The Wicked Marquis and The Outrageous Lady~

The cover for The Undoing of a Libertine will be here soon and as always it makes me nervous as hell. Searching around I stumbled upon these treasures.  God, I loved reading these books, and such catchy titles too!  Barbara Cartland was the queen of YA romance fiction back in the day and wrote some 723 titles over 77 years!!!  Just take those numbers in for a moment.  And if you consider that at her death in May of 2000 she left behind a whopping 160 unpublished manuscripts it’s even more astounding.  Those are being published by the way and are entitled, The Pink Collection.
                                                                                                                       I read piles of these short novels and I poured over the cover art time and time again in the course of reading.  All those soft illustrations with brushed strokes in vibrant colors of tall, dark and sexy heroes and ethereal glittery-eyed heroines mesmerized me.  I loved looking at the artful covers and every new cover made me desperately want to read the book.  I guess each story that I write has a little bit of a Barbara Cartland romance in it.  Our experiences lead us and I certainly experienced a whole lot of Ms. Cartland’s books.  And you never forget your first.  *wink*

My cover! Come to Momma~

The long awaited cover has finally arrived. And I feel like a new mommy recovering from the birth. Kind of appropriate with Mother’s Day just around the corner. *wink*

Not to take anything away from mothers and the life-altering experience of actually giving birth, I can now say I have endured both, and while difficult and emotional at times, the rewards of holding the prize in your arms is incomparable.

Let me just say that I love my cover. *I love my babies too*

The final product incorporates my vision for His Perfect Passion, well…perfectly. I love the way Darius is holding Marianne and the expression on his face. There is no doubt about what he feels for her. Marianne’s face is hidden, and that fits too because she is hiding a secret which compels her actions throughout their story. I’m glad the mansion along the coast is in there because the sea is critical to the plot of His Perfect Passion.

Now, the journey to getting to this point was not without its bumps, but I’ll share that story another time.  Let’s just say that the first version didn’t quite mesh with my vision.  *takes a deep breath*

I hope you enjoy my very first romance cover as much as I am.  And if you’re wondering and don’t already know, yes, that’s Jimmy Thomas.  *blows kiss to Jimmy*

~Raine