Historical Romance Seeks Eye Catching Cover - Responsive CH!

Caught

Christina J Michaels

Shutterstock links I've found and posted as a message (but 99Designs hid the url):

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…s-91281431

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…mTt3A-2-71

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-396644842

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-375569557

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-481863007

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-454545631

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…s-94793419

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-292968164

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-337779320

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-402157366

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-432163615

A picture of a full length doll in proper period costume:

http://thedreamstress.com/wp-conten…84x500.jpg

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-…-389857579

Hats/heads:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/43/7d/e7/…s-hats.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/d…5800c6.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d6/1…3b1da0.jpg

Caught is a historical romance set in 1770 London. Two sets of best friends fall in love. The title – Caught - refers to how situations force the characters to do things. The lead male is poor and must marry for money. The lead female is sexually assaulted and must marry to save her reputation. The story is dark, focusing how the characters respond to economic failure, attempted rape, rejection, and betrayal. (It is romance, so everything ends up happily ever after.)

Caught follows the courtship of Alison Brooke and Robert Anderson. Robert is in debt and has large bills due to his very sick father. He has three shipping ventures out that are expected to come in soon but keep not showing up. Robert needs to marry for money. Alison is rich. At a ball, Robert walks in on Alison being sexually assaulted. Robert saves her. Robert and Alison fall in love. They take a horse-drawn carriage to the country, have a picnic, and have sex. Alison's father rejects Robert, which prevents Robert from getting Alison's money. Blocked from her inheritance and facing financial ruin, Robert leaves Alison. Robert's father dies and releases Robert from his financial obligations. Alison and Robert get back together. Spirits are high. At a ball that night, the guy who sexually assaulted Alison sexually assaults her again. She beats him in the face with her fan until Robert arrives and saves her. Robert and the villain duel the next morning. Villain dies; Robert is almost killed. As Robert recovers, the large shipping venture he was waiting on arrives. He is now out of debt and rich. He then marries Alison without her father's permission. They live happily ever after.

There is a subplot where Alison and Robert's best friends also fall in love. Anthony is a high ranking nobleman who turns out to be a traitor to the crown. Brenda falls in love with him over the course of the book. When Robert sends Brenda to tell Anthony that he's about to be arrested, Brenda chooses to flee England with Anthony. They live happily after in the American colonies.

Caught's target audience is romance readers that enjoy history, politics, and witty dialogue. The book explores dark concepts with powerful female characters.

Title: Caught
Subtitle: A Historical Romance

Author: Christina J Michaels
Tagline [creativity allowed/this element is optional]: Caught in the act, caught by scandal, caught by honor, and caught by duty, four friends are ultimately caught by the most powerful thing of all - love.

Suggested words [creativity allowed/this element is optional]: Politics. Scandal. Betrayal. Love.

The back cover should contain art or design elements from the front cover. The back must not appear as an afterthought.
The Loyalists and The Rebels should be centered.

Back cover blurb (also uploaded as a file):

- The Loyalists -

With her perfect breeding, flawless beauty, and proper manners, ALISON BROOKE never expected to be smeared by the cruel brush of scandal. ROBERT ANDERSON, Lord Charmaine, is focused on his tumbling finances and dying father. When villainy leaves the ravishing (and ravished) Alison thrown at his feet, Robert is pulled from his self-recrimination and into the heart of the Season's hottest gossip.

- The Rebels -

Marquis ANTHONY FARRINGTON is one of Alison's many rejected suitors and Robert's best friend. Secretly, Anthony risks the gallows for his ongoing support of the populist movements. When Robert is given charge of the investigation against Anthony, friendships, loyalty, and ideals come into question. Perhaps the most surprising of all is the involvement of Alison's constant companion, the wallflower BRENDA BOSWELL. The unfashionable Brenda shows herself to be a spitfire capable of saving them all.

-

Caught in the act, caught by scandal, caught by honor, and caught by duty, the four friends are ultimately caught by the most powerful thing of all - love.

The spine should be roughly 1.6" (700 page book/110,000 words).

I would like the spine to appear as part of the overall design. Like the cover, it should not be an afterthought.

Design/color suggestions include the use of contrasting colors, fine art mediums (oil painting, watercolors); low saturation main image with a high saturation detail peice; strong light to dark transitions (with strong shadows); silhouettes; and negative space. Be bold.

Please look at the design board - there is a pink/orange/yellow/red combo that shows up often in some romance covers. I do not want that.

I am interested in seeing submissions that follow the standard historical romance cover but with unique design twists.

Required:
+ A cover that sells
+ A cover that blends the traditional romance cover look with modern illustration
+ A cover that tells the reader the book is both historical and a romance
+ A cover with at least one of lead characters on it (Alison and/or Robert)
+ Back cover should share art or design elements with the front cover.

My female lead looks like this, but blond: http://thedreamstress.com/wp-conten…84x500.jpg

How to read the design inspiration board (uploaded images) above:

The top images are traditional Romance Covers (images) that I like.
The middle images are non-traditional design elements that I like.
The bottom images (with a red X) are romance covers I don't like.

My hope is that you, the designer, will take a traditional romance cover and add these additional design elements to make a distinctive and unique cover.

Ideas:

+ Designers Choice. I welcome creativity. I do not have a set cover in mind.

+ Dancing in a ballroom. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BrtrpecCEAA1_gL.jpg

+ Riding around Hyde Park. (Leading woman (Alison) has a grey or white horse.) http://collections.britishart.yale.…rd/1665665

+ Duels. Pools of blood, pistols, etc. (The lead male (Robert) gets shot and almost dies. The duel takes place in a dirty alley with mist.)

+ Finance or political elements. Examples are books, writings, the union jack (british flag), quills. (Both leading men are politicians; the male main character has lost all his money in trade and is trying to marry the female main character for her money.)

+ Tall ships, either sailing or sinking. (The plot of the book involves the hero (Robert) becoming poor due to loss of shipping goods/ships sinking.) https://www.ocean-institute.org/tallship-sails

Main characters:

Lead woman (Alison): long blond hair, blue eyed, proper 1779 English lady.
Lead male (Robert): broad-shouldered, burly, brown hair, blue eyes, rough and ready type. English politician.

Supporting woman (Brenda/lead woman's best friend): bright red curly hair, brown eyes, freckles, and wears wild colors.
Supporting male (Anthony/lead male's best friend): Black haired, dark eyed, and very proper and formal. Will betray England for the American Colonies.

Alison + Brenda = best friends
Robert + Anthony = best friends

Clothing of the period: https://tinyurl.com/y79wpn3c and https://tinyurl.com/ycpepmuf and https://www.pinterest.com/stephanie…evolution/ and http://www.americanrevolution.org/c…thing4.php

- Bare chests or nudity (characters should be wearing clothing)
- Modern objects (time period is 1770 London)
- No photographs that look like photographs (stock photos altered to look artistic okay)
- Woman kneeling, climbing, arched backwards, or submissive to the man (Rescue/saving okay)
- Plagiarism (please do not copy another's work or ideas)
- Overused stock images (I want a unique cover)
- Minimalist/text only covers
- Text that is hard to read. I should be able to read the title over the image.
- Art that is busy or cluttered.
- Examples of what I do not want are given with red X below.

I do not have rights to any of the pictures I have uploaded. They are ideas only.