Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Wednesday Flourish + Giveaway: The Frenchman

This feature is back on a Wednesday. *sigh* I was going to try and keep the momentum of Sword's Friday reveal a couple weeks back and stick to Fridays moving forward, but I just don't think that's going to work out, so I'm going to continuing "flourishing" whenever I'm given the green light from an author or publisher!

Today I'm excited to share with you the cover for The Frenchman by Lesley Young, the first book in her Crime Royalty Romance series. Given this is an adult romance, there was a certain sense of expectation (not from Lesley, but from designing for this genre in general) to go the more conventional route and feature a sexy shot of a half naked man, but I really wanted to see if we could do something a little different. Luckily for me, Lesley was really open to the idea and we both fell in love with a set of blurred images of the Parisian cityscape, something which tied in beautifully with the title and provided the perfect design groundwork for the series as a whole (stay tuned for The Australian and The American!).

We played around quite a bit with color and texture, adding a little darkness and grit to suit the story, and I hope you all love the result as much as we do!

Crime Royalty Romance #1


Fleur Smithers rarely veers off the straight and (excruciatingly) narrow. So moving to the seaport town of Toulon to live with her newfound biological mother—an inspector with the French National Police—for one year is a pretty major detour.

Son of France’s crime royalty family and international rugby star, Louis Messette, is devoted to his sport, famille and nothing else. But the saucy American he meets one night changes everything. She sparks a desire in him like no other. Possession takes root. She will do as he commands.

Bit by bit Fleur slips into the Frenchman’s realm of wanton pleasure agreeing to his one condition: that she keep their affair secret. She serves up her heart without reservation in the hub of the glittering Côte d’Azur, and the along the soulful Seine in Paris, unaware of the danger she is in. For her new lover’s “family business” will pit her against her mother, the police woman sworn to bring down the Messettes. And by then, far more than Fleur’s heart will be on the line.


If The Frenchman has your curiosity piqued, be sure and sign up for the official blog tour running January 12th to the 30th!

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LESLEY YOUNG


Lesley Young is an award-winning Canadian journalist by day, and obsessive novelist by night. Her debut novel, Sky’s End (Soulmate Publishing, 2013) hit #9 on Amazon’s sci-fi romance paid best-seller list in its first three months of release.

Not too long after that, she started dreaming up quirky heroines who lose their hearts to extremely powerful, flawed heroes, only to find out what love really is while on a dangerous adventure abroad. She called it the Crime Royalty Romance series, and landed herself a pretty big agent at Spencerhill Associates. Never one to take the obvious path, Lesley ultimately decided to self-publish. She’s never sure who or what will pop up in her imagination next. The Irishman? The Spaniard? The Hawaiian? Anything’s possible, and she loves suggestions (or recommendations of really hot, er, talented, actors to work as a muses).

Stay in touch with her and feel free to forward on decent options at Facebook.com/LesleyYoungBooks and @LesleyYoungBks (note: Charlie Hunnam’s already taken the lead role of The American—#3 Crime Royalty Romance...coming soon!).


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GIVEAWAY

Lesley is generously offering up a $25 gift card (Amazon, B&N or iTunes) to one lucky winner! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

47 comments:

  1. This is a lovely cover. It reminds me of a photograph.

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  2. Once again a gorgeous cover Jenny. I love the soft colors and texture and the blur of the Eiffel Tower in the background!

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    1. Thanks so much Ali! I'm really happy with it too:)

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  3. I love this cover! I'm glad you and Lesley went another route than the typical half naked guy. :-) This sounds like a great story, I'll have to add this to my TBR wish list. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Yes! As lovely as the sexy man covers are, I wanted this one to stand out a as unique a little more:)

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  4. I like the cover ,, this book sound like abook i should never miss :) I will add this one to my TBR list

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  5. I really like the cover, can't wait to read the book!

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  6. the french man sounds mysterious and i like the mystery n.n

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    1. He does sound mysterious, I want to meet him:)

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  7. Another eye catching cover. This is beautiful. You never cease to amaze me, Jenny.

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  8. Oh I love this cover Jenny. The colors are gorgeous!

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  9. The cover is stunning, Jenny! I already have this on my tbr list. Can't resist the setting and yummy sounding smexy suspense. :-)

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    1. Right? I'm really looking forward to diving into this one as well:)

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  10. Love this cover, Jenny, and it makes me even more excited for next week! :D

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  11. The cover and synopsis sound great.

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  12. You continue to amaze me, Jenny! What a gorgeous cover!! And the book sounds fantastic as well! A crime family in France? I'm in!

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    1. ME TOO! I'm always on board for a sexy crime family story:)

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  13. Ooooh, what an amazing cover!! Truly gorgeous and for my taste much better than any other more overdone with a shirtless guy in there!
    You are so damned talented Jenny! I love seeing your work!

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    1. Thanks so much Pili! I'm hoping that's how most people will feel. I enjoy a nice set of abs as much as the next girl, but I wanted these covers to say a little more about the story and stand out on the shelves:)

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  14. This looks fun. What an awesome cover. You rock, Jenny. I need a change up in my reading so I will be on the look out for this.

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  15. I love it! I like that you didn't go with the half naked guy, I tend to avoid those books. This looks like one I would pick up for sure. And I love the description!

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  16. I'm glad that you decided to go the new route with this book. It'll help people pick this up without feeling embarrassed with reading a romance without the large neon sign with capital letters saying "Reading Romance". ;)

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    1. Me too Rummanah! It was a little riskier since we all know sex sells, but I like that this cover isn't necessarily something that's been seen over and over again:)

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  17. LOVE the cover!! Love that choice of blue next to the bokeh lighting. I signed up just because of the cover!!

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  18. I do confess a bit blurry for me..not wearing my glasses ;)

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    1. *snort* Yes. It's just a touch out of focus ;-)

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  19. Lovely! I'll be honest, I prefer there not to be half naked men on my books because I hate when people see them and get all judgey Plus, that just gets old after awhile. This is pretty, simple, and I think the title already does a good job conveying the general idea.

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    1. People definitely do get judgey when they see a sexy cover. We were going for a sophisticated feel that was both beautiful and gritty at the same time:)

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  20. I love this cover Jenny! The Parisian cityscape that you've added makes it look so picturesque and pretty and I adore the colour theme that you've gone for too! I look forward to seeing your covers to The American and The Australian, I'm sure they'll be just as stunning!

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    1. I can't wait for you to see both Jasprit! We're still working on The American, but I'm madly in love with The Australian:)

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  21. I love the cover and am excited to read it!

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  22. This is one of the best covers I've seen! Eye-catching and mysterious.

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  23. I like the cover, gives it a air of mystery.

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  24. As everyone stated, I too, like the cover. I also think the books sounds like a great read.
    Happy Holidays
    Lori

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  25. I'm excited to meet the Frenchman. The book sounds really good.

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  26. This sounds like it is going to be a great book and something I am going to really enjoy reading. Thanks for sharing!! :)

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