When I saw the cover of MORE THAN A MAN, my August Intrigue, I did a double take. The great-looking guy on the cover is the spitting image of my son. Did the art department find a picture of him? Or is it just an accident? The skin tone’s off. My son’s got more olive coloration. And his hair is shorter. But that’s HIM. And if he ever sees this post, he’ll probably come after me with an ax for telling you about my reaction to the cover. I know he doesn’t see himself as the hero of a romance novel. (He once did a sarcastic review of one of my books for a literature class he was taking at the University of Maryland, where he pointed out that the brand of car my heroine drove changed in the middle of the book.)
On the other hand, he’s obviously a danger junky. He’s a State Department Foreign Service Officer, and his assignments are mostly in places I don’t want to visit, like Albania and Kazakhstan. The exception was a posting to Moscow a few years ago. Right now he’s in Afghanistan, on a Provincial Reconstruction Team. And he’s volunteered to stay another year, this time at Kandahar Air Base. Where I can worry about him some more.
He’s due to come home for a brief vacation in–wait for it–July, right around RWA. But his home base is DC, so I hope to see him during the conference. Maybe I can even persuade him to stop in at the Marriott so everybody can compare him to the MORE THAN A MAN cover. If I break away from the conference for a few hours, you’ll know it was to have some time with him. I’d love to rent a beach house for a week while he’s here and get the family together. But I don’t know if it’s going to happen, since he hasn’t answered my questions about when exactly he’ll be in town. How’s that for a cliff-hanger?
Rebecca
Rebecca York, www.rebeccayork.com
MORE THAN A MAN, Harlequin Intrigue, August 2009

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Gorgeous cover
and gorgeous son if you say he matches the cover. Moms always worry but happy to hear you will see him soon.
Amanda Murphy
w/a Jill James
www.jilljameswrites.com
Wow!
Sounds like he lives an interesting life! Though, as a mother I would be worried as well.
Angel66
"I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one." Nora Roberts
www.angelinabarbin.blogspot.com
Cover Model Sons ;)
Too funny that your cover looks like your son, Rebecca! My May cover for Priceless Newborn Prince looks just like my son, too! Or at least like my son did when he was a baby. He's ten now, so he's changed a bit since then.
I hope you get to see your son in July! BTW, love the cover and title!
--Ann
Ann Voss Peterson
Covert Cootchie-Cootchie-Coo - Harlequin Intrigue, September 2009
http://www.annvosspeterson.com
too funny
It makes you wonder if the art department is sneaking around getting pictures of our families. Seriously, I wonder if there is someone up there I can ask about how they picked the cover model for MORE THAN A MAN. Of course, for them, it was months ago. And the book hasn't hit the stands yet.
Rebecca
REBECCA YORK, http://www.rebeccayork.com
Sounds like a romance novel
Sounds like a romance novel hero to me, one way or the other!
And he must be terrific to talk to for book research, when you can nail him down, huh? :)
Sam
CAUGHT IN THE ACT, Blaze "Dressed to Thrill" Oct '09
"I Wish He Might..." Blaze Bedtime Stories Two-in-One, March '10
MAKE YOUR MOVE, Blaze May '10
My Website
research
Oh yeah, I've gotten some excellent research from him! He's done a lot of interesting stuff. Like going to the Albanian boarder to observe "demining." He's the only person I know who has defused land mines on his knick knack shelves.
Rebecca
REBECCA YORK, http://www.rebeccayork.com
Nice
If he's in DC, can you lend him out? LOL You two should do a workshop! :)
Sam
CAUGHT IN THE ACT, Blaze "Dressed to Thrill" Oct '09
"I Wish He Might..." Blaze Bedtime Stories Two-in-One, March '10
MAKE YOUR MOVE, Blaze May '10
My Website
workshops?
Unfortunately, he likes to keep a low profile.
Rebecca
REBECCA YORK, http://www.rebeccayork.com
Well, that clinches it.
Now you can assure him he has fullfilled the requirements for romance hero model. *G*
Isn't it fun to tease them, no matter how old they get?
Sam
CAUGHT IN THE ACT, Blaze "Dressed to Thrill" Oct '09
"I Wish He Might..." Blaze Bedtime Stories Two-in-One, March '10
MAKE YOUR MOVE, Blaze May '10
My Website
Interesting
that your cover hero looks like your son! Sounds like he qualifies as a romantic hero, whether he aspires to that or not!
Adopt a shelter pet. Save a life; gain a best friend for life.
View my DD's very public video acting debut at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E-v05kMucw.
July 2009 Member of the Month
my brother does look like this picture
OK, that was pretty crazy getting signed up and logged in to this, but I just wanted to say that we wouldn't want to scare my brother away, so we can't tease him too much. I definitely agree that if he saw any of this, he'd be majorly pissed. :) We're not trying to piss him off, but the cover does look enough like him to make you do a double take (on second look, the cheek is really wrong).
Ok, my teaching job now
Ok, my teaching job now sound sooooo borning. Yeah, I'm no romance hero! lol.
wj
More than a Man
Not only is your son handsome, but you must be very proud of him. I'd love to meet him if he has time to join us at the conference for an hour or two.
Joanna Wayne
COWBOY TO THE CORE, Special Ops, Texas
Harlequin Intrigue, August 2009
www.joannawayne.com
Ruth, I'm happily married,
Ruth, I'm happily married, but I think I have a bit of a crush on your son now! (Except for the sarcastic review part! : D ) Too funny that your cover model resembles him so much.
Tracy Montoya
http://www.tracymontoya.com
I'll Be Watching You--2008 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award Nominee for Best Intrigue!
Who could object to being called a Romance Hero?
Ruth I'll bet your son would be flattered, at least secretly, by being pegged for romance novel hero.
How lucky to have one of your very own and I hope you get to give him a good hug and kiss while he's home. His life is amazing source material.
What I don't understand about covers is how can they clearly show a blue eyed hunk, when the author described a brown-eyed one. How does that happen?