Friday, November 9, 2012

New Cover Design: When a Man Marries

This is one of the original titles published in Legacy Romance's Vintage Collection, and it's one of my favorites out of the dozen titles they have so far. But it hasn't been selling well, and we decided its cover was the weakest in the collection, so we decided to update it. Here it is; what do you think?

What do you get when you combine a wickedly sharp heroine with a case of mistaken identities, a houseful of quarantined high-society dinner party guests, and a jewel thief? A comedy of errors, a madcap mystery, and a sexy love story rolled into one—When A Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the grande dame of early twentieth century mysteries!

“That's the trouble with a lie; somebody asks you to tell one as a favor to somebody else, and the first thing you know, you are having to tell a thousand, and trying to remember the ones you have told so you won't contradict yourself, and the very person you have tried to help turns on you and reproaches you for being untruthful!”

So sayeth Kit McNair, New York society darling turned amateur sleuth, as she reflects on the series of outrageous events brought on by her willingness to help a friend in need. When Kit’s dear friend Jim springs the news on her at a dinner party that his overbearing Aunt Selina is due any moment for an impromptu visit, and that he is too ashamed to tell his aunt that his wife, Bella, divorced him, Kit reluctantly agrees to pretend to be Bella, whom Aunt Selina has never met. The rest of their friends think this will be great fun to watch, and they settle in for an evening of entertainment as only Kit McNair can deliver.

But there’s a handsome stranger at the party too, a Mr. Tom Harbison, and Kit is dismayed to have to introduce herself to this eligible bachelor as a married woman! Then Jim’s butler falls ill while serving dinner, and the board of health shows up to quarantine the entire dinner party inside the house. If that wasn’t bad enough, Kit finds Jim's ex-wife Bella hiding in the basement, jewelry starts going missing, and Kit finds herself on the trail of a jewel thief while falling for Mr. Harbison, but it’s awfully hard to flirt with him while pretending to be another man’s wife! And what’s she going to do when everyone else begins to suspect him as the thief among them? As Kit narrows in on the jewel thief her charade begins to unravel, with some hilarious and surprising consequences!

When a Man Marries is available for Kindle on Amazon and for epub readers on Barnes & Noble. If you get a chance, stop by The Vintage Reader, where the Legacy Romance ladies blog about vintage romance, history, fashion, art, and more!

Need a cover? Email me anytime to chat about your project: jennyq@historicaleditorial.com