Welcome to my second contest. I know - isn't it exciting?!?
On Jan. 27th, 2009, my cousin's latest book When a Stranger Loves Me hits store shelves.
You could be the lucky winner of an autographed copy of this final instalment of her Pembroke Palace series.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
Question 1 - Check out Julianne's book covers and let me know which is your favorite.
Question 2 - What is your favorite type of cover illustration?
A - The clinch
B - The non-clinch couple
C - The stepback (the clinch is on the inside cover)
D - Flowers, jewelry, swords, etc. (a few objects involved in the story)
E - The setting of the story
F - Contemporary drawings with a quirky feel
G - Collage of various aspects of the story
H - One of the main characters gazing out at the reader
I - Heroine only
J - Hero only
Also included in the prize package is a Group of Seven daytimer and a mini calendar featuring the work of Nova Scotia artist Maud Lewis. This contest will run until Tuesday, Jan. 27th, 2009.
To enter, leave me a comment answering both questions. Good luck, everyone!
I like the one you have posted here the best. First, I like the colors. I think the woman looks interesting... not just open mouthed, you know?
ReplyDeleteI like the cover of Surrender to a Scoundrel. Bare back and heroine in profile.
ReplyDeleteI have a tendency to like quirky book covers, but that's just my taste!
Answer 1: Surrender to a Scoundrel — Love the colors and the positioning of the figures, leaving a clear/clean space for the title and author. Heroine’s bare back is sexy without being blatant or overtly sexual. And the hero is perfect with his arms around her as she tips her head back for his kiss.
ReplyDeleteAnswer 2: A or J
(But sometimes a beautiful and colorful nature photograph will catch my eye.)
My favorite cover so far is the one for "The Mistress Diaries". I just love the rich sensuosness of the deep red and while the main focus appears to be on the book, the figure next to it still demands attention.
ReplyDeleteI typically like the "stepback" covers (thanks for that hitherto unknown term), with a discreet outer cover and the more provocative "scenery" on the inside.
Hi Julia!
ReplyDeleteSurprise! I'm entering the contest! or are there rules prohibiting relatives? Well, I'll try anyway...Question 1: My favourite cover is for "Love according to Lilly" and for Question 2: the Clinch. Hope all is well with you. Happy New Year, and lots of love from all of us in Ottawa.
Anna, Ken, Peter and Francis
I favorite cover is The Mistress Diaries.
ReplyDeleteI like the stepback covers the best.
1.My favorite cover is Love According To Lily. Love the colors and the couple depicted.
ReplyDelete2. I like A ,C and J the most.
Love According to Lily by a nose. A step what? Whatever it's call I always grab the one with the pic inside and take a look. Some of the old Amanda Quicks and Johanna Lindseys I saved just for the artwork.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1 - "When A Stranger Loves Me". I love the colors, the beautiful heroine & the beautiful gown.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2 - I like choice B or choice I
My all-time favorite cover of Julianne's has always been "Love According to Lily. It's gorgeous! Lily & Whitby are wonderful together.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover illustration has got to be "the clinch." (As in Lily & Whitby in "Love According to Lily."
She has some wonderful covers My Own Private Hero is my favorite and A. the clinch is my favorite style.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com
The answer to the first question is Love According To Lily and Surrender to A Scoundrel, theres something very sensual about the back and the back of the neck that I find appealing..
ReplyDeleteThe Second is A, B, E, and H
Hi Juliannne, I love your writing...Im so glad to see another book is coming out. I cant wait to get it.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I think the cover for WHEN A STRANGER LOVES ME is the most beautiful cover Julianne's received and if I didn't know her I'd buy the book for the cover alone. I love the colors!
ReplyDeleteThe answers to your second question is: I like all those types of covers!
I love the cover of To Marry the Duke! It just looks so rich. I tend to like the clinch covers. I like to see the hero's face when in the clinch. I also like seeing the beautiful dress the heroine might wear in the story.
ReplyDeleteLove According Lily
ReplyDeleteThe cover I like best is Surrender To A Scoundrel. Answer to question 2 is E - The setting of the story.
ReplyDeleteI love the Surrender to a Scoundrel cover. Soooo sex-ay ;)
ReplyDeleteBut the colors of To Marry the Duke are so rich and luxurious, that it really stood out.
My fave covers? B, D & H are nice, but honestly, it depends on the colors and how it's put together. I've picked up books just for the quirky covers. Like Stephanie Meyers covers are -- so striking!
The Mistress Diaries is my fave cover, although Stranger is a close second! Love the colors.
ReplyDeleteMy fave type of cover is (E), the setting of the story.
She has lucked out when it comes to covers since they are all good. I think my favorite is the new one for When a Stranger Loves Me, with Surrender to a Scoundrel coming in second.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover is H - One of the main characters gazing out at the reader, although I'm okay with any of them except the cartoonish ones.
What cover do I like best? That's a tough choice. Hmm - Surrender to a Scoundrel.
ReplyDeleteI like the stepback cover.
I like D the best, and although I like several of her covers, my favorite is Adam's Promise.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun!
ReplyDeleteOf the covers listed at Ms. MacLean's website, I liked 'My own Private Hero' best. A pretty shade of red, and the couple having fun dancing together.
Really, really dislike clinch covers, and hero's staring at me close-up like deranged stalkers (as opposed to, you know, the well-balanced kind *g*).
The covers I love, and am tempted to buy regardless of content, are glimpse of a classical painting kind. They make me sigh and swoon.
The entire painting doesn't seem to have the same effect. Candice Hern and Pam Rosenthal seem to have this kind of cover a lot.
BTW - Julia - the pictures of you in various beds made me laugh!
From Cali Muir:
ReplyDeleteMy favorite top 3 covers: "The Mistress Diaries, When A Stranger Loves Me, and Surrender To A Scoundrel" in that order. (Beautiful color schemes!! He, she, they, setting, story objects, that's all good...or not! That doesn't matter much to me. =)
My least favorite 3 covers: "In My Wildest Fantasies, Portrait of a Lover, and An Affair Most Wicked" in that order.
I'm not sure about the terms; "clinch?" or "setback?" But I love an inside insert picture plus the cover. I feel rather cheated given the prices these days $6 - $8 a book if there isn't one. I understand artwork is expensive, but I almost never walk out of Borders with less than 3 books. Usually I buy 4-8 books, twice a month.
The only little quirk I have is I hate when (and I can't think of any in Ms. MacLean's books) an author uses say a brunette on the cover and then describes a blonde in the story! *And* I wish it would become standard in paperbacks to use the larger print like Ms. MacLean and certain authors use!
My favorite cover is Surrender to a Scoundrel. I love the color of it.
ReplyDeleteI like stepbacks with a clinch on the inside.
I love the cover for this book. I like the color. It's very pretty. I'm very flexible with covers and like a variety, but I don't think you can go wrong with the hero on the cover.
ReplyDeleteI like Surrender to a Scoundrel-it's very beautiful and I like A, the clinch and also the setting of the story
ReplyDeletetiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com
I like the cover of Love According to Lily. The clinch is what captures me to pick up a book and check it out. I also enjoy a little of the scenery of where the story takes place, if it works with characters embrace. Thanks for the contest.
ReplyDelete1. My favorite cover is Surrender to a Scoundrel. Great colors!
ReplyDelete2. I prefer C and E.
I love the cover of When a Stranger Loves Me. It is absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI like a lot of different kinds of covers. I guess the stepback is my favorite. 2 covers for the price of 1!
Hello All! Well, I adore Love according to Lily, as it is sensual while still allowing me to use my own imagination and thought process to put what I need to where I need to for the characters.
ReplyDeleteI also have to say that I adore the stepback. I am always drawn to an author, ot title, first before a cover, and can sometime be put off by some covers that are not to my liking just to later find that I would have indeed liked the story.
Hopr that helps...THNAKS
Amy L.
1. I like "Love According to Lily" best. Not too ...ummm blatant yet titillating. 2. The clinch: I tend to like both the heroine & the hero on the cover.
ReplyDeleteI like the Marshall and Mrs. O'Malley best. I like couples best.
ReplyDeleteAnn Marie Lahey
I like the cover of your newest book, as well as a clinch cover. Karen S.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I posted the tag you gave me, today.
ReplyDeleteYou're contest sounds great.
And I love your WW pictures, cold, Dark north...ooooooooooo
Q1. When a Stranger Loves me
ReplyDeleteQ2. I like J.
Please! Please! Don't tell me it's only limited to residents of USA and Canada.
I'm from sunny Singapore.
1. It's tough to pick just one cover as Julianne's had so many beautiful ones. But my overall favourite is the one for In My Wildest Fantasies. I remember staring at it when I first saw it and thinking 'wow!'
ReplyDelete2. I like covers for a variety of reasons, but I guess H is probably the reason that fits best. I like close-ups of one of the main characters because I want to be able to read the expression in their eyes.
ECL Tan - No worries! The contest is even open to people in a distant galaxy, if they find their way to my blog.
ReplyDeleteIf I just have to pick one cover I'm going to say Surrender to a Scoundrel but Love According to Lily would be my second. I love the clinch. I also like it when you are seeing partials of their face - that way I get to imagine them the way I want to. But two great bodies and of course especially a muscular male is always welcome :)
ReplyDeleteI would say When A Stranger Loves Me....favorite cover is one featuring the hero without a shirt.
ReplyDeleteI will answer your questions:
ReplyDeleteI like the cover of Surrender to a Scoundrel.
I like books with items or scenery regarding the story or non-clinch pictures.
But I will kill any chance of winning by saying that I greatly admire George W. Bush and hate to see him leave office. He is being blamed unjustly for so many things and not being given credit for things he has achieved. George W. Bush is a Christian and, as such, he can't use the deceitful tactics that presidents like Clinton has done. Like Reagan, Bush has shown nothing but respect for the Oval Office, whereas Clinton used it as a brothel, showing no respect for the Oval Office, his wife or for the honor he was given by being elected to the highest office in the land. The soon-to-be President is already backtracking daily on the promises he made while campaigning to be elected. Making promises and having to actually fulfill the duties of the office are two totally different things. Bush has kept our country safe from terrorists. I can't really think of anything he could have achieved that is more important. God bless George W. Bush!
This list speaks for itself, GladysMP, on my opinion of the outgoing president.
ReplyDeleteBut don't worry - you're still in the contest! Free speech is dear to my heart, and I welcome all expressions of opinion here at A Piece of My Mind. After all, if I share a piece of mine with you, I'd love to hear what you're thinking.
My post disappeared. I'll try again.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover was on "To Marry the Duke". Most of Julianne's covers have been exquisite.
I guess I like covers of lovely ladies in lovely dresses. I also like parts of paintings of women (several of Candice Hern's come to mind).
Although I wouldn't ordinarily pick the hero on the cover, "Portrait of a Lover" was wonderful. He's on my frig on a magnet and I see him many times a day and he's sensitive and gorgeous and I feel he represents an ideal lover.
I can't pick just one!
I know what I don't like : a half-naked man in winter or the highlands of Scotland with a heroine pulling up her dress to expose her leg. He's not looking at her leg, Shouldn't she have her arms around his neck , keeping the idiot warm?
I like the one you have posted the best also. As for the second question, I'd have to say- it depends. I think Paperback Writer has had some amazingly awesome covers (the pink one being the painful exception). Not so into the clinch though. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the cover for Love According to Lily, which is unusual for me, as I'm not usually a clinch-lover!
ReplyDeleteI do love the stepback, though. Show me a clinch on the inside, and I'm all for it, LOL!!!
And I can't wait to read When a Stranger Loves Me. :)
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI am not actually entering, as I already have all of Julianne's books, but I have to tell you I loved Surrender to a Scoundrel best. Just so sexy! So styled! :)
Lilly
I like the cover on An Affair Most Wicked. I like the cover to give hints about the story or the era.
ReplyDeleteJOYE
JWIsley@aol.com
The cover for When A Stranger Loves Me just reaches out and grabs the eye. It is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteUsually I like a cover that has the setting of the story or a combination of setting and hero and/or heroine pictured in the forefront.
I love your blog! I just wanted to let you know, you have an award waiting for you at:
ReplyDeletehttp://bookworm-confessions.blogspot.com/
1. The cover for Love According To Lily cathes my eye the most and really seems to be true to the actual book.
ReplyDelete2. Probably A. The Clinch.
After all what could reflect roamce better than that without getting tacky !
Hi Julia!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog.
You mentioned that you collect tins. I collect many things, but not tins. So actually I wondered whether you might like to help me? If you posted photos of some of your tins, I could copy them and use them for my future Bait-in-the-Box posts (acknowledging my source, of course).
Just a spontaneous idea so of course you should only do it if you approve of it.
Sure, Dorte H!
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting with bated breath!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover for 'Surrender to a Scoundrel' because you can't see the whole face of the hero and heroine. I have such a hard time with full-face views as they often times differ from what I picture (in my mind) as I read the story. The more mysterious/half faces and slightly out of focus and/or distance is better. It leaves more to our imagination.
ReplyDeleteI would say A & B...but if I can only choose 1, I would say A. The cover is always the first thing to grab my attention and I usually go for something that is elegant, but not too fussy or gilded.
A cover has to invite and pull the potential reader into the fantasy, before they have even touched the book. If the cover succeeds, it sells; I don't care about the price of the book, I will buy it!! :-)
I would LOVE to win a copy of 'When a Stranger Loves Me'.
Thanks for hosting this contest!
bookreviewsbybobbie(AT)gmail(DOT)com
-Bobbie Crawford-McCoy
Book Reviews By Bobbie
http://bookreviewsbybobbie.wordpress.com/
Hi! Nice contest! My favorite cover is
ReplyDeleteLove According to Lily; I allways like a nice couple on the front, but now is romantic and also sexy, but not too sexy if you know what I mean, my favoritve cover are the ones with the stepbacks, allways nice to have a suprise waiting for you on the next page ;-)
good luck in the future with your blog, have fun with writing down your piece of your mind ;)
Q1 I really like The Mistress Diaries cover, With The Heroine and the Diary. The clinch on the back cover saying 'A proper lady would never let herself become a mistress...
ReplyDeleteQ2 I thought initially the clinch. But I like the D mixed with J like on Mistress Diaries.
If I waver on the answers does that mean that I can't make up my mind or that I'm just a romantic at heart?
ReplyDelete*G*
Amy L.
My favorite is Love According to Lily. I like covers with cute guys in them. This was also my favorite in the series. Although I did want to shake Edward at times.
ReplyDeleteI like the stepback (the clinch is on the inside cover) because I can have the hot picture w/o weird people looking over my shoulder when I'm reading outside.
It's also nice when you can't fully see the heros face because you can imagine him the way you want, but still have a nice body to go with it :)
One thing I really hate is when the guy on the cover has different coloring than the hero.
I need you, Julia to be my expert blogger. I love all of Julianne's bks and covers, but especially love it when the hero is on the cover...cause I'm all about the guy! I'd have to say though my fav bk so far and cover is , Love According to Lily - so provocative with the man undressing her and nibbling on her neck..... -Renee Field (www.reneefield.com(
ReplyDeleteHi Julianne!
ReplyDeleteI love your new cover. It's gorgeous. Lovely colors, beautiful heroine combined with a hint of mystery. It's all good! I also really liked Surrender to a Scoundrel. The book and the cover! Your stories are so rich and I love the added threads of mystery that are woven so well into your stories.
I like the clinch and the solitary hero or heroine, but I think the colours and the air of mystery is what makes it all work so well.
My favorite cover is Surrender to a Scoundrel
ReplyDeleteI love both hero and heroine to be on cover in a simple clinch.
My favorite cover is Love According to Lily.
ReplyDeleteI like the stepback the best but I also like to see some aspects of the story.
1. My favorite cover is "Surrender to a Scoundrel"
ReplyDelete2. I prefer C - stepback
Wow! There have been so many interesting comments about covers! Julia has started to compile the results, and I'm tempted to send them to my editor, because I'm sure the art departments like to get feedback occasionally about what's working or not working.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure I could pick a favorite cover, but if I'm forced to... I think I like When a Stranger Loves Me. I have a soft spot for the waves breaking up onto the rocks at the bottom. My other favorite is To Marry the Duke.
My fave is your second book.
ReplyDeleteMy fave type of cover is what Lisa Kleypas is doing - her covers are always stunning, and nothing I feel uncomfortable leaving lying around the house.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover is The Mistress Diaries.
Question 2:
The stepback covers
1. i like An Affair Most Wicked
ReplyDeletebook cover.
2. i like the clinch on the cover
sonya
The waves are fantastic and the colors are awesome, Julianne. AVON does such a great job with covers!
ReplyDeleteI got "Portrait of a Lover" when it came out as I love the cover of that one too.
My favorite cover is the cover for "Adam's Promise". Abd then my favorite type of book cover is "c", "the stepback" or was it "the setback"...I love those covers when you open them you see something entirely different!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway, you are a great family friend of hers!
Darby
darbyscloset at yahoo cot com
I like the cover to "Love According to Lily" the best.
ReplyDeleteAs to what covers I like, I choose (A) The Clinch.
D.
No need to enter me, darling. I needed to drop in and tell you that I'm reading the newest Netflix releases on my reader ... and there are a bunch of ballets that are now available.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you.
Woo! Good news, Susan! Thanks for letting me know.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover is, I think, Love According to Lily, and I have to say that I like the stepback covers the best.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover is Love According to Lily. I love the covers with the heroine in a beautiful gown.
ReplyDeleteI like the cover of In My Wildest Fantasies.
ReplyDeleteFor covers I like G - Collage of various aspects of the story and D - a few objects of the story such as jewellery.
I like An Affair Most Wicked and Love According to Lily the best, and I'm a clinch person. But do like surprises on the inside. When I go into a store, the book finds me, as opposed to me finding the book.
ReplyDeleteJudy G.
I like the cover of When a Stranger Loves Me. I am big into blue and that dress is beautiful. This cover really draws my eye.
ReplyDeleteAnswer 2 would have to be H.
My Own Private Hero is my Favorite Cover!
ReplyDeleteThe setting of the story is my favorite cover usually.
I like the "Love According to Lily" cover. I also like the "Clinch" covers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
The cover I like the best is for The Mistress Diaries (loved the book too).
ReplyDeleteI think I tend to like the (c) stepbacks. They look innocent at first, until you open to the second page!
OK I'm a little late on commenting I'm sorry so the answer would be
ReplyDelete1) I love the cover that you have on this contest it is so pretty and and it has that catch me if you can quality to it.
2) there are several that I like actually I like C, H, I, and J (yes I am undecided lol) It just depends on the book.
and I really think that any of Julianne MacLean books, no matter how the cover looks, would be one that I have pick up lol
Congratulations Julianne!
ReplyDeleteAll of your covers are great...but my favorite cover is Love According to Lily...the colours and imagery are rich and simply perfect for the storyline...and either the clinch or stepback for question #2!...although a dramatic setting cover can definitely catch my attention as well.
Looking forward to reading your new book!
My favorite cover is Love According To Lily. It's mysterious and romantic. Beautiful colors too. For question 2 - I'd say the clinch or the stepback are my favorites.
ReplyDelete