Task 10: Read a romance book that doesn’t have an illustrated cover.

[Krista]

Share and discuss book ideas for
Task 10: Read a romance book that doesn’t have an illustrated cover.

[Karen]

What does this mean? A blank cover with title only? A photograph type cover?

[Dee]

Karen wrote: "What does this mean? A blank cover with title only? A photograph type cover?" I would and am interpreting as either option

[Laura]

from the three teaser recommendations Book Riot sent out, this seems like it's meant to be a cover with photo-realistic people (or no people) on it, rather than the cutesy cartoony, obviously drawn people. The three suggestions they listed were:

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera (hardcover)
The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan

All of these have people on them, but they look more like photographs or real people than drawings.

[Elizabeth]

I love romance and I really don't care for illustrated covers, so I'm excited to see any suggestions people have for this one. I currently have A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera and It Takes a Rake by Anna Bennett checked out of the library and definitely won't get to either before 2024 is out, so both are definite contenders. I also have The Marquis Who Mustn't by Courtney Milan, Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin, and Rebel by Beverly Jenkins all ready to read as soon as I'm ready.

[Karen]

Taking the idea from someone’s posted Plans, I am going to choose a Jane Austen. Either a reread of Northanger Abbey or Mansfield Park. There are editions with plain covers and it’s Austen’s 250th Birthday.

[Elizabeth]

Cat Sebastian's Seducing the Sedgwicks series (starting with It Takes Two to Tumble) has non-illustrated covers. Another favorite is A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall.

[Shannon]

I’m reading Sarah MacLean. She’s a pioneer in the romance genre, and there’s a new book in her Hell’s Belles series coming out in April 2025.

[Denise]

Which Jane Austen to re-read? Depends on my mood.

Or I'll read
The Duke and I

since I'm interested in Bridgerton after the Netflix series

[Rebecca]

I don't read many romances, so I'm looking for recommendations. I'm considering Slow Dance or A Love Song for Ricki Wilde.

[Audra]

I'm reading Twisted Love.

[Eleonora]

I recently finished "A Sweet Sting of Salt" by
Rose Sutherland (I cannot directly link from the app so here it is: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). It is not a romance-romance story, but the romance aspect is quite important. The setting is beautiful, there is a hint of magic, and it is sapphic. Cover is a photo!

[Carly Really Very Normal]

Does "The Last Tale of the Flower Bride" count? I can't tell if its illustrated.

[Sarena]

Here's some I've read recently with real people on the cover:


On my TBR:

[GailW]

I'm going to read Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown which is listed in the GoodReads listopia "Non-spicy romance".

[Yrinsyde]

I thought I would read Evelina by Frances Burney. My edition is a download from Gutenburg and it has a plain cover.

[Nayab]

The only book that I can think of, is Beloved by Toni Morrison

[Natalie Piccotti]

I went into an Indie bookstore that specializes in Romance and I scanned the shelves for a book that didn't have an illustrated cover. I came up with a "Romance Adjacent" book (their phrase) Maybe in Another Life and it is also a double-dipper with Task 12. Read a staff pick from an indie bookstore because it was also marked as a staff pick! The edition I picked out in the store is not illustrated, but I know other editions are.

[Tanu]

Eleonora wrote: "I recently finished "A Sweet Sting of Salt" by
Rose Sutherland (I cannot directly link from the app so here it is: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). It is not a..."



Oh, this looks gorgeous. Thanks for the rec! I'm not a big romance reader so this sounds more up my alley.

[Robin]

I occasionally read romance, but never thought about the difference between cover types! I have several that are illustrated, so I looked and found The Art of Starting Over

[Janet]

I remember old romance book covers from the '70's(?) or '80's(?) that had photographs instead of illustrations, even though I don't read romance much anymore. The YA book The Popularity Plan is one example I found, and though it looks like cheesy, comedy gold, I may instead double-dip Forever... by Judy Blume as a childhood re-read.

There are three contemporary authors that friends have recommended to me who I know have photographs of couples on a lot of their covers: Beverly Jenkins, Alyssa Cole, and Courtney Milan. I haven't read any of their works yet, so I can't vouch for a specific title, but they all are rather prolific and have a lot to choose from.

[Teresa]

I read The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. It's a time travel romance. Good story, but too long, in my opinion.

[Lauraellen]

Would Romantic Comedy work here? I'm not sure what counts as illustrated, but the copy I saw in real life was a photograph. Is it properly a romance?

[Erin]

Gail W wrote: "I'm going to read Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown which is listed in the GoodReads listopia "Non-spicy romance".
"

It's going to take a moment for me to wrap my brain around the idea that the kid from Stranger Things wrote a novel :-O

[Tanu]

I ended up reading Lola & the Millionaires: Part One for this one. Very good if you like RH and spice/steam. I'm not familiar with omegaverse but this one IS really good.

[Erin]

Ooooh, ROMANTIC COMEDY! I have that on Mount TBR. I don’t normally read romances except for this challenge every year and there are TWO on it this year, so ROMANTIC COMEDY it is! Thanks for the great suggestion.

[Judith]

I read One Wonderful Night A Romance of New York, which I had on my Kindle and has a blank cover. It did have rather more car chases than I'm used to in a romance novel, but it does call itself a romance! It is rather dated now, but quite fun.

[Teemah :)]

I don't knw what you man but i hve read a nice romance [book:Hunting Adeline|59050133|

[Erika]

For anyone still struggling to find a book for this task, I'm at the store right now and we can totally rely on the OG romance publisher: Harlequin, lol. They're still using photographic covers.

[Elizabeth]

Elizabeth wrote: "I love romance and I really don't care for illustrated covers, so I'm excited to see any suggestions people have for this one. I currently have A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adria..."

I ended up reading one of the ones I own for this, Rebel by Beverly Jenkins, which I absolutely loved. I've never been let down by a Beverly Jenkins novel, so this was probably a safe choice, but absolutely no regrets, would recommend.

[Heather]

I am still deciding on my title for this one, but an option for fans of the show “Bridgerton”: you could read an edition of a Bridgerton novel with a still of the actors on the cover.

[Rebecca]

Rebecca wrote: "I don't read many romances, so I'm looking for recommendations. I'm considering Slow Dance or A Love Song for Ricki Wilde."

I ended up reading A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. I enjoyed it! It was interesting to read about the Harlem Renaissance.

[Sherri]

I read .The cover doesn't look illustrated & this is the closest I will come.

[Betty]

Finally decided on In Search of a Prince for this prompt. The sequel To Win a Prince would also work.

[Debbie]

Does Wellness by Nathan Hill meet the test for this prompt or no?

[Devika]

I read Moonstruck by Onley James

[Acidic Quagga]

This is a hard one for me, as I don't really read a lot of romance. Someone suggested A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland, which has something to do with Selkies, so it caught my interest. Thank you to Eleonora here in the thread for the recommendation! 🥰

[Karli]

Super short, good and just words for the cover (also a double dipper for 22. Read a holiday romance that isn’t Christmas with the holiday being Valentine's Day)....I read Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimez

[Denise]

I read Mansfield Park Jane Austen. It looks like a photo on the IRL cover

[Richard]

I read Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff to meet this challenge.