An Easter Egg Between Two Book Covers

It's one more week until 𝑴𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒆 comes out, and I'd like to explain a bit of an Easter Egg about the cover. My talented husband creates my covers, but it was a struggle to determine the best look for 𝑴𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝑶𝒏𝒆. It was the first PWF book I'd ever written. I'd written urban fantasy before, which requires people on the covers. We wanted to step away from that for this series.

I helped him search through stock photos and this double-hearted necklace caught my eye. To me, it represented mother Melissa, daughter Regan, and their love for one another. After several iterations, he came up with the purple swoosh running through the pair of hearts that I still adore today.

When designing the cover for the last book in the series, I wanted a callback to that first book design. It needed a similar double heart theme, but also show the growth in their relationship. Regan's heart, now an adult herself, no longer rests safely inside Melissa's heart. Yet they're still locked together, side by side, as Melissa decides her own fate (represented by the Pandora's box). The purple color scheme is also slightly darker, signifying change.

As my own oldest daughter starts high school next month, I feel a deep connection to Melissa's journey with Regan.  Kids grow up so fast that many things change before I want them to. But a mother's love for her children adapts to every new stage of life, becoming richer and deeper even if it's often bittersweet.

Until next time, happy adventuring!

-DM Fike