Last spring, I was thrilled to be part of the Love at First Laugh box set. Several of our other InspyRomance authors were also included in the set, along with some delightful authors who don’t blog regularly with us. For my addition to the box, I started a new series: Peacock Hill Romance.
Love at First Laugh was disbanded at the end of October, and so the novella that kicks off the Peacock Hill Romance series, A Heart Restored, is getting ready to be released on its own.
When I first put the novella in the box, I spent more time than is reasonable on the cover. (Generally for box sets, every novel or novella inside has its own cover. Raise your hand if you actually notice that. Yeah, me either.) I just couldn’t get something that I loved. Finally, after a lot of playing and grumbling as we inched closer and closer to the deadline, I settled on something that was “good enough” and called it a day.
Not too long after that, I got invited to another box set. This set, Cherish, has full-length novels in it. It seemed like Peacock Hill Romance book two would be the perfect thing to include. And so I dug out the cover for A Heart Restored and, after a little more grumbling, set about making a cover that went along with it in style and theme. But I liked the cover for A Heart Reclaimed even less than I liked A Heart Restored.
Then I forgot all about those two covers and moved on to other things.
Except…I did know I’d want to release them myself once the boxes were over. Which meant I really, REALLY, needed to come up with covers that I was going to be happy with. And so I did what I’ve been thinking I should do for the last couple of books: I hired a cover designer.
Can I just say not having to actually DO the cover design was so relaxing and delightful? Wow. I may well never go back to trying to do them myself.
And so I’ve been sitting on these covers for a few months. Now that Love at First Laugh is leaving us, I’m excited to get A Heart Restored out there into the world (and into your hands, if you haven’t already read it!)
Before we get to the cover, let’s find out what the book’s about, shall we?
She renovates old houses. Can he restore her heart?
Deidre McIntyre didn’t exactly purchase the gorgeous old home in the Shenandoah Mountains on a whim. The building had seen better days, but she had the skills—and the time—to fix it up. And maybe it would provide the fresh start she was looking for.
Local handyman Jeremiah Crawford has a soft spot for Peacock Hill. When someone from out of town purchases it, he swings by to offer to help fix it up…and investigate the new owner’s plans for the property. The pixie-like Deidre isn’t at all what he expects, but he’s happy to hang around and enjoy the view.
When Deidre’s ex-boyfriend, a popular TV house flipper, shows up demanding a piece of the action, Jeremiah must decide if Deidre—and Peacock Hill—are worth fighting for. Falling in love wasn’t on the blueprints, but it might just be worth the change in plans.
Now, after all the build up, I’m excited to share the cover for A Heart Restored with you!
I love this cover so much! I think it goes with the story so much better than what I’d originally done. I can’t wait to show you the cover for book two, A Heart Reclaimed. But you have to wait a little bit for that.
You can pre-order A Heart Restored on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and Kobo for just 99 cents for a limited time. It’ll release on January 9, 2018.
I’d love to know what you think of the new cover!
Hi Elizabeth, I LOVE the cover, it is great! I think designing your own covers would take a huge amount of time- and graphic design skills, well done for making your own.
The story sounds fun, I look forward to reading it.
Blessings:)
Hi Elizabeth. The new cover is whimsical and fun. Since 2014 I have read lots of boxed sets and I do pay attention to the individual covers of each story. As a retired teacher and a person who enjoys design, I understand how designing an appealing cover is a lot of work and can be stressful. Thanks for sharing your behind the scenes story. A Heart Restored was an inspiring read. Happy Veteran’s Day and best wishes.
I love this cover. it is a fun cover. makes me think of times gone by yet at the same time, times to come
Thanks, Wemble! The DIY covers definitely took me longer to end up with what I have than it would’ve taken a true graphic designer.
Thanks, Renate!
I can always count on you to leave reviews – be that a box set or a solo release – I hope you know how much I appreciate that!
Glad you enjoyed A Heart Restored :)
Oh! What a fun way of putting it! Love it.
This was a fun book to read and I love the sweet new cover. I only wonder if that’s a hatchet over the guy’s shoulder? And I actually do notice the covers. On my kindle I bookmark the cover, so I can easily go back and see it. Fun post, and I hope you get many more readers!
Ha! Those are her arms and hand. She has her arms around his neck but isn’t clasping them together. That’s gonna make me laugh for a long time cause now I can totally see a hatchet. That would really change the story!!
Like the covers, but the Amazon link _doesn’t_ work (only Kobo, iBooks, etc.).
Yeah, I know. They’ve taken four days so far – normally they’re much faster. As soon as the link is live, I’ll fix it and update.
Love the cover! And I’m a part of the cover reveal with SLB Tours (my first time participating in a cover reveal so I hope I did it correctly) so I’m totally excited about your new book!
Oh yay! Thanks for participating–im sure you did it perfectly :)
I adore this cover! It’s gorgeous!
I like the new cover. I can’t remember the old one, but I do remember that I enjoyed the story.
Thanks! Me, too ‘)
Fun cover! And I love the story idea! Looking forward to reading it. :)
Glad you enjoyed it! The old cover wasn’t all that memorable :)
Thanks, Brenda!
The cover looks so fun and cheery. Love it.
Thanks!
I enjoyed the story and love the cover!
Thanks!
I loved the cover. Feels really good with the story line.
Thanks!
Stunning cover! I just love love LOVE this!
Thanks, Autumn!
I love the cover. So pretty!
Thanks! I love how much I’m getting to stare at it today :)