Well here's something to look forward to this summer - romance novel cover models with their clothes on!Starting on May 24, 2011, and releasing back-to-back-to-back months, veteran author Stephanie Bond is giving readers a new single title series via Harlequin (specifically, Mira Books). Here's a brief premise of what the series is about (from Bond's newsletter):
"The trilogy centers around three brothers who unite to rebuild their hometown in the Georgia mountains that was destroyed ten years ago by a tornado. All is going well until their workers threaten mutiny because there are no women! So the brothers place an ad for single women with a pioneering spirit looking for a fresh start…and then they wait. The books will be released in June, July, and August and the titles are BABY, DRIVE SOUTH, BABY, COME HOME and BABY, DON’T GO"There's a wee bit more nitty-gritty on her web site.
I'm not a huge single title contemporary girl, and Bond tends to run hit or miss for me, but this series premise sounds interesting, and the covers are delish. Guys. Wearing clothes. And tool belts! So much pretty to look at, my eyes might pop right out of my head.
Do you think My Man would mind if I blow up these covers and hang them in the Bat Cave home office?
Uh, probably.
I'd hang them up poster-size in my work office, but something tells me I wouldn't get any work done. Uh, ever again.
Just a hunch anyway.
15 comments:
I'm looking forward to both the covers and the stories. And, since I live just a stone's throw away from those Georgia mountains, maybe some Sunday drives too! *VBG*
Nice! I'd like to read the first one to see. Thanks, Wendy.
PJ, I wonder if the "sights" you see are like the ones on the covers. And I'm not talking rolling hills and trees.
It's Wendy the hit-n-run hugger! Sorry if I seemed a bit flustered, I didn't recongnize you! Maybe you should wear a Wonder Woman suit to LO. LOL
You know, I've never been very big on these "there's no women so we need to import some" romances. Seems to me that it's like being stranded on a deserted island. You have to take what you can get, even if that person is Charlie Sheen. Not very romantic at all.
PJ: I like the premise of rebuilding the town after a tornado. A little something different....
Keira: I can appreciate man-titty, but after a while, all those bare chests start to blur together. Mmmm, guys...with clothes on, and tool belts! LOL
Jami: And I was running out because I know the panel was getting set to start! My folks are still in town visiting, so I pretty much did the romance panel, had lunch and took off.
I'm curious to see how this premise works in a contemporary. The "thar's no womenz in town" is something that has worked for me in historicals (hell, I'm a real sucker for Ye Olde Mail Order Bride trope), but in a contemporary? I'm going to have to at least try the first book and see....
Great covers! But, I like the premise even more, sort of an old "historical romance" trope in contemporary times. I'd like to see how it works in that first book, especially since it seems as if the protagonists will be about the ordinary folk.
I'm curious to see how this premise works in a contemporary. The "thar's no womenz in town" is something that has worked for me in historicals (hell, I'm a real sucker for Ye Olde Mail Order Bride trope), but in a contemporary?
It's not the time period that raised my eyebrows but the location plus it being a contempoary. I didn't realize mountains in the south were still considered the back of the beyond - worthy of "pioneer spirit" in this day and age of Internet and cell phones.
O-kay. o.O
Ohhhh. Looks interesting, Wendy! Ms Bond is hit and miss as well with me... but I might check these out :)
Hilcia: It'll be interesting to see if a "historical-like trope" will cross over and work as well in a contemporary. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Like most things in life, it boils down to execution.
BevBB: I can roll with "thar be no womenz" in this instance because presumably they all left town after the tornado wiped them out. What I find a little perplexing is the time table. The tornado rolls through 10 years ago and they're just NOW rebuilding? Hopefully that time lag will make sense in the first book with a little back-story filling in.
Nath: I think I'm at least going to try the first book. If it works well enough, I'll happily sink in to the rest of the series :)
Yeah-it's that "10 years after the tornado" deal that gets me. Especially since I've lived through both tornados and hurricanes.
Galveston (where I live) had Hurricane Ike flood 3/4 of the city about 2-1/2 years ago, and we're still rebuilding. But it was only 2-1/2 years ago. (A lot's rebuilt, but a lot isn't.) And of course, a hurricane does a lot more damage than a tornado. (Nobody remembers our hurricane, because 2 days later, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.)
I've seen and lived in towns/cities with tornado damage, and while I've seen houses that were "slabbed" (wiped out down to the slab foundation, just like a number of houses after Ike) by tornados- the next block over was just fine. And Jarrell, TX isn't exactly "the big city." That whole town wasn't destroyed. So for the whole town to be destroyed, the town would have to be awfully small. Less than 2,000 population, I'd guess.
That said, I've lived in a small town that size, and there weren't many single people, male OR female. It will be interesting to see how Bond plays it.
So for the whole town to be destroyed, the town would have to be awfully small. Less than 2,000 population, I'd guess.
Plus, again, this is supposed to be in the mountains?!? Okay, not saying tornados don't hit there, just that they're going to be even more hit and miss in that type of terrain. The town truly would have to be tiny to be wiped out.
Oye, maybe I should just chalk this one up to "to much knowledge" being a bad thing and leave it at that. Be interested to hear what the rest of you think about them. ;-)
Gail: I think you've just articulated what's sorta nagging me about this premise. The hit or miss destruction of a tornado. But hunky guys! With their clothes on! LOL The more y'all leave comments the more I'm resolving to read the first book....at least. So says the girl who hasn't a read a single title contemporary is eons.
Bev: You know a variation of this premise that could really work? A wild fire. The hunky brothers could be smoke jumpers!
Wow! Great covers. I am SO sick of the shirtless, hairless oiled male torso. I think "male model" and turn off. I like a guy with hair--not a rug but a scattering of malely hair on his chest. Judging from their arms I'll find that under their shirts and imagination is much better than actually showing. And guys who can do something, build something. YUMM!
I'd probably still get them just for the cover (even though the majority of my books are ebook now).
Nod nod, totally agree :) LOL, it's like a pioneer, frontier storyline in a contemporary setting.
Joy: Yeah, all the man-titty just blurs together for me after a while. These covers stand out!
Dev: I'll probably pick up book one in print, and see how it goes. I find that I still like my single titles in print. One of my quirks.
Nath: And hunky guys! LOL
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