...or is it just me?? Let me give you the specifics - I am currently reading Adele Ashworth's The Duke's Indiscretion (yes, I know my sidebar is out of date...shut up). I've just started but it seems fine so far...her books tend to start off slow, says me. Anyway, this is the cover:



Yes, it's a nice enough cover and I'm sure the red is very eye-catching on store shelves. I'm even glad you don't really see faces (I don't want to see faces...but that's me). The part that is an issue for me is this:

From page 33, a description of our heroine: ..."massively curly, thick strawberry-blond hair pulled back from her face with pins and tied with a ribbon, exposing a wide forehead, and sadly drawing attention to her spectacles, which did nothing more than hide her feminine appearance." Also, there are several passages that emphasize that Charlotte is quite voluptuous.

Okay, now to meet our hero. From page 41: ..."the sun from the window behind his head making his dark blond hair shine brilliantly as it fell behind his ears. He had flawless skin, as she'd been able to tell from last week's close observance by lamplight, and hazel eyes, thickly lashed and very keen."

Now that you've read what our couple looks like, take another look at the cover. Who are those people??? Dude is not dark blond. And chick is not a strawberry blond, any more than I am (of course, that means nothing to you - you haven't seen me - but trust me) - and where are the masses of curly hair? And if that is voluptuous, I don't even want to think what I am!

I know it's a small thing. But, because it is a small thing, shouldn't the publisher try to get it right? I mean, how hard can it be to tweak a cover a bit...PhotoShop, anyone?? They can do anything with PhotoShop, it seems. Just a little effort would be nice, don't you think??

Labels: 2 cents, book stuff, covers