Category Archives: Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal: Spiraling Out by Maya Ameyaw

Leave a comment

Today on the site, I’m delighted to welcome back Maya Ameyaw to reveal the cover of her next contemporary YA, Spiraling Out, which releases March 2, 2027 from Annick Press! (Can’t wait to get your hands on a copy? Reviewers can grab it on Netgalley as a Read Now for 24 hours!) Here’s the story:

A competitive figure skater tries not to buckle under pressure while ignoring her growing feelings for her rival in this YA novel perfect for fans of Some Girls Do and Spinning.

Ever since failing to get the gold last season, figure skater Evelyn Osei has had her eyes on the prize. This time nothing will get in her way―not friends or school, not her OCD, and definitely not her ex-friend and rival Mei Sato who is training at Evelyn’s club this year. As the season progresses and her relationships fray, Evelyn has to confront that she might not have everything under control and that her feelings for Mei run deeper than either friendship or rivalry.
In her third novel, award-winning author Maya Ameyaw explores the stress of athletic competition and the confusion of first love with sensitive and vivid prose. Spiraling Out will speak to figure skating fans as well as any reader balancing the demands of daily life while on the complicated road to self-discovery.

And here’s the beautiful cover by Ashley Floreal!

Cover: Spiraling Out, by Maya Ameyaw. Text: This season, everything feels off balance. Illustration: two young women strike figure-skating poses while look at one another over their shoulder.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | Annick Press

MAYA AMEYAW is a Toronto-based community arts writing instructor and award-winning author. She has edited several mental health–themed anthologies for youth and adults and is the author of the critically acclaimed novels When It All Syncs Up and Under All the Lights.

Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal: Final Cut by Amy James

1 Comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to partner with Amy James to reveal the cover of her upcoming m/m romance, Final Cut, releasing November 3rd! Here’s the story:

Hollywood’s favorite actor. Nobody’s favorite Formula 1 driver. One life-changing winter break.

Quin McCarthy is Hollywood’s favorite actor. Cole Milton is nobody’s favorite Formula 1 driver. The two men have less than nothing in common, and when their paths briefly cross at the Singapore Grand Prix, it ends in mutual loathing.

Neither expects to see the other again, but when Quin moves to a remote Canadian ski town to film a thriller series, he learns that his deep-woods rental cottage has a single neighboring property, owned and occupied by none other than Cole.

Quin resolves to ignore him and spend his winter nights reading books by the fireplace. But when he stumbles upon a dead body on set—and glimpses the murderer making a run for it—his laid-back winter plans take an abrupt turn for the worse. As things grow more dangerous, he’s forced to turn to Cole for help—and in doing so, realizes Cole might not be the bad guy everyone thinks he is.

Early praise for Final Cut:

“Amy James delivers a pulse-pounding romance that proves first impressions can be dead wrong. Equal parts heart-racing suspense and swoon-worthy chemistry, Final Cut had me racing to see what would happen next! Quin and Cole are the perfect opposites…one beloved by millions, one misunderstood by nearly everyone…and watching them fall for each other amidst danger, secrets, and snow-covered isolation was absolutely irresistible!” – Chip Pons, USA Today Bestselling author of Dearly Departed

“In Final Cut, a wintry small-town romance collides with a twisty murder investigation. I love how Amy James writes tense, tamped-down yearning, and how her characters push each other for honesty—baiting the tenderness from one another even when it’s hiding behind a shield of animosity. This is a fast-paced, moving story about grief, our capacity for both pain and healing, and the kind of love that sees our fear and brings it into the light.” – Ellen O’Clover, author of The Heartbreak Hotel

And here’s the sexy cover by Quel Martins!

A dark-haired man and a blond man stand together in a snowy forest. The dark-haired man holds the blond man's hand protectively.

Buy it:  In Bloom Bookery | Hopeless Romantic

Amy James lives on the east coast of Canada with her husband and dog. Her debut romance novel, A Five-Letter Word for Love (Avon, 2024) was short-listed for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Her second romance novel, Crash Test (Avon, 2025) was named one of CBC Books’ Best Books of 2025.

Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal: Southwest Gothic: Seven Plagues of Sa’stoh by Bladen Mercutio

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Southwest Gothic: Seven Plagues of Sa’stoh by Bladen Mercutio, the second book in the folk horror Southwest Gothic series, releasing March 20, 2027! Here’s the story:

Five thousand years ago, he was buried. Now, the Scion of War is awake—and he’s thirsty for blood.

Six months after avoiding the Harvest’s world-altering Reaping, witches Remy and Vincent are still hunting for missing legends and loved ones. What they find instead across the haunting deserts of New Mexico is a nightmare: Lucio Sa’stoh, an ancient entity with god-like power, has broken free from his tomb with a singular, bloodthirsty purpose: to slaughter his own siblings.
To stop the tyrant from tearing the world apart, Remy and Vincent must form an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic but powerful Sam and Lilith. In a realm drenched in desert sun, folklore and fading magic, stopping the wrath of a god might cost them everything they have left.

And here’s the cover by Bohemian Trash Studios!

Back it on Backerkit!

Missed book 1? Check that out here!

Bladen is a scientist by day, rock star by night, writer in between, and someone who enjoys running only in dreams. A graduate in atmospheric sciences, they chase fire and tell the future for a day job. In addition to their work with the Southwest Gothic series, Bladen has written and recorded several varieties of sonic entertainment, including an accompanying soundtrack to the novels. A Desert Southwest native, they do their best writing in the ghost towns of the Texas borderland between the real and the unreal. Also a witch, the second law of thermodynamics is their magical ethos and they try to live everyday as though it were Halloween. Bladen likes cats, honey mustard, yelling at clouds while drinking scotchy scotch and is composed almost entirely of jokes.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Good Boys Don’t Bite by L.A. Barron

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Good Boys Don’t Bite by L.A. Barron, an Adult Horror novel with lesbian and trans rep releasing October 13, 2026 from Contrarian Publishing! Here’s the story: 

It’s Rowdy Dawes’s last year at Harcourt Autumn, a month-long sleepaway camp in Oregon for fledgling vampires. Unable to be trusted on their own, Rowdy and her fellow campers are supposed to take the month to strengthen bonds between clans, practice their various gifts, and better manage their often uncontrollable thirst.

But Rowdy’s final Harcourt Autumn will not be a bittersweet hurrah. After the death of her best friend, Leena, Rowdy’s only goal is to bring her abuser to justice. The only problem? The person responsible for Leena’s taking her own life is the camp director.

In the months leading up to camp, Rowdy’s collected every scrap of evidence she can find, from a worn copy of Leena’s suicide note to all the texts and photographs she sent documenting the abuse, in the hopes of confronting the director. But when a human girl is found drained of all her blood in the lake wearing one of Rowdy’s shirts, she quickly discovers this Harcourt Autumn is not something she could ever have prepared herself for.

And here’s the chilling cover by Amber Claus!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

L.A. Barron grew up in the dusty border lands of southern Arizona where the only escape from the heat was to write new worlds and give life to the invisible, sordid underbelly of the suburbs. Their love of escapism quickly grew into piles and piles of composition notebooks full of vampires, ghosts, and all things creepy.

Now located in the Pacific Northwest, they can be found wandering Saturday markets with an armful of flowers or hiding away in the dark corners of indie bookstores.

Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal: It’s in Her Kiss by Dana Hawkins

Leave a comment

Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover for It’s in Her Kiss by Dana Hawkins, a Sapphic rom-com releasing February 2, 2027 from Storm! Here’s the story:

Eve O’Kelly is the kiss of death.

Not literally. She’s never actually killed anyone. But kiss her, and within forty-eight hours you’ll be in a freak accident. By day, she sells crystals, incense, and hand-poured candles. By night, it’s another lonely evening in with the cat. But after her exes racked up broken bones, twisted ankles, and one memorable ER visit, Eve is protecting the world from her lips.

Private investigator Sloane Wright doesn’t believe in curses. But she does believe in the FBI consulting career that’s finally within reach, if she can prove the pretty shop owner peddling “magic rocks” is at the center of a string of fraudulent injury lawsuits. But the more time she spends with the sparkly shop owner, the harder it gets to ignore the one complication her career can’t survive: she’s falling for the woman she’s supposed to take down.

Neither of them should want this. And even if they give in to it, can they build anything lasting longer than forty-eight hours?

And here’s the sugar-sweet cover by Rachel Lawston!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Dana Hawkins is a caffeine-fueled writer of contemporary romance stories. After living in Seattle for twenty years, she recently returned to her hometown in Minnesota. She is a huge romance-genre book nerd and borderline obsessed with happy-ever-afters. As a mom of three humans and a cat who ignores her, she spends her days writing, chasing kids, neglecting her last remaining bamboo plant, and searching for the perfect coffee mug.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Crashing Into Christmas by Mara Lovelle

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Crashing into Christmas by Mara Lovelle, a lesbian holiday romance novella releasing November 4th! Here’s the story. 

“She hit me with her car. We’re taking it slow.”

After a grueling shift at the ER, all Morgan Gatlin wants is to go home—easier said than done in the worst snowstorm to hit New York City in years. One moment, she’s ignoring the Christmas nonsense the radio bombards her with, the next, she’s crashing bumper-first into unsuspecting pedestrian Elena Solorzano.

Guilt-stricken, Morgan rushes Elena to the hospital, and, when the storm shuts off Elena’s way to get home, Morgan offers her a place to stay.

What starts as an attempt to ease her conscience snowballs into something softer. Elena is warm, easy to talk to, and far too good at seeing what Morgan’s been running from for years. As Morgan’s guard melts, she is forced to make a choice: open her heart and risk loss again, or keep hiding in her lonely world.

Here’s the adorable cover, designed by Ivanna Nashkolna!

An illustration of two women outside on a snowy day. One is lying on the ground, the other is bending down to help her up.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | Kobo

Mara Lovelle is a queer, AuDHD author of sizzling, heartfelt LGBTQ+ romances and a firm believer that all stories are political. Born and raised in Germany, they discovered their passion for creating worlds in their mind at a young age; once they started writing them down, there was no stopping them. When they aren’t writing or reading, they can be found playing with their two cats or at the theater, stage managing a show.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Waxing and Waning by J.N. Howell

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Waxing and Waning by J.N. Howell, a Sapphic Urban Fantasy Romance releasing December 1, 2026 from Mythic Roads Press! Here’s the story:

Delilah Ali works as a doctor for magical creatures alongside her incompetent medical intern, Micah, who she intends to fail by the end of his summer internship. But her summer plans are disturbed when Delilah’s vampiric ex-“something”, Darcy, crashes back into her life with a desperate plea. She needs Delilah to remove her newborn son’s magic with an illegal surgery before they’re caught by the werewolf pack hunting him down.

As the odd-ball team travel across Ontario to escape the pack and make the surgery possible, old feelings reemerge, Delilah’s own long-dormant magic rears its head, and they begin to suspect the problem is bigger than just one baby’s magic.

And here’s the magical cover, designed by Patricia Veldstra and illustrated by Andy Ra!

Front cover of Waxing and Waning by J.N. Howell, featuring an illustration with a largely blue and purple colour scheme. The illustration is of two shadowed figures representing the main characters, with a golden tether connecting them. The scene is darker due to an eclipse above the characters, and a dark forest and grassy area is visible at the bottom. The title appears between the eclipse and figures in a holographic pink handwritten font, and author name appears in a serif font over the grass at the bottom.

Buy it: Mythic Roads Press | Amazon

J.N. Howell lives in Canada with their tyrannical little dog and wife. They are a corporate cryptid by day that writes stories about messy queer people by night. Their work can be found scattered in speculative and lit magazines. When they aren’t writing, they can be found hunched over a dying vegetable garden or haunting their local cafe, matcha in hand.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Not Just a Stage by Kelsey B. Toney

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome Kelsey B. Toney to reveal the cover of her bi Contemporary Middle Grade debut, Not Just a Stage, releasing April 20, 2027 from Crown Books for Young Readers! Here’s the story:

A funny, accessible upper middle grade novel about young performer Sunny, who is torn between her rock band and the theater world—and between her guitarist, Kennedy, and a castmate, Carlos.

Sunny Cavendish knows exactly who she is onstage.

Actually… she knows who she is on two stages. By day, Sunny is a musical theater powerhouse, fresh off her final middle school show and chasing a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to an elite summer workshop that could change her future forever. By night, she’s the lead singer of The Pulled Petals, an all-girl rock band on the verge of their biggest break yet.

The problem? Both dreams want everything. When Sunny’s band lands a career-making audition the exact same week she earns a callback for the workshop, Sunny decides to do the impossible: she won’t choose. She’ll juggle it all. Sneak between rehearsals. Say yes to every opportunity. Make everyone happy. What could go wrong?

As exhaustion mounts, lies pile up, friendships strain, and a crush on two very different people complicates everything, Sunny is forced to confront a truth she’s been avoiding: sometimes chasing every dream means risking the ones that matter most.

And here’s the cover, designed by Jade Rector with art by Emma Ream!

Cover of Not Just A Stage: Illustrated scene mostly in pinks, purples, and blues depicting a white, teenage girl in the center foreground with long brown hair and an anxious look in her eye. She wears a pink star tee shirt and a blue skirt with high top sneakers and holds a script in one hand and a microphone in the other. Around the edges of the cover, pink, blue, and purple dots make a border. Behind her, on either side of a raised stage with its pink curtains tied back, there are two other teens. On the left, a guy with brown skin and shoulder length brown hair holding another copy of the script and on the right, a girl with pale skin and curly red hair holding a blue electric guitar. Above the characters, a large marquee shows the title "Not Just a Stage" surrounded by lights. Above it, the tagline says "the shows must go on" and at the bottom, the author's name "Kelsey B. Toney" sits centered.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | PRH

Kelsey B. Toney writes humorous, heartfelt stories about the hope that exists after we’ve made our most laughably bad decisions. She is the author of the USA Today Bestseller, THE UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCE OF BLEEDING ON A TUESDAY which was a NYPL and Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year, an ALA “RISE: A Feminist Book Project List” Top Ten Selection, an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten Selection, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. In past lives, Kelsey has been a teacher, recording artist, and actress—always in pursuit of connection through art and empathy. Learn more about Kelsey at kelseybtoney.com, on her podcast, or in her newsletter.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: The Upstairs Room by Dana Mele

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of The Upstairs Room by Dana Mele, a horror thriller coming from Sourcebooks Fire April 20, 2027! Here’s the story:

A summer of nannying takes a terrifying turn when Blair discovers a legacy of mysterious deaths connected to her employer’s sprawling summer estate…but the secrets Blair is harboring may be just as deadly. 

The last place Blair Carver wants to spend the

summer is on the remote Pearl Island. Still, nannying for the reclusive Hathorne family off the coast of Maine is hardly an escape from a complicated junior year and home life—especially with all the rules that must be followed.

Stepping onto the island is like traveling back in time. Raven’s Nook, the Hathorne’s estate, sprawls around a century’s-old lighthouse. A cemetery on the property conceals family secrets, a creepy collection of dolls won’t stay put, and a forbidden upstairs room seems to hold the key to what the family is hiding.

The Hathorne children are cold and standoffish, and when they start hazing Blair with a series of escalating—dangerous—pranks, the town’s whispers about the Hathorne curse grow louder. Postcard perfect Pearl Island conceals a sinister history. Blair has dark secrets too, family secrets that have been been passed down for generations, and if Blair’s not careful, this summer will be their last…

And here’s the creeptastic cover by Jana Heidersdorf!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Processed with Lensa with BW2 filter

Dana Mele is a Pushcart-nominated author of short stories and YA novels including THE BEAST YOU LET IN. A graduate of Wellesley College, Dana holds degrees in theatre, education, and law.

Dana’s debut, PEOPLE LIKE US, was shortlisted for the 2019 ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel and is an ALA Rainbow List Selection. Dana’s sophomore novel, SUMMER’S EDGE, was a Barnes & Noble YA Book Club Selection and a New York Public Library Best Books for Teens title. Up next is THE UPSTAIRS ROOM, a YA supernatural thriller forthcoming from Sourcebooks Fire, slated for publication April 20, 2027. Dana lives in Upstate New York with their family.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Exquisite Decay by Xan van Rooyen

Leave a comment

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Exquisite Decay by Xan van Rooyen, a trans YA sci-fi thriller releasing from Tiny Ghost Press on December 1, 2026! Here’s the story:

Rian Gray wasn’t born in the slums of Axis City. 

They were left there to rot.

When their estranged grandmother dies, Rian is plucked from the gutter and thrust into the upper echelons of society and the hallowed halls of Curzon Academy. The opportunity of a lifetime to some, for Rian, this will be a tactical infiltration. Their mission: dismantle the corporatocracy that destroyed their family. But to burn it all down, they need access, and their inheritance comes with strings. Rian will have to excel at both the rigorous academics and the complex social politics of the elite school.

Enter Baz Hallward, a reclusive yet brilliant scholarship student, who is instantly enthralled by the new transfer, and who agrees to tutor Rian if they’ll submit to uploading their memories through an AI cyborg as part of Baz’s final science project; a project which will guarantee him success and acceptance from the uppercrust.

As Rian navigates this treacherous yet seductive world, their thirst for vengeance is threatened by the mind-altering allure of the privilege they swore to destroy. And with Baz’s experiments chipping away at Rian’s mind, their humanity is at risk of decay.

In a city where identity is a commodity and wealth is the measure of human worth, can Rian tear down a corrupt system before the world they despise consumes them entirely?

Dark academia meets cyberpunk, in this visceral and immersive, queer retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray from the visionary author of My Name Is Magic and Waypoint Seven.

And here’s the killer cover by Cael Lyons!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Xan van Rooyen is an award-winning autistic and non-binary storyteller from South Africa, currently living in Finland. Xan has a Master’s degree in music, and–when not teaching–enjoys conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. You can find Xan’s stories in the likes of Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, and Galaxy’s Edge among others. They have also written several books including Waypoint Seven (Mirari Press), and My Name is Magic (Tiny Ghost Press). Xan is also part of the Sauútiverse, an African writer’s collective, with stories in the multi award-nominated anthology Mothersound as well as the forthcoming Sauúti Terrors anthology (Flame Tree Press). Xan has also had a number of non-fiction articles published, which you can find in the Locus Award winning Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction (Bloomsbury, Australia) among others. You can find Xan online here: https://linktr.ee/xanvanrooyen