Tag Archives: Cover Crush

Cover Crush: Veiled in Smoke (The Windy City Saga #1) by Jocelyn Green

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My thoughts on the cover and my overall impression about my first glimpse of the story description: 

The Cover first caught my attention and as I read the book description, I became even more interested in the over all presentation of the book. This story is written in the era I’m highly interested in our American History. Of course, when there is a bookshop mentioned, there is no question that I want to read the story ASAP!

The cover really speaks for itself and clearly shows that there is a fire sweeping a city with the imagery of smoke. Not only that but the title speaks volumes on that score. The ladies dress is absolutely stunning and her facing the smoke filled city is quite atmosphereic! I’m rating this book cover five stars! -Stephanie

Veiled in smokeVeiled in Smoke

(The Windy City Saga #1)

by Jocelyn Green

Paperback, 416 pages

Published February 4th 2020 by Bethany House Publishers

Meg and Sylvie Townsend manage the family bookshop and care for their father, Stephen, a veteran still suffering in mind and spirit from his time as a POW during the Civil War. But when the Great Fire sweeps through Chicago’s business district, they lose much more than just their store.

The sisters become separated from their father, and after Meg burns her hands in an attempt to save a family heirloom, they make a harrowing escape from the flames with the help of Chicago Tribune reporter Nate Pierce. Once the smoke clears away, they reunite with Stephen, only to learn soon after that their family friend not only died during the fire–he was murdered. Even more shocking, Stephen is charged with the crime and committed to the Cook County Insane Asylum.

Though homeless, injured, and suddenly unemployed, Meg must not only gather the pieces of her shattered life, but prove her father’s innocence before the asylum truly drives him mad.

Available for request on NetGalley

Last week’s Cover Crush

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated by Erin at Historical Fiction Reader 

Other book bloggers who participated in the great cover crushes series. 

Magdalena at A Bookaholic Swede
Colleen at A Literary Vacation
Heather at The Maiden’s Court
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired

(All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

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Cover Crush: A Scream in Soho by John G. Brandon

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Erin over at Flashlight Commentary is the one that came up with the cover crush idea and a few of us book bloggers loved it so much that we decided that every Thursday we would post a cover that we really love. Now I must say I haven’t been consistent in my posting cover crush and on the appointed day. Will get there eventually. Posts for my website has been scheduled pretty far out in advance.

Today I am sharing with you a book cover that really stands out to me and I feel gives the right attention to what the book is about. I love how It’s in black and white too! 

A Scream in SohoDescription

A Scream in Soho by John G. Brandon

German bombers are overhead and there is danger the streets of London.

A tall foreigner with strange ‘blind’ looking eyes triggers one of Detective Inspector McCarthy’s infamous ‘hunches’.

Later that night, during the pitch blackness of the wartime blackout, a piercing scream rends the air and Detective Inspector McCarthy is first on the scene to find a bloodied murder weapon, a woman’s lace handkerchief, but no victim to be seen.

As McCarthy attempts to unravel the mystery, the bodies start to pile up, and the whodunit becomes a more complex and colourful story of secret government plans, cross dressing German spies, and murderous dwarves.

McCarthy must move through the dark, seedy Soho underworld – peopled by Italian Gangsters and glamorous Austrian aristocrats alike – not only to find his murderer, but to save Britain’s defences against the Nazi threat.

Set in London during the early days of the Second World War, A Scream in Soho is an evocative and suspenseful London novel from the golden age of British detective fiction.

Check out this week’s cover crush over at 
Flashlight Commentary
2 Kids and Tired Books
A Bookaholic Swede
The Maidens Court

Cover Crush: Time and Regret by M.K. Tod

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I admit, I judge a book by its cover. Overall presentation is important to pull a reader in. When I read a story I want to be completely immersed. A grand cover helps that along. Imagery and all-if you will. Check out this book description below and then be sure to read what I have to say about the cover and the premise!

Time and regret

About the book:

Time and Regret: When Grace Hansen finds a box belonging to her beloved grandfather, she has no idea it holds the key to his past—and to long-buried family secrets. In the box are his World War I diaries and a cryptic note addressed to her. Determined to solve her grandfather’s puzzle, Grace follows his diary entries across towns and battle sites in northern France, where she becomes increasingly drawn to a charming French man—and suddenly aware that someone is following her…

Through her grandfather’s vivid writing and Grace’s own travels, a picture emerges of a man very unlike the one who raised her: one who watched countless friends and loved ones die horrifically in battle; one who lived a life of regret. But her grandfather wasn’t the only one harboring secrets, and the more Grace learns about her family, the less she thinks she can trust them.

My thoughts:

I have to confess something. Yesterday when I first saw this book cover on Facebook, I was sipping a cup of hot tea and almost spilled it all over me. I kid you not. Such a dramatic and artful cover that has been beautifully crafted. The cover gives you a real sense of time and place of the era its written in. I was totally cover crushing over this yesterday and still am. My deepest respect to the designers.

When I read the book blurb I became more intrigued. I love reading stories that hold long buried secrets, the bond of family and in the mist of troubled times. This story has all the elements of a good read and I am REALLY looking forward to reading it.

Check out these other great cover crushes at my fellow book bloggers sites!

A Bookaholic Swede

Flashlight Commentary

2 Kids and Tired Books

 

 

Cover Crush: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

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I have said this before and I will say again. I am not a cover designer but I do have an artist’s eye and can agree that cover design plays an important role in the overall presentation of the book and gladly admit I judge a book by its cover. Overall presentation is important to pull a reader in. When I read a story I want to be completely immersed. A grand cover helps that along. Imagery and all-if you will. Check out this book description below and then be sure to read what I have to say about the cover and the premise!

In the time of the butterflies

Book Description:

It is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—“The Butterflies.”

In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters—Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé—speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human cost of political oppression.

My thoughts:

I have to admit; I’ve never cared for the authors name to be larger than the title on book covers. I’ve heard all the arguments on the other side of that opinion and it still does not change my thoughts on this. Having said that, In the Time of the Butterflies caught my attention immediately. I was the in the bookstore with my daughter and saw this book sitting beautifully displayed. I believe it was the use of colors and the glass jar. To me it sets the tone for a sultry summer read.  As I looked closer, I saw the butterflies. The one captured in the jar really drew me in and the title had me intrigued. I thought to myself, “How does the title of the book blend with the elements to the story? What is the story about?” As I read the blurb on the back of the book, my fascination grew. I am really looking forward to reading this story in the near future and I will be sure to share my thoughts with you!

My friend Holly’s cover crush at  2 Kids and Tired Books: Cover Crush..The Cake Therapist

Stephanie M. Hopkins