Cover Reveal (and a Guest Post!): The Cairo Curse by Pepper Basham

I’m so excited today to bring you the cover reveal for The Cairo Curse by Pepper Basham, releasing February 2023 from Barbour! And the fabulous Pepper Basham herself is here today to chat about being a cover enthusiast!!

SEQUEL TO THE MISTLETOE COUNTESS
GENRE: Inspirational Historical Romance
PUBLISHER: Barbour Fiction
RELEASE DATE: February 2023

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her newest novel is The Mistletoe Countess, a historical romantic romp with a dash of mystery and a bunch of humor too. You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com.

Ready…..

Set…..

Oh wait! We have a post from Pepper! 😉

To All the Unabashed Book Cover Enthusiasts!

by Pepper Basham, author of The Cairo Curse

I’m not a cover SNOB.

But…I’m not an “anything goes” about covers either. It feels wrong to say I’m a cover “elitist” so can I just go with the fact that I’m a cover ENTHUSIAST??? Enthusiast implies that covers inspire me, dazzle me, pull me in, make me swoon, etc. I cheer over great covers. But at the very core, I’m not making up my mind (completely) about the book simply based on its cover. How about that? Does that moniker work for you? 😊

I am SO enthusiastic about beautiful covers, that I make mock-up covers for books I’m writing so I can look at them for inspiration as I write. Now, I’m not saying I’m an excellent cover designer, but I do like pretty things especially if they get to the heart of the story in a visual way.

Some of the time, these mock-ups end up influencing the REAL covers, but sometimes, they’re just for me and my imagination.

As a cover enthusiast, covers are very important to me. I try hard not to judge a book by its cover, but I am greatly influenced by the cover (oooh, semantics! Aren’t words grand?!?)

For example, I like the cover to have a mixture of various elements (and these all don’t have to be present for me to love the cover, but a combination of them definitely creates greater influence 😊)

1. Pretty – seriously beautiful covers attract attention. Have you guys seen Amanda Dykes new cover? It’s one of those ethereal sorts of beauties that draws you in (or it did to me!).
2. Meaningful – something in the cover has a significance to the story and you just know it! Ashley Clark’s covers for her split-time Heirloom series are not only pretty, but each cover reflects something special about a part of the story. Plus…there are hats.
3. Intriguing – The cover may not be “pretty” per se, but there’s something in it that is immediately attention-grabbing. Jaime Jo Wright’s books are like this for me. Not only is there something pretty about them, but there is also an instant “grab” factor. Janyre Tromp’s upcoming novel, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye, holds that sort of feeling for me too.
4. Fun – The smile factor means a lot to me. If the cover makes me smile, then I am much more likely to pick it up. Jenny B Jones’s books usually do that for me, as well as several other authors’ book covers.
5. A sense of place – Book covers that set up a sense of place can draw us too. Think of Erica Vetsch or Kristi Ann Hunter’s regency covers? What about Laura Frantz early American series? Jennifer Deibel for Ireland and Katie Breslin’s newest in Scotland. Something as lovely as a bookshop on the cover or the Blue Ridge Mountains or an English countryside can really capture us.
6. Character – sometimes the character on the cover immediately either makes you grin or ask internal questions about them. You’re like…hmm, who are they? Why do they have that expression? How are the two characters connected (usually romance!!)? The Mobster’s Daughter by Rachel McDaniel or John Eyre by Mimi Matthews did that for me.
7. An indefinable connection – okay, let’s be honest. Sometimes, there’s no real THING that causes a cover to connect with us. It’s a nebulous reaction drawing us to that cover and, hopefully, that story. Sometimes a cool title helps too 😊

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I’ve had the opportunity to work with Roseanna White in designing a few of my book covers. She’s amazing at what she does (and also an amazing author), and she will take my mock-ups and fine tune them into beautiful things. Since I write both historical and contemporary romance, I’ve had the opportunity to have fun with both!

So, one of my favorite covers Roseanna and I designed is Jane by the Book 😊 In my opinion, the cover sets a fun/happy tone, but gives off the “vibes” of the characters. It makes me smile.

Laurel’s Dream’s new cover (formerly My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge), to me, is beautiful and gives a sense of place. It also, for those who’ve read the story, has hints of meaning in it about this woman’s dream beyond the mountains but love of her mountains.

Barbour did a fantastic job with Hope Between the Pages because it gives a sense of mystery (which is a part of the story) as well as a sense of place. And, it’s rather pretty, in my opinion.

My upcoming release with Barbour, The Heart of the Mountains, provides a sense of place with the Blue Ridge Mountains, but, for me, there is something tender about the couple together holding hands and walking toward those mountains. It draws on my emotions. How about you?

And then there’s the curious fun of my upcoming release with Thomas Nelson. Bright colors. Books! A sweater vest!! I mean, don’t you think it sends off fun, quirky vibes?

How cool that all the covers mentioned are so very different, but yet, they draw our attention with similar potency. Yes, I know the author’s name may be a factor too, but being a cover enthusiast, covers DO matter to me.

Which is why I’m all the more delighted to share a cover reveal with you today!! I’d love to see how it appeals to you from the list above? It’s for my Feb 2023 release with Barbour and is a sequel to The Mistletoe Countess, so…we get a little more time with Freddie and Grace.

Are you ready to check it out? WOOHOO! Let’s do it!

Reveal!!!!

just press play!

follow pepper basham on amazon for updates!

Author Website

What about you? What makes you want to read The Cairo Curse by Pepper Basham? What’s your fave part of The Cairo Curse cover?