Cover Love (32) - New To Me

We've all heard the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover." But really, how many times have you been drawn to a book because of it's cover. Besides, we all initially judge a book by it's cover art and tagline, and now it's time to celebrate the it! Cover Love is hosted every Monday, feel free to add a link to your cover reviews (love 'em, hate 'em, or debut 'em) to Mr. Linky below.

An Abundance of Books' Cover Love feature was inspired by 21 Pages' "Cover Love" and Book Chick City's "Cover Crush" features and I encourage you to check them out.

I'm sure some of you have already seen these, but I've been a bit out of the loop this month and was excited when I saw them.  Mostly because it meant that I was that much closer to the release date.  But I've got to say, while I'm excited about the books, the covers are ok.

The fourth book in Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series, Archangel's Blade:

Goodreads Summary:

The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo. 

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her. 

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more…

I'm not sure how I feel about a book not focused on Elena and Raphael.  I love them and think that there's still a lot more story for them.  I hope Singh will write more on them in the future.  That's not to say that I'm disappointed that we finally get to learn more about Dmitri.  I'm very excited about this book and can't wait to read it!

However, I must admit that this cover seems a bit hokey.  I love the previous covers, and really, this isn't as bad as it could be.  (Have you seen the Cover Critiques at Supernatural Snark?  Great examples of covers gone horribly wrong.)  I think my main problem is that the chest looks kind of real while everything else looks "drawn" so it messes with my eyes.

Next up is Fate's Edge, book three in Ilona Andrews' The Edge series.  While I enjoy the Kate Daniels series much more, Ilona Andrews is pretty much an autobuy for me so I will be picking this one up.  I liked The Edge, book #1 and I really liked Bayou Moon, book #2 (reviewed), so I'm hoping that Fate's Edge will see the series continue to improve.  Andrews included the prologue to Fate's Edge on her blog, but warns that it will be different in the final printing.

(Summary not yet available)

The covers are definitely improving, the tend to look a bit cheesy (I think it's the floating head).  Unfortunately it seems that someone has mucked around with the cover model's boobs, making it Andrews' second book in a row with unfortunate boobage (in my opinion).  Though I really like the colors, the title and the heroine really pop off of the creams.  In fact, it's nice to see these softer colors used on a chick with a sword as opposed to a swooning bride.  Audrey looks tough and capable, I really hope she gives Kaldar a run for his money.  (Kaldar is still the hero of Fate's Edge, right?)

What covers caught you eye this week?