Hairy HOT SPELL Cover

First, have you entered the contest yet? It’s HOT SPELL week!

I’ve discovered that one of the best moments in this publishing process is getting that first look at the cover. When I saw the first version of the HOT SPELL cover, I think I died. There was a guy with wings. And he was way good-looking (okay, and I think I squealed: holy crap, he looks like Anthony!). And he was in the act of doing something, instead of just posing.

What I didn’t notice until a few minutes later was the chest hair. Sparse, scraggly chest hair.

I love this cover, even though I don’t normally go for the bare-chest-guy covers. I don’t know if it’s just because it’s good (I think it is) or because it has my name down at the very bottom. Click to see the first draft of the cover (it’s a big file).

So it was lavender (kind of like DEMON ANGEL is now), which I thought was fine (although the dark blue they ended up with is much better…I guess they thought it was too light for a paranormal erotic romance anthology?) Her nails were unpainted. The wings showed less. And he had icky, straggly chest hair. (And OMG! my name was centered right over his angel-nip! …it was meant to be, angel-titty and me.)

And it solved for me a question I’d long asked: why are all of the cover models waxed (which I actually prefer, but it hardly reflects the hero inside?)

It’s because hair looks Icky.