Centenary

With hundreds of millions of books sold Mills & Boon® is proud to celebrate 100 years of pure reading pleasure!

1900s

Mills & Boon Limited began as a general fiction publisher. Early authors
included P.G.Wodehouse and Jack London. Georgette Heyer was launched as a romantic fiction author paving the way for the company's later specialisation.

1920s

1920s The First World War stimulated the desire to "escape" with a good book and the demand for Mills & Boon novels was up, mainly from libraries.

1930s

During the Depression years, reading became the favourite form of escapism and romantic novels were in great demand. Mills & Boon concentrated on hardback romances which, due to their distinctive brown binding, became known as "the books in brown".

1940s

World War II made the demand for romantic fiction stronger than ever. Mills & Boon authors were influenced by the times, with heroes in the services and heroines joining the war effort.

1950s

In the 50s Mills & Boon novels swung away from the harsh realities of the war to escapist-fantasy. The demand for romance novels was insatiable.

1960s

Sex between husbands and wives was commonplace in Mills & Boon novels, though it was more euphemistic than explicit in its description. The company now published eight titles a month.

1970s

The Canadian company Harlequin and Mills & Boon merged and the world became aware of romantic fiction as a literary force. The genre responded by taking on a more realistic and readily identifiable profile.

1980s

There was open sexual awareness as heroes and heroines faced more emotional than external obstacles on the path to fulfilment. By the end of the decade six different Mills & Boon romance series had been established.

1990s

Mills & Boon novels ranged from compelling romances with international settings to sensual, racy books. Heroines were as liberated as they chose to be and more assertive in their attitude to men. By the same token, the assumption that the hero was Prince Charming had gone − they had to earn the respect of their heroine!

Twenty First Century

Mills & Boon has been part of Britain's staple literary diet during the 20th century and currently publishes over 60 romance titles every month. We're proud of our 100 years of publishing excellence, which wouldn't have been achieved without the loyalty and enthusiasm of our authors, readers, retailers and librarians.