Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Covers for 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they're particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish (and who isn't?). They're all about creating new lists including a little bit of everything and I've been meaning to participate for so long but always seemed to get behind. So here we are and hopefully you'll head over to their page and check out what everyone else put up for this week's Top Ten.

So out of all the beautiful cover work we've already seen this year, I found this list really hard to narrow down, and if I had my choice I wouldn't have to. But that would defeat the purpose of the meme and also bore everyone to tears I'm sure. So while I'm clearly not going to be able to include each and every cover I found to be breathtaking in 2012 so far, here are ten of my favorites...

Cover #1: Everneath (Everneath, #1) by Brodi Ashton (1/24/12)

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

How can you not love this cover? It drew me in right away and I was practically salivating to find out what this book was all about. The dress, the color, the mystery behind what this girl really looks like since her face is obscured from our view...love it all!

Cover #2: The Selection (The Selection, #1) by Kiera Cass (4/24/12)

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I'm not sure but I think the fact that I'm currently surrounded by friends who are getting married and tossing bridesmaids dresses at me from all directions has me drawn to these girly girl covers. This cover is perfection tied up in taffeta! Between the extravagant gown and the fun house/ballet series of mirrors behind these girls and I'm thinking this is a book I've got to get my hands on come April!

Cover #3: Spellcaster (Spellbound, #2) by Cara Lynn Shultz (3/27/12)

Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.

Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…

After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....

But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.

I think I found this one to be a cross between Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and The Little Princess maybe? Sounds crazy, but it has this romantic and dangerous feel for me all at the same time. I wasn't familiar with the Spellbound series before I came across this cover, but once I saw the artwork, I had to check things out further. Now I've gone and added not one but two more books to my TBR list because I can't start a series anywhere but from the beginning.

Cover #4: Stolen Nights (Vampire Queen, #2) by Rebecca Maizel (6/21/12)

Lenah Beaudonte should be dead. But having sacrificed herself to save another, she finds herself awakening with strange powers that are neither vampire nor human - and a new enemy on her trail. In her vampire life, Lenah had thought that being human was all she ever wanted; but the human heart suffers pain, heartbreak and loss. With her new powers growing and the dark force of the Nex after her soul, Lenah faces a choice: between the mortal love of gorgeous Justin, whose passion fed her human soul, and taking a different path to become the mistress of her own destiny, wherever that may lead .

As always, I'm a big fan of paranormal titles and vampires dominate that genre for sure. Maizel's Vampire Queen series is a unique take on this popular area and her covers keep readers drooling. I've been waiting for this second installment for a while but when I got a look at the new cover I couldn't have been more excited!

Cover #5: Such A Rush by Jennifer Echols (7/10/12)

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business--until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers--and the consequences could be deadly.

I think I like the wind action on this one. And how perfect when dealing with a book about pilots and a girl caught in between them, right? Echols has been a long time favorite of mine and her covers fit her writing perfectly. They're always beautiful but they also always have this soft and muted feel to them that matches her titles and the words that fall on the pages. Romantic, heartwrenching and exciting, that about sums Echols' writing and covers for me, which is why there was no contest...this cover was making my top ten for sure!

Cover #6: Once (Eve, #2) by Anna Carey (7/3/12)

Sixteen years have passed since a deadly virus wiped out most of the Earth’s population. After learning of the terrifying part she and her classmates were fated to play in the rebuilding of New America, eighteen-year-old Eve fled to the wilds and Califia, a haven for women determined to live outside the oppressive rule of the king of New America. However, her freedom came at a price: she was forced to leave Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. Eve quickly learns that Califia may not be as safe as it seems and soon finds herself in the City of Sand and the palace of the king. There she uncovers the real reason he was so intent on her capture, and the unbelievable role he intends her to fill. When she is finally reunited with Caleb, they will enact a plan as daring as it is dangerous. But will Eve once again risk everything—her freedom, her life—for love?

Brimming with danger and star-crossed romance, and featuring a vivid dystopian landscape, this electrifying follow-up to Eve, which bestselling author Lauren Kate called “a gripping, unforgettable adventure—and a fresh look at what it means to love” is sure to appeal to fans who crave the high-stakes adventure of The Hunger Games and the irresistible love story of Romeo and Juliet.

Whoever designs Carey's covers for this series has a beautiful vision of where this series will take her readers. Eve is always looking forward and readers are left trying to interpret and predict where that could possibly lead. With such a wonderful start to a series, Carey needed a cover that captured that excitement with her series opener and I'd say her cover artist mastered yet another take for her second installment in the series.

Cover #7: Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg (4/1/12)

From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.

I dont' know about you guys but I can't resist an opportunity to watch a show like Glee, or The Voice, where fantastic talents are showcased and enjoyed by millions! My sister recently moved to NYC and with each visit comes a trip to Broadway and I just devour every minute of it. Having no musical talent myself, I've always been awed by those individuals who can belt out an almost unattainable note or play a score as if they were born to do nothing else. So when I saw this cover work for Eulberg's new title I fell head over heels in love. It embodies all those feelings I experience when seeing a show or watching a performer and I can only imagine what Eulberg's story itself with have in store for her readers.

Cover #8: The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova (5/1/12)

When an unnatural riptide sweeps lifeguard Tristan Hart out to sea for three days and then dumps him back on the shore of Coney Island, it’s the start of the Sea Court claiming its own. Suddenly, Tristan’s girlfriend dramas and swimming championship seem like distant worries as he discovers the truth: he’s a Merman. Now Tristan must fight for his life, the lives of his friends, and his humanity (if he still wants it), while competing in a race for a throne as ancient as the gods.

Seductive, duplicitous, and with an agenda of their own, these are not the mermaids you know.

The title speaks for itself and yet the cover brings that point home I think. Cordova's future release has my excitement level ratched up way too high for my own good, but this cover really put me over the top. The colors, the trident, the whole shibang really...who wouldn't want to score their own copy and display this baby on their shelves after they've devoured it? I know I want to, and will be racing to get my hands on this as soon as it hits the shelves.

Cover #9: Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson (10/9/12)

Nothing ever happens in Norway. But at least Ellie knows what to expect when she visits her grandmother: a tranquil fishing village and long, slow summer days. And maybe she’ll finally get out from under the shadow of her way-too-perfect big brother, Graham, while she’s there.

What Ellie doesn’t anticipate is Graham’s infuriating best friend, Tuck, tagging along for the trip. Nor did she imagine boys going missing amid rumors of impossible kidnappings. Least of all does she expect something powerful and ancient to awaken in her and that strange whispers would urge Ellie to claim her place among mythological warriors. Instead of peace and quiet, there’s suddenly there’s a lot for a girl from L.A. to handle on a summer sojourn in Norway! And when Graham vanishes, it’s up to Ellie—and the ever-sarcastic, if undeniably alluring Tuck—to uncover the truth about all the disappearances and thwart the nefarious plan behind them.

Deadly legends, hidden identities, and tentative romance swirl together in one girl’s unexpectedly-epic coming of age.

Yet another cover that drew me into and introduced me to what sounds like a great new read to add to my TBR list for 2012. I love the wilderness, outdoor channel type feel of this cover. And yet again we've got wind action in the picture, which I think stands to prove that I like the model cover shoot type effects when it comes to my favorite covers. What can I say? But it's also the fog element that's added an eerie feel to this title and along with the mysterious guy hanging out in the background...I'd say there's definitely some mystery and suspense to be expected with this future read.

Cover #10: Rivals (The Ivy, #3) by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur (3/6/12)

Decisions, decisions . . .

You’ve survived your first semester and captured the interest of not one but two of the hottest guys on campus.

Now who are you going to choose?

Callie Andrews returns for her second semester at Harvard determined to do better than the previous fall, where those Bs on her report card seemed pretty good compared to the state of her extracurriculars (F, as in if at first you don’t succeed, you should probably stop trying), friendships (C-minus, since she and former BFF Vanessa are still on thin ice), and love life (D, as in don’t even go there). But various campus rivalries soon threaten to thwart Callie’s resolve. Will Callie ever be a match for—

Grace Lee
the take-no-prisoners managing editor

Alessandra
the gorgeous transfer student

Clint
the guy who might just be too perfect

and Gregory
the guy who may never be perfect enough.

Callie will face some of the toughest choices imaginable: in friendships, in loyalties, and in love. The pressure to pick a side—and a suitor—has never been higher. But will she and her friends choose well?

It's my favorite cover yet for this awesome series. I'm sure it's the girly pink and purple colors that have me practically squealing on my end, but it's without a doubt gotten me super excited to dive right in. While I've been a fan of this series from the very beginning, there's always that risk that other books will come up and grab my attention or I could find myself simply falling behind in my reading...it happens right? Well all it takes is a cover like this to have me scrambling over everything in my way for the chance to crack this baby open and see what the author's have in store next for these great characters!