2011 Debut Author Challenge - Book 2 Covers - May 27, 2011

Here's a roundup of 2nd book covers, and sometimes 3rd book covers, for some of the 2011 Debut Authors. These books have not yet been published.

Anita Clenney
Embrace the Higland Warrior
(Sourcebooks, Novemeber 2011)

When the demon that left Amanda Logan for dead discovers her empty grave, he comes seeking retribution and the mysterious book he believes she stole. But he isn't the only one after it...

As a teen, Amanda fell in love with the boy next door, Cody MacBane. She didn't know that Cody was a Scottish warrior sent to protect her-or that she was descended from an ancient warrior clan. When Amanda learns the truth, she feels betrayed and her life unravels. But as danger lurks, Amanda is forced to return to her clan and the Scottish warrior who's the only man she's ever loved.

Karina Cooper

Lure of the Wicked

Dark Mission 2

(Avon, June 2011)

Naomi West was plucked from one prison and placed undercover in another: the gilded cage that is Timeless, New Seattle's premier spa and resort, where owner Phinneas Clarke—the most seductive man Naomi has ever met—may be hiding a killer. She's an agent of the Holy Order, trained to hunt the guilty and render justice. But while she's tracking down a rogue agent on a killing spree, Phin is determined to uncover her most damning—and dangerous—secrets. Whatever the cost.

Virna DePaul
Chosen By Fate
Para-Ops 2
(Berkley, October 2011)

J.N. Duncan

The Vengeful Dead

Deadworld 2

(Kensington, October 2011)



Kevin Hearne
Hexed
Iron Druid Chronicles 2
(Del Rey, June 2011)

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Kevin Hearne
Hammered
Iron Druid Chronicles 3
(Del Rey, July 2011)

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

Hannah Jayne
Under Attack
Underworld Detection Agency 2
(Kensington, November 2011)

Darynda Jones
Second Grave on the Left
Charley Davidson 2
(St. Martin's Press, August 2011)

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper Extraordinaire, is back in this sexy, suspenseful novel of supernatural shenanigans

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

Here is your signpost for the most hilarious read of the summer: Second Grave On The Left

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Laurie London

Embraced by Blood

Sweetblood 2

(Harlequin, June 2011)

Alfonso Serrano is a hunted man. For months he's managed to elude the Darkbloods, vengeful foes who won't rest until he's dead. But he still craves one dangerous temptation: Lily DeGraff, the sexy Guardian agent he'll risk anything to protect.

Lily is a wanted woman. Her talent for tracking Sweet—a rare blood type that's addictive to vampires—makes her a prime target for enemy capture. Her only hope is the stealthy vampire operative who stole into her bed…then left her in despair. Danger aside, Lily won't let Alfonso near her heart again—until an irresistible hunger threatens to draw them back together… and into an assassin's snare.

Rebecca Zanetti
Claimed
Dark Protectors 2
(Kensington, November 2011)

While geneticist Emma Paulsen appreciates vampire king Dage Kayrs rescuing her from the creepy Kurjan leader who wanted to mate with her, she wouldn’t have needed rescuing had the vampires not gone to war. And while she’s willing to spend one night fulfilling her fantasies with Dage, no way does she plan to stick around. Whether the king happened to brand her flesh or not.

That is until her pregnant sister, Cara, contracts a Kurjan virus that will not only destroy the baby but strip Cara’s chromosomal pairs until she’s possibly less than human. A virus that can only be defeated by science and magic combined. And the only way to save her sister is to
suspend her disbelief and trust in Dage’s power and passion…