So for you romance addicts, do you read them in public with the embarrassing covers?  Right now I'm reading If You Desire and I don't think I'd take this book out in public.  I usually have one in the car w/a non-embarrassing cover in case I'm waiting somewhere or something.  I used to hide them from DH too but he caught me with one and now he just laughs at my "porno" books as he calls them. 

I tend to have a cover on if I'm reading one at the store... the last thing I need is a child saying "Mommy why is that man taking off that woman's dress on the store lady's book" hee hee... so it's not out of embarrassment really :)

I used to have this paperback protector that was brown, had a faux leather look, and was reinforced by cardboard. The front and back covers were separate, but they slid together to accommodate both harlequins and "big" romance novels.  When I was still living at home, I used it to prevent my dad from having a coronary if he saw the covers.  *laughs*

Patricia, my DH calls the books my "smut," too!

Have you ever noticed that the people on the covers never really match the discription in the books?  I read one once where the heroine had blonde hair on the cover but had black hair in the book.  The other day I read on where the hero had jet black hair on the cover and was blonde in the book. On the covers the hero is always chest hair free but they've got a full carpet in the book.  It's like the authors don't have any say in their covers and the cover person doesn't read the book.

Oh yes Mary!  Suzanne Brockmann has one book where the hero is supposed to be a Navy SEAL, and extremely sexy but on the cover he looks like the  Pillsbury Doughboy!  <groan!>

Sherri

I'm cautious of what's on the cover of my book if I'm taking it out in public(doctor, dentist, etc.....). At home if there's people kissing on the cover my girls just say "EEWWW!!" if they even notice at all. The books with the covers I wouldn't want them to see are books that I don't read when they're around .

I like that they do the "cover within a cover" on a lot of books that still feel they must put the couple in the heat of passion on the book. I personally prefer to use my imagination and Mary's right they don't usually represent the couple described in the book. My personal favorite "cover within a cover" would have to be the one on Simon Says by Lori Foster. I also like the newer covers on Karen Marie Moning's Highlander books.

Girls, I have a good solution for all of you.  There are several sellers on eBay and have fantastic PB book covers.  They are hand sewn by the seller, they have light padding, like quilt batting and a ribbon book mark.  Just like my addiction to books, I've WAAAY over bought these covers, because they are so cute.  Partially in my defense, I use them as gifts and put a gift card in them for the local bookstores (my good friend owns a UBS, so I like to throw some business her way).  They aren't too expensive either.  I don't think my husband has any clue as to the kinds of things I'm reading (and I would rather keep it that way).  So the book cover is the answer.

I also think the book cover thing is a throw back to Catholic school where EVERY textbook HAD to have a cover.  It is probably an OCD thing too.  Just do a search on eBay for paperback book covers and you'll get a long list.  That way you can read in private wherever you are.  ;-))

Has anyone ever tried the Bookmates?  I know the PBS kiosk sells them.  Been thinking about getting one but I don't know if I like the idea of something that holds the book open for me.  I'd just like some sort of soft cover too.

Maybe I'll check out Ebay too

Sarah,

I bought the Bookmate and only used it a few times.  It is too stiff for me and it is  hard to turn the pages, because you have to bend the cover and roll the page under the clear plastic strap that holds the book open if that makes sense.  I found I like the soft covers that I mentioned earlier better, but as they say in French:  Chaqu'un à son chapeau. --To each his own.

I'll have to check out those cover things on ebay.  DD, who's almost 10, asked me if a couple "were doing it" on the cover the other day.  I almost died.  We recently had the "where babies come from talk". 

Kathy, I love those book covers!!! I won one in a craft swap last year, and use it all the time! 

Okay, I'm in a generous mood.  I have just signed up for Can't Think of a Good Name Romance Swap.  Whoever ends up with my books will receive one of these yummy book covers so you can read in style and in private.

I'd sign up for the swap but I don't have anything that's WL.

I am not embarrassed to read romance novels in public whether they have an embracing couple or not.  Most of these novels are stories where people fall in love and get married.  How cool is that?  The covers aren't anything that most people over the age of three haven't seen before and most really aren't that racy.

I travel a lot, and I generally put a cover on whatever I'm reading, even if the cover is innocuous.   Just a privacy thing for me.  When I first started doing it though the only covers I could find all had kiddie patterns on them - puppies and kittens & such.  For an adult woman, that's even worse than a couple in a clinch!

I finally bought one, then dismantled it and used it as a pattern to make my own from denim or suede-look fabrics, with a rawhide book marker permanently attached!  My latest iteration has a flap that wraps around to protect the book and keep it closed when I drop it in my purse.  It fastens down with a magnet (with a decorative button sewn over it).

I have several cloth book covers that I bought and I absolutely love them! The website is HiddenSecretscovers.com. I have one for PB's, one for trade size and one for hardbacks. I highly recommend them if you are looking for a quality book cover.

Going to get one of those covers. I usually go by the how would I look if my male boss saw me reading this rule, but the cover may just solve that. Thanks!

LOL - A co workers mother does machine embroidery.  I've been tempted to make a cover from something like tan micro suede, and have her embroider "The Iliad - (Original Greek Version)" on the cover!

No, I'm not embarrassed about the books I read. Or the covers. I was in a Barns And Nobel. They had a sex manual that had graphic pictures in it. I was embarrassed about looking at that.

I don't think I'm embarassed by the covers of the books but I do like the idea of privacy and also protecting the book cover.  I purchased one of those bookmates but don't like it.  too stiff and was too much work to turn the pages.  I just went and bought a fabric cover from someone on ebay and will try that. 

I have one of the cloth book covers for my books.  They come in handy when I'm at the college and reading a book that I don't want nosey people trying to figure out.  I got it it at the local used book store.  The woman who owns the store sells them for someone else.  I'm trying to convience her to make some for hard back books So I don't lose my dust jackets when I take them off to read the book.

I don't like to read books with racy covers on it in public and use a book cover for those books.  I would really like to have one of those padded/quilt covers but in the meantime am making do with a stretch cloth book cover that I bought from Office Max for 50 cents.  These book covers usually go on sale around beginning of school as many kids buy it for their school books.  The quality of it is crappy and pills easily, but it does the job.  Staples had them on sale for 25 cents 2 weeks ago but you have to go first thing in the morning, otherwise it is all sold out. 

Personally, I love the PBS book covers because they keep the book open and I can read on the treadmill, excercise bike or eliptical machine.   I originally got the cover because of all the embarassing book covers.  I hear that male marketing execs at publishers choose them and the authors have no say in it. 

Of course, men would think that women would buy a book for its racy cover, the same way men select magazines.  I hate the embarassing covers.  Most of the time, the artwork is so poor it's pathetic and often the pictures don't even match the character's descriptions, so it's clear the artist has no concept of what's in the book. 

They create the false impression that these books are pornographic and all about sex, which they are not.  A 400 page novel might only have a page or 2 of sex scenes, yet that's all we see on the cover!  Get a clue, marketing execs!

I often find myself buying a book in spite of (not because of ) its tasteless cover.