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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

AUTHOR LOIS WINSTON'S MAKEOVER, PART 2

Last month I wrote a post about a makeover of a different kind, one that involved giving a facelift to some of my books as I prepared print editions of them. I started with my romantic suspense titles, one written under my own name—Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception—and two under my Emma Carlyle pen name—Lost in Manhattan and Someone to Watch Over Me. I’ve now completed my project with the conversion of my Emma Carlyle romances—Hooking Mr. Right and Finding Hope and the humorous women’s fiction, Four Uncles and a Wedding.

Below are the before and after covers. So what do you think?

And now that all the books are available in print, it’s time to get back to writing the next Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery and the next Empty Nest Mystery, both of which should be available the second half of this year.

Old Cover
Hooking Mr. Right
Can a butt-ugly alley cat named Cupid bring together two people driven apart by secrets and lies?

After writing a doctoral thesis that exposed fraud in the pop-psychology genre, thirty-two year old professor Althea Chandler has to sacrifice her professional integrity to save her family from financial disaster. She secretly becomes bestselling romance guru Dr. Trulee Lovejoy, a self-proclaimed expert on how to catch a man, even though Thea’s a miserable failure when it comes to relationships—especially those with the opposite sex.

New Cover
Burned by a failed marriage, Luke Bennett finds himself pursued by Dr. Lovejoy-toting women after a gossip columnist dubs him New York’s most eligible bachelor. When he at first mistakes Thea for one of the women out to snare him, sparks fly, but the two soon find themselves battling sparks of a less hostile nature, thanks in part to an alley cat named Cupid.
 Luke believes he’s finally found an honest woman. Unfortunately, Thea is anything but honest. She’s got more secrets than the CIA and a desperate gossip columnist out to expose her. Cupid definitely has his work cut out for him.

The print edition of Hooking Mr. Right also now includes the short story sequel Finding Mr. Right. For those of you who prefer ebooks, Finding Mr. Right is also now available for .99.

Hooking Mr. Right

Finding Mr. Right
In this short story sequel to the award-winning Hooking Mr. Right by Lois Winston (writing as Emma Carlyle,) editor Grace Wainwright, has taken over the role of bestselling author and romance guru Dr. Trulee Lovejoy. Thea Chandler, the original Trulee, is now married to her Mr. Right and is a successful cookbook author. She and Grace host the top-rated Love Recipes cooking show. When producer Becket Delaney announces the first two shows in February will have a Valentine’s Day theme, Grace freaks out. The worst day of her life occurred on Valentine’s Day ten years ago, and she wants no reminders of it. Beck has his own reasons for hating the holiday, but the show must go on, and he absolutely refuses to deal with an uncooperative prima donna. When a citywide blackout traps him and Grace in his thirty-fourth floor office, their adversarial relationship really begins to heat up. Recipe included.

Finding Mr. Right

Old Cover
Finding Hope
Hope Morgan was always the good girl, doing what her conservative parents expected: she gave up her dream of going to college, became a secretary right out of high school, and married the boy next door. When Hope is suddenly widowed, she finds the courage to pursue her own dreams. Twelve years later, after working full-time and going to school at night, she obtains her degree and is offered a position at a prestigious architectural firm.

New Cover
That’s when her long-exiled libido decides to resurface, and Hope finds herself falling head-over-heels for Ben Schaffer, her married boss. What Hope doesn’t realize is that Ben’s marriage is less than ideal. Within days of Hope starting her new job, Ben’s wife walks out on him and their three-year-old triplets–the same day the nanny lands in the hospital. When Ben can’t find a last-minute replacement, Hope agrees to step in as a temporary nanny–not the best decision she’s ever made, given her raging hormones.

Ben is fighting a battle with his own hormones, but an office romance is the last thing he needs or wants. However, he and Hope are no match for three very determined three-year-olds on a mission to find a happy ending.

Finding Hope
Kindle
iTunes
Nook

Old Cover
Four Uncles and a Wedding
Polly Faith Harmony is the ultimate ecumenical love child. Born to former hippies turned millionaire entrepreneurs, she’s one part Jewish, one part Catholic, one part Episcopalian, and one part Unitarian—hence her name. Could have been worse. Her Flower Power parents might have named her Polly Esther.

Aside from her joke of a name, her great-uncles, one from each side of the family, are all members of the clergy, not to mention golfing buddies and best friends. To keep harmony in the Harmony household, Polly has grown up alternately attending all four houses of worship.
New Cover

When Polly’s feminist mother decides it’s about time her daughter settles down and starts providing her with grandchildren before her biological clock runs out, she enlists help from the four uncles. Polly and her friend Joni have penned The Top 10 Reasons to Call it Quits After the First Date, but Polly soon finds that thanks to her interfering relatives, the list is growing at an alarming rate. Worse yet, she learns that loving relatives on a mission will stop at nothing.

Four Uncles and a Wedding

13 comments:

Rose Anderson said...

Nice before and afters. I like them all!

Lois Winston said...

Thanks, Rose!

Melissa Keir said...

Love the new Four Uncles cover... still very unique and romantic but not the traditional guy on the cover!

Kathye Quick said...

I love the new covers. Wish I could change some of my Montlake covers. Amazon just kept the old Avalon covers, and they really need a make-over

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

You know how much I love the Four Uncles cover??? I love cartoon covers and this one is fab.

E. Ayers said...

I'm with Vicki, I love a cartoon cover but a fresh new look is always a good thing. And I do like your new covers.

Lois Winston said...

Thanks, Melissa, Vicki, and E. I thought I needed to stick with a cartoon type cover for Four Uncles to distinguish it from the others. Four Uncles is chick lit; the others are romance. I was really happy with the results. :-)

Kathye, when you get the rights back to the Montlake books, I can help you redo the covers.

Rose Gorham said...

I like the before covers but I think the after covers look brighter, more up to date. Your books sound like fun reads.

Lois Winston said...

Thanks, Rose. If you do decide to read any, please let me know what you think.

Angela Adams said...

Great looking covers!

Lois Winston said...

Thanks, Angela!

Unknown said...

You're very talented, Lois. I love the covers and the colors. You have an excellent eye for color and form.

Lois Winston said...

Thanks so much, Gemma!