March 6th, 2010 — About, Covers
The romance novel industry has been designing covers for a very long time. We've seen swooning couples, floating heads, headless bodies, photoshop overlays of couples and scenery, women in fancy dresses, and plain fancy font covers with inserts. The current trends of floating heads and headless bodies are an interesting oxymoronic mix.
On the last, I asked on Twitter about the headless body phenomenon known as mantitty.
The tweet read:
Why do romance novel covers crop mid-head or at the neck? Seriously, my art professors would kill me for those design decisions.
I was taught when drawing the human body you never cut off at a joint. Ever. It makes the body look truncated, misshapen, and distorted. If you're going to crop a body you crop mid bone section - mid thighs, mid arms, etc.
Two responses to my tweet were:
@qc2: 'cause the models are butterfaces.
@amhartnett: easier than finding models who match the entire look of char.? Let's the reader fill in blank face with their imagination?
Both responses point to the model as being a bad representative for the male lead. With all the models out there, there should be one that can represent the hero accurately enough.
The first response begs the question of what is handsome. Considering all the notions of beauty out there, one face might very well attract and repel the same amount of readers.
My guess is publishers are catering to the mass of readers instead of creating a cover that accurately represents the novel. I mean how offensive can a hot, finely honed male body be? Forget that 99.98% are hairless for those that love chest hair.
Originally posted 2009-06-11 14:48:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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April 8th, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, A-C, Africa, Book Review, Children, Dukes and Earls, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Pirate, Politician, Rogues and Rakehells, Widow or Widower
The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander follows not one but three couples on their journey to love. Luckily two are more peripheral and have overall less air time in the novel. The main couple is Sabrina Winfield and Nicholas, Earl of Wyldewood. The other couples are Sabrina and Nicholas’ offspring from their first marriage, and Sabrina’s friend with Nicholas’ sister.
Sabrina has for the last ten years a life of total propriety. She has been prim, poised, controlled, tame, and dull. She misses the adventure from her past—the intrigue, the thrill, and the illicit nature of her work. She could command the loyalty of men, change fortunes, and guide her own affairs. With her young daughter about to wed, Sabrina yearns keenly to let loose and be free of society’s demands. When she hears about her late husband’s last gamble and subsequent winnings, Sabrina ransacks her London home.
Having found the French letter with instructions to legendary gold buried in Egypt, Sabrina packs and sets off to reclaim herself and to change her fortune. Unfortunately, her daughter’s finance’s father seems to think it’s his business to keep her out of trouble. The annoying Earl of Wyldewood, a politician with a streak of rakish charm a mile long, is determined to unearth Sabrina’s secrets. She is terrified of revealing them, for her past could land her in prison. Under the guise of helping his son, Nicholas is following Sabrina to Egypt with the intention to protect her. However, if he were honest with himself, he would have followed her anyway for underneath her prim exterior, Nicholas suspects that Sabrina may just be the perfect wife.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Buy: The Perfect Wife
Originally posted 2008-12-08 07:47:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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