Mills and Boon
Mills & Boon Limited was founded in 1908 by Gerald Mills and Charles Boon, and soon romance fiction became the publisher's primary business. As the company grew, its books became known as "the books in brown" (see: Mills & Boon history).
By building a strong relationship with libraries and making their product available through newsagents, Mills & Boon's reasonably priced product was easy-to-purchase, leading to increased sales. In 1957, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, then a smaller publisher, acquired rights to Mills & Boon's Doctor Nurse Romances, and eventually romance fiction comprised Harlequin's entire list. Harlequin Enterprises Limited purchased Mills & Boon in 1971 and Harlequin Mills & Boon publishes Mills & Boon books under that name.
In 1992 Mills & Boon claimed to be the world's largest publisher of romantic fiction.
Online
Imprints
Most titles of the genuine Mills & Boon imprints (the two Romance lines and the medical and historical romances) are released 2 month prior to the paperback edition as hardcovers and months later as large prints. Thus the series titles of January and February have a release date of one year earlier.
Current Imprints
- Blaze - titles form the Harlequin Blaze imprint with independent numbering and different covers
- By Request - reissue series for Mills & Boon titles
- Desire - two titles from the US Silhouette Desire imprint in one volume (formerly called Silhouette Desire)
- Historical™ (formerly called Masquerade Historical Romance, Legacy of Love and Historical Romance)
- Intrigue - suspense titles form various Harlequin and Silhouette imprints (formerly called Silhouette Intrigue)
- Medical™ (formerly called Doctor Nurse Romance, Love on Call and Medical Romance)
- Modern™ - with Modern™ Heat (formerly called Modern Romance and replacing the Mills & Boon Presents line)
- Romance (formerly the Mills & Boon Enchanted and Tender Romance line)
- Special Edition - titles from the US Silhouette Special Edition imprint with independent numbering and different covers
- Spotlight - reissue series for the Mills & Boon Silhouette titles
- SuperRomance - titles form the Harlequin Superromance imprint with independent numbering and different covers
Defunct Imprints
- Best Seller Romance - reissue series (formerly Classics and Favourites)
- Duet - reissue series (formerly Omnibus and Collection)
- Enchanted™ - was replaced by the Tender Romance line
- Harlequin Love Affair - titles of the Harlequin American Romance imprint; was replaced by the Silhouette Sensation imprint
- Modern (Romance)™ Extra - supplement series to Modern Romance™/Modern™; now the Modern™ Heat
- Packs - 3 or 4 themed titles in a slipcase
- Mills & Boon Presents™ - was replaced by the Modern Romance™ line
- Romance - split into the two current Romance lines
- Sensual Romance™ - titles of the Harlequin Temptation imprint; was discontinued when that line ceased
- Silhouette Sensation - titles of the Silhouette Intimate Moments and Harlequin American Romance imprints; was merged into the Mills & Boon Intrigue imprint
- Tender Romance™ - was replaced by the Mills & Boon (New) Romance
- Temptation - titles form the Harlequin Temptation imprint with independent numbering and different covers; was replaced by the Mills & Boon Sensual Romance imprint
Articles/Press
- 100 years of romancing the readers - Yorkshire Press (1/2008)
- A Hundred Years of Mills and Boon - British comedian Lucy Porter examines the centennial of Mills & Boon on this radio program. Guests include Helen Fielding, Fay Weldon, and Roger Sanderson, a male romance novelist.
- Many more items on Mills & Boon are listed in the page about Romance in the Media.
