As always, Revell’s new novels always seem to follow shortly after Bethany House release theirs, not at the same time, despite both being under the umbrella of Baker Books. So, I’m pleased to share with you most of Revell’s releases for the US summer next year.
Hands down, Sarah Sundin’s eye-catching cover is my favourite – it communicates the story, the dress is a beautiful eye-popping red, a man in uniform (tongue in cheek for those who tend to take these comments way too seriously!) and it is elegant and simple. My only gripe is the white lines bordering the title. They seem to be unnecessary and a little distracting.
I’m enjoying the city scapes in the background of Melody’s and the Lehman/Nesbitt collaboration. While I’m not a fan of the style of Lorna’s (large headshot), the model has a sweet face and a lovely look about her. Lynnette’s is different and preferable to her last two covers in this series, and while I like the simplicity and calm of Irene’s, I’m bothered by the angle of the shot of the model – I assume it is meant to be a woman but it looks like she could equally be a young girl.
Amanda’s is cute, befitting the contemporary romance genre – I love the rowboat but I’m not sure of the colour and font of both the title and author name.
Like Bethany, Revell continue to publish high quality stories so I’m looking forward to nearly all of these, and those not, only due to genre preference.
Isn’t it so subjective, though?! I do feel for the publishers and their artists as they try to keep as many readers as happy as possible, I imagine.
Over to you, lovely reader folk ~ share your thoughts! And do check back, as I’ll post the remaining covers as soon as they come available.
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No Place to Hide by Lynette Eason
It’s not every day you see your childhood friend and one-time crush on national news. Jackie Sellers just wishes it were under different circumstances.
She can’t believe that Ian Lockwood is wanted in connection with a terrorist plot, and she’s determined to find him and help him clear his name. But she’s not the only one looking. The FBI wants him captured. The bad guys want him dead. Ian just wants to stay alive long enough to save thousands of innocent lives.
May, 2015
As Love Blooms by Lorna Seilstad
Tessa Gregory is nothing if not tenacious. Denied a position as a horticulturalist at prestigious Como Park in Saint Paul, she is not above a little benevolent deception in order to get the park superintendent to change his mind and hire her. She plans to infiltrate the world of wealthy and influential people in hopes of drumming up financial support for a world-class conservatory. But before she can put those plans into action, she meets Reese King, a handsome gardener at Como Park–and a major distraction. Still, Reese might be the key to achieving her dream. But is his goal to help her . . . or to capture her heart?
Against a lush backdrop of early twentieth century Saint Paul, Minnesota, Lorna Seilstad weaves a sweet and sassy story that is sure to please. Tessa’s young romance opens like a rose, stealing readers’ hearts and filling their senses with the intoxicating fragrance of dreams come true.
May, 2015
In Firefly Valley b y Amanda Cabot
Marisa St. George is devastated when she is a victim of downsizing and has no choice but to return to the small Texas town where she grew up. Though it’s a giant step backward, she accepts a position as business manager at the struggling Rainbow’s End resort. The only silver lining is Blake Kendall, a new guest who is making her believe in love at first sight.
But will her dreams of happily-ever-after be turned upside down when she discovers who he really is?
May, 2015
A Perfect Ambition by Dr. Kevin Leman & Jeff Nesbit
As the firstborn son of an old and powerful family, William Jennings Worthington VI knows what it’s like to be under pressure. Groomed from birth with the relentless message that he was destined for greatness, Will has always pushed himself to succeed–nearly as much as his never-satisfied financial tycoon father pushes him. Becoming CEO of his company seems the next logical step on the success ladder. But when circumstances turn, Will finds himself staring down a road that leads to the greatest prize in the nation–the White House.
Can he trade the board room for the situation room? Or will a closetful of family secrets keep him from his destiny?
June, 2015
Love’s Rescue by Christine Elizabeth Johnson
When her mother dies, Elizabeth Benjamin heads home to Key West, determined to transform herself into the perfect Southern belle her parents always wished her to be. But nothing goes according to plan. Her crippled brother resents her, the servants do not obey her, and Rourke O’Malley, the dashing man she vowed to forget, refuses to relinquish his hold on her heart. Worst of all, it becomes painfully obvious that her father is not the upright man he appears to be.
As family secrets come to light, Elizabeth is faced with a difficult choice: to do her duty and abandon her dreams, or to leave her life of privilege behind to chase the man her father sees as little better than a pirate.
June, 2015
Once Upon a Summertime by Melody Carlson
Managing the Value Lodge in her hometown was not what Anna Gordon had in mind when she set out in the hospitality industry. But it’s a safe choice for a woman whose childhood was anything but stable. Out of the blue, she gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reinvent herself by moving to New York City, where she hopes for a management position at a stylish new boutique hotel.
The big city is full of surprises–not the least of which is Sean O’Neil. Her childhood crush has applied for the very same position!
June, 2015
Desperate Measures by Sandra Orchard
Researcher Kate Adams has finally pinpointed the medicinal plant responsible for tearing her family apart. She’s certain that discovering its secrets is her only hope of solving the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her father.
Kate will risk anything to find the truth–even her budding relationship with Detective Tom Parker. But more people than she can fathom are after the plants and going it alone just might prove to be a fatal mistake.
June, 2015
To Capture Her Heart by Rebecca DeMarino
It is 1653 and Heather Flower, a princess of the Montauk tribe, is enjoying her wedding feast when her groom is killed and she is kidnapped by a rival tribe and held for ransom. Though her ransom is paid by an Englishman, she is nonetheless left to die in a Connecticut forest–until she finds herself rescued by handsome Dutch Lieutenant Dirk Van Buren.
Torn between her affection for Dirk and her long friendship with family friend Benjamin Horton, Heather Flower must make a difficult choice–stay true to her friend or follow her heart.
July, 2015
The Innocent by Ann H. Gabhart
Carlyn Kearney has spent two lonely years not knowing whether to mourn or to hope after she receives word from the Union Army that her husband is missing. The war ends without further word. Now penniless, in debt, and forced from her home, Carlyn seeks refuge at the Shaker village of Harmony Hill, only to discover that they will not allow her to keep her beloved dog, an animal that has been her faithful companion since her husband went off to war.
Sheriff Mitchell Brody has pity on the lovely young woman and agrees to take the dog. Carlyn is just settling into life as a sister in the Shaker village when she receives a devastating letter confirming her worst fears. As she wrestles with whether to commit herself fully to the Shaker life, mysterious deaths begin to occur, and Carlyn comes under suspicion. Can Sheriff Mitchell help her expose the true culprit?
July, 2015
Gone Without A Trace by Patricia Bradley
It’s been more than two years since homicide detective Livy Reynolds’s cousin disappeared from Logan Point. Unlike most people in her hometown, Livy has never believed that Robyn left voluntarily.
When Dallas private investigator Alex Jennings contacts Livy concerning a missing senator’s daughter who was last seen in Logan Point, she notices eerie similarities between the two disappearances. But with self-doubt plaguing her and an almost instant dislike of Jennings, Livy is finding this investigation an uphill battle.
With her future in law enforcement on the line, can she find a way to work with a man who is her polar opposite?
July, 2015
Trial Run by Thomas Locke (aka Davis Bunn)
Reese Clawson’s work is mind-bending–literally. Her company specializes in global data analysis for an elite group of industry executives, and now a lucrative government contract is moving her into the realm of cutting-edge intelligence gathering. She is determined to crack the limits of consciousness–and in doing so, the boundaries of secrets and lies. But her experiment crashes as test subjects slide into a coma-like state. Reese is left scrambling to maintain control, drawing three disparate people into the search for answers–an adrenaline-amped thrill junkie with altered brain chemistry, an Italian scientist working on remote-viewing technology, and a math prodigy whose algorithms subvert
computer encryption.
Will this piecemeal team prevail when a government operative is sent to investigate? As the threads of perception and reality become tangled and even time itself twists in unexpected directions, one warning remains clear: what you don’t know can kill you.
August, 2015
Tracy Campbell never wanted to leave Hope Harbor, Oregon, or the idyllic three-generation cranberry farm where she grew up. But life–and love–altered her plans.
When tragedy strikes and changes her plans yet again, she finds herself back in her hometown with a floundering farm to run and a heartbreaking secret. Romance is not on her agenda. Nor is it on Michael Hunter’s. The visitor from Chicago has daunting secrets of his own. But when Tracy recruits him to help save a struggling charitable organization, the winds of change begin to sweep through Hope Harbor, bringing healing, hope, and love to countless lives–including their own.
August, 2015
Through Waters Deep by Sarah Sundin
It is 1941 and America teeters on the brink of war. Outgoing naval officer Ensign Jim Avery escorts British convoys across the North Atlantic in a brand-new destroyer, the USS Atwood.
Back on shore, Boston Navy Yard secretary Mary Stirling does her work quietly and efficiently, happy to be out of the limelight. Yet, despite her reserved nature, she never could back down from a challenge. When evidence of sabotage on the Atwood is found, Jim and Mary must work together to uncover the culprit. A bewildering maze of suspects emerges, and Mary is dismayed to find that even someone close to her is under suspicion.
With the increasing pressure, Jim and Mary find that many new challenges–and dangers–await them.
August, 2015
November 4, 2014 at 9:34 pm
Through Water Deep’s cover is nice – red and white is a very eye-catching colour combination. Thanks for sharing, Rel.
November 6, 2014 at 9:45 am
A pleasure, Ganise – appreciate you dropping by!
November 4, 2014 at 9:59 pm
Another great lineup of covers! My two fave historical covers are Sarah’s (stunning!) and Rebecca DeMarino’s. My two fave contemporary covers are Melody Carlson’s and Sandra Orchard’s.
November 6, 2014 at 9:46 am
Love hearing your thoughts, Ellie 🙂 Glad you loved some of these ones.
November 5, 2014 at 12:08 am
OMG! Sarah’s cover is amazing!! Totally blown away!
November 6, 2014 at 9:46 am
Yes!
November 5, 2014 at 12:14 am
So many good ones. Especially the last one.
November 6, 2014 at 9:47 am
Sarah’s is getting a LOT of love, Juju 🙂
November 5, 2014 at 12:15 am
I may totally be wrong here but I feel like I rarely see contemporary Christian fiction covers with men that are scruffy. They seem to either completely shaved or they’ll have the beard for the historical books, so since that is my thing (heh), WELL DONE to Patricia Bradley’s cover!
November 6, 2014 at 9:48 am
Ha! As always, you have something insightful and fun to say. And so very true!!!
November 5, 2014 at 2:35 am
Needless to say, I’m in LOVE with my cover!!! Revell knocked this one so far out of the park! Everything’s right – the models, the dress & uniform, even the Gleaves-class destroyer in the background (although only about 3 people in the world will care). I couldn’t WAIT to show it off! I’m so glad everyone likes it.
November 6, 2014 at 9:49 am
Yay! Sarah so glad you shared and that you adore your cover. We can all see why! I’m excited to see what the next covers in the series bring – Revell have set the bar very high 😉
November 12, 2014 at 10:39 am
Sarah, I am not a military story reader, but man, that’s an AWESOME cover, no wonder you couldn’t wait to show it off!
November 5, 2014 at 2:53 am
Wow!! Revell has really hit it out of the park with this batch of covers. Sarah’s–WOW. I really, really love that one. I would buy that for the cover even if I didn’t love her writing already. 🙂
November 6, 2014 at 9:49 am
I don’t think you are alone in those thoughts, dear Casey xo
November 5, 2014 at 3:14 am
What beautiful covers! And I love the diversity Revell is showing. There really is a story for everyone!
I don’t know that I have a favorite, but I’m particularly intrigued by Leman & Nesbit’s A Perfect Ambition. It looks so different from what’s being offered by most publishers. And I’ve read the series’ by Lorna Seilstad, Patricia Bradley, & Sandra Orchard so their names alone draw my attention.
November 6, 2014 at 9:51 am
Hi Brenda – I agree about Leman & Nesbit’s books. Good to see a political thriller in the mix.
November 5, 2014 at 3:22 am
Wow! I totally agree with you on Through Waters Deep’s cover being the favorite of these!! It’s so pretty and I am absolutely in love! (Though, like you, I could have done without the white lines!) I also really like both Lynette’s and Amanda’s and I love how they match the previous books in their series! Patricia’s cover while it fits with the series I’m not a huge fan of it and I have the same thoughts as you on Irene’s cover! Can’t wait to read these!
November 6, 2014 at 9:53 am
Yay, Abbi. I’m glad I’m not alone on the white lines. I get what they were going for but I just would have preferred to see the ship unhindered. Still gorgeous. Love your thoughts.
November 5, 2014 at 3:23 am
Hey Rel,
This time we seem to agree on most everything. Sarah Sundin’s is my favorite of the lot, but more than that, it is one of my all-time favorite covers period. It is absolutely FANTASTIC!!! I see Sarah’s comment and she is justifiably proud! The red dress next to the white uniform is perfection. The look of the woman’s hair is very WWII. And while I didn’t know the ship was that correct, Sarah, I did notice it lending such a nice, authentic-looking touch to the backdrop. I also like the touches of gray in the sky to give a bit of ominous overshadowing everything. I do disagree with one thing, though, Rel. I really like the lines around the title. It evokes stripes on a ranked uniform to me. This one already has me excited to see what Revell does with the other covers of the books in this series. My next favorite is Rebecca DeMarino’s. It really captures the story as described in the synopsis as well as the period. I like Lorna Seilstad’s too, including the backdrop. I do like Ann Gabhart’s new Shaker cover, but it looks very Amish, more so than others in the series, but I am sure that is probably a good thing for sales, even though her books do well anyway. Of the contemporaries, I LOVE Lehman/Nesbit’s! Like you, I love the city skyline, but I also love that darkness overshadows him a bit to mirror the story. I like Melody Carlson’s day NY skyline, too, but the black on the dress is distracting to me. I do really like the picture of the couple in the rowboat on Amanda Cabot’s, but I agree with you about the fonts. And I agree with you about Irene Hannon’s contemporary cover, too, although it does fit in with her others at Revell of the same type. As for the suspense, I like Patricia Bradley’s the best. Sandra Orchard’s is OK to me. It fits with the others in the series. Lynette Eason’s is better than the others in the series, but I am not too crazy about it. It reminds me of so many Love Inspired Suspense covers, which all look so similar to me with few things to differentiate them. I am really looking forward to seeing Christine Johnson’s cover. The story sounds great to me! And I am anxious to see Thomas Locke’s (Davis Bunn’s) other cover, too. I love the one for “Emissary!” As always, thanks a lot, Rel. I meant to post on another entry that yours is the only blog on Christian fiction I go to regularly, and I check it at least five days a week. Have a blessed day!
November 6, 2014 at 9:59 am
Hey Aaron – yay, we are in agreement!!! Aside from the stripes. I certainly get why they added the stripes – military theme – but as I mentioned above my preference would have been not to have them. It’s a minor thing. It is such an epic cover, it hardly matters.
Agree with you on Rebecca’s beautifully catching the story and Lorna’s, too. I’ll post the other two covers ASAP.
And thank you for your lovely encouragement, Aaron – so appreciated.
November 17, 2014 at 6:17 pm
Hi Aaron – added the additional covers in for Thomas Locke and Christine Johnson. I’m thinking you will love one and not the other!
Actually, when I first saw Trial Run, I was disappointed following the impact of Emissary but I can see why they are wanting to differentiate between the fantasy series (Emissary) and the new science fiction series, beginning with Trial Run 🙂
Your thoughts?
November 18, 2014 at 6:31 am
Hey,
You know my likes so well. I love Christine Johnson’s cover! The lady looks very Southern belle, especially the hair. You know the Southern saying…the higher the hair, the closer to Jesus! 🙂 I do not care for Davis’s cover. The all red just does not work in my opinion. And the picture doesn’t provide a good scifi suspense feel to me. Although I am not crazy about the cover, the story sounds great to me! I love stories with teams of disparate characters coming together to perform some big task. (One of my all-time favorites in CF being the “Operation Firebrand” series by Jeff Gerke writing then as Jefferson Scott. By the way, Rel, the series has been re-issued as ebooks by Jeff, and I believe the first one is still available for free. I think you would like it. The characterizations are great!)
November 5, 2014 at 4:01 am
Hands down Sarah’s is my favorite. So beautiful and completely romantic while still maintaining an air of darkness and mystery that fits with the blurb. If I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that book before, I definitely can’t now!!! Thanks for sharing these, Rel! 🙂
November 6, 2014 at 9:59 am
We are as one on this cover!!!
November 5, 2014 at 4:41 am
Sarah’s… oh my, goodness. That is gorgeous. I love every detail about it from the color scheme to the noble “man in uniform,” so elegant and refined. Amanda’s too is cute – the colors work well though I see what you mean about the color of the author’s name and like you, I agree Lynette’s is an improvement (again, fantabulous color scheme). Melody’s is cute as well and may be a series I try. 🙂
Loved this – as always, Rel.
November 6, 2014 at 10:00 am
Rissi is here!!! Love, love your thoughts, always xo
November 5, 2014 at 8:37 am
These are all wonderful! I’m in love with both Sarah’s and Rebecca’s new covers. I agree with Aaron that the white stripes on Sarah’s cover make me think of bars on a uniform. It adds to the Naval feel. I also like that we’re starting to see the male characters represented on the covers again. I felt like we’d gotten away from that for a time.
November 6, 2014 at 10:01 am
You are right, Karen – so good to see the men represented and also in the centre. Not a little figure in the distance as is often the case if there is a man at all!
November 5, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Some really nice covers in this batch. Agree with you on that red dress and white uniform. It jumps off the page. A Perfect Ambition and Once Upon a Summertime both really appealed to me. I would definitely judge the books by those covers (favourably). And almost going against type for me, I was also quite taken with Hope Harbor. And Desperate Measures caught my eye too. So a quite good batch of appealing covers from Revell demonstrating a good variety of books.
November 6, 2014 at 10:01 am
Thanks for joining in and sharing your thoughts, Deb – appreciate it!
November 5, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for sharing these, Rel. Revell has outdone itself once again. Sarah’s cover is just a big WOW. Who can resist that dress white uniform? I’m really drawn to Amanda’s, too. I’m so Favorite parts of my As Love Blooms is the hat and the conservatory in the background. Both play a big role in the story.
November 6, 2014 at 10:02 am
Hi Lorna – thanks for stopping by. I really love it when elements of the story are included in the cover art. It’s a nice touch, I agree.
November 6, 2014 at 3:03 am
I love Melody Carlson’s cover. Frankly, I like all the covers except I agree with you about the woman on the cover of Irene Hannon’s book.
November 6, 2014 at 10:03 am
It’s a little odd, isn’t it? Melody’s is good and sounds like something different for her, too.
November 6, 2014 at 3:24 am
Wow, Sarah’s cover is amazing!
November 6, 2014 at 10:03 am
Ditto, Merry!
November 6, 2014 at 8:40 am
I’m looking forward to so many of these!!
November 6, 2014 at 10:04 am
They’re all sounding good, aren’t they. Shannah?
November 6, 2014 at 9:10 am
Thank you so much for sharing these Rel!! Revell’s covers are amazing! Sarah Sundin’s is gorgeous – I’ve always been a fan of her novels and can’t wait to read this one! All of the covers are fetching – and I can see my TBR pile will be growing soon! Revell absolutely captured the essence of my hero and heroine in the cover of TO CAPTURE HER HEART ~ and as you mentioned, Rel, there are two heroes :o)
November 6, 2014 at 10:05 am
Hey Rebecca – thanks for sharing! I think that is what hit me most about your cover – that the models look like they fit the story. Glad you think so, too 🙂
November 11, 2014 at 1:29 am
sarah sundin’s is the best of the lot!!!!!!
November 12, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Love Sarah’s and Amanda’s covers!! Just stunning!!