Guest post by author Elizabeth Everett
Elizabeth Everett lives in upstate New York with her family. She likes going for long walks or (very) short runs to nearby sites that figure prominently in the history of civil rights and women’s suffrage. Her series is inspired by her admiration for rule breakers and belief in the power of love to change the world. Her latest novel, A Perfect Equation, is out now.
There is nothing I love more than a well-timed spit take. I giggle when people slip on the ice and fall, and I used to pee myself laughing at that website where a guy made fun of little kids’ drawings. If you can’t tell, I have a low brow, oftentimes inappropriate sense of humor. (Like, seriously inappropriate. Don’t EVER sit next to me at a funeral unless you’re comfortable with being asked to leave. I mean, I know they’re pallbearers and not dancing girls but . . .)
I write historical romance. As such, my books include all the conventional tropes (my latest, A Perfect Equation, has the enemies-to-lovers trope), they have the requisite declarations of love, and plenty of spicy consensual sex scenes. They also have escaped tarantulas, really bad short people jokes, and large men afraid of hedgehogs. I love writing historical “romcoms” because humor is a buffer when a story – or a life – gets too serious. It’s a way to convey a significant theme without alienating an audience. In romance especially, humor is a way to connect your characters. As Victor Borge once said, “laughter is the closest distance between two people.”
Illustrated romance book covers are in on the joke and I couldn’t be happier. With the rise in popularity of romantic comedies has come an increase in the number of illustrated covers. We’ve got flowerpots falling from windows, grooms falling off wedding cakes, tea being spilled on the hero’s toes and a woman pouring a bottle of wine out over a trashed bouquet of roses to name a few. The heroes and heroines aren’t clinging to each other in a feigned passion – they are staring each other down or facing away from one another, helping each other up or pushing one another over. It’s a colorful cacophony of fun and it makes me smile when I see them stacked on a table.
Don’t get me wrong. I love a pretty dress as much as the next gal and if traditional covers are your yum, I am not yucking it. What I really appreciate about illustrated covers is that they go beyond the dress; there are heroines on bikes, in cars, riding roller coasters or, in the case of A Perfect Equation, doing complex mathematical equations while the hero stands next to her, scratching his head. These illustrated heroines can be badass or vulnerable or a hot mess. They are a marvelous range of shapes, sizes, colors and fashion sense – or lack of sense depending on the book.
We have not come far enough with representation in the romance genre. Historical romance is particularly egregious in white washing history – as if the only people who existed in 1800’s England were able bodied white people with excellent dentition. However, change is happening, even if it is slow. In 2022 there are historical romances coming out with heroines who are fat, Black, South Asian, Queer, and Mexican, to name just a few. Until we see those women represented by photo models, I think we can expect more glorious illustrations showing us the heroines we want to read – and want to be!
Illustrated covers say to me, you are beautiful, and you belong. I hope we see this message loud and clear for a long time to come.
