There’s no better feeling than when a beautiful story has a beautiful cover to match. That’s why we’re so excited to introduce you to The Careful Undressing of Love by Corey Ann Haydu, which comes out on January 31, 2017! Keep reading to go behind the scenes of how its gorgeous cover came to be and start reading the first 40 pages!

First, the absolutely gorgeous cover:

About The Careful Undressing of Love

The girls of Devonairre Street have always been told they’re cursed. Any boy they love is certain to die too soon. But this is Brooklyn in 2008, and the curse is less a terror and more a lifestyle accessory—something funky and quaint that makes the girls from the shortest street in Brooklyn special. They wear their hair long and keys around their necks. People give them a second look and whisper “Devonairre” to their friends. But it’s not real. It won’t affect their futures.

Then Jack—their Jack, the one boy everyone loved—dies suddenly and violently. And now the curse seems not only real, but like the only thing that matters. All their bright futures have suddenly gone dark.

The Careful Undressing of Love is a disturbing and sensual story of the power of youth and the boundless mysteries of love set against the backdrop of Haydu’s brilliantly reimagined New York City.

Now see how the cover was made!

Behind the design with editor Andrew Karre:

The first lines of the poem from which Corey Ann Haydu’s novel takes its title are:

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.

It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.

It promises light

like the careful undressing of love.

This is a novel about love—specifically about a journey through love’s many surprising layers, and so from the very beginning designer Theresa Evangelista and I wanted a jacket that was as layered and surprising as an onion in valentine. No red roses or satin hearts would do. We wanted unconventional beauty and depth, and Theresa saw that in the work of Antonio Rodrigues Jr.  Rodrigues intricate painted-cut-photographed designs have depth and a lush darkness that immediately made me think of Corey’s Devonairre Street. After weeks of refinement and an unimaginable amount of scissor-work on Antonio’s part, we have a jacket we’re all proud of.  

Ready to dive in? Read the first 40 pages of The Careful Undressing of Love!

Preorder your copy of The Careful Undressing of Love!