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Welcome to my stop for Devil To Pay by Renee Bernard.

I love covers and am so excited that Renee is going to share her thoughts with us and she would LOVE it, if you shared your thoughts with her. So please, let’s show this USA Today Bestselling author some love and leave a comment on how covers affect you.

She has some questions below to help and she does reveal her humorous side. You don’t want to miss this!

Renee is also sharing an exclusive cover reveal of Devil May Care, the next story in her wickedly romantic comedy series.

I am honored, Renee.

GUEST POST

Ooh, let’s talk covers! I think it’s one of those wonderful make or break subjects that authors either love or dread (depending on the amount of control they have over those fateful images!) Every author has his/her favorite covers of their books but also a few they wish had never seen the light of day—much less hit their readers’ square between the eyes.

I had some great covers and was Very Lucky and I’m generally known for my historical romances but here is one of my old covers that makes me cry…

I shouldn’t complain (everyone has the correct number of arms). Except that male model’s haircut is not even remotely close to being historically accurate for my hero. Sure, if he was a modern Navy S.E.A.L. but a doctor in the 1860’s… Let’s just say that the art department in NY let it slip that they’d dubbed this one the “Lucky Charms Cover” and let it go with that…but with traditional publishing, it’s so rare to have any power over what happens on your book cover. My editors would ask for physical character descriptions, suggestions, colors, you name it and I would have the illusion of having a voice/vote in the process but once they showed me what they had—the illusion ended. Small, tiny changes (hair color, etc.) were welcome but any hint of “why is she wearing a prom dress from the wrong century” was squashed.

Naturally, readers blame the author and wonder why they don’t know the difference between Regency and Victorian eras…or why the book they picked up based on a cover isn’t at all what they expected. It’s never fun and I try not to think about it too much for fear of being that growly, complaining person I never want to sit next to at luncheons.

So, when I started self-publishing my new historical novels, it was all about falling in love again with the notion that a cover could really be an extension of an author’s vision for their baby. I wanted something striking, non-traditional, where the heroine was the centerpiece with an artistic sensibility and Cora Graphics came through and took my breath away! Love Cora. She lives in Italy and is very glamorous…which apparently helps.

See the difference? The entire trilogy is out (and all three covers are gorgeous!) but I just wanted to have an example of the potential differences. And now with my contemporary paranormal romantic comedy, DEVIL TO PAY, I can be light, completely not-serious and frankly, step away from traditional layouts to let every reader imagine how the players will look…

Teresa Spreckelmeyer did the cover for DEVIL TO PAY and I don’t think I’m going to let her go…and just for you, Sherry, as a Fundinmental Exclusive, here is a sneak peek at the draft cover for DEVIL MAY CARE!

04_Devil_May_Care

I still believe that covers make a difference and that first impressions to readers can mean a lot and can make the difference between picking a book up to check out the synopsis/story and decide if it’s a purchase or making a quick pass based on an amateur/cheap looking image that hints that all might not be well starting with page one. Covers can be brand builders as books from one author all have a similar look and feel, or just to help distinguish from one series or another. If they are too similar though, readers can’t tell at a glance if they’ve read it already or not and may mistake a new release for an old one. It’s a very real challenge to find the fine line between new and striking and alluringly familiar.

But I’d love to hear from your followers on this one. Do covers matter? Do they make you pay attention or do you ignore them? If an author is new to you, does the cover hold more weight? Do you like the book on your shelves to “match” a bit? Or does it make no difference at all and you’d pick it up if it had dancing wallabies on there—so long as the story was good?

Thanks so much for the wonderful post, Renee.

I will share my thoughts. I know you want to hear them.

I will admit, I am a cover “whore”. I can be bought. Sometimes I see the cover and that is all I need. I pick it up or not. I will pick up almost any book with water or a tree. I know I have missed some good books because of the cover ~ it’s usually a man’s abs with no head. 😳 You know what I’m talking about. I understand a lot of authors may not have the luxury of choosing their covers, but COME ON publishers. I am so over the abs.

Would I be telling you too much if I said dancing wallabies (?), I’d probably pick it up. LOL I like critters.

What do you think? Will you pick it up, just because it has abs 🙄 or are you like me and demand more?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Devil To Pay by Renee Bernard

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BLURB

Workplace comedy is always fun but when the company in question in H.E.LLc (Hades Enterprises LLc) and your job is being Lucifer, let’s just say, there are some unique challenges beyond Casual Fridays and who keeps taking your lunch out of the break room. Even if Hell really is just a place where evil is tracked and analyzed in endless cubicles-no brimstone and not a human soul in sight-there’s no room for error. This Lucifer (who is the seventh unlucky archangel to get the position behind the black onyx desk) is about to have his entire world rattled when a very sweet and likable mortal woman crosses his path.

After all, angels can’t lie. And when Jayne Hamilton wants to know what he does for a living, all bets are off. Because “dating” isn’t exactly in the cosmic scheme of the Eternity Gambit, but Love… Well, Love is never really off the table.

Now, if Lucifer can just figure out how to win the girl and get himself fired, he’ll be one very very happy angel.

“Filled with sparkling wit and devilish charm, DEVIL TO PAY is a delightful visit to the Shangri-La of Hell!” — Erin Quinn, The Three Fates of Ryan Love, NYT Bestselling Author

“Only Renee Bernard could make dating Satan sexy as sin! Funny, fresh, irreverent and utterly adorable!” – Dakota Cassidy, National Bestselling Author

First book in the new Eternity Gambit series from USA Today bestselling author Renee Bernard. This is a romantic comedy series with an original paranormal twist that defies categorization and turns every notion of Heaven and Hell on its ear.

Amazon / Smashwords / B&N

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EXCERPT

“You’re mental, right?”

“I think if we were having this conversation in a basement decorated with torn out newspaper articles, black-light posters and me drooling about how I have conversations with dogs and wear tinfoil underwear, you might have a case.” Luke deliberately glanced around the room, silently pointing out the lack of “mental” revealed by his beautifully appointed modern office and furnishings. If it weren’t for the black onyx desk, it would be easy to mistake it for an extraordinary executive’s digs. “I think we can rule out insanity—on both sides of this argument.”

“Right, since I’m not the one proclaiming to be the Prince of Darkness,” she said with a touch of sarcasm she couldn’t prevent. After all, even pretending to take him seriously made her consider that she might not be firing on all cylinders. Her hands were shaking, so she pressed them together as firmly as she could. Were crazy people like bees? Could they smell fear? “Is it possible you’re just a very wealthy man in need of medication?”

“Sure. Anything is possible,” he conceded, his open smile disarming her as he was obviously beginning to genuinely enjoy the debate. “Jayne, I could be an eccentric billionaire intent on impressing you by pretending to be Lucifer. Stranger things have happened.”

“Name one thing stranger than this.”

“Besides the fashion of the 80’s and people who resemble their dogs?”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

What in the world is a retired Navy chaplain’s daughter doing writing scorching hot historical romances and paranormal romantic comedies and even comic books? Renee Bernard is applying a great education from traveling all over the world to story telling and doing her best to keep her father proud. Truthfully, her father is her number one fan, even though he has sworn never to read a single word of her books (a vow he has kept to this day!) Nothing stops him from telling everyone he knows that his daughter is now a USA Today Bestselling author or from handing out bookmarks on the golf course. Love can make even a minister do strange things!

Renee Bernard is a freelance writer and host of “The Romance Bookmark” on Readers Entertainment, as well as a contributor to Romantic Times BookReviews magazine. Renee currently lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California. (Note an interesting proximity to great wineries!)

DEVIL TO PAY is available now online wherever books are sold and is coming soon to Audio! The Eternity Gambit series is a fun departure from her well-known Victorian set historical romances and creates a new world for readers unlike any other. DEVIL TO PAY is the first book in this new series and is gathering up 5-Star reviews and momentum as more readers discover that office politics can hit a whole new level of crazy when you work at Hades Enterprises, LLc (or H.E.LLc).

Website / Website / FaceBook / Twitter: @ReneeBernard