Paperback 897: Love Is the Winner / Natalie Shipman (Bantam 451)

Paperback 897: Bantam 451 (1st ptg, 1948)

Title: Love Is the Winner
Author: Natalie Shipman
Cover artist: Nelson Davis

Estimated value: ~$15

Best things about this cover:

• And Joan is the loser.
• You can tell by Joan's face that she is *not* going to lose her man to some cut-rate Lauren Bacall. "First, watercress sandwiches. Then ... revenge!"
• That knob at fake-Bacall's crotch level is, to put it mildly, distracting.
• I'd say the paperback title is an upgrade. "Who Wins His Love" = the "Who's on First" of book titles.

Best things about this back cover:

• I am serious when I say I want the top third of this cover on a t-shirt. WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO indeed.
• "Or shall she turn to another man..." Wait, were there really no other options in there?
• Are the demanding lips forming words that are demanding, or are they just ... really muscular and squirmy on your face?

Page 123~

"Are you having lunch with Jim?" Mrs. Converse had asked before she left.
"I'm going to telephone him," Kathy said. "He may be tied up."

I have to imagine him literally tied up, because otherwise this ends up being the single most boring Page 123 I've ever read.

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

Paperback 805: Nina / Brian Black (Beacon B745X)

Paperback 805: Beacon B745X (PBO, 1964)

Title: Nina
Author: Brian Black
Cover artist: Uncredited [Barton?—see reversed signature, under couch]

Yours for: $20


Best things about this cover:

• I wish that, many years ago, I had created a "Women Spilling Backwards Off of Beds and Couches" tag. It's a thing.
• Looks like "twisted pleasures" is a literal statement. "I'm sorry, Burt, but I can't get in the mood unless I'm doing [gets on couch and adjusts herself] … [grunt, awkward dress tugging] … this!"
• I like how this cover is a panel from a Power Point presentation. Bullet list!
• Wow, high heels have done terrible and unnatural things to her feet.
• When were biceps bracelets trendy?
• I like that couch quite a bit.

Best things about this back cover:

• What is *proper* love with strangers? Does it involve handshakes and handwritten thank-you notes?
• "Candid"!? What happened to "frank"!? I miss "frank."
• Unfair to Jet Set! I'm so glad that we as a culture have evolved out of the terrible Jet-Settism that plagued our forefathers.

Page 123~

Nina found only one fault with the rodeo. It happened only once a year.

I knew it. I took one look at that cover and thought, "this is gonna be about the rodeo."

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]