Rarely is he rewarded for his dogged perseverance.

The other character that’s always a joy to write is Cangrande himself. Go to Verona and he still permeates the city. Dante dedicated Paradiso to him. Patron of the arts, clever warrior, skilled diplomat, famous lover - he was a figure for fiction because he’s larger than life. All the events in the book are real, he did those things. Creating a complex character out of someone so romantic and dashing was a huge challenge. It’s hard not to fall into hero-worship. Pietro certainly does. But if I’m following Shakespeare’s rules, there has to be a tragic flaw…

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on in The Master of Verona?
Oh, there are always rabbit-holes to dive down. The first draft was significantly longer, and my editor gave me one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard: “David, you’ve confused what a writer needs to know to write a book with what a reader needs to know to read it, which is much less.” The research is so fun for the author, but sharing that research often bogs down the story itself. So I cut 100,000 words from the novel – just about a third. Some of the neat facts I held on to for the sequels, but most of it just vanished.

If you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you invite out and why? 
Are we talking the historical people, or the ones I’ve created on the page? I’d love to chat with Dante, no matter what. Cangrande’s wife would be fascinating to talk to. And the fictional Moorish astrologer, Tharwat al-Dhaamin, would be my chosen companion for dinner. He’s a mystery to me, even though I invented him.

If you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of The Master of Verona, who would you hire? 
Hm. Ten years ago, Hugh Jackman would have been Cangrande, hands down. Today? Chris Hemsworth. And so many of the leads are in their teens, making the cast change over every five years. So here goes:

Cangrande della Scala: Chris Hemsworth
Pietro di Dante: David Mazouz
Katerina della Scala: Cate Blanchett
Dante Alighieri: Michael Gambon
Mariotto Montecchio: Logan Lerman
Antony Capulletto: Leo Howard
Gianozza della Bella: Mackenzie Foy
Antonia Alighieri: Millie Bobbie Brown
Tharwat al-Dhaamin: Morgan Freeman
Vinciguerra da San Bonifacio: Brendan Gleeson
Marsilio da Carrara: Dakota Goyo

What do you hope readers take from their experience of The Master of Verona? 
A sense of awe. A sense of scope. And a deep desire to read both Romeo & Juliet and The Divine Comedy (as well as come back for the next novel in the series, Voice of the Falconer).

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David Blixt‘s work is consistently described as “intricate,” “taut,” and “breathtaking.” A writer of Historical Fiction, his novels span the early Roman Empire (the COLOSSUS series, his play EVE OF IDES) to early Renaissance Italy (the STAR-CROSS’D series) up through the Elizabethan era (his delightful espionage comedy HER MAJESTY’S WILL, starring Will Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe as inept spies). His novels combine a love of the theatre with a deep respect for the quirks and passions of history. 

Living in Chicago with his wife and two children, he describes himself as “actor, author, father, husband. In reverse order.”

Website   |   Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Goodreads

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#CoverCliche: A Quiet Moment

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting. 

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Out of the courts of twelfth-century England strode the legendary figure of Richard of England - leading his knights onto the Saracen battlefields - inspired by a vision of the Holy Land.

Here is the story of the Soldier-King and the Third Crusade - of his strange, ill-fated union with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre - of his mother, the She-Wolf, Eleanor of Aquitaine who loved her son with a frantic, possessive pride. And above all, here is the story of the minstrel whose life was linked with that of the King - the story of Blondel - the lute player...

Sam Thomas takes readers back to Puritan England with midwife Bridget Hodgson, hailed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as "one of the most fascinating detectives in contemporary mystery fiction."

Winter has come to the city of York, and with it the threat of witchcraft. As women and children sicken and die, midwife Bridget Hodgson is pulled against her will into a full-scale witch-hunt that threatens to devour all in its path, guilty and innocent alike.

Bridget—accompanied once again by her deputy Martha Hawkins and her nephew Will Hodgson—finds herself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse against the most dangerous men in York, as well as her sworn enemy Rebecca Hooke. As the trials begin, and the noose begins to tighten around her neck, Bridget must answer the question: How far will she go to protect the people she loves?

Eleanor is young, high-spirited, supremely intelligent, heiress to the vast Duchy of Aquitaine - at a time when a woman's value was measured in terms of wealth. Her vivid leadership inspired and dazzled those about her. And yet, born to rule, she was continually repressed and threatened by the men who overshadowed her life. This is the story of a brilliant, medieval figure - of a princess who led her own knights to the Crusades, who was bride to two kings and mother of Richard the Lion Heart. It is the rich, incredible story of Eleanor Of Aquitaine.?

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

#CoverCliche: Eyes on the Sky

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting. 

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Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn't stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy's gone now, and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her.

When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots - and Ida suddenly sees a way to fly as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed in the Pacific. But even the WASP won't accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make a difficult choice of "passing," of pretending to be white to be accepted into the program. Hiding one's racial heritage, denying one's family, denying one's self is a heavy burden. And while Ida Mae chases her dream, she must also decide who it is she really wants to be.

Former wartime ace James Harrington has his sights set on being the first person to fly from Britain to Australia in a light aircraft.  With so much desert and ocean to cross, he's been told it can't be done.

Sarah Carson can help make his dream a reality, but only if he takes her with him.  So begins the flying adventure of a lifetime, until halfway across the world, the plane disappears.  Where in the world are they?  And what is really going on?

From Australia's master of the historical blockbuster comes this highly entertaining adventure-romance about an ambitious and heroic pair.  Glory Girl is an unforgettable story about the risks and sacrifices made for a chance of glory.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

#CoverCliché: Barrymore

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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Ten-year-old Helen and her summer guardian, Flora, are isolated together in Helen's decaying family house while her father is doing secret war work in Oak Ridge during the final months of World War II. At three Helen lost her mother and the beloved grandmother who raised her has just died. A fiercely imaginative child, Helen is desperate to keep her house intact with all its ghosts and stories. Flora, her late mother's twenty-two-year old first cousin, who cries at the drop of a hat, is ardently determined to do her best for Helen. Their relationship and its fallout, played against a backdrop of a lost America will haunt Helen for the rest of her life.

This darkly beautiful novel about a child and a caretaker in isolation evokes shades of The Turn of the Screw and also harks back to Godwin's memorable novel of growing up, The Finishing School. With its house on top of a mountain and a child who may be a bomb that will one day go off, Flora tells a story of love, regret, and the things we can't undo. It will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

Anne Frank has long been a symbol of bravery and hope, but there were two sisters hidden in the annex, two young Jewish girls, one a cultural icon made famous by her published diary and the other, nearly forgotten.

In the spring of 1959, The Diary of Anne Frank has just come to the silver screen to great acclaim, and a young woman named Margie Franklin is working in Philadelphia as a secretary at a Jewish law firm. On the surface she lives a quiet life, but Margie has a secret: a life she once lived, a past and a religion she has denied, and a family and a country she left behind.

Margie Franklin is really Margot Frank, older sister of Anne, who did not die in Bergen-Belsen as reported, but who instead escaped the Nazis for America. But now, as her sister becomes a global icon, Margie’s carefully constructed American life begins to fall apart. A new relationship threatens to overtake the young love that sustained her during the war, and her past and present begin to collide. Margie is forced to come to terms with Margot, with the people she loved, and with a life swept up into the course of history. 

Emily Emerson is used to being alone; her dad ran out on the family when she was a just a kid, her mom died when she was seventeen, and her beloved grandmother has just passed away as well. But when she’s laid off from her reporting job, she finds herself completely at sea…until the day she receives a beautiful, haunting painting of a young woman standing at the edge of a sugarcane field under a violet sky. That woman is recognizable as her grandmother—and the painting arrived with no identification other than a handwritten note saying, “He always loved her.”

Emily is hungry for roots and family, so she begins to dig. And as she does, she uncovers a fascinating era in American history. Her trail leads her to the POW internment camps of Florida, where German prisoners worked for American farmers...and sometimes fell in love with American women. But how does this all connect to the painting? The answer to that question will take Emily on a road that leads from the sweltering Everglades to Munich, Germany and back to the Atlanta art scene before she’s done.

Along the way, she finds herself tempted to tear down her carefully tended walls at last; she’s seeing another side of her father, and a new angle on her painful family history. But she still has secrets, ones she’s been keeping locked inside for years. Will this journey bring her the strength to confront them at last?

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

#CoverCliché: Louise de Kérouaille

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare manages, by using her wits, beauty, and courage, to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England-that of favorite mistress of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. From whores and highwaymen to courtiers and noblemen, from events such as the Great Plague and the Fire of London to the intimate passions of ordinary-and extraordinary-men and women, Amber experiences it all. But throughout her trials and escapades, she remains, in her heart, true to the one man she really loves, the one man she can never have.

Frequently compared to Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber is the other great historical romance, outselling every other American novel of the 1940s-despite being banned in Boston for its sheer sexiness. A book to read and reread, this edition brings back to print an unforgettable romance and a timeless masterpiece.

From the author of The King's Favorite-a new novel based on a dazzling and decadent true story of Restoration England.

The daughter of a poor nobleman, Louise leaves the French countryside for the court of King Louis XIV, where she must not only please the tastes of the jaded king, but serve as a spy for France. With few friends, many rivals, and ever-shifting loyalties, Louise learns the perils of her new role. Yet she is too ambitious to be a pawn in the intrigues of others. With the promise of riches, power, and even the love of a king, Louise creates her own destiny in a dance of intrigue between two monarchs-and two countries.

'I had so long habituated myself to a Life of Vice, that really it appear'd to be no Vice to me'

Beautiful, proud Roxana is terrified of being poor. When her foolish husband leaves her penniless with five children, she must choose between being a virtuous beggar or a rich whore. Embarking on a career as a courtesan and kept woman, the glamour of her new existence soon becomes too enticing and Roxana passes from man to man in order to maintain her lavish society parties, luxurious clothes and amassed wealth. But this life comes at a cost, and she is fatally torn between the sinful prosperity she has become used to and the respectability she craves. A vivid satire on a dissolute society, Roxana (1724) is a devastating evocation of the ways in which vanity and ambition can corrupt the human soul.

In his introduction, David Blewett discusses Defoe's literary career, his moral stance and his portrayal of his heroine's psychological turmoil and the social world she inhabits. This edition includes a chronology, bibliography, notes and a map of Roxana's London.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

Cover Cliché: Plunging V

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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For readers of The Paris Wife and Z comes a vivid novel full of drama, passion, tragedy, and beauty that stunningly imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel—the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman’s daughter who revolutionized fashion, built an international empire, and become one of the most influential and controversial figures of the twentieth century

Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to orphanage after their mother’s death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle’s exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.

Transforming herself into Coco—a seamstress and sometime torch singer—the petite brunette burns with ambition, an incandescence that draws a wealthy gentleman who will become the love of her life. She immerses herself in his world of money and luxury, discovering a freedom that sparks her creativity. But it is only when her lover takes her to Paris that Coco discovers her destiny.

Rejecting the frilly, corseted silhouette of the past, her sleek, minimalist styles reflect the youthful ease and confidence of the 1920s modern woman. As Coco’s reputation spreads, her couturier business explodes, taking her into rarefied society circles and bohemian salons. But her fame and fortune cannot save her from heartbreak as the years pass. And when Paris falls to the Nazis, Coco is forced to make choices that will haunt her.

An enthralling novel of an extraordinary woman who created the life she desired, Mademoiselle Chanel explores the inner world of a woman of staggering ambition whose strength, passion and artistic vision would become her trademark.

One summer night in 1930, Judge Joseph Crater steps into a New York City cab and is never heard from again. Behind this great man are three women, each with her own tale to tell: Stella, his fashionable wife, the picture of propriety; Maria, their steadfast maid, indebted to the judge; and Ritzi, his showgirl mistress, willing to seize any chance to break out of the chorus line.

As the twisted truth emerges, Ariel Lawhon’s wickedly entertaining debut mystery transports us into the smoky jazz clubs, the seedy backstage dressing rooms, and the shadowy streets beneath the Art Deco skyline.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

Cover Cliché: Echoes of the Past

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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June 1963, Clematis Cottage, Stoke St. Mary, Herefordshire

I am really not sure why I am writing this. A foolish whim by a foolish old lady and it will probably sit in a box unread and decay much like its writer when Death makes his careless decision.

But perhaps someone will find it. Someone will care enough to read and somehow I know that will happen.

April 2000, Clematis Cottage, Stoke St. Mary, Herefordshire

Tired of her life in London, freelance illustrator Rachel buys the beautiful but dilapidated Clematis Cottage and sets about creating the home of her dreams. But tucked away behind the water tank in the attic and left to gather dust for decades is an old biscuit tin containing letters, postcards and a diary. So much more than old scraps of paper, these are precious memories that tell the story of Henrietta Trenchard-Lewis, the love she lost in the Great War and the girl who was left behind.

Torn from her beloved Italy, Teresa is brought to America by her abusive husband, Nico. She finds the new world harsh to immigrants, especially women, but is determined to make a better future for her children and herself. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she devises ways to build a small fund that she hopes will bring eventual independence. However, she underestimates her husband's ruthlessness. Then fate brings her into the lives of a special family, and a special man, who offer both opportunities and new complications. However, Teresa never loses sight of her determination to become independent and to make her future travels first class.

London on 3 September 1939 is in upheaval. War is inevitable. Into this turmoil steps Kate Sheridan newly arrived from Ireland to live with her aunt and uncle and look for work. When she meets Flight Lieutenant Charlie Butler sparks fly, but he is a notorious womaniser. Should she ignore all the warnings and get involved with a ladies man whose life will be in daily danger?

Charlie Butler has no intention of getting involved with a woman. But when he meets Kate his resolve is shattered. Should he allow his heart to rule his head and fall for a nineteen-year-old Irish girl while there is a war to fight?

Private conflicts and personal doubts are soon overshadowed. Will the horrors of total war bring Kate and Charlie together or tear them apart?

After the gloomy memorial, the formerly pampered 1929 characters mourn the loss of Aryl Sullivan. Claire, now a pregnant widow, is too devastated to cope and withdraws from the group, delving into a deep depression. Caleb drowns his own sorrow in a bottle of whiskey, and Jonathan becomes obsessed with finding the true cause for the boat’s explosion. And Ava anxiously awaits the birth of their child.

As the family and friends come to grips with Aryl’s death, the struggle to survive both emotionally and financially strains everyone in different ways.

So it’s up to Maura to see them past the worst of it, but she faces setbacks of her own when complications arise in her pregnancy. The new sheriff, Marvin, is working both sides of the law and takes advantage of Caleb’s state, getting him involved in bootlegging that threatens the business and his family. A concerned Patrick tries to help him, but stubborn as a mule, Caleb won’t listen.

But the gears of life slowly start to move again, and new friends are made and old enemies return. Claire finds refuge in Gordon, a widower, and the two find a common bond, finally allowing her to move on and accept her new life.

Until she’s met with a shocking surprise.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

Cover Cliché: Emilia in the Rosegarden

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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One spring day, the Narrator of The Canterbury Tales rents a room at the Tabard Inn before he recommences his journey to Canterbury. That evening, a group of people arrive at the inn, all of whom are also going to Canterbury to receive the blessings of "the holy blissful martyr," St. Thomas à Becket. Calling themselves "pilgrims" because of their destination, they accept the Narrator into their company. The Narrator describes his newfound traveling companions.

The Host at the inn, Harry Bailey, suggests that, to make the trip to Canterbury pass more pleasantly, each member of the party tell two tales on the journey to Canterbury and two more tales on the journey back. The person who tells the best story will be rewarded with a sumptuous dinner paid for by the other members of the party. The Host decides to accompany the pilgrims to Canterbury and serve as the judge of the tales.

Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce by marrying the English king's beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales---and Llewelyn---Joanna must decide where her love and loyalties truly lie.

The turbulent clashes of two disparate worlds and the destinies of the individuals caught between them spring to life in this magnificent novel of power and passion, loyalty and lies. The book that began the trilogy that includes Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning, Here Be Dragons brings thirteenth-century England, France, and Wales to tangled, tempestuous life.

It is England, in the fourteenth century -- a time of plague, political unrest and the earliest stirrings of the Reformation. The printing press had yet to be invented, and books were rare and costly, painstakingly lettered by hand and illuminated with exquisite paintings. Finn is a master illuminator who works not only for the Church but also, in secret, for John Wycliffe of Oxford, who professes the radical idea that the Bible should be translated into English for everyone to read. Finn has another secret as well, one that leads him into danger when he meets Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, a widow struggling to protect her inheritance from the depredations of Church and Crown alike. Finn's alliance with Lady Kathryn will take us to the heart of what Barbara Tuchman once called "the calamitous fourteenth century."

Richly detailed and irresistibly compelling, Brenda Rickman Vantrease's The Illuminator is a glorious story of love, art, religion, and treachery at an extraordinary turning point in history.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

Cover Cliché: The Morally Questionable Green Hat

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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Newly engaged, Clive and Henrietta now begin the difficult task of meeting each other's family. Difficult because Clive has neglected to tell Henrietta that he is in fact the heir to the Howard estate and fortune, and Henrietta has just discovered that her mother has been hiding secrets about her past as well. When Clive brings Henrietta to the family estate to meet his parents, they are less than enthused about his impoverished intended. Left alone in this extravagant new world when Clive returns to the city, Henrietta finds herself more at home with the servants than his family, much to the disapproval of Mrs. Howard and soon gets caught up in the disappearance of an elderly servant's ring, not realizing that in doing so she has become part of a bigger, darker plot. As Clive and Henrietta attempt to discover the truth in the two very different worlds unraveling around them, they both begin to wonder: Are they meant for each other after all

Sweeping and panoramic, You Were There Before My Eyes is the epic and intimate story of a young woman who chafes at the stifling routine and tradition of her small, turn-of-the-century Italian village. When an opportunity presents itself for her to emigrate to America, her hunger for escape compels her to leave everything behind for the gleaming promises await her and her young husband in Mr. Ford’s factories.

Determine to survive, and perhaps even thrive, young Jane finds herself navigating not just a new language and country, but a world poised upon the edge of economic and social revolution—and war. As Jane searches for inner fulfillment while building young family, the tide of history ebbs and flows. From the chaos of Ellis Island to the melting pot of industrial Detroit, You Were There Before My Eyes spills over with colorful characters and vivid period details. Maria Riva paints an authentic portrait of immigrant America and poignantly captures the ever evolving nature of the American dream.

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth ...no matter where it leads.

In October 1932, at the tail end of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first presidential campaign, Eleanor Roosevelt took an overnight train from Potsdam to Albany with Lorena “Hick” Hickok, one of the top Associated Press reporters in the country. That train ride marked the beginning of an extraordinary relationship that would last the rest of Hick and Eleanor’s lives.

In Undiscovered Country, Kelly O’Connor McNees adroitly mixes fact and fiction to present an intimate portrait of the love that bloomed between these two women, hidden in plain sight. Using historical records (including the more than three thousand letters the pair exchanged over a span of thirty years), McNees portrays their relationship from their introduction as reporter and subject through their intense first meetings, their burgeoning affair, and the conflicts that arose as journalist Hick’s ethics were hopelessly compromised by her affection for the woman she was supposed to be covering.

A remarkable portrait of Depression-era America (including Hick and Eleanor’s work on the founding of Arthurdale, the federal housing project in West Virginia for homeless ex-miners), Undiscovered Country is thoroughly researched, highly readable, and beautifully subtle—an extraordinary portrayal of one of the greatest unknown love stories in American politics.

Ariel Lawhon, a rising star in historical suspense, unravels the extraordinary twists and turns in Anna Anderson's fifty-year battle to be recognized as Anastasia Romanov. Is she the beloved daughter, revered icon, and Russian grand duchess or is she an imposter, liar, and the thief of another woman's legacy?

Countless others have rendered their verdict. Now it is your turn.

Russia, July 17, 1918: Under direct orders from Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik secret police force Anastasia Romanov, along with the entire imperial family, into a damp basement in Siberia, where they face a merciless firing squad. None survive. At least that is what the executioners have always claimed.

Germany, February 17, 1920: A young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Anastasia Romanov is pulled shivering and senseless from a canal. Refusing to explain her presence in the freezing water or even acknowledge her rescuers, she is taken to the hospital where an examination reveals that her body is riddled with countless, horrific scars. When she finally does speak, this frightened, mysterious young woman claims to be the Russian grand duchess.

As rumors begin to circulate through European society that the youngest Romanov daughter has survived the massacre at Ekaterinburg, old enemies and new threats are awakened. With a narrative that is equal parts The Talented Mr. Ripley and Memento, Lawhon wades into the most psychologically complex and emotionally compelling territory: the nature of identity itself.

The question of who Anna Anderson is and what actually happened to Anastasia Romanov creates a saga that spans fifty years and touches three continents. This thrilling saga is every bit as moving and momentous as it is harrowing and twisted.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know. 

Cover Cliché: Faint-Hearted Femme

Sometimes, while browsing the virtual shelves on Amazon and Goodreads, I see jacket art that gives me a disconcerting sense of deja vu. I know I've not read the book, but I am equally certain I've seen its image somewhere before.

This phenomenon is what inspired Cover Clichés. Image recycling is fairly common as cover artists are often forced to work from a limited pool of stock images and copyright free material. The details vary cover to cover, but each boasts a certain similarity and I find comparing the finished designs quite interesting.

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The night holds no secrets for Sir Marcus Camberley now that he's free of the illness that threatened his life and there are no more vampires lurking in its shadows. So he's surprised to find himself in the middle of a small band of smugglers on Hampshire's quiet coastline. Even more surprising is the woman waiting to guide them on the beach. Mariah Dean is a no-nonsense, practically minded widow doing her best to help her neighbors and friends as best she can. Sex is the farthest thing from her mind until she runs into the talented lips of this strange gentleman. Seizing the opportunity, Mariah offers him one night in her bed. After all, if opportunity knocks, then it's only polite to answer the door. Of course, Mariah discovers to her chagrin that incredible sex can be rather addictive and gives rise to a whole new set of problems. Especially when her unexpected lover declares his intentions-and won't take "no" for an answer.

Lady Katherine Ellsworth lives a beautiful, dull country life in the midst of the Somerset moors. Her main concerns are country fayres and village intrigue. But when her cousin is murdered, Katherine soon learns that the killer has targeted her next. Walking upon the moors one day, she is attacked by a vicious man wielding a saber.

There is nothing for her to do but seek protection with her late cousin’s betrothed, Harold Rockfall, Duke of Highset. Harold Rockfall is a veteran of the wars in France, and has only returned to England to hunt his betrothed’s killer. But when he meets Katherine, he begins to wonder if he hadn’t picked the wrong cousin after all.

With the killer on the loose, Harry should be doing everything in his power to catch him. So why is it he never wants to leave Highwall Castle? Why is it he never wants to leave the intriguing and dangerous Lady Katherine Ellsworth?

An unfulfilled love.

A royal hunt that goes horribly wrong.

And an opportunity for a humble governess to save the man of her dreams and gain a royal title in the process.

Virginia Honeyfield has been the governess for Nicholas Willoughby, the Duke of Kent, for years. She's the only one who truly understands the shy, reticent Duke, and she stays on to become his administrator when they both come of age. Their love and attraction fails to come to fruition, though, because Virginia is a mere commoner.

But everything changes in the blink of an eye when Nicholas indulges in his favorite passion, hunting, and he's attacked by a wild boar. His injuries are severe, and suddenly circumstances dictate that Virginia is the only one who can come to his rescue.

Will she succeed? And will her efforts allow their longstanding love to be realized? Download this fast-moving Regency romance today and find out!

Tatiana Ashurst has a secret – one that she cannot afford to be known to Georgian English society. But Kit Vallentyn discovers her hidden ability to wield infinitely powerful magic… and saves her from inadvertently revealing it to everyone. Tatiana knows it is impossible for her to marry him. But how can she help herself from becoming fascinated by this handsome man, who seems to extend a spell over her more powerful than any she can conjure?

Kit is out for a wife. His instinct, however, is to go through the mere motions of searching, just to please his ambitious father who wants a big dowry from the marriage. But the one woman who he can’t get out of his mind is the twin sister of the one his father wants him to marry – the one who is plain, penniless, ineligible… and enchanting in more ways than one.

For Kit and Tatiana to weather the storm of their desires, they have to peel away the layers of all of their secrets, to discover the simple truth of their love.

The night Victoria Conrad runs away doesn’t turn out at all like she planned. After being accosted by two ruffians, she is rescued by the Earl of Carlisle’s coachmen and taken to his country house—only to discover she is his prisoner! The doors aren’t locked but the winter is severe, and she is prevented from walking to freedom by the snow. Horribly scarred from painful injuries, Alastair Saville returned from the war a broken and lonely man, the last heir to an earldom he doesn’t want. The previous earl and his son, Alastair’s uncle and cousin, perished aboard a ship lost in the channel, but it is the wrongful death of Alastair’s beloved sister that sets his misery afire and makes him seethe for revenge. Alastair kidnaps Victoria to prevent her marriage to Ellison Montgomery, heir to the Montgomery barony, whom he blames for his sister’s death. Alastair intends to bring the man to ruin through poverty and scandal, but once he has Victoria as his unwilling guest she ceases to serve as an anonymous tool in his quest for vengeance. She is vivacious, outspoken and alluring, and she brings light into Alastair’s shattered existence. But Alastair is a dying man, and has only these last few days to enjoy her company as he dreams about life as a man whole, and what might have been.

Angelica is a Dutch heiress on the run from a British Officer who has gone from would-be-lover to stalker. The mystery man who appears with an offer of escort from New York City to her home in Albany may not be exactly who he seems, but Angelica is desperate to escape. The journey they make upriver during the height of the Revolution is full of danger, for there are Indians, opposing armies and brigands along the way. The greatest danger, however, will be to her heart.

Henrietta Hawksley walks hesitantly to the cliff edge, staring down into the pitch dark cold sea and it’s crashing waves…could this be the answer to her predicament, a long leap off the edge into the murkiness below? Left pregnant by the scandalous Lord John Pembury, her character and good name and more importantly that of her fathers the Rev. Robert Hawksley soon to be in disrepair…this appeared to be Henrietta’s only escape, until she falls into the arms of The Duke of Templeton - William Pembury. Will Henrietta’s life change for the better and be saved from scandal, will she finish that deliberate walk to the cliff edge…or does she favour a different path? Find out what happens in this delightful clean regency romance read, that gives you the real comfort and warmth of an exquisite candlelit feast...

To save her true love, she must sacrifice her own heart.

Tessa Ryder's Gift, which allows her to take the form of anyone she touches, was invaluable to the British Army's secret Omega Group. The Peninsula War is over, the Omegas are disbanded, but she's learned of a plot to exterminate them—and free Napoleon.

Desperate to warn Sebastian Montague, one of the few remaining Omegas, Tessa takes on the guise of his ex-mistress. It's the only way she can face the man she loved. The man whose memory of her was telepathically wiped—at her request.

Sebastian knows a lie when he sees one, and it doesn't take long to strip the disguise of the unfamiliar woman he believes is his assassin. But before he can use his formidable Gift for illusion to wring the truth from her, bullets fly and they are both on the run.

Surrounded by traitors and spies, Tessa and Sebastian fight to thwart the scheme to plunge England back into the darkness of war. And, as their powerful attraction brings them closer and closer, Tessa fights to protect the man she still loves more than life—by keeping the secret of their shared history buried deep in her heart.

India Black uses her wit and wiles as both a madam and a spy, proving she’s the best there is when it comes to undercover work…

Drawn into intrigue by her lover Philip Barrett, India finds herself being used as a pawn to help him steal a valuable jewel. Turning the tables, she proves that India Black answers to no man, no matter how attractive he may be…

Determined to help her impoverished family, Elizabeth Canham accepts a position at Burndale Academy, an isolated girl's school filled with secrets and shadows. There she meets mysterious widower Griffin Fairfax, a man dogged by dark rumours, a man who both frightens and fascinates her.

But Beth has secrets of her own, nightmares that haunt her and fears that follow her into the light of day when a woman is found dead in the nearby woods—the victim of a brutal murder… a murder that bears terrifying similarity to others. Then Beth discovers that all the victims were intimately connected to Griffin. Beth’s past has taught her to be wary, but her heart tells her that Griffin cannot be the charming, seductive killer stalking the night, stealing women’s hearts…and lives.

Judith has the perfect present for Stephen—herself. Will he accept, or decline her gift?

Lady Judith Gresham had been in love with Stephen, Viscount Pelham for years.

Stephen eleven years her elder, treated her purely as one of his sisters friends; he was too old in years and deeds for such a young innocent. As his sister, was now happily married, there was no longer any reason to see her.

Even to himself he wouldn't admit he missed her.

So when his sister and her new husband decided to have a Christmas house party, and illness causes them to beg to use his home, he agreed. Even when he heard Judith was to be one of the guests he wasn't really worried, he would keep to himself, enjoy Maria Mallins, his long married mistress, and treat Judith with distant benevolence.

However Judith and his sister had other ideas.

It’s almost as if my burning rage has taken over. I must seek revenge…

Now in America, Mary begins to successful set her plans into motion. She enlists the help of two unlikely friends, Matthew and Simone to help her concoct a recipe for revenge. But along the way Mary feels her integrity fading, she now lies and deceives her closest friend Ana on a regular basis. Even worse, her plan of revenge involves hurting innocent people.

Mary is beginning to realize that the thin line of revenge and justice is a difficult one to walk unscathed.

How far is Mary really willing to go in the name of redemption?

Don’t miss out on the Fires’ Crossroad the second book of the False Redemption Series by Laura Fletcher. If you like strong female protagonists, deadly consequences and hopes of redemption then this book will have you turning the pages all night long.

Marie lives happily in Sobernburg Castle with her beloved husband, Michel Adler, a tremendous achievement for a woman who was once the 'Wandering Harlot'. The happy couple longs for a family, but when Michel is called to battle against the rebellious Hussites, they have to put those dreams on hold until, if they're lucky, Michel returns home.

Soon after his departure, Marie is thrilled to find she is already with child, but this bright news is quickly tarnished by anxiety for her husband's return. News of him trickles in: first that he's been knighted for his exemplary courage in battle . . . and then that he disappeared without a trace during a grisly massacre and is presumed dead. Pregnant and alone, Marie's place in the world is once again precarious. Unwilling to abandon the hope that her husband has somehow survived, Marie escapes form the castle and takes to the road once more to find Michel and save her family.

In this sequel to The Wandering Harlot, bestselling author Iny Lorentz transports readers to a richly rendered fifteenth-century Germany, where courage and true love conquer all.

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Which cover strikes your fancy and why? What colors draw your eye? Do you think the image appropriate next to the jacket description? Leave your comments below!

Have you seen this image elsewhere? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know.