Cover Comparisons: JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood

Sharp-eyed reader Sandia alerted us to the fabulously odd differences between the US and UK editions of the Jh.Rh. Whard Bhlahck Dhaggher Bhrotherhood series. Somehow, the US readership totally lucked out in the covers for these books. The UK…? We’re really sorry.

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Sarah: The US Dark Lover cover: brilliant in its simplicity. Maybe she’s taking a bite out of his crime, or maybe she’s nuzzling his carotid, but the female position of power, coupled with the sword and the bleak red tones make this a cover done marvelously well.

And then the UK cover: we’re wet and very sleepy. Nothing is scarier or sexier than sodden, soporific swimmers. RUN, or they’re going to yawn at you. Eh. Maybe.

Candy: I do admit that I like the US version quite a bit. The tattoo, the power inversion (the woman is usually in the position of vulnerability on romance novel covers), the red monochrome, the fact that there’s no vampire titty in evidence—très sexy. (Would that there were such a power inversion within the story, but the heroine’s kind of a doormat of a Mary Sue. A doormat who experiences fabulous orgasms, of course.)

The UK version isn’t half bad. It’s somewhat cheesier, mostly because I don’t like the font for Ward’s name, but I like the female model’s sad, contemplative look. I’m not sure why she looks so mopey, though. Perhaps she’s mourning the mangling of “revenge,” “torment,” “sadist” and “fury”? Or grieving for the wanton slaughter of Hs?

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Sarah: The US Cover: blue, ethereal, sexy, and somehow manages to make the Adam’s apple rather sultry.

The UK cover: What the crap is this? It could be a vampire novel. It could be a commercial for Cialis. It could be he just saved a bunch of money on his car insurance by switching to Geico. It could be she has no discernible body fat and a complete lack of underarm wattle. But whatever it is, the image composition is limp and ineffective, two words the Brotherhood would be mighty peeved to have applied to them.

Candy: The US Cover: same schtick as Dark Lover, and I still like it, for all the same reasons I like the cover for Dark Lover.

The UK cover: Generic and rather forgettable, but lookit, these are romance novel covers, and my standards are shockingly low. This cover isn’t making my eyeballs burn, and for that, it gets a pass.

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Sarah: The US Cover: I confess I like the solid color with the soft focus necking couples better than the greyscale black and white photography, but it’s still pretty darn sultry.

But the UK cover? Not only have I seen that piece of stock photography before, but in terms of the scale of hawt, it’s like tea left on the windowsill all day. Still, it’s marginally better than the rest of the UK set.

Candy: The US Cover: Except for the fact that I want to say “OM NOM NOM NOM” every time I look at it, it’s OK. It’s starting to verge into generic romance cover with the sharper focus and the male in the biting position and a yuppie haircut.

The UK cover: The models look like they need a bit more food and a bit less working out, but this is true for most commercial models. Again, generic and unoffensive, but not especially memorable.

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Sarah: The US Cover: Suntan lotion commercial!

Which goes perfectly with the UK cover, which features a Lands’ End swimsuit models preparing to go wild. Nice bathing suit.

Candy: The US cover transitions nicely into Romance Novel cheese. O-Face? Check. Dude nuzzlin’ on neck? Check. Wind-tossed hair? Check. Sunless bronzer all over this piece, son? Check. They like the sunless bronzer so much, they done poured it alllllll over the cover.

The UK cover, on the other hand, transitions nicely into JC Penney Sunday Coupon Page. Nothing says sexy like a wrinkly strap on a bra only your grandma could love.

Also: poor Ana Gasteyer. Her post-Saturday Night Live tenure has not treated her well.

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Sarah: The US Cover: Nicholas Brendon necking a check. Nice.

The UK Cover: Emergency memo to art department!  “Boner” is not the same as “boney.” “Vampire” does not mean he has puncture marks in his own cheeks. “Cystic Acne” does not say romance hero. And we won’t even mention the mullet.

But for the love of Escalade, the hero should not be thinner than the heroine. I’m well aware of the overpopulation of beefcake on the romance cover, but come on now. Too far in the other direction is just as bad. Especially when the Bhrotherhood is each and every one of them as big as a damn house.

Candy: The US cover: I like them so much better when I can’t clearly see the facial features. This guy is cute, but the patchy facial hair? Makes him look like he’s 18 or so, and about as threatening as a cooked noodle. And I’m all about the sweet heroes, really I am, but that’s just not the look that’s representative of the hypertrophied masculinity of the BDB.

The UK cover: Holy shit! That dude looks terrifying.  He makes me think of leeches. Also, the spots on his face look like PLAAAAAGUE. Never have I felt the herpes emanating so strongly from a cover before. Look, when I say I want the male models to look a bit threatening, I didn’t mean “scare me with the possibility of contagious social diseases.”

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Sarah: The US Cover is still rocking that sexy ethereal look that I think totally scores.

…while the UK Cover is continuing with the “Lands’ End Swimsuit models go wild” theme, this time featuring Heather Locklear in a nice halter top, possibly faille. Nothing says vampires like swimsuits, apparently. That must make them easy to spot in the UK. Man in a Speedo walking down Edgeware Road? He’s a vampire, looking for the werewolves in London. 

Candy: US cover: Something about the lifeless, mannequin-like look on both models is freaking me out a bit, actually. Again, by romance novel cover standards, this cover ain’t too shabby, but these two in particular fall squarely in the uncanny valley for me.

UK cover: Um, I envy her sports bra? Otherwise, the two of them look about as vigorous as the models in the US cover, though this time it’s because they took too much Xanax before deciding to make out, not because they’re android experiments gone wrong.

Comments are Closed

  1. karmelrio says:

    That would be … very hot.

      And sad!  Yeah, sad…and hot.

  2. mirain says:

    Vampires have to go around in speedos because it is hard to tan at night. They have to maximize their vitamin D absorbtion.

  3. holly says:

    I know the thread is dead but Oh My Lord – I made the mistake of reading this at work (I have my own office but I keep my door open and we can all hear each other) – I choked on my ice, snorted iced tea through my nose, and did that awful half bark/half snort thing you do when you realize you’re laughing out loud and you shouldn’t be.

    On the one hand, I think this series is some of the silliest stuff I’ve ever read; on the other, I devour each book in one day and I do love me some Vishous.

  4. Lucy says:

    I guess I’m in the minority but I think the UK cover of LU is hawt. I love the kissing the neck and how they appear to be actually sexing it up.

  5. StephB says:

    The worst international cover comparison is the UK cover of Colleen Gleason’s The Rest Falls Away…the American cover conveyed the setting and the plot just perfectly: a woman in a corset hiding a stake. The UK? Two 21st-century-looking people, naked, with no stakes or any other paranormal indicators in sight. It could be anything. And I would never have guessed, looking at it, that it’s a historical romance.

  6. ev says:

    I finally had a chance to read the comments and really look at the covers. I like the US ones best (a little prejudiced maybe), but I think it is because I like the continuity of the theme. The dagger, the monotone colors. And no herpes.

    Although I can’t get the picture of a guy in a speedo running down the road looking for a werewolf.

  7. Emily says:

    im a Brit and i think the UK covers are AWFUL and cringeworthy. I always purchase the US versions (which i love), even though they’re pretty hard to find and considerably more expensive. but i tell myself its worth it than having to look at the nasty UK covers everytime i want to pick them up to read.

    plus the US covers just draw u in, i like the glossiness of them u dont get a lot of UK books like that. and the covers are very sensual, i love the models, the camera angles, the blurred effect, and the colour & font themes. it works well for a continuing series & they’ve just about done everything right with the US covers. my fav has gota be lover awakened, i really like the colour & the guy is hot, exactly how i imagined zsadist to be.

    for me, the UK covers look tacky and very common of romance novels. alllll romance novels here have models in those kinds of positions, there’s nothing mysterious or thrilling about the picture that makes u want to pick up the book if u saw it on the shelf in a shop. plus i dont like the dark, bland effect, the not so good looking models, the embarrassing poses that dont really imply anything about it being a paranormal book (it just looks like a saucy romance which the BDB series is sooo much more) and the fact that JR Ward’s name is 5 times bigger than the title of the book.

  8. Sophy says:

    oh wow. the UK cover for Lover Unbound gives me the giggles… it looks like the male model is blowing raspberries on the female’s neck…

  9. my assumption would be that the UK is culturally close enough to the US to be able to use the US cover and achieve the desired sales when we’re talking about a series on vampires.  (So far as I know, when a movie’s promotional materials are created, the same ones are used internationally and that seems to be working all right.)

  10. I made the mistake of reading this at work (I have my own office but I keep my door open and we can all hear each other) – I choked on my ice, snorted iced tea through my nose, and did that awful half bark/half snort thing you do when you realize you’re laughing out loud and you shouldn’t be.

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