What's in a cover?

I just got word from my editor that she will soon be sending me the new cover for Rogue. I never liked this one; I think the colors are rather dull and the man in question has too much pectoral muscle and no face, head or neck at all! Plus, as I pointed out to my editor, my Zetithians are like cats, not gorillas. Not that a big, beefy man is a bad thing, it's just that my guys aren't like that.

Book covers are such odd things. I'm told that they are intended to sell the genre, not necessarily the book. That makes no sense to me at all. When I read a book, I like for the cover to at least suggest what the main characters might look like. It burns me up to get into the story only to realize that whoever designed the cover never read the book, or even a description of the main characters. As a reader, I wouldn't think it would be too much to ask for the dark, brooding hero of the story to not be depicted as a blond on the cover!

This trend seems to be changing because recently I was asked for a rundown of hair and eye color along with body build for my heroes, and also a description of the setting. They did quite well with the setting on the Rogue cover, but I haven't seen anything for Lover yet. Maybe I should check my email just to be sure. . . just a moment. . . OH, MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is freakin' perfect!!!!!! Check out that incredible neck!!!! They even used my favorite shade of blue. *sigh* I feel SO much better now!