by Linda Fildew, Senior Editor

We have celebrated some significant milestones over the last few years: Mills & Boon’s 100^th anniversary in 2008, Harlequin’s 60^th anniversary in 2009 and now Harlequin Historical reaches its 1000^th book in July 2010 with Christine Merrill’s deliciously sensual Paying the Virgin’s Price, part of our Regency Silk & Scandal miniseries.

1,000 books – 2,000 years of history featured in Harlequin Historical. We encourage a range of time periods so our novels can be set anywhere from ancient civilisations such as Greece and Rome up to the Second World War.

Mills & Boon launched their historical line – Masquerade – in 1977 with novels by such authors as Jane Wilby – Eleanor and the Marquis – and Marguerite Bell – A Rose for Danger. These London-acquired books were published almost simultaneously by Harlequin, although the covers were different for each market.

The UK & US Covers of Eleanor & the Marquis

It was from July 1988 that Harlequin launched what we know today as Harlequin Historical with books mostly acquired from an American author base. The first two were Satan’s Angel by Kristin James (aka Candace Camp) and Kathleen Eagle’s Private Treaty. Both books were Westerns and established early on readers’ love of the nineteenth century frontier settings. There’s something about the rawness of frontier life, living on the edge of danger, that truly captures the imagination. Westerns still form a key part of the present-day program.

Early Harlequin Historical releases

American settings predominated in the early years of Harlequin Historical although, gradually, other periods were added – e.g. Nora Roberts was the first to introduce a Scottish Highland setting with her Rebellion. The Regency period also proved highly popular and so it has remained to this day.

All our authors are skillful at drawing readers into their characters’ world and effortlessly holding them there from first to last page. Emotions run high. How better to spend a few hours of your time! We know how important authentic historical backgrounds are and our authors find just the right balance between the vivid setting and the stirring romance.

We are proud of the variety we offer in Harlequin Historical from classic Regency drawing room tales to ones which explore the risky underbelly of London life. From Medieval warriors and Viking conquerors to Chinese warlords and Byzantine barbarians, we have books – and sexy heroes! – to suit every mood. In the same month as our 1000th book by Christine Merrill we can tempt you with Alaska Bride on the Run by western author Kate Bridges; strong, sexy heroes in Bronwyn Scott’s Regency Untamed Rogue, Scandalous Mistress and Terri Brisbin’s Medieval The Mercenary’s Bride. Mary Nichols has a hero in conflict in Honorable Doctor, Improper Arrangement and June Francis’s hero flirts with danger in Pirate’s Daughter, Rebel Wife. The Chinese Tang Dynasty is an exciting new time period for us, one that we have never published before. We are happy to announce that we are publishing Jeannie Lin’s award winning Butterfly Swords in October.

As well as the six Harlequin Historicals a month – 4 in Retail and 2 available through eHarlequin.com and Harlequin Reader Service – we also have an online exclusive program called Harlequin Historical Undone! These short, sexy, scandalous stories appear in ebook format. These can feature any time period and you will find that we are exploring new areas – look for our vampire Undone! with Marguerite Kaye’s Bitten by Desire and how about some Sheikh delight in Innocent in the Harem by Michelle Willingham and Arabian Nights With a Rake by Bronwyn Scott! These tasty short bites of stories are just the right pick me up read over a lunchtime or before tucking down for the night.

There’s no better time than now to start reading Harlequin Historical if you haven’t already tried one. Get caught up in our latest miniseries Silk & Scandal, I promise you won’t be able to put these seductive books down.

I’d like to thank all of the authors and readers who have contributed to the success of the first 1000 books in Harlequin Historical. Here’s to the next 1000!

by Joanne Grant, editor of the Harlequin Historical Silk & Scandal miniseries

I am here to tell you some very exciting news about a brand new Regency continuity in Harlequin Historical that starts in June 2010, but before I get into the details I thought I’d share with you the story of how the Silk & Scandal continuity came to be…

Over the last few years there have been a number of exciting and dramatic continuities commissioned for our contemporary series such as The Royal House of Karedes and the subsequent sequel, Dark-Hearted Desert Men (that launched in April), in Harlequin Presents, and The Brides of Bella Rosa in Harlequin Romance, which also begins in April. So we decided it was time to give Harlequin Historical a turn!

Once we had settled upon which authors we would like to approach, we were faced with the challenge of what we wanted our continuity to be about. We had strong ideas about what we love most about Regency historicals, and with eight books to play with we knew we could get many of these elements in, such as: roguish rakes, virgin brides, marriages of convenience, but we needed something to gel the continuity together – we needed the actual continuity element! That is when we decided to approach the authors. It was a brave move – our most recent continuities had been “bible-driven”, but we had confidence in our authors that they would “wow” us.

The authors brainstormed, and brainstormed some more, and I met with Louise Allen to discuss the ideas, but I knew we weren’t quite there yet. It is our jobs as editors to continually push authors for more – more innovation, more excitement and in this case, more scandal! And it seems that little word “scandal” was the light bulb moment for the authors. What followed was a flurry of activity between the authors, as they developed their ideas further, whilst we waited patiently. And boy, was it worth the wait!

When I was finally introduced to a scandalous back story involving a love triangle, a scorned gypsy lover, a murder, a curse, and a hanging with a silken rope, I was definitely intrigued, but when I was introduced to the continuity character – I was sold!

He was a man so dark and mysterious that there was debate amongst the authors as to whether he was too bad, and should remain a villain, but I have a soft spot for seemingly irredeemable alpha males, an anti-hero. Especially when they are sexy, seductive and as at home in a gambling hell hole as in a society ballroom. A man so shady that you know that beneath his stern, all-penetrating gaze, lies a complex mixture of emotions that can only be released by the right woman, and when that right woman comes along – the results will be explosive! A man so intriguing, that he will keep readers reading for eight books…yes, this was what the continuity needed, and so Stephano Beshaley AKA Stephen Hebden, was born and the Silk & Scandal continuity was created!

In a nutshell, each story in the miniseries has a passionate, intense, central relationship but with Stephano as the linking thread. He is a darkly dangerous, yet sexy stranger, out for revenge, delivering a silken rope as his calling card. Through him, a long-forgotten past is stirred to life, and the notorious events of 1794 which saw one man murdered and another hanged for the crime, are brought in to question. The final book is Stephano’s story when all is revealed!

Silk & Scandal

From glittering ballrooms to a Cornish smuggler’s cove; from the wilds of Scotland to a Romany camp – join with the highest and lowest in society as they find love in this thrilling new eight-book miniseries!

Has this whetted your appetite? I do hope so and if you just can’t wait to read book one (on sale NOW on eHarlequin.com), then we have just the thing! All six authors have collaborated on an online read, Seduced by the Dark Stranger. This serial introduces some of the heroes and heroines from the continuity and there is also a brief cameo by Stephano. You can read a new chapter in this story every Tuesday and Thursday in May! Also available this month is Christine Merrill’s Harlequin Historical Undone! prequel: Taming Her Gypsy Lover, a scorching read that takes readers back to 1794, when the scandal that is the basis for the continuity has just happened!

Don’t miss a single title in the Silk & Scandal continuity:

Book 1: The Lord and the Wayward Lady by Louise Allen, June 2010

Book 2: Paying the Virgin’s Price by Christine Merrill, July 2010

Book 3: The Smuggler and the Society Bride by Julia Justiss, August 2010

Book 4: Claiming the Forbidden Bride by Gayle Wilson, September 2010

Book 5: The Viscount and the Virgin by Annie Burrows, October 2010

Book 6: Unlacing the Innocent Miss by Margaret McPhee, November 2010

Book 7: The Officer and the Proper Lady by Louise Allen, December 2010

Book 8: Taken By the Wicked Rake by Christine Merrill, January 2010

And here are some of the book covers! More will be revealed as they become available.