Cover Art for The Sun King

I was excited to get the cover art mock-up from my publisher via email and simultaneously terrified to open the attachment to actually view the artwork. There was so much anticipation on my part. I’ve looked at hundreds of romance covers over the past few months and kept wondering how mine would be represented to the reading world.

My main concern was the bare chest thing. Not that I don’t enjoy a cover with beautifully bronzed washboard abs and shiny pecs that need their own zip code… but, I didn’t think my book quite fit that feel. It’s a historical romance about King Louis XIV, a man better known for wearing wigs and stockings – and not because he’s a cross dresser, that’s just what males of royal birth and nobility wore in 17th century France. (I am so happy my editor decided to not stick to historical accuracy with the stockings thing when we were making edits. We went with the term breeches. Honestly, how sexy is a guy wearing stockings? Well, I take that back… that could be hot in certain circumstances, just not for this book.)

In the end, there was no attempt at period costuming or a pair of lovers in a passionate embrace in the image. It’s a very understated cover, in my opinion, with an image representative of the Sun King – the same emblem that graces the palace gates of Versailles to this day.

So, with cover art in hand... a promo-ing I go!