Harlequin/Silhouette series romances discussion

I think I read my first Harlequin romance in the 60's. I bought the Drummer and the song by Joyce Dingwell for 50cents.(which I still have)

It started my love for romances and I couldn't wait for the new books to come out every month.

I poured over the Betty Neels books and some of my other favorite authors

I was 16 and visiting relatives in South Carolina for the summer. I was at one of my Aunt's house but she had to work. So out of boredom I picked up one of her Harlequin. At the time I wasn't really into reading. The book was called FOR THE LOVE OF GOD by Janet Dailey. I was instantly hooked. The hero was a minister. I couldn't believe it.

I was probably about 16 when my older sister started giving me her old Harlequin Presents. I read my first adult romance book, The King of the Castle by Victoria Holt, the summer before I started high school.

It was in the late 1980's. I grabbed a Harlequin Presents off the bookcase while babysitting and was hooked. I have no idea what the title was or who the author was. I just knew I had to read more. LOL ~ Kim

My grandma let me keep the Harlequin Romance someone left behind on a bus for my trip home the next day. I was 13. I haven't stopped reading them since (and now I WRITE them!!!).

I was in fifth grade, so about ten years old. It was in 2000. My aunt gave it to me. It was a Harlequin Presents, Castles of Sand by Anne Mather.

They used to have the Harlequins for trade at the Library. I read about every book I could get my hand on growing up, and devoured these at well. I was about 12-13 I think.

Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "They used to have the Harlequins for trade at the Library. I read about every book I could get my hand on growing up, and devoured these at well. I was about 12-13 I think."

Harlequin should be proud of the long standing devotions of their fans . many of us have read their books most of our lives

I want to say late 90s. My friend used to read them all the time. Most of the time I looked down on them and then I realized that a lot of my old Nora Roberts books were once part of category romance. Then I was introduced to Long Tall Texans and the rest is history. I have to say that over the years my tastes have changed quite a bit. For the most part unless its an auto-read author I stick to HP or HD. I do remember reading a few in the late 80s that I picked up at the library, but they just didn't interest me in my early teens.

I don't know about the first Harlequin but the first Silhouette I read was a First Love from Silhouette. It was called Kate Herself by Helen Erskine. It was #6. This was 1982 or 83. I was about 12 years old. "Kate" was a little older.

People who diss on romance novels particularly like to snipe and trash Harlequins. But like you said, there are many loyal readers who read them their whole lives. Glad to see there are others out there in this reading community.

I think I was 19 or 20 before I read my first Harlequin. I don't remember which one. I have read them ever since. I particularly like Intrigue and Nocturne.

Unlike most of you gals, I came late to the game. I picked up my first HQ books in the summer of 2003--I was 52. It was my last year of graduate school in French. My head was about to explode with all that boring French literature, so I picked up a couple of Blazes at the grocery store one day: After Hours by Vicki Lewis Thompson and Slippery When Wet by Kristin Hardy. All I can say is WOW!! They were fantastic books. They still are--I'm sitting here looking at them while I type. These books got me hooked on the series romances and I've never looked back. In fact, I just about exclusively read the HQ books. The length suits my attention span and with VERY few exceptions, they have all been fantastic reads. I subscribe to the Harlequin Romantic Suspense line. I also read Blaze, some Desires and some Intrigues. I'm not a fan of the "sweet" romances.

I'm fairly certain that the people who malign the Harlequin romances have never read them. They don't know what they are missing!!

The first time I tried to read a Harlequin, I think I was seven or eight. I wanted to see what my mom and sister were reading. By the time I was eleven, I was reading Harlequins during recess. Twenty-one years later and I am still reading them.

((giggle)))...! Becky U were something else..:D..!

Becky wrote: "The first time I tried to read a Harlequin, I think I was seven or eight. I wanted to see what my mom and sister were reading. By the time I was eleven, I was reading Harlequins during recess. Twen..."

I remember reading one in class in fifth grade.

My mom use to buy them when I was a teenager. I would read hers. Long long time ago.. I would say somewhere around mid 60 to early 70's if I had to guess.

I started reading these books about 40 years ago,was 11. The book was by Nerina Hillaird.Needless to say I was hooked from then on.When the HP line came out,it eas like yeah!!!!!! I remember Anne Mather being risque for the tines and read every one of Janet Dailey's 50 state books.Fond memories.

I bought my first Harlequin (Blaze) book about 10 years. I was doing a graduate program in French, and I just had to read some escapist literature! I'm so glad I picked up that Blaze in the grocery store. LOVE the HQ books. I'll be a reader for life. My favorite lines are Romantic Suspense, Intrigue, Blaze and Desire.

the mid-to-late 1970's. I'm thinking they were called Harlequin Presents and I loved that the settings were all over the world. I believe I was in 8th grade when I started reading them.

1981. I couldn't get enought of Charlotte Lamb, Sally Wentworth and Anne Mather, all through middle school/high school in the early/mid 80s. I took them out of the library 20 at a time. When I started, I'm not sure I realized about the sex! Then spent 25 years ready mainly reading historicals, almost all regency (with a few Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Judith McNaught contemporaries in between). And now I'm back to HPs, have read some 250 just this year!

My first Harlequin was "Such is Love" by Mary Burchell, (Harlequin Presents #111), which I bought back in 1975 in the book section of the (now-defunct) department store, Sterns. A lovely story, and I've been hooked on Harlequins ever since!

I was in the sixth grade, early 70's. My aunts and grandmother would write "ok for Angi" if they thought they were appropriate. I adored Barbara Cartland. I've read Harlequins ever since and now I write for the Intrigue line.