AAR

[pwm in mi]

I am currently reading Joanna Bourne'sThe Spymaster's Lady and loving it. The writing is exceptional, the plot and characters so intriguing, I am going to buy the rest of the series. I want to rush to all my reading friends, and yell "read this"!!!

Here's the problem- the cover is horrible! It depicts our hero, in a tailored jacket and shirt spread open to reveal a lovely muscled torso. It is not a photo, it looks like a painting. Now I appreciate the male form and this rendering is quite lovely. But it is so cheesey!! And completely screams "Bodice Ripper". Had I not known the book came highly recommended, I would have laughed when I saw it and kept walking.

I am astounded that this was chosen for the cover. Did the publisher actually read the book? There are so many better directions they could have gone in. (How about an image of the secret papers the hero and heroine are looking for? ) Does marketing research really suggest that this is what appeals to romance readers ? Half naked man + velveta= print. Romance readers are not idiots. We can figure out its a romance by a) noticing where it is shelved, b) reading the summary.

Perhaps we will see a shift in cover art, even historical, thanks to 50 Shades. Love it or hate it, those covers are very cool. And they sold.

So I'd like to know, what books would you like to see re-covered? Are there any books you highly recommend, but need to apologize for their horrid cover?

I do plan on urging my friends to read it. I may wrap the cover in wrapping paper.

Okay, rant over:)

[Jane A]

Completely agree about that cover! But really aren't a lot of covers pretty bad like this? Clothes falling off and all? Perhaps in the case of The Spymaster's Lady it's so jarring becasue it doesn't seem suitable at all. Anyway, this is why I completely ignore covers. And thank goodness for ereaders!

[Yulie]

Miranda Neville's Burgundy Club covers are dreadful. They look like 1990s-style clinch covers - that is, more tasteful than those you'd see on classic bodice rippers, but not much better than that. And the books themselves are so far removed from that sort of tackiness - well-written and interesting (as were many of the books on which clinch covers were inflicted back in the day). I don't know what Neville did to deserve such hideous covers. The first book in her new series looks like someone transported Christina Hendricks to 1800, so I guess there is some improvement.

I don't like covers that are all about naked chests. I know they sell, but if I buy one, it's in spite of the cover, not because of it. I still remember the atrocious cover Sandra Schwab had for The Lily Brand. It was painful and looked amateurish besides.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips books have gotten some bad covers, both the original editions and the reissues - the worst kind of cutesy crap. There does seem to be some improvement more recently. This was probably the worst, but the following are also pretty bad: this, the flag version of Heaven, Texas (nothing against the US flag but that cover has exactly nothing to do with the book) and the sneakers and wedding dress version of This Heart of Mine (totally WTF). I didn't even like some of these books, but nobody deserves covers that awful.

[jaime]

Nods. The whole romance genre is full of dreadful covers. Some of my favorites have such awful covers. I am re-reading SEP's "Natural Born Charmer" right now and I am shaking my head over that cover.

And the cover for Bourne's "Spymaster's Lady" is one of the worst offenders. The sad thing is the French version of it has such a lovely cover. I find that a lot of times the foreign cover versions of romances are much better than the American covers.

[pwm in mi]

I checked good reads and it looks like the europeans have a more palatable cover Spymaster's Lady. That often seems to be the case.

It is definately an advantage to have an e-reader, except if you use anything like a kindle fire. The book's are displayed on a bookshelf, with the covers in colorful glory.

In fact when I bought SEP's It Had to be You, I bought it to read on my Kindle reader. 6 monthes later, we bought a Kindle Fire for family use. Imagine my shock when I clicked on the book button and saw my library on display, cover after cover. That's when I saw the SEP boob cover. Really, it's just ridiculous!!

[xina]

I am way beyond the point of wondering what the cover has to do with the story inside. I happen to hate those torso shots, but there are many romance novel readers that love them. Hopefully, things will turn around with the popularity of the 50 Shades covers. Tasteful sells.
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[Pan's Wife]

We've had this chat before. Yes, the American cover is just silly. Here is the lovely french cover. Even the title is better, it translates as "The Master of My Heart":

[jaime]

[xina]

[pwm in mi]

That is lovely. I wonder if I could enlarge it and paste it on to my copy:)

[Pan's Wife]

Here you go... I admit I have done similar things to ugly covers. I would suggest you do an image save and then print it out from layout program:

[pwm in mi]

Pan's Wife:
1) Thank you so much!!
2) You Rock!!!!

[NoirFemme]

[Anne Marble]

There's a 2010 trade paperback edition of The Spymaster's Lady with a different (heroine-centric) cover:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0425236218/allaboutromance
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