What do you think of my cover?

Hi there. Personally, this cover doesn't really do much for me but to be honest I don't really read romance novels anyway.
Where is your name on the cover? And what are the black patches everywhere?
Maybe the cover would work better if the couple was centered. But maybe that's just me.

It's hard for me to make a complete judgement with the black patches...but it feels like it needs a bit more oomph. I'm also not fond of the font you have 'Believe' in, it doesn't seem to fit with the softness of the picture.

Looks like a generic romance cover, which will appeal to a reader interested mainly in the genre, rather than looking for anything in particular in the plot. I can't see any "angst" there, if that was what you're aiming for. But it looks professional enough and would be easy to convince the potential reader that it's a good book worth reading, that's the main thing.

I agree with Curlz that it would appeal to romance readers but would likely not have crossover appeal. I think it is visually fine--it has sort of a late 1980s look to me--and I wish I was in the man's position, but it probably offers no punch beyond that.

I have to wonder if the title will be readable in thumbnail...

Marissa D said:

I have to wonder if the title will be readable in thumbnail...

Click to expand...

Agree with this.

I also find the cover suggests erotica rather than romance, and I'm not reading angst-ridden from it at all.

To me it's quite obvious it's a romance or maybe erotic romance. It's an okay cover but nothing special. If your book was in a lineup of others on Amazon or whatever, it wouldn't stand out at all to me. I might not even notice it or spend more than a few seconds on it. You do want a cover that hits your genre but something that also has a spark and makes readers pay attention. I don't get that from this cover. Maybe it's the pose but there doesn't seem to be any chemistry or anything there. No sex appeal or anything which is what you want with a romance. Dark or otherwise.

Maybe it would help if the faces weren't covered. Eyes can be very powerful with conveying emotion. Many covers do the cut-the-head-off and it can work but in this case it seems to be a hindrance. Maybe if we saw how they looked at each other it would show some chemistry or spark. I think another pose (or couple altogether) would be much hotter.