Keira and I enjoy using Pinterest as a way to focus our inspiration with regards to stories and characters, as well as to provide us both with the same visuals in terms or representation of characters and places in our co-written stories.
For Ascending Hearts, Book Two of our Tempting Tales series, we took it a step farther and sent a link to our Pinterest board with our cover request form. We aren’t sure, but given how beautifully our cover artist, the talented Dar Albert, captured our intentions, we hope that it was helpful.
We thought we’d share a few more of the pictures that inspired and focused us while writing the story.
Keira and I had imagined Jack as a young, Damian Lewis-like man, and when we found this picture, we’d knew we’d found our guy. As you can see, Dar really did a fantastic job finding a cover model that mirrored what we were going for with Jack. We are beyond thrilled with her choice for the cover.
Model: Marc Goldfinger
Photo by Daniel Jackson
Rion was a bit harder, but we decided in the end that this incredibly delicious looking man was definitely a winner for the role. He was handsome, sexy, and big in all the right places. Yum. How could Jack resist?
This underwear model is brought to you by Dolce & Gabana. Definitely buy their briefs, guys, because you’ll totally look like this.
No Jack & the Beanstalk inspired story could get by without a picture of someone climbing the beanstalk, am I right? It was hard to find pictures of that, believe it or not, so we went with a traditional fairy tale drawing. We’re incredibly pleased that Dar realized the importance of having the beanstalk on the cover.
Picture by The Fairy Tale Tarot deck.
And the castle in the clouds! (How many have the Les Mis song in their head now?) Obviously, we needed visual representation of that staple of the classic story.
The giant’s treasure. The cause of all the trouble. Hoarding never ends well, my friends. Doesn’t matter if you’re hoarding cats, paper clips, cardboard boxes, or gold coins. It’s just not going to end well.
And, lastly, an element specific to our story-a magic kite.
*
Rumors of treasure have long sent fortune hunters clambering up a magic beanstalk to a mysterious castle in the clouds. Survivors told of an evil giant who guards the gold with savage strength. No sane man would dare risk the climb—but Jack has nothing left to lose. Shunned for his evil red hair and abandoned by his cruel lover, he’s desperate to escape his life.
Rion isn’t a giant, only a man bearing the burden of protecting his family’s legacy. It’s a lonely existence, but he’s duty bound. Then Jack appears, and Rion’s world changes. After a blazing confrontation, undeniable lust sparks. Isolated in the clouds, Jack and Rion give in to their desire and growing connection. Soon they must protect the treasure—and each other—from a new threat. And they have everything to lose.
You can buy Ascending Hearts at Ellora’s Cave, and it is coming soon to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, All Romance eBooks, and more.
*
In addition, you can buy Book One in the Tempting Tales series, Earthly Desires, an erotic m/m fairy tale based on The Light Princess by George MacDonald, at Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, .!
*
Leta Blake and Keira Andrews write fairy tale inspired m/m erotica and romantica with Ellora’s Cave. Check out Earthly Desires, the first book in the series, available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, All Romance eBooks, and Ellora’s Cave. The second book in the series, Ascending Hearts, is out through Ellora’s Cave with availability through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and others coming very soon!
The fiction of Amelia C. Gormley 