When I wrote last week about all the male backs adorning covers lately, I had no idea so many of you loved the view of a man as he leaves with no shirt on. And then I got to thinking- what about all the chests? Forget their heads. No one has something so gauche as a cranium on the cover of a romance novel lately. (I love to picture all the heads getting together as a decapitated cover model support group). But chests and backs? There are LOTS of them.
So I got curious: which do you prefer? Backs or chests? There are many fine, and I do mean fine, examples.
Behold, a few examples of Team Chest:
And batting for Team Back, we have:
Now, which floats your boat? Either? Both? Neither at all? I admit, the last cover gives me the happy-shivers because of the arms, not the back. Which is your favorite male-chesty cover? Post a link or an image, and tell me: which is your preference?
OMG! I’m so torn. I love me some hot male belly buttons. for some reason drool over washboard in-ies and absolutely love the elusive outies also.
BUTT, or but as the case may be, there is something about a man’s back that makes me want to just go up to them and bite their shoulder blades. And don’t even get me started on that of-so-sensitive soft area just below the ribs and before the love handles. :0)
STOP!! I’m at work with many hours until I can get home alone!!
Security word = miss37……. Ummmm screw you, I’m only 34!
I voted for the back view simply because the hairless, oiled chests are icky, yes, icky. I either feel like I’m lusting after a kid to young to grow hair or a plastic mannikin. Please, a little hair arrowing down to his package is REALLY nice.
I’m ready for male models who look like real men (who happen to be in shape because of their normal physical exertion), not body-builder gym types. I’m so over man-titty. I wouldn’t mind a cover with a man who doesn’t have a six-pack, who has muscle but isn’t bulging with it, who is in good shape physically but doesn’t look like he spends all day in a gym getting there. I think thats one reason why I prefer the back view-I don’t have to see weird bulgy muscle. Plus, I’m not a fan of men who shave their bodies, so I don’t like smooth hairless chests. (I also don’t want porn star hairy chests from way back when. Just a normal amount of hair, please.) And where’s my damn happy trail???
Oh, I like them all. Give me a well-muscled back, a nicely formed chest, a lickable set of abs, that oh-so-sexy bit of hip, a good close up of some killer eyes… whatever. I’m not picky. It’s the merits of the individual shot and composition that work for me.
Having perused those, I apparently go for backs. This is probably because I personally don’t go for that overly muscular, built look in men which is what the front views usually portray. A strong back is much more appealing to me.
I have to defend the men who naturally don’t have much in the way of chest hair here; I much prefer that look to a hairy chest.
Thank you! Not all men have to wax to have a smooth chest. Plenty of English/Irish/Scottish/Native American/African/Asian men out there with chests that are basically hair-free. Trust me. I’m describing my family and pretty much every man I’ve seriously dated.
Appomattoxco, he is so unlike a romance hero! Definitely one of my favourites to write.
Like some other folks here, I was surprised to discover a preference for back shots by looking at these covers. It might have to do with the mystery—seeing a sexy back makes me want to know what is going on in front.
Mmmm why choose. Heck I did buy the book for this cover alone. http://www.jasminejade.com/images/Product/medium/9781419960710.jpg
Well the fact that it had cowboys, lawmen, Navy Seals, and a menage didn’t hurt a bit either! 🙂
I voted for back.
But any of theses covers are great because there is no chest or back hair.
What’s the old joke? What’s the last thing you heard before the pubic hair hit the ground? pfft!
That’s how I feel about chest/back hair—I don’t want to be spitting it out if it gets caught in your teeth/mouth during a romantic nuzzling moment.
I voted for both, because while i like backs, sometimes a fine well developed set of abs really does it for me. But the arms show very nicely I think in the back shots, especially with a little bondage a la Kresely Cole.
Is a biceps manacle the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen, or is it just me? How the heck is that suppose to hold anyone who isn’t Popeye? Sometimes I just don’t *get* what the heck the cover artists are thinking.
I like it all. Back, chest, six-pack, muscles. Ahhh.
Men.
Mmmm.
Hm.. I always thought I was a torso gal anyway so this back vs. chest is a conundrum. I must say that I like cover #1 and Brenda Joyce’s “Dark Lover” for the tops of their pelvic bones.
http://mastersoftimebooks.com/images/cda/ian_cda.jpg
But if I were to choose, I’d take backs because a guy can have an awesome back even if he has a little potbelly in front.
Thank you ladies! I had the most unbelievably horrendous morning & you’ve made me laugh out loud for the first time today. Special thanks to Kalen Hughes. I admit that as much as I loves me a nice back I often just want to be able to lick that Polyditus Girdle. And now I know what to call it. Ahhhh blood pressure returning to normal for the first time today.
Total55. Yeah, if I could’ve, I would’ve bitch slapped my ignorant twat coworker at total of 55 times this morning.
So not to be whiny here, but am I the only one who prefers a pair of good looking eyes rather then backs or chest?
That’s the “Inguinal Ligament”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inguinal_ligament
Yup, it’s a good part. 😀
I voted back. The chests on book covers tend to be too pretty and buff for me. And the waxed look? Just… no.
I’m not really on either side, but should be. Afterall, both of my books out this month feature dark-haired heroines gazing over the shoulder of the hero as they finish pulling the shirt off of said bare-chested hero. Go figure.
If photographed, I prefer headless models of both genders. No matter how the author describes their protagonists, by the end of the book I have my version of what they look like in my head, and covers that contradict that bother me. I do miss the old painted covers, though. Paintings are more open to interpretation.
You lost me when it showed the title “Jewels of Atlantis” right over the man’s crotch.
But front, all the way
Ah, do I have to choose? T_T
Really, I think I prefer back covers. Or side-covers, like the one from Ellora’s cave posted above. Yum, yum, yum! Some of it is model preference – I actually like guys who have that scruffy, hair brushed chest kinda look. It would be less of an urk if all of the models weren’t so smooth and shaved. Just don’t look right. And a treasure trail is also nice too, lol. But again, personal preference here.
…
Either way, I end up staring at them, so I guess they do their job. And FYI, I really like these two ebook covers lol. The models are hot, and they are a little different from normal ones. I always love to read these cover comments posts – you guys are the pee-your-pants funny that the literary world needs.
Yea!!! Another name for it. I love having more options. Thanks, Shira!
Team Chest W/Actual HAIR ON IT!! I HATE this waxed look. It’s downright creepy. I don’t want a werewolf, but a little hair would be very sexy.
http://www.carolynjewel.com/books/book_detail_indiscreet.php
I tried to paste the photo but couldn’t, so here’s hoping the link works. If not, you can always copy and paste the address. I like men from both the front and the back, but the cover of Carolyn Jewel’s Indiscreet has one of the best backs ever. Thought the female model’s pose looked contrived, but I swoon every time I see that man.
A bit off subject but I had to share this photographer’s work for a chocolate company… Looks like great romance covers to me!
http://www.behance.net/Gallery/The-Quintet-of-Passion/497144?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Instant
I love the old chest hair debate! Whenever I get a new copy of the RWR my hairy-chested husband goes through looking for the romance novel ads with covers, his monthly quest for Dolphin Boy, and sometimes (often, lately) Dolphin Boy the Vampire. He never has trouble finding him, either—freakishly smooth men are definitely the current style (though it will cycle out again once our culture gets bored with its ubiquity, then come back in another forty years, just like hats and mustaches and perms and shudder, stirrup-pants). Personally I don’t care either way about chest hair—unless it clearly cost the man time and money to cull or coif it or it’s long enough to be cornrowed—but out of marital solidarity, I side with the virile lumberjacks.
I picked both in the poll. All the covers are very nice! But maybe I lean more towards chest’s since then you can see their faces too. I loved them all!
I have to agree with several above post that it is really all about the hair issue. Up until I saw this I hadn’t realized I was a “Team Back’ girl. I really think its because the chests are always waxed and oily which just says ‘gay porn’ to me, a complete turn off for this straight lass.
Who or what is Dolphin Boy? I must know!!!
Having an unclothed male on the cover is missing the whole point of romance, I think. It’s as if the people deciding on covers are taking a male point of view (which is to see the feminine form) and assuming that this is what females want as well. Sure, we love a buff male body but this is not what draws women to romance. We want to be adored, pampered, challenged, inspired and seduced. Many of us require this through our minds, spirits and emotions before it gets to the nether regions. I am suspicious of muscular male covers, suspecting these specimens come from the gay community where buff is the epitome. I say, give us a break from the male point of view (not that I don’t love men) and give us publishers who truly understand the feminine heart and spirit.
I’m thinking a Dolphin Boy would be the incredible hairless man, able to glide without resistance through the waves. And is it just me or is anyone else missing the happy trail? You can take manscaping too far.
@Marlyne – Some women like buff. But not me! Give me tall and scrawny/lanky over buff any day!
@Kalen Dolphin Boy is my husband’s name for any of the freakishly hairless romance novel cover dudes—have wax, will model. So smooth they glisten…
I voted for both, but I’m not generally attracted to the nekkid torsos or backs on novel covers. They usually look like they got that way by pumping iron. The guys who turn my head have a swimmer’s or a dancer’s body—strong and sleek, rather than defined and lumpy. Hair is not a huge issue, but I’m not crazy about shiny fronts or fuzzy backs. i just really hate the blockish, hugely muscled body type that almost seems to have corners. And that popping vein thing—double yuck!
IMHO, those are terrible examples of chests. The third guy looks like Willem Dafoe. Ugh. Maybe it’s just the lighting, I dunno. That’s why I voted for the back.
I voted “Neither” because I’m sick of sides being labeled as teams.
I’d just like to point out that Mr Darkness Unknown is going to cut his hand if he holds his sword like that….
Nobody’s paying him to be smart, just to look good.
I LOVED Kiss of the Demon King! I prefer Backs. Theres something about a sexy, muscular back that makes me all jelly in the knees.
😀
HAIRY CHESTS!! Please?!!? Pretty please with sugar on the top?
Some of us get extremely turned on by the sight of a hairy male torso.
Ahem…
Exhibit A : http://www.still-flying.net/images/jaynestown/index.php?image=jaynestown028.jpg
YUM!