Literary Nails: Only Bad Options (Galactic Truebond #1) by Jennifer Estep

It's been a minute since I last did some book-inspired nail art, but I read Only Bad Options not that long ago, and I of course loved it, but also the cover is just stunning! I knew I had to attempt some nail art inspired by it!

Only Bad Options (Galactic Truebond #1) by Jennifer Estep
Release date: September 20th 2022

Space opera meets Bridgerton in an exciting new science-fiction fantasy adventure by bestselling author Jennifer Estep. Perfect for readers looking for a mix of magic and technology and for fans of soul mates and enemies-to-lovers stories.

A WOMAN WHO SEES EVERYTHING...

Few people know the name Vesper Quill. To most folks, I’m just a lowly lab rat who designs brewmakers and other household appliances in the research and development lab at the powerful Kent Corp. But when I point out a design flaw and a safety hazard in the new line of Kent Corp starcruisers, everyone knows who I am—and wants to eliminate me.

I might be a seer with a photographic memory, but I don’t see the trouble headed my way until it’s too late. Suddenly, I’m surrounded by enemies and fighting for my life.

I don’t think things can get any worse until I meet Kyrion Coldren, an arrogant Regal lord who insists that we have a connection, one that could be the death of us both.

A MAN WHO CAN’T FORGET HIS PAST...

The name Kyrion Coldren strikes fear in the hearts of people across the Archipelago Galaxy. As the leader of the Arrows, the Imperium’s elite fighting force, I’m used to being a villain, as well as the personal assassin of Lord Callus Holloway. Even the wealthy Regals who live on the planet of Corion are afraid of me.

But everything changes when I meet Vesper Quill. I might be a powerful psion with telepathic, telekinetic, and other abilities, but Vesper sees far too many of my secrets.

Thanks to an arcane, unwanted quirk of psionic magic, the two of us are forced to work together to unravel a dangerous conspiracy and outwit the dangerous enemies who want to bend us to their will.

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And here is how it turned out...

Believe it or not, I hand drew the eye... mostly 😅I did get a little help from a stamping plate to get the shape of the eye right, but the rays coming off of it was all me! They don't look great, but it's not bad 😅 And then I just stamped a moon and stars design on my ring finger, added ALL of the topers, and some glitter stars and moons. Can you tell that I like glitter? 😆

Here are the polishes I used:

UNT - Ready for Takeoff Peelable Base Coat Holo Taco - Long-Lasting Base Holo Taco - One Coat Black Holo Taco - Purple with Envy Holo Taco - Way Back Chrome (not in stock) What's Up Nails - Blanc My Mind Emily de Molly - Blue Moon Floss Gloss - Dimepiece (not in stock) FUN Lacquer - Platinum Diamond Magnetic Polish Holo Taco - Reflective Taco (not in stock) INM - Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat KBShimmer - Smooth Moves Holo Taco - Super Glossy Taco
And these are the two stamping plates I used:

Uber Chic Beauty - Basic Shapes-01 Maniology - Classic Beauty: Hearts + Stars (BM-XL355)
And here's a little run down on how I did things. I know I used a lot of stuff, which is pretty on par for me 😆 But it actually wasn't that difficult to do!

I started off with one coat of black because you get better pay off when using multichrome polishes. Although to be fair, Holo Taco multichromes are very opaque. After that I did two coats of the multichrome polish, and on my thumb, middle and ring finger I did a gradient with two different multichromes because I like to make things complicated for myself, apparently. Lol.

And then I added ALL the topers! I started off with a magnetic topper, followed by a reflective topper...

And of course a holo topper because I love holo. Lol. After all that, I stamped the design on my ring nail, and I made the decals for my thumb and middle finger using a combination of the shapes stamping plate and just my mediocre drawing skills 😆 But, I mean, I like it! I really like how the reflective topper really makes it sparkle! I feel like multichorme polishes are hard to photograph because they just shift through so many colors depending on the angle, but I tried to capture the blue-to-purple shift as best I could.

I really loved this book and its blend of fantasy and sci-fi! Definitely keep an eye out for it when it comes out next week!
So what do you think? Did I nail it? 😜