Romance heroes are a sight to behold. We get it. Don’t get me wrong, I like to look at nice pair of man boobs as much as the next person but could we please, please call a moratorium. The other day on Facebook I saw some promotion for a lovely heartwarming Christmas romance. It pictured a house out in the country, snow everywhere. A real snow globe moment. With a fence and a cowboy lounging against it, no coat, open shirt, man boobs on display. In the winter.

Brings new meaning to freezing your nipples off.

I mean, come one book publishers. Wake up. No one in their right minds would ever–okay football fans but they’re the exception– be outside in winter without a shirt. Not even romance heroes. Because they’re smarter than that. Hopefully. Or else I’m putting that book down and never returning.

There was another cover. This one with a huge storm brewing in the background. Dark, heavy clouds ready to break open any moment and rain down a heap of trouble. Another cowboy. Hat, jeans, nice belt buckle, oh wait – NO SHIRT. Out on the open plain waiting to get struck by lightning.

You can tell they weren’t boy scouts. They aren’t prepared. They didn’t even know enough to wear a shirt. Let alone a coat. They did have the hat part covered so I suppose they should get points for something. Or maybe those points should go to the powers that be deciding on what book covers will sell the most books.

I’ve noticed a couple of times lately, authors on Facebook asking opinions about covers or asking readers to vote on the one they prefer. I like that idea. Let’s do more of that. Then maybe publishers will get a better idea of what readers are looking for in book covers. Sexy people with their clothes on, especially during winter or a storm. Readers can see them undressed, in all their glory, later on. Inside the book, using their imaginations.

I love sexy covers. But I also don’t want a stockpile of naked man chests in my TBR pile. Whether it’s my ereader or the literal pile on my nightstand. I like the book covers with landscapes. I also seem to be drawn to ones that are black and white. or have objects significant to the story.

So I went to my Facebook page in search of a cover without a half-naked someone on the cover. I scrolled down and down, until I gave up.

So how about you? Had enough of man boobs on covers? What to see a different type of cover? Do you have a favorite book cover?