Shelf Candy Saturday #10: Tempest Rising, by Tracy Deebs

This wonderful book meme/blog hop

is hosted by

Stephanie @

Five Alarm Book Reviews!!

The purpose of this feature is to display

a beautiful book cover,

with information, if available,

about the cover illustrator,

photographer, and/or designer.

For all the participation rules,

just click

HERE.

This week, I'm showing

some cover love to:

Tempest Rising

Tracy Deebs

Hardcover, 344 pages

Walker & Company

May 10, 2011

Genres: YA Paranormal Romance,

Urban Fantasy

I've lived near the ocean all my life.  I love going to the beach!  It's one of my favorite places to read, too.  Since I've never been a sun worshipper, I prefer to swim for a while (having slapped plenty of sun block all over myself; no need to get skin cancer),  get under a huge umbrella, and then let the murmuring surf soothe me as I get lost in a book...  So I was instantly attracted to this cover!  Of course, it has quite a bit of blue in it (although tinged with green), and that's always guaranteed to pull me right in! 

The dark aqua-toned ocean and sky frame the young mermaid so beautifully...  It looks as if there's been a break in the clouds, and the sunshine is spotlighting Tempest, the girl featured in this novel.

I've always loved mermaid stories, as well.  There's something about these beautiful creatures (and I'm including mermen) that's just so captivating...  Maybe it's the fact that the ocean depths are alluring at the same time they're mysterious and frightening.  These creatures, though, are right at home where we air-breathing humans are not.  We do envy their easy familiarity with an environment entirely foreign to us. 

Although I'm not a fan of tattoos, I have to admit that the one on Tempest's back is absolutely breathtaking!  It's intricately detailed, and reminds me of the lightning-fast flourishes made by some graffiti artists.  (Graffiti art, by the way, can be mind-blowing, if done by a skillful artist.) 

Tempest's hair is gorgeous, and so well-rendered.  It catches the light in a soft, yet sharply delineated manner, its highlights creating a wavy movement that mimics ocean waves. 

The scales, too, are very realistic, just as well done as the hair.  I especially like the shiny, slick touch of silver as the light moves over them.  It makes them look as if they're slightly wet. 

The font used for the title is just right for this cover, too.  It blends right in, without overpowering the rest of the cover. 

I have to say that I would have put the endorsement on the back cover.  That's my one little complaint with an otherwise stunningly beautiful dust jacket!

The combination photo/illustration

was created by

Katarina Sokolova,

who has several beautiful covers

to her credit,

as you can see on her website.

The jacket design is by

Donna Mark,

who is the Art Director at

Bloomsbury Publishing,

the parent company for Walker Books. 

So what do you think of this cover?  Does it make you want to run to the nearest bookstore to dive (literally) into this book?  Sure would love to know!

I also want to see what gorgeous covers you all have picked, so be sure to leave your blog links in your comments!