Love Bytes is excited and happy to exclusively reveal to you the brand new cover of Aidee Ladnier’s new release “The Applicant”.
Aidee wrote and introduction to the cover , shares the blurb and an excerpt and brought a wonderful giveaway!
Welcome Aidee 🙂
Hi! I’m Aidee and I’m so excited that Love Bytes will be hosting my Cover Reveal today.
Covers are one of my favorite parts of publishing a book. When I’m writing, I often collect images on my Pinterest board that remind me of my story. (If you’re interested, the board for my Forbes and Oliver stories—THE APPLICANT being the first—are located at https://www.pinterest.com/aideelad/forbes-and-oliver/) So when the publisher asks me for information on what I envision for a cover, I can send them pictures of my visual models, representations of my themes, and what I think is important to depict on the cover.
The cover for THE APPLICANT is one of my favorites. It’s a little quirky, a little silly, and definitely in keeping with story. One feature you might recognize is the teddy bear robot hanging from the title. That little guy is both adorable and destructive. My DH dubbed him the “cuddly juggernaut” because he just keeps going and going. (There’s a reason the series is named Busted Labs.)
Although my time traveler Oliver is not a typical applicant, I love that he’s depicted on the cover in a race – because time is definitely something he’s racing against. I hope you’ll check out THE APPLICANT and meet Oliver and his roboticist lover Dr. Forbes Pohle, as well as his troublesome teddy bear robot.
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
The cover artist for THE APPLICANT is Brooke Albrecht, an illustrator from Columbus, Ohio. You can see more of her work on these social media sites: Web, Blog
Blurb:
How can something so cuddly and adorable be so destructive? The teddy bear robot decimating his lab is only the first disaster of the day for roboticist Forbes Pohle. If he can figure out how to end its rampage, he still has to interview applicants for the position of research assistant and convince the time-traveler on his doorstop that they should be making their future right now. Oliver Lennox didn’t travel back in time to have a quickie in the blast chamber—but it certainly is fun. This younger Forbes is a sweeter, more innocent version of his lover. And it will be hard to leave him behind in the past.
If you like sexy nerds, humor, plenty of action, and a love story not even time can disrupt, this romantic adventure has the perfect credentials for the job.
Forbes Pohle worked the needle-nose pliers carefully behind the eye sensors of his teddy bear. He needed to make one little adjustment—
The buzzer on the door sounded, nerve-jangling and insistent, from the speaker overhead.
Startled, Forbes jerked the wire he was fiddling with free from its connection, rendering the small robot blind. The head-plate spring snapped, and the access panel clipped his hand as it closed. Forbes swore and shook his stinging fingers as the front door buzzer blared again.
Frustrated, he threw down the pliers and ran both hands through his mop of brown hair. Reacting to the clatter, the tiny robot turned its head left and then right before running off the table.
Luckily the teddy bear caught itself with its face when it hit the floor.
Undaunted, the bear scrambled to its furry feet and darted toward the other side of the lab. Forbes sighed at the sound of another imperative buzz.
“You won’t get the job if you don’t stop with the doorbell.” He stood and shoved the ends of his wrinkled white dress shirt back into his khaki pants. He typed in the power-down sequence for the bear before shutting the lab door and walking toward the front of the house. His visitor had graduated to using the door buzzer as percussion, the drone now going off and on in a jaunty rhythm.
Forbes still wasn’t sold on hiring a research assistant, but he wanted a lab assistant and he needed an administrative assistant.
Most of all, he longed for a friend.
Hiring someone wasn’t the best way to go about finding one, but working with somebody was a good start, right?
Forbes checked his reflection in the foyer mirror. The dark brown of his eyes was almost invisible against the bloodshot whites. His stomach rumbled, and he promised himself he’d take a break and eat as soon as the interview concluded.
At the next buzz, he spun and yanked open the large front door. Holy crap.
He wished he’d gotten a little sleep last night instead of staying up to tinker with the bear.
A wiry man stood on Forbes’s doorstep. He was dressed in a T-shirt, tight black jeans, black nail polish, and red Chuck Taylors. His strawberry blond hair was spiked up in front. The corners of his eyes and his freckled nose wrinkled.
Forbes blinked back his surprise and opened his mouth, expecting words to come out. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Come in.” Forbes waved him inside the house. “I’m Forbes Pohle. I’m the one who posted the job listing.”
The man grinned and held out a hand. “Very pleased to meet you, Dr. Pohle. I’m Oliver Lennox. Please call me Oliver.”
Forbes blushed at the title as he clasped Oliver’s warm hand. Forbes was a PhD three times over, but he hadn’t put that in the advertisement.
“If you’ll come this way, we can talk in the lab.” He turned and walked back down the hallway to the adjacent laboratory, assuming the applicant would follow.
“Oh, I didn’t come about…,” Forbes heard him say before he ran into Forbes’s back. To be fair it wasn’t his fault. Forbes had stopped short in the lab doorway.
During the few minutes he’d stepped out to answer the door, the laboratory had been destroyed.
Aidee Ladnier, an award-winning author of speculative fiction, began writing at twelve years old but took a hiatus to be a magician’s assistant, ride in hot air balloons, produce independent movies, collect interesting shoes, fold origami, send ping pong balls into space, and amass a secret file with the CIA. A lover of genre fiction, it has been a lifelong dream of Aidee’s to write both romance and erotica with a little science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or the paranormal thrown in to add a zing.
You can find her on her blog at http://www.aideeladnier.com or on her favorite social media sites:
Tumblr: http://aideemoi.tumblr.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aideelad Twitter: https://twitter.com/AideeLadnier Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6570769.Aidee_Ladnier Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/aideelad/
Aidee brought along a wonderful giveaway!
A $10 Amazon GC
Enter the Rafflecopter to have a chance to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The cover is a little quirky indeed, but I like it. Congrats on the new release.
Thank you, Tanja! The cover was exactly what I was looking for. Teehee!
That’s a really good cover, Aidee. It is cute and funny at the same time. And the blurb sounds great. Congratulations!
Thank you, Susana! I think it’s definitely a cover with personality. And Dreamspinner’s Blurb Department helped me craft the blurb. I especially like the “if you like” section at the end. “This romantic adventure has the perfect credentials for the job.” LOL!
Love that cover, looks to be a fun read! Can’t wait to grab the book. 🙂
Thanks, Didi! I had tons of fun writing it. 😀
Sounds amusing, cute cover; thanks for the chance to win 🙂
You’re welcome, Lisa!
I love covers that are different and this one is fun. The blurb sounds great, too. Thanks for the post!
Thank you, Jen! This cover is definitely a little different from the typical romance but still gives a hint to the humor within.
Really psyched for this one!
Yay! It’s a really fun story.
I love the cover and the excerpt was great. I can’t wait to read it! I love quirky.
Quirky is my specialty! LOL!
Thank you so much for hosting my cover reveal today! I adore Love Bytes Reviews, so this was a special treat for me!
this sounds utterly adorable! I need to read this.
Yes! You must!
My eyes go straight to that teddy bear!! Totally a ‘clickbait’ in terms of cover (yes, I tend to dismiss “people” on cover, but bring me teddy bears or animals and I just go googly eyes). Congrats for the book!
Thank you, Ami. I am the same way. When the cover artist sent me the mockup, I knew instantly this was the cover. LOL!
He looks like David Tennant. Yummy.. I love sexy men on book covers
Well, he is a master of time and space! LOL!
You have the most original plots. Love it!
Awww! You say the nicest things, Gina. I’ve read some pretty amazing plots you’ve penned so I can’t be labeled alone. 🙂
That is a different take for a cover. I like it.
Definitely not your typical two man clinch. 😉
The cover is cute and the story sounds very good.
Thank you, Kathy! I really like the cover. It hits all my “Cute! Must Find Out More” buttons.
I like the cover. Thank you for the excerpt & giveaway.
It is my pleasure, Beth Ann. Thank you for stopping by.
Cover is cool! congratulations !
Thank you, Originalchele! I looove this cover.
Love the cover Aidee, Brooke Albrecht has done a wonderful job.
She certainly did, Shirley Ann. She knocked it out of the park on cuteness and appealing.
Love the cover especially with the teddy bear
I know! He’s too cute! I’m so glad the artist decided to include him!
I like the cover and the blurb sounds really fun. It’s definitely something I want to read. Congrats on the upcoming release!
Thank you, Serena. You really can’t go wrong with robot teddy bears. 😉
great cover and enjoyed the blog post today
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Thanks Jodi! I always wondered how a book cover was chosen so I thought everyone else might like to see my process.
Congrats on the release. Cute cover!
Thank you, Lisa! I’m so excited about this release!
interesting cover…it catches the eye
Hi Lee! I love this cover. The teddy bear hanging from the title totally makes it for me.
This is great thank you for the chance
You are very welcome, Jenny!
Love the cover. Congrats on the (re)release! >.<
Just a quick question: is there any changes from the story from it's first appearance in the Weird Science anthology?
Hi H.B.! Yes! The story is now three times longer, full novella size. You get to see not only the takedown of the teddy bear but Oliver and Forbes interviewing all the applicants for the position of research assistant! As well as a full tour of Forbes’s house and lab 😉
Interesting cover!
Congrats on your release!
Thank you, Nicole. I love this cover. It definitely captures the whimsy of the story.
Thank you for the chance. Can’t wait to read. Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays to you too, Kimberly!
Thank you for the chance
You are very welcome, Bella!
Love the cover!
Thank you, Toni. I love this cover, too!
I doubt you’ve heard of it, but the cover reminds me a lot of a parody anime called Shinesman about super hero businessmen.
Cool! I’m definitely going to have to look that up. I love anime but it’s been years since I’ve picked up a new vid.
Cute cover!
Thank you, Angelina! I really like this cover, too. The artist did a great job.
Awesome blurb and the cover goes with it. Congratulations!
Thank you, Irma! I love the blurb and the cute cover!
Looking forward to reading this book. Cute cover.
Yay! I hope you like the teddy bear robot. 😉
My curiosity is officially piqued. The cover caught my eye first because it’s so different and then I read sexy nerds and time travel! Thank you!
Sexy nerds and time travel are my hot buttons. LOL!
Amazing cover.
I totally agree. The artist did a great job of coming up with a cover that’s both eye-catching and unique with a dash of whimsy. I love it.
Loving the idea of a teddy bear robot.
He’s such a dear little robot. He doesn’t mean to be destructive!
Congrats and thanks for the post. Sounds great. I did wonder about the teddy, and I love time travel.
I love time travel, too. The possibilities are endless!
Something different to what I normally read but really intrigued by this.
I hope you’ll give it a try Jess. 🙂 You can’t go wrong with robots and time travel, right?