Be prepared, however, to discussion to veer into more important issues facing the genre as one cannot separate out stereotypes without talking about what's behind the stereotypes. As with the other columns at AAR , this one will be interactive. Included at the end of each column will be an email link to me so that we can continue discussions begun here. These are typically used in historical romances and to a far lesser degree in contemporaries. Regency Romances will have also present the lead characters on the front, albeit fully clothed and barely touching.
Romance novels have other types of covers as well.
There are flowers on quite a number of romances, both historical and contemporary. Interestingly, since flowers are the sexual organs of plants, one could say that the symbol is merely replacing the human body on those covers. A hybrid cover also exists where a flower is on the front and, when you open the book, there is another cover, called a stepback, of the characters, usually in a clinch. There are also covers that have a place depicted on them, usually an idyllic scene. Such scenes do not rouse much controversy, although they are not terribly inspiring to me.