From Shirtless Rivals to Cartoon Cuties: What Heated Rivalry Tells Us About Romance Cover Trends

Romance covers have always worn their hearts on their sleeves — and sometimes very little else. But over the past decade, the visual language of romance books has gone through some major changes. One buzzy book in particular offers a perfect case study in how (and why) those trends have shifted: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid.

Originally published by Carina Press with a photo‑based cover featuring two shirtless hockey players, Heated Rivalry now sports a bright, illustrated, decidedly PG redesign. Same story. Very different vibes.

So what changed, and what does it tell us about the romance market today? Let’s lace up and take a look.

A Tale of Two Covers

The original cover, first published in 2019, leaned hard into heat: a photographic image of two muscular men, bare chests on display, locked in a pose that clearly signaled this book is sexy. For years, this approach was a mainstay of romance publishing, especially in subgenres like historical or paranormal romance. The at-a-glance information gleaned from a cover like this was effective and instantly legible on shelves, especially for dedicated fans of the genre. In fact, it was designed for dedicated fans of the genre — heaving bosoms and glistening abs signaled to romance readers exactly what they were going to get between those pages.

The new cover from 2024, by contrast, swaps realism for illustration. The characters are still hockey rivals. There’s still tension. But now…they’ve got clothes on! The style is more playful, closer to rom-com vibes than straight spice. Compared to the photo-realistic cover, this illustrated cover can appeal even to readers who might not consider themselves romance readers (or hockey fans).

Across NetGalley in particular, you’ll see illustrated romance covers consistently in our “Most Requested” carousels, both on the front page of the catalog and within the Romance category itself. They’re clearly here to stay, as our community continues to read, review, and share their love for this genre.

A cover change isn’t just cosmetic. It’s strategic.

But Why?

Illustration allows publishers to communicate romance without explicit sexual imagery, which has proven especially effective as romance readership has expanded and diversified, as reported by Shelf Awareness and BookNet Canada. Readers still want heat (arguably more than ever!), but these redesigned covers offer the chance to show off other elements readers enjoy such as humor, heart, and emotional payoff.

This kind of repositioning matters, even to the algorithms. Titles with refreshed metadata and packaging often see renewed attention from:

Librarians reassessing collections
Booksellers taking advantage of merchandising themes
Readers discovering (or rediscovering) backlist gems
Cross-over audiences, like TV-show watchers discovering source material

In other words: a cover change isn’t just cosmetic. It’s strategic. And, as our friends at Firebrand believe: this is the perfect time to update outdated descriptions with search-optimized copy, too! Good backlist metadata can protect future sales and can unlock major gains in visibility and revenue.

What This Means for Publishers

Yes, we’ll acknowledge that the cutesier covers have made romance more algorithm‑friendly. Covers that feel “safe to share” tend to travel farther on social media and retailer recommendation feeds. That doesn’t necessarily mean the spicier covers are a thing of the past though – on NetGalley, we see these more often tagged in the “Erotica” and/or “New Adult” categories, rather than just straight Romance.

But a thoughtful redesign is more than just gaming algorithms, it’s about staying relevant as reader tastes evolve. Reaching a new audience the second time around is good for everyone (but especially the readers!).

Curious how NetGalley can help you refresh your backlist? See our guide here!

7 Popular Book Cover Design Trends

Darkly gothic and brightly illustrated book covers ruled 2019

Competition is tough to catch a reader’s eye as they browse at their local bookstore or library, or as they click through pages from an online retailer. A compelling cover can make a huge difference for drawing in new readers.

In 2019, we saw book publishers lean into both moody, nature-inspired covers as well as bright and graphic covers for their books. To inspire you and your design team in 2020, we’ve rounded up some of the biggest book design trends we saw in 2019.

Snakes!

Snakes were top-of-mind for design teams in 2019. Snakes give these book covers an eerie sensibility, an association with forbidden knowledge, the natural world, and, in the case of The Undying, a medical edge.

Pastel Color Blocks

Pastel purples, oranges, yellows, greens, and blues drew attention when they appeared on bookshelves in 2019. Téa Obreht and Jacqueline Woodson hit bestseller lists with Inland and Red at the Bone, respectively. The pastel colors are bright and engaging without being overwhelming and the collage aesthetic gives the books an intimate feeling.

Moody, Overgrown Vegetation

In 2019, books across genres looked more and more like gothic gardens.The lush, overgrown look could indicate a dense plot, full of secrets and mysteries like Tell No One or sprawling fantasies like The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

Repetitive Geometric Shapes

Some of the buzziest books of the year incorporated geometric repetition, including You Know You Want This, the debut short story collection from “Cat Person” author Kristen Roupenian and Miriam Toews’ Women Talking, inspired by real-life events. The repetition of these shapes suggests behaviors repeating, shared experiences, and a hypnotic reading experience.

Brightly Illustrated Romances

Some of the biggest romance novels in 2018 had illustrated covers (The Kiss Quotient, The Proposal) and we still saw that trend on the rise through 2019. Compared to the traditional, photo-realistic covers of historical romances and mass market romances, these illustrated romances tend to appeal to readers who might not consider themselves romance readers. Berkley is at the center of this trend.

Cindy Hwang, Vice President and Editorial Director at Berkley told NetGalley Insights, “We wanted to showcase the modern, fun quality of some of our new contemporary romances, and the illustrated approach really stood out for its versatility and vibrancy. We keep things fresh by playing with different ideas and colors to suit the story and characters. We’ve now branched out into illustrating historical romance covers, something that hadn’t been widely done in the genre, and we’re thrilled by the positive early response.

Overlapping Words and Design

Like the gothic garden cover trend, we saw book covers where the design was integrated with the text – under waves for The Water Dancer and licked by flames in Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe? In addition to making a strong visual impression, overlapping words and text lets readers know that they can expect an immersive reading experience.

Hair

Titles were shaved into, braided into, and intertwined with hair on book covers in 2019. How we style our hair is one way that we express our unique personalities. Hairstyles, colors, and textures also have deep cultural resonances – cornrows, locs, buzzcuts, long braids, and bobs, to name a few. Books like Queenie and Juliet Takes a Breath used hair in their cover art to signify intimacy and the mix of personal and cultural.

Make sure to subscribe to the NetGalley Insights newsletter for weekly updates about trends, best practices, industry news, and interviews through 2020 and beyond.

5 Book Design Trends to Remember in 2019

Like it or not, cliche as it is, we all judge books by their covers. An effective cover can convey a book’s tone; is it a lyrical meditation, a brash appraisal of contemporary life, a hard-boiled noir, or a fizzy modern romance? Book covers should give readers a sense of what they are in for (unlike these misleading ones). Successful book covers will look modern without looking like a trend that will mark it as out of date by next year. To ensure that your titles look fresh and inviting for 2019 readers, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite trends in book design.

Lydian font

This font has been all over the publishing industry, gracing the covers of some of the buzziest books of recent years. Lydian dates back to 1938, giving it a well-earned timeless feel. Lydian has been successfully deployed in the service of essay collections, novels, non-fiction, and more.

Hand-lettering

Hand-lettered covers give books an honest, lived-in feel. It connotes authenticity and vulnerability. It can also clue readers in to the emotional tone of a book while they browse. Sharp and angular scrawls can alert the reader to conflict, complication, and fracturing, as it does for Awaeke Emezi’s Freshwater and Mark Sarvas’sMemento Park. Hand-lettered titles can be intimate and authentic, which is especially important for nonfiction titles like I Can’t Date Jesus.

Vintage Nature Imagery

Using the visual iconography of an old encyclopedia or naturalist textbook gives a cover aesthetic gravitas. Covers like The Far Field look more established and timeless rather than trendy. Additionally, using vintage images of nature gestures to readers that the book will be about observation in some way. Lauren Groff’s Florida, with its vintage illustration of a panther, demonstrates to the reader that, like a naturalist observing animals, this collection of stories will feature close observation of creatures (human and otherwise) in their natural habitats.

Gen-Z Yellow (and, of course, still millennial pink)

To give your titles a contemporary feel, and to hit a demographic of late teens to late-20s readers, consider the ubiquitous, but still popular, millennial pink. Or, for a fresher feel, it’s younger cousin, Gen-Z Yellow. Both are bright and inviting, and look great on a social media scroll. Consider this color palette, especially if your book is about millennial or Gen-Z characters. Better still, combine them both like The Lonesome Bodybuilder. Bonus points if you can take a queue from Soft Skull Press and animate your cover to give it some extra oomph.

Illustrated portraits and bright backgrounds

Tracing back to Where’d You Go Bernadette and further, covers featuring an illustrated figures against a bright background is a great way to attract attention for your titles and to visually place them in conversation with other breezy contemporary titles that have used the same style. Great examples of this trend include The Proposal, The Matchmaker’s List, and the Crazy Rich Asians series.

Be sure to check out some of our favorite covers on NetGalley in our Cover Love on the NetGalley homepage to gain even more inspiration!