Fabio Romance Novel Covers: by the Numbers

I’ll recommend Fabio romance novels cover when the topic of romance books comes up. No less than 466 romance book covers feature Fabio, some of which are his own. To discover more, keep reading.

fabio romance novels cover

Fabio Lanzoni, an Italian-American actor, model, and spokesperson, was born on March 15, 1959, and goes by the name Fabio.

Lanzoni is well-known for his multifaceted career, including his time modeling romance novel covers in the 1990s, and for his music, books, cameo roles in films, and acting and television roles.

He has served as the American Cancer Society’s and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’s ambassador.

He was famous for appearing on Johanna Lindsey’s book covers and posed for hundreds of novels, frequently painted by Elaine Duillo.

In 1987, Fabio made his debut in a historical love story. He posed as Eric Longsword, the hilariously and unfortunately misnamed villain, on the back of the Bertrice Small bodice ripper Enchantress Mine.

For romance readers, he resembles a bad penny who keeps reappearing to torment us.

The most attractive Fabio romance book covers are discussed in this article. The stories are engaging as well.

1959

fabio romance novels cover

Lanzoni was born on March 15, 1959, in Milan, Italy, to mechanical engineer and conveyor-belt manufacturer Sauro Lanzoni and Flora Carnicelli Lanzoni.

He has referred to his grandmother as “the most prominent lady” in his life.

He was well taken of by his grandmother. Unfortunately, Lanzoni died of cancer.

She concealed her cancer diagnosis from her family and passed away when Lanzoni was 13 years old.

Lanzoni was deeply affected by this tragedy, which led him to eventually take on the role of American Cancer Society spokesperson.

He started his modeling career after being spotted by a photographer while exercising.

Lanzoni stated he had his hair chopped while “in the service for a couple of years.”

Due to his appearance on the covers of several romance novels, Lanzoni has become so well-known.

1980

fabio romance novels cover

After completing his required military service, Fabio fled Italy.

Lanzoni engaged in a variety of activities during his adolescence, including downhill and slalom skiing, horseback riding, and windsurfing.

To the dismay of his parents, Lanzoni left his university at the age of 19 and came to the United States.

After landing in America, Lanzoni visited the Ford modeling agency without an appointment and left with a contract within 48 hours. Isn’t that incredible? The next day, he met with Barry McKinley, the biggest photographer in the world, according to Lanzoni.

At the age of 28, Lanzoni believes he first became conscious of his popularity in 1987.

He appeared on the cover of Johanna Lindsey’s romance book Hearts Aflame the same year, which was painted by Elaine Duillo.

1987 

At the age of 28, Lanzoni recalls that 1987 was the year he first became aware of his popularity.

He served as the model that year for Elaine Duillo’s cover design of Johanna Lindsey’s romance book Hearts Aflame.

Lanzoni was identified by three women from romance book covers while dancing at a Miami nightclub.

He was aware that he had shot pictures to be used as book covers before they met.

Duillo emphasized Fabio in Lindsey’s Viking romance after Enchantress Mine had good sales.

Hearts Aflame, according to Duillo, was her first “big cover” with Fabio, though she can’t recall what it was.

1913

fabio romance novels cover

The famous Armory Show in New York took place in the year and is credited with introducing modern art to the United States.

I discovered there are other genres where a lame joke never dies when I read The Modern Art Invasion.

Anytime you hear a joke about an untalented artist getting wasted, flinging paint at a canvas, or letting their cat step on it, remember that the joke has been around for more than a century.

Maybe there has been little of a change in how the public responds to difficult visual art.

However, those jokes don’t appear in the official newspaper every time modern art makes headlines.

Romance seldom has such good fortune. The 2019 Art Basel banana that was duct taped to the wall referred to artist Marcel Duchamp.

In 1913, Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 was on show at the Armory; it was derided at the time but is now highly regarded.

Duchamp is a famous artist who excelled in treading the fine line between wit and brilliance.

Is it appropriate to contrast Duchamp’s avant-garde work with the lavish, outrageously sensual artwork of Elaine Duillo? Yes, I say.

Isn’t the overt horniness displayed on Duillo’s covers, which may be seen in a totally unsexy setting like a supermarket aisle, funny in a subtle way? Both are provocative.

A urinal on display in an art gallery, a breathless clinch next to soup cans—but I can tell you which one I enjoy looking at more.

48 Inches

Fabio’s chest measurement is around 122 cm for those who use the metric system.

76 Years

fabio romance novels cover

The time it takes a white oak tree to reach a circumference of 48 inches, roughly.

15 Minutes

It took Fabio 15 minutes to obtain a contract after showing up unannounced at Ford Models in New York.

4 90-minute Sessions Per Week

fabio romance novels cover

Fabio’s weightlifting and cardio routine, as described in a 1990s television interview.

1

The number of book covers featuring Fabio as an angel. Perhaps 19 covers in all.

According to an interview she gave to Illustration magazine, Elaine Duillo painted a certain number of covers using Fabio as her model.

Despite the fact that Duillo’s covers are recognizable, she rejects the moniker “Fabio artist.”

Kathryn Falk, the creator of Romantic Times, the magazine for romance enthusiasts that was published from 1981 until 2018, is maybe the only one prepared to claim responsibility for the Fabio craze.

Romantic Times, romance covers, and Fabio are all connected in Jezebel’s crucial article on the history of romance covers.

And in a guest article on the site Writers in the Storm, Falk herself credits Fabio as her discovery.

Over 40

Over 40

The number of covers Chad Deal served as the male model for Elaine Duillo’s paintings.

786

The zip code of Miami, Florida, where Fabio claims to have learned that his modeling images were being used as romance novel cover art.

He was informed by a woman that the man on the covers of her books looked like him.

He thought she was about to touch him. Unfazed, she later showed him one of her books at the club to show him that she was right.

152 Words

152 Words

How long does it take until Fabio’s name appears in Slate’s February 2021 article on romance doubters reading The Duke and I, the first book in the Bridgerton trilogy?

Fabio is not and has never been, featured on the cover of The Duke and I. No book by Julia Quinn has included Fabio on the cover.

To put it another way, Fabio is in fact unrelated to the Bridgerton phenomena.

I discovered the term “start to crate” many years ago while I worked in the video game industry.

It refers to the amount of time spent playing a video game before coming across a crate as a satirical indicator of the game’s quality.

In general, the game is worse the earlier the cargo arrives. A video game’s world can be filled with crates, which are simple to make but don’t offer anything to improve the game’s aesthetic appeal.

Consequently, titles with low “start to crate” numbers suggest the company ran out of money, time, or ideas before releasing the game to the general public.

465

465

According to cover star Jason Baca, who now holds the record for having been on the most Fabio romance covers, there have been a definitive number of these covers.

In 2016, when he had 485 covers, Baca was highlighted by The Cut among other publications.

However, Fabio has obviously turned into a romance zombie, so that press tour should not have been the dance on the grave of his romantic profession.

With 635 published covers and a few more on the way, Baca announced to People in 2019 that he was putting up his kilt and cowboy hat.

50–60%

Publishers claimed that Fabio’s appearance on a cover was responsible for an increase in sales. It is uncertain how that particular statistic was calculated.

17

17

The number of songs on Fabio After Dark, the album he recorded in 1994 is absolutely illogical. Get ready for a loving assault:

7

On the Fabio romance covers, several animal species are voyeuristically depicted.

7

The number of syllables Fabio’s name is in the headline of USA Today reporting Joanna Lindsey’s passing in 2019.

The story may be about Fabio’s homage, as suggested by the title, “Fabio pays tribute to ‘amazing’ romance author Johanna Lindsey, who died at 67.”

However, the focus of the story is Lindsey’s life and illustrious career. Contrary to the title, Johanna Lindsey is responsible for Fabio’s career, not the other way around.

8

8

The amount of businesses/organizations for which Fabio now serves as or formerly served as the spokesman, including Old Spice, Geek Squad, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.

He started dating I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter in 1994, and they last mentioned him on their Instagram on Valentine’s Day of 2021.

Compared to the length of Fabio’s modeling career for romance.

12

The number of competitors in Mr. Romance, a reality competition show about modeling for romance novel covers that was launched in 2005 and included Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and was hosted by Fabio.

0

The number of times Fabio is mentioned in Beverly Jenkins’ Goodreads profile.

Thus, it is feasible. In 1994, just as the Fabio wave was cresting and he was devoting his attention to other endeavors, Beverly Jenkins published her debut book, Night Song.

Since then, romance fans familiar with the genre’s finest have loved Jenkins’s romances that celebrate Black love.

$3000 Per Hour

According to a 1993 People feature, Fabio received payment for his modeling work. That works up to $5,430.77 per hour in 2021 money.

$1.99/Minutes

The cost of calling Fabio’s 24-hour hotline, which allowed callers to hear “intimate stories from across the world,”.

943

943

How long does the article chronicling the success of Bridgerton in The New York Times last before our favorite Italian horse appears?

4 Times Per Year

The Gentle Conqueror, the Fabio fanzine referenced in a 1993 People story, publication schedule.

“Almost 500,” “Over 500,” “Over 1000”

Depending on whose profile you read or interview you watch, there are a variety of Fabio romance covers available.

Nobody appears to have an exhaustive list. In contrast to the almost 300 cover galleries on the website of Fabio’s fan club, this Goodreads list contains just 174 book covers.

As a reminder, “step-backs” are entire pages of art that are placed just inside paperback covers and appear to be book covers when they actually aren’t.

For instance, Fabio’s preferred cover for Man of My Dreams is really a reversal.

$100,000

$100,000

Fabio’s payout for the first three of his romantic books, Pirate, Viking, and Rogue, which were released by the venerable romance publisher Avon in 1993 and 1994.

The sole name on the covers of these novels, despite the fact that they were ghostwritten by author Eugenia Riley, was Fabio.

Fabio openly acknowledged hiring a ghostwriter but insisted that the book’s narratives were his own creations.

These books’ covers feature a photo of Fabio without a single female in sight. These covers were also drawn by Elaine Duillo, the artist who first featured Fabio in a book.

18th Century

The scene of Fabio’s Pirate. In historical romance, “historical accuracy” has emerged as a contentious topic.

Some writers use romance to combat the erasure of oppressed people from history. Others appear to be quite committed to keeping that erasure.

Vibrating at his own frequency, Fabio desired to write for the readers of the time. He insisted on including portions in the book that promote AIDS awareness and an anti-smoking message because of this.

The former is only loosely believable because the physician general of President George Washington was an anti-tobacco campaigner.

The latter, however, is less so: the earliest known HIV case is from 1959.

11 Years

fabio romance novels cover

The most optimistic projection of Fabio’s career in romance covers. Actually, it was closer to six years.

19 Covers Total

According to an interview she gave to Illustration magazine, Elaine Duillo painted a certain number of covers using Fabio as her model.

Despite the fact that Duillo’s covers are recognizable, she rejects the moniker “Fabio artist.”

Kathryn Falk, the creator of Romantic Times, the magazine for romance enthusiasts that was published from 1981 until 2018, is maybe the only one prepared to claim responsibility for the Fabio craze.

Romantic Times, romance covers, and Fabio are all connected in Jezebel’s crucial article on the history of romance covers.

And in a guest article on the site Writers in the Storm, Falk herself credits Fabio as her discovery.

2,000 Words

fabio romance novels cover

Alyssa Cole’s 2020 Slate profile will be judged on her “words to Fabio.” At least they avoided leading with him.

Even the final Fabio romance covers had been removed from bookshelves when Cole started releasing her wonderful romances.

Somewhere Between 1991 and 1998

Fabio ceased modeling and stopping to show up on love-themed magazine covers. Again, here is where things go vague.

Fabio stopped modeling in 1991 and claims his biography has been made public.

Artists were able to use Fabio’s images even after he ceased posing for them since Fabio’s romance covers were frequently painted or drawn from photos of him.

After selling more than 55,000,000 Fabio romance covers, according to the biography’s blurb, he “stepped off” romance novel covers in 1992.

Biography: Peter F. Paul, Fabio’s former manager, wrote it.

Paul has a long history of convictions, including convictions for narcotics possession, securities fraud, and a conspiracy charge.

Stemming from a completely insane scheme to swindle the Cuban government by selling them fake coffee and then scuttling the ship carrying the fictitious beans.

He also made an effort to enter Canada while posing as a deceased guy. My confidence in Paul’s words is therefore questionable.

I sought advice from Dr. Donnamaie White, who runs the most thorough website devoted to Fabio.

She informed me that by the time Fabio started releasing his own novels in 1993, he had given up modeling.

Additionally, Dr. White has offered some of the most insightful analyses of Fabio’s attraction.

Dr. White talked about encountering sexual harassment while working in the technology sector in an article on Fabio in the book Romantic Conventions.

“These folks do not inspire aspirations, but contempt,” she stated of her employees. I instead dream of Fabio.

In the end, I believe the latest one could theoretically label Fabio a model is 1998 if one continues to consider him a cover model considering he only modeled for his own book covers.

He then made an appearance on the cover of his final romance book, Mysterious.

Final Thoughts

Fabio has always seemed attractive to me. He was obviously appealing to the eye.

Despite this, there have been fantastic works on romance throughout history.

There are several featuring Fabio’s face on the cover and even more without any connection to him.

Regarding romantic role models, Fabio will always hold a special place in our hearts. Regardless of the fact that he has a flaw, no individual is flawless in any case.

Fans will so follow what appeals to them and what they find enjoyable. If you dislike Fabio, you might be missing out on a lot.

I hope this article was helpful. For a list of further intriguing novels to read, visit our page.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *