In full bloom

Clare Somerville recounts Mills and Boon's journey of love

Knights, sheikhs and billionaire businessmen with drop-dead killer looks languorously rule these pages. Gorgeous women, who make them go weak in their knees, complete the canvas. The obstacles on their way are namesake and before long passion and love seal their lives.

Mills and Boon novels have squeezed tight this age-old formula for over a century and triumphantly gallop forward. The stories, meanwhile, keep their date with contemporary times; protagonists have grown bolder and dare to venture into territories taboo 50 years ago.

The wiry novels typically with a passionate man and woman on the cover entered the Indian market couple of years ago. “Our India operations have been hugely successful and we have doubled our sales. There is a growing appetite (for M&B),” says Clare Somerville, general manager, India, UK and export sales, Harlequin Mills & Boon, on a visit here.