Cover Girls

The winner of Jenny B. Jones' So Not Happening is (drumroll please...) a King's Daughter! So, please send me an email with info, and I'll get this in the mail to you!

This week's give-away is my own Speak Through the Wind--Book #2 in the Crossroads of Grace series. Now, since it's my own book, it seems a review would be in poor taste, but for those who aren't familiar with the story, here's the back-cover blurb:

When Reverend Joseph plucks a gravely wounded child from the mean streets of Manhattan’s rough Five Points District, he intends to give her a real home. And though Kassandra flourishes in the preacher’s house, learning Bible verses at his knee and going to school, as a young teenager she makes the first of many devastating decisions, running away from the only haven she’s ever known.What follows is a waking nightmare: life in a tiny room above a brothel, the loss of a child, a lover’s rejection, and finally, life as a prostitute. As circumstances lead her further and further from the reverend’s secure home, an ashamed Kassandra is certain that neither God, nor Joseph, will ever forgive her.Feeling as though she has nothing left to lose and nowhere to go, Kassandra leaves behind her hopes of redemption and heads west to California, where she is transformed into the woman known as Sadie. Unfortunately, nothing in her life is pointing to a happy ending, and Sadie is forced to grapple with the question: Once you’ve passed the point of no return, can you ever go back?

Now, while I'll somehow refrain from touting this as the greatest book ever, I will go on a limb to say that, of the three books in the Crossroads series, this one happens to be my favorite. A little deeper, a little darker than the others--different from a lot of what happens out there in the world of historical Christian fiction. I say this at the risk of a week-long empty comment box, but there you go. I have to say, too, that this book is possibly one of my favorite book covers, ever. Maybe I'm feeling a little nostalgic because this week I'm grappling with the design for my next novel, tossing ideas back and forth, trying to find just the right look that will appeal to both my fabulous audience and my own personal prejudice. I look at the cover of Speak Through the Wind and ask myself, "What is so intriguing about this cover?" and it comes to me.
It's the woman's face.
You can't see it.
As I was writing Speak Through the Wind, I wanted to bring forth an element of relatability. It's my prayer that nobody who reads this book is ever literally in the same situations that Sadie finds herself in, but there is a strong theme of accountability. How often do we find ourselves in dire straits directly because of the choices we made? Right now I'm raising my hand up high, thinking about a lifetime of some pretty stupid (and some downright reckless) decisions I've made. And, oh, how thankful I am every day for God's loving, merciful grace! I'd like to think that, having Sadie's face hidden, readers can actually connect with her on a deeper level.
But, that's just me.
So, what about you? What is it on a book cover that makes you pick it up off the shelf?