[hildea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Oh and put down any book with a half naked man on the cover that's labeled romance. Those are really awful.

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Especially when they don't even bother to show the guy's head. Just naked torso.

I've read some truly excellent romances with covers with half naked men. (I can't offhand remember any with just the torso that ownedbycats mentioned, but I wouldn't discount a book with that type of cover).

The presence of a half naked man on the cover tells us that at least one of the protagonists is a man, but says nothing at all about the quality of the book, and very little about the content. Dismissing a huge number books as awful based on the cover is prejudiced. It would be just a silly to dismiss all books with spaceships on the cover, or all books with guns on the cover.

Note: I see a big difference between saying "I don't like this (sub)genre" and "This (sub)genre is awful". For instance, I don't like books with graphical violence, but I wouldn't describe all such books as awful, just not for me.

Some recommendations of books with half naked men on the cover:

Rose Lerner: Listen to the Moon
I like historical novels about other parts of society than those at the top. The story of how Sukey and John learn to work together and respect each other is well written, with interesting character development.

John Toogood prides himself on being the perfect gentleman’s gentleman: skilled, discreet, and professional. But now he finds himself laid off and blacklisted, desperate for a job. Any job.

His instant attraction to his happy-go-lucky maid Sukey Grimes couldn’t come at a worse time. Her manners are provincial, her respect for authority nonexistent, and her outdated cleaning methods…well, the less said about them, the better.

Then John learns that the town vicar needs a butler—but the job is only for a respectable married man…

(This one has been republished with a cover with a woman in a pretty dress, which only shows that the cover doesn't say all that much about the content.)

Courtney Milan: Hold Me
I like mistaken identities stories, which this is, kind of. Well written characters, not a lot of external drama, but character growth which is believable and engaging. And a transgenic shark as a memorable side character

Jay na Thalang is a demanding, driven genius. He doesn’t know how to stop or even slow down. The instant he lays eyes on Maria Lopez, he knows that she is a sexy distraction he can’t afford. He’s done his best to keep her at arm’s length, and he’s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Maria has always been cautious. Now that her once-tiny, apocalypse-centered blog is hitting the mainstream, she’s even more careful about preserving her online anonymity. She hasn’t sent so much as a picture to the commenter she’s interacted with for eighteen months—not even after emails, hour-long chats, and a friendship that is slowly turning into more. Maybe one day, they’ll meet and see what happens.

But unbeknownst to them both, Jay is Maria’s commenter. They’ve already met. They already hate each other. And two determined enemies are about to discover that they’ve been secretly falling in love…

K.J.Charles: A Seditious Affair
Silas Mason is one of my favourite characters ever, across all books I've read. And Charles uses the historical setting well, with the Peterloo Massacre and the crackdown on civil liberties in England looming over the love story.

Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.

A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.

This cover is terrible, but that's because the person on the cover has very little in common with either of the two protagonists, and the whole mood of the cover is at odds with the book.