Guest Blogger, Shannon & Harlequin Giveaway!
by sue on Jul.16, 2010, under Book Chat
Confessions of a Category Addict – Part 3
This week, I want to explore the shorter series romance imprints – Harlequin Presents, Silhouette Desire and Harlequin Blaze.
Anybody who knows me will tell you this – if series romance is my addiction, then my drug of choice is Harlequin Presents. Lovescenes by Sandra Marton was my first romance, my first series romance, and my first Presents. That was back in 1988 and since that time, I have bought and read every single Presents released. This is how bad the addiction is – as a teenager, I signed up for the direct mail through Harlequin because they had two additional releases. When the books would come in the mail, before I could read them, I’d have to walk down to the corner store to purchase a money order to pay the bill because I was too young to have a checking account. Now that’s addiction!
Presents is just magical. It is the modern day Cinderella story where the dashing hero (a billionaire who of course could make any of the hunky World Cup soccer players look homely and out of shape ) sweeps our heroine off her feet. You don’t get much more Alpha than the Presents hero. He is truly the leader of the pack. The heroine, in many cases, is the everyday average woman who is not from his world and because of circumstances, she is usually at a disadvantage which is who their two worlds collide. Presents is very global with settings in major international cities.
The tone and pace of this imprint is the most intense of the other imprints. There’s a lot of chemistry, intensity and passion with these stories.
Presents is the 21st century version of the Regency novel. The Alpha Tycoon hero is much like the dashing Duke who is the catch of the season. Both types of heroes are the rake that is more powerful and the wealthiest amongst his peers, of which there are few. The heroines don’t want to tame these men; they want to go along for the ride.
When I think about Presents in terms of movies, I think of Pretty Woman, That Touch of Mink and Maid in Manhattan.
Tessa Shapcott, Executive Editor of Harlequin Presents spoke with her editorial team and came up with the following:
“There are very few films that match the series promise directly, but we can identify films and TV programmes that capture important elements of it.
Alpha hero/feisty heroine
Working Girl
An Officer and a Gentleman
Bridget Jones (Bridget and Mark Darcy)
Aspirational (i.e. wealth, glamour, moving into a millionaire’s world)
Pretty Woman
My Fair Lady (believe there’s a new version of Pygmalion in production)
Sex and the City (Carrie and Mr. Big)
Dark Intensity
Casino Royale
Batman Begins/The Dark Knight
Twilight for Bella and Edward (though not the Vampire content!)
Mad Men
Nip/Tuck
Modern Heat (contemporary, flirty)
Desperate Housewives
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Gossip Girl
Dirty, Sexy Money”
As a side note, there’s a mention of Modern Heat. Modern Heat is published in London and the tone is a blend of Presents and Temptation. In the United States, some of the Modern Heat titles are published under the Harlequin Presents imprint. Also, in bookstores, you may see “Presents Extra” –same editorial as Presents, just extra books released.
The next line shares a lot of similarities with Presents – Silhouette Desire. They are both the same length with dynamic tycoon Alpha heroes. If I had to quickly say what I think the differences are is while Desire is passionate and provocative, it doesn’t have the same level of intensity that a Presents has. It’s more laid back. I tend to think of the story in a Presents as the hero’s. With Desire, I look at it as the heroine’s. 
Desire features international settings, but they tend to be more in the United States than abroad. The heroes are the Alpha tycoons that we love in Presents, maybe not as much of an edge but still that Alpha. The heroine is a bit different; she is a bit spunkier than in Presents. More American characteristics.
My very first Desire was Kathleen Korbel’s The Princess and the Pea. Back in the 80’s, there weren’t a lot of royal books out there so the “Princess” angle caught my attention so when I ran out of the “white” books, I switched over to the “red” books – Desire. With this imprint, I tend to compare it to television series – Dirty Sexy Money, Dynasty, Dallas and Falcon Crest.
The last line, for this week, is Harlequin Blaze. This imprint actually started off as a series in Harlequin Temptation. There was a Blaze flash on Temptations that had all of the characteristics of the imprint but were just hotter. Recognizing the demand for a Blaze type story, Harlequin broke it out and gave it four releases per month, which quickly became six releases per month.
Blaze is very diverse. The major characteristic is that the story is hot. Looking over the releases, there has been everything from light/witty to suspense to historical to paranormal. In fact, if you look at many of the modern day single title authors, you will see that there are a lot who had successful Blaze careers before moving into mass market – Carly Phillips, Lori Foster, Tori Carrington, Janelle Denison, Donna Kauffman, Nancy Warren, Alison Kent and Lori Wilde, to name a few.
I started reading Blaze the first month it was released. Prior to that, I had been a Temptation reader starting with Building on Dreams by Shirley Larson.
I put the question about what movies best represent Blaze to Senior Editor Brenda Chin. Her response was The Ugly Truth was right on the money and The Big Easy would be another choice. She also thought of many of the romantic comedies, but “sexed up,” including Maid in Manhattan and anything with Sandra Bullock.
If you read any of these three imprints, what elements do you like or not like? What would the recipe be for the perfect short contemporary series romance?
2 Lucky Winners randomly chosen from comments below will get Harlequin books! Good Luck!
Related posts:
- Guest Blogger, Shannon & Harlequin Giveaway! Confessions of A Category Addict – Part 4 This week, we bring the series to a close with the last three imprints. I’m going to start off with Silhouette Special Edition (by the way, my first one was 1988, Summer Shadows by Pat Warren). I really enjoy this line. It...
- Guest Blogger, Shannon: Harlequin Presents goes Retro? Giveaway! Harlequin Presents goes … Retro??? This May, Harlequin Presents launches an innovative new mini-series — Men Without Mercy. These are “retro” books that feature a 21st century independent heroine who is thrown back in time and meets a hero who may be a bit rough around the edges but...
- Guest Blogger, Shannon! & Giveaway from Harlequin! Confessions of a Category Addict – Part 2 During the course of writing this four-part blog series, I discovered something about myself – I’m a book hoarder. I was searching through a box of books and found that I had saved the first book I read in each of the...
- Guest Blogger, Shannon & Sue’s Stash Giveaway! My name is Shannon, and I’m a series romance addict. It has been 23 minutes and 45 seconds since I picked up my last series romance. When it comes to life’s milestones, everyone remembers their “first.” My “first” was shortly before my sixteenth birthday. I was working at the...
- Guest Blogger, Shannon - More Than Publicity plus GIVEAWAY ($$ value)! GIVEAWAY - HOT OFF THE PRESS - 3 randomly chosen commenters will be chosen - GOOD LUCK!: Winning ticket is good for ONE ($125) Reader Registration to RomCon 2010 - July 9-11, 2010 in Denver, CO. Winners must be US residents. The base ticket grants admission to all RomCon...
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July 21st, 2010 on 7:41 pm
I have read all 3 brands and love them all….but the nocturnes are my #1 favorite. I love harlequin period!
July 18th, 2010 on 12:14 pm
i love blaze books the best. spicy romances. nuff said.
July 18th, 2010 on 1:10 am
ilove blaze my fav line
so hot and short and i can read them inone day lol
thyey are just sexy and love the authors that write them
now they are expandingto histirocal, paramnormal so something for everyone
i read some disires once in a awhile
July 17th, 2010 on 7:13 pm
I read all three of these lines. I’ve been reading the Presents line the longest. I have a huge collection of them on my keeper shelves,as well as the Desires and the Blazes. The Presents line seems to be more global and I really enjoy reading about all the international locales. The Desire line appeals to me because they have stories of career women meeting their matches in the work world. I also came to the Blaze line from the Temptation line. Of course the main thing I like about them is their blazing stories. They are HOT! I have never read one I didn’t enjoy. I think the historical Blazes were a great idea. I like historicals and these add a lot more heat to the usual one. I really do enjoy all three of these lines.
July 17th, 2010 on 6:10 pm
I love reading Blaze books, n ive read 2 of the 3 books. I love how they are short, very interesting and very hott! lol
July 17th, 2010 on 5:10 pm
Blaze has been one of my favorites
July 17th, 2010 on 11:33 am
I have not read any of these books, but I like short stories where the characters already have a history together.
July 17th, 2010 on 8:27 am
I’ve read several books from Harlequin Blaze (I love the paranormals) and Silhouette Desire (I especially love Sheri Whitefeather’s books).
July 17th, 2010 on 7:36 am
I read a ton of Harlequin Presents for a quick romance fix. And have recently discovered the Silhoutte Desire’s. Love the international settings.
July 17th, 2010 on 2:44 am
I’ve read most of the category romance lines at one time or another. But I’ve stuck with HP mostly because of a number of core authors I follow. And I like Presents because the heroes are alpha and there’s a level of predictability to the stories, making it an easy comfort read.
July 16th, 2010 on 9:52 pm
I love Blaze!!! Although I only like the Contemporary ones… I read almost every contemporary Blaze every month and I do occasionally read the Silhouette Desire but usually only for an author I know and like… I do love my Blaze and I am looking forward to almost every one of them next month!!!
July 16th, 2010 on 9:36 pm
i read primarily the blaze line, although i have read all of the other lines mentioned. But i keep coming back to the blazes, those blaze babed write some wicked hot books, and i love them.
jody
July 16th, 2010 on 9:37 pm
thats supposed to read blaze babes, sorry hit post too soon!
July 16th, 2010 on 7:00 pm
I enjoy Blaze and Desie books and several other Harlequin/Silhouette lines. I’ve never read a Harlequin Presents. I think I like my stories more realistic. But give me a hot love story, and I’m a fan!!!
July 16th, 2010 on 6:57 pm
Have read Harlequins for over 20 years. I like them all but tend to go more for the contemporary then Historical. I can and have gone through 3 or more of them a day..
July 16th, 2010 on 5:59 pm
I like that Blaze is very diverse. I don’t like when the alpha’s are or become MCPs.
July 16th, 2010 on 4:38 pm
I have read all of these from time to time and enjoy them all.
They are a quick HEA fix.
July 16th, 2010 on 3:14 pm
I’ve read them all through the years. I started reading them in 1965. I’ll always remember my first book “A Change for Clancy”, by Amanda Doyle. How they have changed through the years. Each line has something to offer. My favorite line is probably Desire. Through this line I have not just read great stories but have made many friendships with some marvelous ladies. Olivia Gates, Catherine Mann, Maureen Childs, Charlene Sands & Maxine Sullivan thank you for your warm friendship.
July 16th, 2010 on 2:04 pm
I’ve read book from both the Desire and Blaze lines. Most of the Desire ones are by authors I already read in the other lines or are miniseries with in the line about a group of friends or a family. My budget hasn’t allowed me to buy a lot of them lately so I have actually not been really looking at the blurbs lately to avoid temptation. I like the hot stories in the Blaze line a little too much for the wallets liking.
July 16th, 2010 on 1:59 pm
I love the Intrigue, but I read a little of everything.
July 16th, 2010 on 1:53 pm
I like to read The Desire and Blaze, I just like the stories and the romance are about strong hero type guys and they find love again from an ex or someone from their past. Blaze is racy and the I need that in my life right now so i can fanasties some good-looking man to sweep me off my feet.
July 16th, 2010 on 1:02 pm
I have read a few Blazes but pretty much stick to the full sized books. More time to develop plot and characters. Have enjoyed the few I did read tho’.
Helen L.
July 16th, 2010 on 12:51 pm
How fun to see my cover for HIS EXPECTANT EX in today’s blog! Thank you so much for including it - that’s one of my favorite covers.
And many thanks as well for a great blog on category romances!!
July 16th, 2010 on 12:16 pm
I dont read a lot of these lines, but have read both Blaze and Desire, particularly like the Blaze ones - they have good stories and characters.
July 16th, 2010 on 11:58 am
I’ve read all, but am more likely to pick up Blaze or Desire (also Luna which wasn’t mentioned). I like that they’re quick, contemporary, spicy reads.
July 16th, 2010 on 10:27 am
I read all 3 of these imprints and probably a 1000 other Harlequins since I like a shorter book to read.
I would like to see a series with a hero that runs a dude ranch in Montana and each book in the series could be about different characters that visit that ranch.
July 16th, 2010 on 10:26 am
I haven’t tried Blaze and Desire yet, but I have read some excerpts and plan on reading some of these authors.
July 16th, 2010 on 10:10 am
I’m not really into the contemporary international scene at all and I don’t like the Blaze at all because it’s too spicy. I find too frequent love scenes or ones that are too graphic as distracting to the story. I’d rather read a historical. But, I have read a few that are more military inspired, which I do enjoy.
July 16th, 2010 on 10:00 am
I don’t think I have read any of these 3 imprints…I believe the only ones I have read were Harlequin Historicals.
July 16th, 2010 on 9:05 am
I read Harlequin Presents and Silhouette Desire. I like reading about the wealthy hero meeting a smart heroine, but good writing is more important than the plot.
July 16th, 2010 on 8:54 am
As I have always said, “Category Romance Rocks”! It is exactly what you want, just when you want it–most satisfying! There is an amazing range of diverse talent, story lines, and heat levels to be found in “categories”. This has always been true, and I should know since I still collect and read category romance from as far back as the 60’s. “Powerhouse read in a small package” is a good way to describe many of the category romances that I have read. They can be quite intense, but also funny, insightful, suspenseful, touching, memorable and interesting. Harlequin Presents is my favorite category romance line. I call them “the white covers”. I purchase recent releases and also still regularly haunt thrift shops, used book sales, yard sales & etc for book treasures. “Presents” are “heart with heat”. I also read “Blaze” and “Desire”, which are both “heat with heart”.
July 16th, 2010 on 8:13 am
I have read all three imprints and my favorite is Harlequin Blaze. I like hot historical and paranormal stories the best.
July 16th, 2010 on 8:08 am
Presents - the locations. I can travel without leaving the comfort of my couch.
Desire - the characters - how they got to where they are - like the CEO of a company his climb to the top.
Blaze - the passion - the intensity of those scenes.
July 16th, 2010 on 7:58 am
ROMANCE RECIPE:
Throw together: 1 aggressive, hard working male with 1 independent, feisty lady, sparks fly and they spontaneous combust “CHEMISTRY”
For extra flavor: add a few shakes of spicy dialogue with a splash humor, turn up the heat to sizzling.
RESULT a turn your world upside down romance with a HEA !
Guaranteed SUCCESS every time!
I love all three of these category romance lines. The PRESENTS line takes me to exotic, foreign places with billionaires: Greek shipbuilders, desert Sheiks, powerful executives…
Desires and Blazes both feature more intense, sexy situations. Love the chemistry in both. Blazes are a bit hotter and a little longer. I think that they are usually set in the USA.
The heroes range from construction workers, to owners of companies, firefighters, soldiers, policemen.
I like the variety.
I enjoy all 3 !
July 16th, 2010 on 7:23 am
I’ve read all three series my favorite of them is Silhouette Desire, then Harlequin Blaze. I love them because the rich alpha hero is always so hot. Most of the stories just seem to be very fast reads which I love.
July 16th, 2010 on 3:35 am
I’m a fan of the Silhouette Desire line. I love reading about the rich hero who sweeps the heroine off her feet.
July 16th, 2010 on 2:51 am
I think I’ve read all three imprints. I do like that they are shorter so there aren’t any extraneous stuff. Nothing quite like Harlequin Blaze for a quick, hot read.
July 16th, 2010 on 1:55 am
I’ve never thought about these being the shortest categories. That’s probably part of the reason I read from them the most; they don’t take long to read and the story is more intense and focused for being condensed into the shorter length.
Presents will always be my favorite. It gets a bad rap for being over the top, but I consider it modern fantasy. You’ve described it to a “T.”