Since both the people who commented on yesterday’s blog were in the Hall of Fame, there was no winner for the drawing. I never saw that scenario coming, but it is what it is, so we move on.
Let’s talk romance novel covers. There seems to be four major types for your typical romance novel: the clinch, the half-naked hero, the heroine alone and the artistic non-clinch. I’ve had books with all four.
The most common is the clinch cover. When you see a book featuring a couple in a torrid embrace on the front, you know immediately it’s a romance novel. Some people are embarrassed to read a book in public that has such an explicit cover, but with the surge of digital publishing, that’s not as much of a problem anymore. Here’s a classic clinch on Too Wicked To Love, my most recent historical.
Then you have the half-naked hero. My current release and first paranormal, Prodigal Son, features this type of cover. It seems very popular in the paranormal arena.
The heroine alone is becoming more popular, especially with historical romances. I had a memorable one on Scandal of the Black Rose:
Then you get the more artistic covers. Often you will see these covers on New York Times bestselling authors’ books. Why? Because the publisher doesn’t have to tell the reader what kind of book it is. Name recognition is all that is needed for someone to pick up these books. If you look at authors like Debbie Macomber or Nora Roberts or Julia Quinn (especially any of the Bridgerton books), you will get the idea. The closest I came to the artistic cover was Just One Touch, which has a far-away view of a couple on a horse. A step away from a clinch but not quite the elegant bouquet of flowers either.
Which types of covers do you prefer? Are you hesitant to read books with a clinch in public? Those who comment get entered in today’s drawing for a free paperback title from my backlist!
