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Links galore: Romance book covers and titles

I have sometimes mentioned book covers how important they are. I may also have mentioned the standardised covers found in genre literature, and especially romance novels. As individual artwork, some romance covers are beautiful and evocative, but taken as a whole, the genre suffers from some terribly cheesy artwork that occasionally makes one wonder if the artists are all copying each other's work. I have especially noticed this in traditional Regency romances, serial romance and historical bodice-rippers. Sometimes the covers really invite you to have fun with them, and that is just what these people have done:


I am thinking about bringing back to life an old feature of this blog: the cover snark/analysis/discussion. Actually, I would like to do more than just criticise bad covers. I want to discuss covers in general and showcase some examples I have come across. I have started updating three posts I made on the subject on my ancient book blog and I have a number of covers lined up for discussion. We shall have to see what happens after that and whether I have the stamina to keep it going.
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