Covers are always a topic of discussion in the genre. Trends come and go. Two guys photoshopped together may now be considered old fashioned. Single interesting men became much more common. (Adding a bit more difficulty in discriminating M/M from M/F books, since those covers often look the same.)

And now, covers with simple line-drawn main characters are the hot new trend. (I noticed that in the Goodreads-wide awards recently, 18 of the 20 nominated romances had that style of cover.) In fact, an angsty M/M staple― Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy― has been refreshed with this cover style instead of the sensual one it had. The talent to do these covers well, to give individuality and emotion to the guys, especially on a book that’s not a rom com, is impressive.

I’ve been having fun re-covering my rerelease series. I adore the new covers for the Hidden Wolves that Jay Aheer created (can’t pick a favorite), and now Cate Ashwood is refreshing the look for Life Lessons as I rerelease them. We managed to find a Mac who fits the way I wrote the character, (although I didn’t change Tony. That guy – no matter how many covers he’s on, is Tony.) I’m especially happy to have the new artwork,  now I’m releasing the books in audio too. It really adds to the excitement of seeing the stories become available.

It’s very interesting to watch, over the ten years I’ve been publishing, how tastes in covers change. But one thing remains constant― we have enormously talented cover designers and artists in the genre, and their work adds to our enjoyment of the books we read. From detailed-art covers like Sophia Soames’ London Love series (Aurelia Morris), to the stylized drawn covers like Anyta Sunday’s Love, Austen series (Lauren Dombrowski), to gorgeous photo cover guys like Jay did for my wolves, to the symbolic covers like Nora Sakavic’s simple graphic Foxhole Court, LA Witt’s photo on The Road Home (Lori herself) or atmospheric and artistic like Marshall Thornton’s Boystown (Marshall himself)― a huge round of applause for all the creative folk who make our books better right from the front cover.

Do you have a favorite cover for the year? Give a shout out to the book/ artist whose cover just pulled you right in.

– Kaje Harper

December 2021