Cover Stories: Intertwined by Gena Showalter

Gena Showalter writes some seriously romantic books. And she's here to talk about Intertwined, a story about a boy with four human souls living inside him who meets a girl who quiets their voices and brings him some peace. He's a loner who attracts the paranormal; she's a social butterfly who repels it. But somehow... they're coming together.

Read on for your chance to win prizes from Harlequin Teen. Here's Gena:

"I love brainstorming cover ideas, but this one stumped me. I could see ribbons winding together, as well as a boy with his arms around a girl. But the first told nothing about the story and the second was perhaps a bit too suggestive with a title like Intertwined.

"I was asked to toss out any ideas I had. But truth be told, I didn’t give my publisher much. I think I told them about my ribbon idea, though I wasn’t sure if that kind of cover would intrigue readers.

"

They used a real model for the Intertwined cover. In fact, they did a casting call (and I sooo would have loved to be there). Then they sent me several different pictures of the models; the guys stood against a white wall and each held a number. Boy number 15 won all our hearts. He had a very Rob Pattinson feel, and as I have a cougar crush on Mr. Pattinson, well, there was just no other way for me to vote.

"When I first saw the cover, 

I loved it and couldn’t have been happier! No ribbons. A cute boy. And the title was on his shirt, which fit a scene in the book. By the time I saw the cover, it was pretty much a done deal. My only suggestion at that point was a darker, more paranormalish background. But a darker background would have distracted from the boy and the title, so we didn’t end up going that route.

"They played with showing more of the boy’s face, but in the end they opted to show just his mouth and chin. And I am absolutely, utterly satisfied."

Thanks, Gena! I have to admit that I think there's something sexy about that peek of undershirt on the cover, right? What do you guys think?

Harlequin Teen says: We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about Gena Showalter's cover and that you’ll love the book as much as we love our covers. We’d also like to hear what you—truly!—think about our covers, and YA covers in general. Which are your favorites, which are your least favorites, and why? Comment here, and you might win a copy of My Soul to Take, Intertwined, or a cool matching T-shirt. Thanks for being with us today at Readergirlz!