Cover Cliché: Worried Waif

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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Katherine, Lady of Clarendon, has been promised in marriage to Percy, Duke of Loneshire by her parents. She does not know the deadly secret that he holds. When the Duke's brother, Oliver, escorts Katherine to Loneshire, feelings between the two develop, but she marries the Duke, and her nightmare begins. When Oliver finds out the Duke's secret, things turn deadly.

Sophia Wilson writes a clean and wholesome tale of unrequited love, romantic twists and deadly secrets.

It is 1763. James Blakiston, overseer of Lord Ravenshead's estate and a newcomer to the Durham parish of Ryton, is determined to solve the mystery of old Reuben Cooper's murder - but he has no idea how to go about it. As enclosure threatens to make the poor even poorer, Blakiston follows one misguided hunch after another. The only thing that he can really be certain of is his love for the beautiful and spirited Kate Greener - a love he is determined to resist, for Kate is the daughter of a penniless labourer and Blakiston has in any case not recovered from being thrown over by the woman he believed loved him. The mysterious Joseph Kelly, an Irishman who is not an Irishman, falls under suspicion. But Kelly cannot be found. Then Matthew Higson flees to America, leaving his boyhood love Catherine Robinson behind in his headlong rush to be gone, and the mystery is solved. Higson was the murderer. But when Higson is found, not fled but murdered in his turn, Blakiston's search resumes. As he builds a picture of the history of the murderous Cooper family over three generations, a missing coat also begins to occupy his mind. How did it get from where it was to where it is? And why? A chance remark by Lady Isabella Claverley opens the door to the murderer at last. And Blakiston rejects love. But will love let him go?

Journey into Whitechapel, London, during Jack the Ripper’s brutal reign of terror.

When innocent Catherine Bell stumbles into the seedy world of Madame Davenport’s brothel lodging-house, she meets lothario Edward Cross, who feels his ambitious diary of the Whitechapel area’s prostitutes will benefit favourably with her entry.

Catherine soon begins to experience animosity from the other women there, as well as mounting fears over Cross’s brutal and strange sexual manner. With nowhere to turn things worsen when prostitutes in the area begin to disappear one by one, only to be found murdered by a ruthless and bloody man.

Soon every woman in Whitechapel is terrified and asking, who is Jack the Ripper?

It's been two years since Lady Marion Tunstall lost her husband at sea. Two years of sorrow and grief. Only now has the young, comely widow finally re-entered society. It isn't until she and her family attend the merriment of a country dance that Lady Marion sees her dead husband, alive and well... and faints dead away.

Lord Tristan Tunstall has no choice but to confess—he is alive, yes, but not a whole man who can be a husband and father. When he offers her a divorce, however, Marion stubbornly refuses. Now she has forced herself back into his life, and into his home and (oh, God forgive his weakness) his bed. He cannot stop himself from wanting her. Loving her. But can he live with the secret she is keeping from him?

The year is 1888. Justine Holloway finds herself an orphan after her parents die in a horrific fire. She is sent to live with her godparents, Harold Mendenhall and his sister Frances. On the boat ride home, she meets Amun Farouk, a handsome Egyptian Ambassador who is also sailing to England to meet her godfather. What Justine does not realize as she dons the veil of mourning is that Harold runs a secret organization under the nose of polite society, much to the dismay of his genteel sister.

The Council was created for the protection of humanity from the Varius, refugees from a parallel universe who shift their form while others channel the forces of magic. They seek refuge in Victorian London, hidden in the slums, easily forgotten until a human ends up incinerated or sucked dry.

Drawn into the plot against her will, Justine finds herself the object of a vampire’s lurid obsession. According to ancient texts, vampires kill humans for fodder, their blood and the air they breathe inferior, but this killer has other intentions for her. Does Justine’s survival depend on Amun or will he kill her to save humanity?

Since childhood Sara has lived with the reality of being ugly. Something her awful family never ceased to remind her. After her sisters run off to Gretna Green, she's left with one choice--go to London and take their place for a Season. It's up to her to marry well and save her family from financial ruin.

A distant aunt decides it's in her best interest to sponsor Sara for the season and help her snag a husband by any means possible.

Nicholas Devons, Earl of Renwick, is a retired rake and consequently bored with life. He's given up beautiful women and carnal pleasures. Desperation makes him decide to give his massive fortune away and marry the first country girl he sees.

Lucky for Sara she's that girl. Unlucky for Nicholas, he's to be her new tutor in the ways of the ton. Two waltzes, one masquerade, a violent carriage ride, and two duckless ponds later.... and all that's left is a fun twist on one of the oldest stories ever told.

Soth, the Marquess of Southerton, is on quest to retrieve some love letters from a Duke's past lover. Bored to go through another season, he goes to the Lady’s house and finds a way to be invited to stay.

The Lady is married to a man who looks like a scholar and very genteel but she seems to be
intensely unhappy.

After a while, South finds out some strange happenings in the house. What is the mystery of the bleeding mirror?

The last thing Dawne Wyatt ever excepted or thought would happen was that she’d fall in love. To make matters worse, it’s Lady Sophia Stephens’s older brother. Torn between her heart’s desires and the dictates of society she tries to make sense of it all. When logic doesn’t work, she turns to Lady Stephens for help.

Guilty until proven innocent Lord Edward James Walker turns to Dawne to help prove another man in the one Bow Street should be hunting. Now he has two problems, the authorities and winning over the love of his life while keeping his. For the first he has assistance from his sister while the second it ends up two ladies against one gentleman.

Who will win? The authorities, Edward or Dawne.

A tragic accident.

A battle for succession and power.

And an opportunity for young Isabella Cavendish to marry the man of her dreams and augment her royal title in the process.

That man is Lord Jeffrey Rowley, who is about to become the Duke of Leicester. His father's health is failing, and when Lord Jeffrey assumes his royal title he will become one of the most powerful men in England.

But Jeffrey is about to be betrothed to Lady Beatrice Oxfordshire, a timid, frail creature who is ill-matched for the dashing, handsome young lord.

Fate intervenes, however, when the carriage carrying Beatrice to the betrothal ceremony has a tragic accident, creating an opportunity for Isabella to win Jeffrey's heart. Can she seize the opportunity fate has given her and find true love with Lord Jeffrey?

To find out, download The Dashing Duke Makes His Selection and enjoy this sweet, stirring romance, which is written by one of the most exciting new voices in clean Regency romance!

"He was her first and only love. "

Miranda Thornwood is desperate. Her brother, accused of murder, has lost the inheritance that would buy him a proper defense. There is only one man in London rich and powerful enough to help. Jason Blakewell, owner of the St. James gambling empire the man she once betrayed.

Jason is stunned to find Miranda on his doorstep. Once he was a stable boy, wildly in love with her believing she loved him in return. Until, on the brink of eloping to America, she betrayed him to her father. And Jason was sent to the hulks.

For ten years he has dreamed of revenge, and now she is handing him his chance on a silver platter. His price for giving her aid? She must become his mistress.

But when their lips meet, he tastes something other than revenge. He tastes the passion that never died. And now he is tempted to lay aside his thirst for revenge and risk his heart a second time in the greatest gamble of all.

Would you save a man's life if you believed that it meant keeping him safe for the rest of yours? This is the dilemma that Sarah finds herself in. After the murder of her parents, she is raised by an eccentric Chinese man who teaches her that if you 'snatch' someone from heaven you interfere with their destiny and must then protect them...forever. This would not be near the trouble if the man she ended up saving were not a British spy. His actions may very well drag England into America's 'War Between the States', which only further complicates her life.

Annie Carter has been a nurse since she was 19. Her calling in life. But whilst she was focused on healing people, life has passed her by and at the age of 26, she is now firmly a spinster. One unwilling to give up the dream of a child of her own. Headed West as a mail order bride to a man who has two girls, she knows she is in for a more fulfilling and fruitful life.

But sometimes life gives us what we need and not what we want. Annie is about to discover just that, as a series of unfortunate events takes her in a different path. Buy it now, to find out how it all ends.

The Spinster Bride and the Finicky Cowboy is a Clean Western Historical Romance about the mail order brides headed West. Each story can be read as a standalone but if you wish to read about the other stories these are available for just a similar price or FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

Hope Sinclair writes clean, inspirational, western romance stories that always have a good old fashioned happy ending.

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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.