The Importance Of Cover Art In Romance Literature

Although the cover art of a book may seem as something small in comparison to the rest of the novel, it is actually a crucial key to the sale of that specific book. The cover art of a romance novel is essentially what attracts the consumer to pick it up and look through it. Even though some romance novels are formulaic, the cover art is expected to make the book stand out while also sending the message of which genre it is a part of. The demand for romance novels is rapidly growing as different genres are created in order to cater the specific needs of certain audiences. Romance novels range from Harlequins to Gothics, Chick Lit to Romantica; each possessing their own style of cover art that will draw in more consumers. Each cover art, much …show more content…
“The cover represents the steaminess of the contents in a number of ways...body positions and clothing of the embracing couples” (Guiley 280), explaining how the level of raciness in the “clinch” is an indicator of what is to be expected within the book. Comparing the art covers of Tender is the Storm and Always and Forever, the readers are able to determine some themes to the storyline. Although all four characters are similarly embraced in a passionate clinch there are minor details that differentiates one novel from the other. In Tender is the Storm, racy sexual content is to be expected as we see that the hero is completely naked (with only the heroine censoring him), while the heroine’s sleeves fall down to one side almost revealing her breasts. “Nudity is another way to spice up the clinch...While no woman has ever been shown naked on the romance cover…men have” (Guiley 283), explaining how nudity is used as a mechanism to make one novel stand out over the rest. However, not only is the hero fully naked but he is also towering over the heroine while she is looking up at him instead. This shows the dominance that our hero has over our heroine and foreshadows