Harlequin Romance Books
Giovanni Sealy
I was at the library one morning and a large book sale donation came in with these books. The 'volunteer' upped her nose and said she was donating them to the thrift store. Later that day I went to the Goodwill and every book one was in somebody's shopping cart.
Proper term is edge stain--referring to the process of sanding the edges of the text block and dyeing them. In this case red. It was done to protect from dust, and dropped in the 70's due to expense.
Three digit product numbers, the lower the better with "cartoon" style cover paintings can be worth some money. There are collectors of Harlequin men's adventure books (later Gold Medal) as well as the romance.
One title, in particular, is worth significant money. It is a Nora Roberts title, and she calls it the worst book she ever wrote. A bit of research should turn up the title.
FWIW: these are popular titles. When our FOL was operating, we'd get in thousands of them. We'd try and sell only the most recent titles singly, the rest we'd bag up and sell at 20/$1.00.
I'm hoping we get back to sales soon.
Caroline says: Oil tycoons, financiers, tech billionaires, actors, i-bankers, and the like. The heroines are often rich in their own right, so if the typical Harlequin Presents power imbalance bothers you, these books may be a better fit. In recent years, Desire has made strides increasing the number of interracial couples and couples of color in this line, and quite a few authors of color write for them as well. Sex scenes are generally warm.
Caroline says: Common tropes here are single parents finding a new partner and homecomings, generally to small towns. They advertise that varied heat levels are welcome, but the category is dominated by books in the subtle-to-warm range. This is a cozy, comfort line.
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
How did you talk about Harlequin Presents and leave out Lynne Graham? She is the grande dame of the series, and I still buy all her novels that are released in the US. Wealthy alphas, feisty women, passion galore. She is the epitome of the genre.
True.
i love(d) her.
unfortunately, her recent titles are very hit and miss- some are just too much same old same old, like she rewrites her older ones with slight changes. But some, like Mistress Bride, I love and still reread sometimes.
The only review that comes up for Graham when I run a search is one for Dark Angel, which got panned. I did not like it either. I used the power search and just entered her name. Is there a better way to find the reviews?
Thank you for posting this! I have been looking back at category romance this week. I loved the older Silhouette Special Edition, Intimate Moments, and Desire lines. I also became addicted to Old Skool Harlequin Presents.
On the other hand, you could use them to learn a new language. :) I remember the Hungarian polyglot Kato Lomb, who worked professionally in 16 languages- most of which she learned after the age of 40!- was big on learning language through romance, thrillers, and other pulpy genre books.
My fantasy e-reader would offer the option of a dictionary that is English-to-foreign-language and vice versa, so I could read in a foreign language and just touch the screen to bring up a word. Or it would offer the option of using the OED, although my guess is that that would be pricy. There are way too many words my Nook dictionary does not have, or has inadequate definitions for.
Another book that I liked about language acquisition was Fluent Forever, which gave similar tips. Neither author recommends formal language classes- at least at first. An interesting perspective, I thought.
Some years ago I worked in the Ukraine for 6 months and my Ukrainian female colleagues (in our huge international accounting firm) always asked me to bring back a supply of M&B romaces when I returned from trips back to the UK. They said it was the perfect way to learn colloquial English while reading a good story. My local charity shop appreciated my business too!
For me, Sarah Mayberry was the queen of the SuperRomance line, and I enjoyed her Blaze titles as well. Some of my favorites are THE OTHER SIDE OF US, THE BEST LAID PLANS, HER BEST FRIEND, and HOT ISLAND NIGHTS.
As a long-time fan of Harlequin, I would love it if Jessica Hart and Sophie Weston would come back to the Harlequin Romance line as their books are witty, heart-warming and so good! Catherine George wrote for Presents and had a wonderful series about the Pennington family set in a fictitious English village which was brilliant.
I do know that one time Anne McAllister told readers that one of her books was being issued in the U.K. but not the U.S. it would be a real boon to readers if Harlequin would offer sets of the work by older authors and include all the books regardless of which country or countries they were once published in.
Grumpy editorializing: Harlequin/Mills & Boon, please do not change the titles on reissued books! Just STOP it. Add a subtitle or change the blurb, but messing with the title makes finding reviews and tracking down books difficult and confusing.
Something I find odd is that Harlequin Historical no longer publishes Westerns. It says so right in their submission guidelines. Yet, they are encouraging Western submissions in their Inspirational Historical Romance line. Does anybody have any insight as to why this might be the case? Just speculation here, but maybe sexy Westerns are pass or somehow controversial for political reasons?
I love the Romantic Suspense and Intrigue lines. Special Edition would have to take second spot. Although I wrote for the Kimani line, I am glad to see it go. Harlequin has gone where it should have years ago, and I am pleased to see more books with authors of color is the traditional lines. Harlequin, in the last year, has truly embraced diversity and I see even more AOC coming to the other lines in 2021.
Lucy Gordon wrote a lot of Harlequins, mostly for the Harlequin Romance line, although a couple of my favorites were for the old Silhouette Desire line. Her page at Harlequin shows her most recent book to be from 2017, so I am guessing she also has quietly retired. The books from the more recent years were not as strong as her earlier writing.
Robyn Donald wrote a lot of Harlequin Presents and was one of the earlier authors to get on the minor-royalty-of-the-Mediterranean kick. Even so, she managed to set a lot of those stories in her native New Zealand. She includes details about plant and bird life in New Zealand that appeal to me, so I hang onto the books. Her latest Harlequin title is from 2018, and I am not expecting to see any more. Both she and Daphne Claire, another former Harlequin author from New Zealand, used to run writing seminars. I am sorry Harlequin does not seem to have many strong writers in New Zealand now.
We believe in finding love at any age, and these new and upcoming releases highlight older heroines finding their perfect match. We asked Kelly Farmer and why they prefer to write about heroines that are a little older than what you may be used to seeing on the shelf.
And hey, people fall in love in their forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond. The great thing about telling these stories is having readers see themselves represented. Divorce happens. Single parents have the unique experience of raising kids and dating. Careers and forging our own paths often takes precedence over personal life. Love can be messy and complicated. As the years and life experiences rise, so can the challenges. We need books where a character is going through peri-menopause and having hot flashes on a date. Books where a parent has to balance work and a moody teenager. Books where the love interests are dealing with elder care for their parents.
I love and appreciate this article. I feel seen! It is so so difficult to find romance novels with characters over the age of 50.
Is there, or will there be, a line that is devoted to older characters? Because my friends and I would read them all day long.
And most importantly, I was delighted to discover that romance books are full of strong, independent women. The romance stories I was reading were so different from the ones I had read as a teen. Those were about helpless women being rescued by pirates and sheikhs, although those subgenres have their place, too.
Christine Wheary is a former student of mine. She worked in the medical field, where she had a demanding director position. She was a lifelong romance fan, and started a side hustle working with romance books so she could stay busy when she retired.
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