Harlequin Romance (M&B True Love) – 50,000 words

ALL ABOUT HARLEQUIN ROMANCE

Harlequin Romance stories are all about real, relatable and strong, deeply desirable characters experiencing the intensity, anticipation and sheer rush of falling in love. Get swept away by these emotional, glamorous and uplifting romances!


Key Elements

  • A Harlequin Romance novel focuses on the romantic journey of the couple, where the reader feels they are walking in their shoes and experiencing the highs and lows towards the happy ever after.
  • The key to a Harlequin Romance heroine is that she's real and down to earth. She's one the reader can believe in, relate to and root for!
  • We need a hero we can immediately trust, who is worthy of the heroine. Not all our heroes are super rich international tycoons (although some might be!) but they’re successful in their own right and should be a strong man our heroine would aspire to be with. 
  • We are also happy to see LGBTQ+ romances  that deliver the same feel of sweep you away romances in wonderful locations around the world. Glamorous, international settings are encouraged and work well to add the aspirational element to our romances.
  • We welcome protagonists from all backgrounds and nationalities.
  • NEW Level of Sensuality: High sensual tension, matched with high emotional connection. While these stories do not have graphic sexual detail, we welcome scenes that go beyond the bedroom door to explore the emotional fulfillment that comes with sexual intimacy.
  • Captivating internal emotional conflicts that will sustain the story over the course of 50,000 words.
  • Couple-focused with minimal secondary characters to generate emotional depth and intensity.
  • Delivers contemporary, fresh takes on classic romance themes.
  • This is the home of feel-good, entertaining and fresh paced romance.
  • While these romances are tender stories, it doesn’t mean they can’t be edge-of-the-seat exciting! Throw your reader straight into the story!


Featured in Harlequin Romance

Some of our most popular storylines include: Cinderella (rags-to-riches), convenient marriages, runaway brides, weddings, pregnancy, secret babies, billionaires & millionaires, royalty, aristocracy, working together, falling for the boss, couples reunited, friends to lovers, amnesia, single dads, seasonal (e.g. Christmas and summer). Harlequin Romance no longer features small town and Western settings or cowboy and military protagonists.


What to Submit

  • Your first three chapters.
  • A 3-5 page synopsis describing your story, including plot outline, character development and conflict resolution/ending.


Harlequin Romance is…

One Fine Day for its warmth and tear jerking properties, The Notebook for its emotional depth, The Vow for its emotional conflicts, Dear John for its focus on the central relationship, Life as We Know It, The Proposal and The Back-Up Plan for their fresh storylines.


We are actively seeking to acquire authors from underrepresented backgrounds and nationalities to reflect our diverse global readership. If you feel that’s you, and you have a story to tell that features the key elements above, then we would love to read it! 


The Editorial Team

Senior Editor: Sheila Hodgson

Editor: Megan Haslam

Editorial Assistant: Jenny Macey


Editorial Office: London, UK


Follow us on Twitter! @SheilaHodgsonMR @HaslamMegan @JennyMacey22

N.B. Please note that as per current editorial policy we ask that you do not submit more than one manuscript at a time for our consideration. Please be patient and wait for feedback before submitting your next project.

As with all Harlequin series, we read all submissions and you do not need to have an agent to submit.

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
Create Your Account Have An Account? Sign In