Introducing the Cover of SITUATIONSHIP by Máire Roche
Máire Roche is the author of the queer cozy fantasy Bromantasy. Her next novel is Situationship, out June 1, 2027 from Putnam. Today, Book Riot is hosting the cover reveal! The cover artist/designer is Tal Goretsky. Below, Máire Roche discusses the book and the cover design process.
Tell us about SITUATIONSHIP!
Situationship is a queer, cozy standalone follow-up on the high seas featuring an underemployed mercenary, a wickedly hot pirate queen, and the mortifying ordeal of being known. Rosa, our underemployed mercenary, has retired with her girl gang…well, she tried to. It didn’t stick. She didn’t like basket weaving. Or having roommates. The pet goat her friends adopted didn’t help matters, either. When she takes a big job to catch an infamous pirate, she realizes too late that she’s been asked to kill the pirate—or that the king of the realm will kill her. But Rosa isn’t a killer, the pirate is really, really hot, and the crew quickly makes Rosa feel like family. Alongside her trusty-but-dumb pet crow, Rosa must decide whether to ignore her newfound feelings and carry out her job, or put aside her mercenary days and follow her heart into piracy.
You’ve talked about how BROMANTASY is both a romance and a love letter to queer friend groups. How does SITUATIONSHIP fit in or continue that conversation?
Absolutely! SITUATIONSHIP involves not one but two queer friend groups. Rosa’s girl gang, who she has known for years, has decided to retire, and Rosa ends up on “girl ship,” a pirate ship where everyone is a woman except for Dave, whose gender is his own. In so many ways, SITUATIONSHIP is about the queer found families we grow into, and how relationships can morph and change in wonderful new ways along the journey. While Bromantasy lovingly portrays the way that queer found families can be delightfully messy, Situationship expands that conversation with two queer found families brought together by one chaotic mercenary-turned-maybe-pirate.
What was your inspiration behind writing this new book and what are you hoping readers take away from it?
Readers who have attended my past events know that my Irish heritage is incredibly important to me, and that part of every book I write honors that. Rosa’s love interest is a pirate, named for the famed Irish pirate queen Gráinne Ní Mháille (you might have heard the anglicized version of her name, Grace O’Malley). While Rosa’s love interest, Gráinne (pronounced GRAWN-ya) doesn’t share many similarities beyond their names, their piracy, & their disdain for kings, it was important to me to have a touchstone of Irish history and myth.
Has it been exciting to see your characters come to life on the BROMANTASY and SITUATIONSHIP jackets? What has been your favorite part of that process?
I am OBSESSED with the beautiful covers, and can’t wait to see the two covers together in person! I adored the silly, chaotic Bromantasy cover so much (and the first-edition sprayed edges!!), and it was hard to imagine ever loving a cover more. Then, of course, my incredible team at Putnam pulled together something that made me audibly gasp. I LOVE Gráinne’s depiction, and that it includes so many little details (like her scars), I am delighted by Rosa’s look of petulant dismay, and having Ignoto (the pet crow) front and center is perfect. It’s been such a gift to have not one, but two covers where my characters have come to life. Tal Goretsky is the fantastic art director behind the magic, and I’m so thrilled to have this type of magic twice over. It’s truly been life-changing.
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