Title (Second) Week: Jeannine Covington

Here’s Jeannine Covington’s title request. For convenience sake, here’s a repeat of title advice from the last post:

Things to remember about titles:

• One word titles are generally not memorable; you need at least two words because the juice is in the relationship between the words, the spark that jumps between them. Temptation is a lousy title; Welcome to Temptation is one of the best of my books.

• Familiar titles, aka songs and movies, generally make your book sound run of the mill, not to mention hard to google. Maybe This Time, my book, comes up fourth on an google search after “Maybe This Time,” the song, you tube video, lyrics, and Wikipedia entry. Welcome to Temptation is the first google entry.

• If possible, the title should should like something one of your characters would say, or at least be in her or his voice. (Phin says, “Welcome to Temptation” when he meets Sophie. Nobody says, “Maybe this time” in the book.)

• If possible, the title should reflect the crackle of the conflict or the romantic juice of the story, anything that strikes a spark when you read it. This is even more important in the digital age when you often don’t have a cover, or at least a cover bigger than an inch, to draw the reader in.

• Avoid theme at all costs. Nobody ever picked up a novel and said, “I can’t wait to find out about the theme.”

• Keep it clean if you want it in a lot of stores.

And now, here’s Jeannine.

Lady Susannah wants only to reach her majority, inherit her fortune, and live as a happy spinster rather than a miserable wife. Her snake-like uncle has a different plan: marry her to his unscrupulous friend, then split her dowry.

To circumvent her uncle, the ever-independent Susannah goes on a husband-hunt, determined that if she must marry, it will be to someone she can control. When handsome and curious Nate Kinlan presents himself as a prospective suitor, Susannah sees red. Nate is dangerous to her mission of finding an uninspiring husband, and his stolen kisses are proof of that. But Nate has his own mission: prove Susannah’s uncle is a traitor, and he has no qualms about using her to do just that.

When Susannah’s uncle speeds up the marriage timeline, Nate proposes a marriage of convenience to protect her while still having access to her uncle. She refuses, knowing she cannot trust herself — or him — to keep it “convenient.” But when other suitors eager for her fortune attempt to kidnap Susannah, and Nate still hasn’t found the evidence he needs, he proposes again — this time, a fake marriage. With no other suitable options, she agrees.

Suspicious of their marriage, Susannah’s uncle aims to prove it or kill Nate, whichever comes first. The “newlyweds” must tamper their growing attraction and work together so each may get what they want — which might just be each other.