Friday, June 26, 2009

Mr. Romance 2009 ~ Lord of Devil Isle


Those of you who went to RT in Orlando last April probably fell in love with Charles Paz, Mr. Romance 2009. Not only is this young man extremely fine to look upon, he's got personality oozing from every hunk-a-licious pore! Part of the prize for winning the Mr. Romance title is a cover contract for one of Dorchester's books. And I managed to find out which cover will be sporting Charles next year.

It's Connie Mason's LORD OF DEVIL ISLE. Romance fans may be aware that this NYTimes Best Seller decided to retire two years ago. But the fans have spoken and Connie is writing again!

I have a very soft spot in my heart for Ms. Mason. She gave me a cover quote (the first one she'd ever granted!) for MAIDENSONG, my debut Diana Groe title. Of course, all of us who write for Dorchester would love to have Charles Paz on our covers, but I'm thrilled for Connie! And I'm happy for Charles. It's great to see such a genuine, likeable young man on a NYTimes Bestseller's cover!

If you'd like to see a slideshow of how a cover photo shoot happens (the pics are much bigger than the one above and more fun too!), please visit this RT BookReviews SlideShow

How do you like your beefcake done?

9 comments:

Heather D said...

Congratulations Connie!! I cut my romance reading teeth on Connie Mason's books!! I love her stuff!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this. I had no idea that she had decided to retire only to come out of it b/c of fans. That is just awesome! I knew I had not seen any of her stuff out in a while and then POOF there it was. Of course I had to buy them!!!

Jane L said...

I am thrilled Charles will be on Connie's cover. I too love her writing! Charles was a great sport at RT! He was very friendly, of course handsome, but most important he was really down to earth, he deserved to win! Just curious, how do they (publisher) decide whose cover he will grace?

Nynke said...

LOL! When I opened the blog, and saw a naked-chested man lying down with a woman, my mind ran away with me and made the scene into something it wasn't ;). I was really surprised for a second there!

I love behind-the-scenes peeks like this - really interesting! Thanks!

Nynke said...

Wow, having now looked at the photo shoot pics, a can say Charles is really cute :).
And it must be so hard to do a shoot like that for the first time, without getting and staying all giggly!

EmilyBryan said...

I have no idea how Dorchester decides on who's on what cover. That's way above my paygrade.

But it's fun to see how they do a photo shoot to create a cover and yes, I'll bet they laughed a lot!

librarypat said...

I actually prefer covers without people on them. I like to picture the characters myself. Scenery and jewelry are favorites. However, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good looking man.

EmilyBryan said...

I'm with you, Pat. I love an evocative necklace or other item (please see the covers of MAIDENSONG and ERINSONG!) but statistically "clinch" covers outsell the classy artsy ones by a huge margin.

I love Connie Mason's work too. Her stories always have a great blend of action and adventure along with the romance!

Julie Robinson said...

Thanks Emily. That was fascinating.
Julie

EmilyBryan said...

Thanks, Julie. I love the finished product of cover art. I'm always interested in how things get done behind the scenes.