They say you can never have a second chance to make a good first impression. A book’s cover does just that – gives a first impression. A good cover can make a reader pick up a book. A bad cover can leave the book at the very bottom of a dusty pile.
The covers of novels entice the reader to enter a different world. Covers are, after all, the way the publisher ‘hooks‘ the reader into choosing one book over countless others.
In my 78th installment of ‘Cover Love‘, I’d like to pay tribute to summer by showing you books that have big hats on their covers.
With apologies to my male followers, I think you’ll find that most of these novels can be classified as women’s fiction. You’ll also find several historical fiction titles. Enjoy!
Some, perhaps, will now be on your TBR!
Just click on the cover to read the book’s synopsis from Goodreads.
You might just find your next favorite book!
Are you tempted by any of these covers?
Have you read one of these titles and absolutely LOVED it?
Please let me know in the comments.
Me with my baby grandson – age 7 weeks
And don’t forget to check out any of the other previous 77 installments of Cover Love, many of which have been updated since they were first published.
DC Gaby Darin has just moved to Pembrokeshire, Wales after a difficult work-related experience in Swansea. She is teamed up with DCI Rhys Walker, a man who seems to have hidden secrets but is a copper that she respects.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Jenny O’Brien says she is a wife and mother first – a writer second. She has written romance, thrillers, and children’s books.
I’ve been a staunch fan of Clare Mackintosh’s work ever since reading the fantastic “
Published by Bloodhound Books ASIN B07V5M2VYV
Born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, 
Our protagonist is Ella Santos – though now she goes by the name of Laine Moreno. When she was just ten years old she was abducted and held hostage for three years – bound – in a cellar. Raped repeatedly, she was finally driven to a roadside and released. Thirteen years old, pregnant, and permanently damaged…
We meet her ten years later. She often has suicidal thoughts, she abuses drugs and alcohol, and she is alone – very alone. She works in a Seattle grocery store by day and at night she works as a bartender in a strip club. She lives a solitary life broken by episodes of being high. She wears long sleeved clothing and boots all the time to hide the scars on her wrists and ankles. She trusts no one and alienates anyone who tries to befriend her.
Nina Laurin is the author of two bestselling psychological thrillers, both out with Grand Central Publishing. Arriving in Montreal when she was just twelve years old, she speaks and reads in Russian, French, and English, but writes her novels in English. She wrote her first novel while getting her creative writing degree from Concordia University, and GIRL LAST SEEN was published a year later in 2017. The follow-up, WHAT MY SISTER KNEW, came out on June 19th 2018 to critical acclaim. Nina is fascinated by the darker side of mundane things, and she’s always on the lookout for her next twisted book idea.
Sarah is a mixed race British woman. Jack is an American. Lately, his love for her has taken a sour turn. Sarah knows that this is her last chance to become pregnant. She wants to know, yet she doesn’t …. She runs away to her favourite place on the South Downs to come to terms with her rampant emotions. Jack, goes in search of her. He is distraught, manic, and increasingly desperate.
Before he came here, the Keeper was a war correspondent, then an investigative journalist. Now, he questions no one. All of the sad stories he keeps locked away in his mind. From long experience, he is a good listener.
Naomi Lockhart, the victim, was a twenty-two year old Australian girl who came to London for adventure. She worked as a PA to Joseph Madden’s sister-in-law. Young and quiet, Naomi had recently dyed her hair an attention getting lilac colour in order to overcome her shyness.
Cat works out of Holborn Police Station. Her police family are an interesting lot. Detective Sergeant Luigi Parnell (who she calls her ‘work-Dad’) , and her diminutive yet commanding Detective Chief Inspector (who is aptly named Steele), add interest to Cat’s daily life. DCI Steele, is greatly admired by Cat who views her as a mentor.
Caz Frear grew up in Coventry, England, and spent her teenage years dreaming of moving to London and writing a novel. After fulfilling her first dream, it wasn’t until she moved back to Coventry thirteen years later that the second finally came true. She has a degree in History & Politics, and when she’s not agonizing over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, she can be found shouting at Arsenal football matches or holding court in the pub on topics she knows nothing about.
Introduction by 
Did you know that Stephen King dreamed the entire plot of ‘Misery’ on a plane?
Halfway through the year and I’m starting to wonder how I will get all the reading done that I really want to do. So far, I’ve read 58 books in 2019.
D.I. Kim Stone – An acerbic, brusque, and driven young woman who works as a Detective Inspector for the West Midlands Police, the second largest police force in the country. She is socially inept, and has been known to break the rules, as well as to disregard instructions and protocols in her search for justice. An insomniac, she is fueled by nervous energy and lots of coffee, and is beautiful, but she works hard to hide it. She is 34 years old, brilliant, hot-headed, and damaged. As a child, she suffered horribly, and was shunted from foster home to foster home. Only once did she experience a nurturing, loving relationship – and that was very short lived…. Now, when not working, her favourite thing to do is work at restoring vintage motorbikes. Bikes are her passion, and she uses a Kawasaki Ninja as her regular form of transport.
Other than her second in command, Bryant, she is friendless. Her one real weakness is her fondness for her adopted dog, Barney.
Police team
In DI Kim Stone’s sixth outing we find her working a cold case alongside a former colleague. Some human bones have been found and they are located on the border of two police jurisdictions. Despite years of animosity, Kim is ordered to work with Travis, the DCI of the neighboring police force, in a joint investigation.
Meanwhile, Kim’s team are investigating a recent spate of hate crimes. Blacks, Polish, Pakistanis, Gays, no one is exempt. Bryant and Dawson are out in the field, while Stacy Wood is working at the office behind her computer screen. She resents the attitude of her co-workers who want to shelter her from the ugliness of the case because she is black. She investigates on her own, without telling her co-workers or her superiors. This will prove to be a grave mistake on her part…
