Wild Land, Wild Love

In the "for sale" aisle of the Richmond Public Library I realized why the covers of romance novels creep me out: the people are never smiling. Some of the more modern ones feature couples with at least mildly pleasant expressions, but not the bodice-ripper types with the grotesquely muscled man and the women with very historically inaccurate eyeshadow, usually posed in front of a waterfall or prairie or herd of kangaroos or other scenic feature. Do they have to look so grim about it? I would think that the very act of appearing on a novel cover in a state of undress with a herd of kangaroos would be enough to make one laugh.