Non-Denominational Romance Covers Temple of Worship: October 22, 2020

Romance folks, welcome once again to the Non-Denominational Romance Covers Temple of Worship, more affectionally called the NDRCTW. I’m LaQuette, and as always, we’re gonna make a joyful noise unto some gorgeous book covers to celebrate their ability to inspire our desire to consume romance novels.

I invite you to look at the visual blessing that is Naima Simone’s Back in the Texan’s Bed cover. The intensity, the chemistry, the heat, I need not know what it’s about. It’s already a given I’m buying this because everything on that cover,—from Naima’s name to the way the hero is devouring the heroine with his gaze—says this is gonna be a hot one that I have to read. Also, the melanin! Lawd, the melanin! She’s got Black girl edges, y’all. I don’t know who at the Harlequin art department has studied Black hair patterns. But that is definitely how our hair looks after a silk press, a blowout, or when we’re about two weeks away from needing a touch-up on our relaxer. Praise be, that cover is fire!

Next, let us delight in the beauty of a sexy, plus-sized heroine just being sexy for no dog-gone reason, and the man that can’t get enough of her. Robin Covington’s Taking on the Billionaire is proof—for those of you that needed it because we “been knew” plus-sized sisters were sexy—that a full-figured heroine is just more to love.

If you’re like me, your soul is filled with praise and you’re ready to dance in these romance aisles right now. But wait, NDRCTW family! There’s still more. Niobia Bryant’s One Night with Cinderella makes you want to weep. It’s elegant, sexy, and the promise of mischief we see in the hero’s cocky grin is enough to make me want to one-click this right now.

Beloved, let’s give these covers a handclap. Let’s worship in anticipation of how glorious these images are and how much they celebrate a more inclusive future for romance. Somebody, anybody, everybody ought to say Amen.

The doors of the church are open…