Christy's Cozy Corner 12

to Read (

Words)

Lancaster House
by Taylor Dean
Paperback, 304 pages
Published June 7th 2012 by Createspace

Premise:

Zoe Grayson needs a change. So, she moves to another state, purchases an old, dilapidated 1920s Victorian Mansion, and sets out to restore it to its former glory. As she begins the restoration, she finds herself falling in love with the old house . . . not to mention its illustrious builder, Mr. Lancaster. Zoe becomes obsessed with the house as she discovers its secrets; hidden rooms, secret passageways . . . and a mysterious man who seems to think the house is his. Who is he? More importantly, how does he live in her home unseen and unheard?

The unexpected answers leave her reeling—and questioning everything she’s ever known. To her dismay, Zoe’s actions land her in the local psychiatric hospital, scheming for ways to return to Lancaster House . . . and the love of her life.

My old book covers for Lancaster House and The Middle Aisle

*If you’d like to read one my favorite ‘scary’ excerpts from Lancaster House, return to yesterday’s post at Passion and Life by crawling down this secret passageway . . .

Book covers are an extremely hard decision. Everyone judges a book by its cover when it comes to books! In this day and age, most of your book sales will be from online sources. All the average reader will ever see of your cover is a small thumbnail image. It’d better be good . . . eye-catching and visually stimulating.

No pressure!

I went back and forth when making the decision of which covers to use. In the beginning, I found the perfect images, created the covers, and figured that was that. But then my daughter called and said, “Mom, you need new covers!”

I liked my old covers, but, in my daughter’s words, they were boring.

I knew she was right. While my old covers represented the inside of the books quite well, I seriously doubt that they would’ve garnered a second glance from anyone else. Ever.

So here they are: my old covers:

Not horribly bad, but certainly not good either. Kinda dreary. (Note: Lancaster House and The Middle Aisle were never published with these covers.)

I worried people would think I’d misspelled ‘aisle’ on The Middle Aisle cover. After all, it kinda has the appearance of an island, not just a cliff edge. Hence, people would think it should’ve been ‘isle.’ Right? And the proportions between the house and the cliff edge just aren’t right. The house is too big for the cliff!

As I searched for new images, one of my daughters noticed the hand picture before I did. She said to me, “How about that one for Lancaster House, Mom?”

I said, “It looks so Carrie-like!”

“That’s why it’s perfect, like a hand reaching out of the grave,” she responded.

When I found a similar picture that boasted a tree that resembled a Cypress tree, I was sold. Part of The Middle Aisle takes place in Monterey, California—a place that is famous for its Cypress trees. Perfect!

At any rate, I sent out an email to friends and family asking which covers—for all of my books—they liked the best, the old or the new. To my surprise, the answers were varied. It was almost 50/50. Some liked the new, some liked the old.

Personally, I loved the new animated covers. So did my daughters. I loved the images, they just spoke to me. And I liked the idea of being different. I write clean romance—and I felt the covers conveyed the message: the inside of these books do not contain your average romance novel! I also liked the idea of having all Taylor Dean Books have animated covers for the sake of being consistent.

I have found that readers either LOVE these covers or HATE these covers, no in-between. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you!

*To read the prologue of Lancaster House, hang out here in the attic at Christy's Cozy Corner 'til Sunday . . . go ahead, choose a bed. The ghosts are just a rumor.

(Pictures can be sourced through http://pinterest.com/burgandyice/secret-passageways/)

About the Author:

Taylor Dean lives in Texas and is the mother of four grown children. Upon finding herself with an empty nest, she began to write the stories that were always wandering around in her head, quickly finding that she had a passion for writing, specifically romance. Whether it's paranormal, contemporary, or suspense-you'll find all sub-genres of romance in her line-up.

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Lancaster House & The Middle Aisle, available in print or eCopy from Smashwords or Amazon:

Tour-Wide Giveaway:

5 WINNERS will receive....

Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Taylor Dean. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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