*Top Ten Tuesday* Romance Book Covers and What They Say

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Joood - Hooligan of Platypire reviews bossed me into doing this, so I guess this is a thing I do now. 

This weeks theme is book cover freebie, and I have elected to do a list of romance book covers and what they say about the book. I have not read any of the books pictured below yet, they are simply books that I have won through Goodreads First Reads giveaways, so this is quite literally going to be my impression of the books based entirely on their covers. I haven't even looked at the book blurbs because that's just not how I roll.

Title: Kill Without Mercy
Author: Alexandra Ivy
Amazon

This book is going to be action packed like a Jason Bourne movie. There's definitely going to be people after at least one of the main characters, most likely the woman, and the man will be there to save her from an absolutely insane number of attacks. And along the way, they fall in love, even though she hated him and his presence in the beginning, and he considered her just another job. And before they finally hook up, the sexual tension will be so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Title: Reunion Pass
Author: Emily March
Amazon

Title: Somebody Like You
Author: Donna Alward
Amazon

I paired these books together because they're both definitely going to sweet romances, the men will be a bit more beta. It is likely that both books will involve one of the main characters moving "back home" after either losing their big city job or separating from their longtime boyfriend or spouse, and then running into their high school sweetheart, who just happens to be single (likely either divorced or widowed). It becomes apparent that the sparks are still there, and eventually they realize that they should have been together all along.

Title: Those Texas Nights
Author: Delores Fossen
Amazon

Obviously this is going to be the romance version of a Western. The guy is going to come off as a bit of a jerk, he's not really comfortable talking about things like feelings and he keeps pretty much everything bottled up inside, which makes it impossible for the heroine to get a read on him really and leads to loads of misunderstandings. However he's also going to be a gentlemen when the social expectations are more clear. He's the ma'am/sir, opening your car door, pulling out your chair type of guy because his momma raised him right. He'll score major bonus points for crying on his wedding day (for the first time ever) but we won't actually see that in this book.

Title: A Wedding for Christmas
Author: Lori Wilde
Amazon

I just had to include a Christmas romance in this list. It would have been foolish not to. Now a Christmas romance will go one of two ways. Either the two main characters are complete strangers at the beginning of the story, thrown together by unfortunate circumstances (grounded flights, cars broken down right outside quaint small towns, that kind of thing), or they knew each other in school, haven't seen one another pretty much since Person A left right after graduation, and when they run into each other again, can't stand one another. Because the of the title of this book, I'm assuming it's going to follow the latter formula. The main characters will have known each other for a long time and eventually realize that they're meant to be together...Also one of them probably gets stood up at the altar.

Title: The Danger of Desire
Author: Sabrina Jeffries
Amazon

This is a classic historical fiction bodice ripper. The main characters are most likely promised to each other by their parents, but the headstrong woman wants to reject the arranged marriage because she just can't stand the man that she only just met, that is until she gets to know him. Then she finds herself drawn to him and it becomes more and more apparent that they are meant for each other and not just because that's what their parents want. The sex scenes will be fade to black and not come until near the end of the book in spite of the title.

Title: Taming Her Tycoon
Author: Yahrah St. John
Amazon

I must admit that I'm actually stumped about what this book will offer me beyond a diverse contemporary romance. See, I don't have much of a background reading contemporary romance because it just doesn't appeal to me all that much. I prefer books that engage my imagination just a little bit more than contemporary romance does. The impression I get from the title is that the man is a bit of a playboy and obviously the heroine gets him to settle down with her, eventually, I guess.

Title: Search and Seduce
Author: Sara Jane Stone
Amazon

Judging by the cover of this book, it is not your mother's romance novel. No, I imagine this is the result of the success of 50 Shades of Grey. The sex scenes in this book will not be fading to black, and they'll probably be a little bit kinky to boot. I imagine the story will be much more lust-based than the romance I'm accustomed to reading from Harlequin (but the romance I'm accustomed to reading from Harlequin is historical, so that's not a big surprise.) Basically you can expect a lot more spice from this book than what your mother was reading when you were in high school.

Title: Fortune's Secret Heir
Author: Allison Leigh
Amazon

This is going to be pretty standard garden variety contemporary romance. Guy bumps into girl buying coffee and relentlessly pursues her, because the fun is in the chase after all. Eventually she gives in and they go on a date and she has a little too much to drink and they end up in the sack...and she gets pregnant (she has to with a title like that). But it was basically a one-night stand so she doesn't really want to tell the father, since he's clearly wealthy he'll probably think she's faking the pregnancy, or that the baby really belongs to someone else anyway. And yet, everything is going to work out in the end (although he's going to be mad she didn't tell him she was preggers.)

Title: Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel
Author: Sue-Ellen Welfonder
Amazon

Here we have a highlander romance, so it's clearly set in Scotland. Based on the weapon in his hand, it's historical, although most highlander romances are I think. If it had been published twenty years earlier, that would totally be Fabio on the cover. The beauty of a historical highlander romance is that it gets to be longer, because there is world building required (yeah the world already existed, but it still has to be described and stuff.) Seriously, this book is like twice the size of the previous two books, so it will take a little longer to read (I don't consider that a bad thing.)

Title: Sound Advice
Author: L.B. Dunbar
Amazon

Title: Grin & Beard It
Author: Penny Reid
Amazon

You're probably wondering why I grouped these two books together because they don't seem to be similar at all. Well that's simple. It's because these covers tell me that these books are Indie books (or at least with a small press). While it's true that I know that for a fact because I follow both of these authors and have read some of their other work (although not these two books), you can also tell because the covers are unique. They do not look like anything that the traditional publishers are using for their romance novels. And while I can't get much of a read for what to expect from Sound Advice from the cover, I know that it's going to be a sweet romance (again, I've read other books by Ms. Dunbar.)

The cover for Grin & Beard It, on the other hand, tells me that this book takes place someplace in the south, and at least one of the main characters is probably a bit old-fashioned. I imagine the male lead will be rugged and manly, but super polite, probably has a strong connection with his grandma. But he's going to ooze that famous southern charm. Beyond that, I don't really know what to expect from this book either. And I kind of like it that way.

So there you have it. Ten types of romance book covers and what they tell me about the story inside. Do you agree with my list? If not, why? Is there anything you would add? - Katie