Theme: Plain Romance Covers with No Clinch Embraces
How do you feel about plain romance covers? By 1990, a hot trend for some elite romance authors was a book with a more basic cover design. There was no couple embracing, not even a solo image. Perhaps the front would display a flower or a watch. It might have embossed foil lettering or a fancy texture.
Many more romances would have stepback covers. These combined a simple outer image with an interior clinch illustration.
Certainly, by the end of the decade, it was just as probable to find a romance novel without a clinch cover as one with it.
Be it stepback, plain design, or a clinch hidden on the back of the book, readers were picking up paperbacks that downplayed the sexy aspect of romances.
The Covers
You know where Sweet Savage Flame stands on this issue. We love to see covers with painted human figures on them, as opposed to plain ones. However, sometimes the design style of romance covers with no people on them does work and looks fantastic.
For the week of Monday, September 26, 2022, to Sunday, October 2, our Covers of the Week features plain romance covers without couples or clinches.
Tradewinds, Annee Cartier, Pinnacle, 1983, artist unknown
Badlands Bride, Cheryl St. John, Harlequin, 1993, Max Ginsburg cover art
Sweet Forever, Becky Lee Weyrich, Pinnacle, John Ennis cover art
Scandal in Silver, Sandra Chastain, Bantam, 1988, artist unknown