“Have you read Mills & Boon ?”. A friend once asked me. “No,” I said. Surprised she looked. “Really!. Never.”

“Yes. Really,” I said.

Apparently, the stories to do with romance were earlier restricted to fairytale and classics. And there was Shakespeare. But I swear upon Jane Austen, and Pride and Prejudice will always be my favourite.

Much later in life, the same friend decided to lend me a romance-fiction from her Mills & Boon collection. As a reminder, she insisted on the works of Betty Neels, Anne Hampson, Helen Brooks, and Penny Jordan. Treading through the names, soon I found myself on reading-date with an endless list of authors!

As a matter of fact, I went to the second hand bookstores in search of earlier editions of Mills & Boon. I had taken a liking to reading those descriptive and expressive clean romances. All the more, it was a deliberate choice, because I could feel the authors in their work.

They did complete justice to their writing.

It was never those casual meandering with words, but complete involvement, exploring the emotions and lives of people. The best part is, I could enjoy every single element – visualise the people and places, understand the emotions and sentiments, relish the flow of words, and know the mind of authors.

Little wonder, Mills & Boon has grown to become the undisputed leaders in romance and fiction writing.

More recently, I got introduced to the works of American author Nicholas Sparks. Wonder how well an author can understand love in its various shades, stages of life, and the spiritual meaning to the word itself.

Indeed, love is an emotion beyond words. Indeed, the new generation authors have  different perspectives to love. Nevertheless, romance and love will work its way into the hearts of audiences across the globe.

My search for the old copies of Mills & Boon continues.