More adventures in book cover research! Here we have the blue US cover (Avon) and pink UK cover (Piatkus) of Olivia Dade's Spoiler Alert (2020). Published at the same time, but only the US cover features a clinch! Suggests changes happened earlier in the UK as @jackiebarbosa.bsky.social noted.

This is a good point, and it does seem to be happening, looking at various reviews online.

This is absolutely true, there are so many examples (from years ago too) of historicals having single character covers. Some Mills & Boon contemporary titles post 2010 did this too.

I believe YA Is generally targeted at readers aged 12-18.

This might also be a UK/US difference as high school starts at age 11 in the UK, there's no equivalent of middle school (so 14 is not a particularly pivotal age here).

It's the lower end but 13 could still be YA, to be fair. @amandaallenphd.bsky.social is the expert on YA, but I believe it would also depend on the tone and subject matter as well, as to whether it was children's or YA.

It's possible, for sure. I definitely think publishers are explicitly targeting a wider romance-reading market with cartoon covers (from YA through New Adult - @jodimca.bsky.social may have thoughts on this - to adult) and the use of similar covers across the board maximises market reach.

There are some category M&B shelved in the romance section in the Waterstones we're surveying for this research, but not many. Mills & Boon are also diversifying their own cover art and format. I also think you're right on chick lit, it definitely used cartoon/illustrated covers!

There's also the context of bookshop placement to consider - while illustrated covers are used for children's books and for romance, they are separated in both physical and digital bookstores. I'm not sure how much accidental overlap actually happens given that additional context.

It's a solid theory!