Mills and Boon Brings the Romance to Selfridges

I was a total book geek when I was growing up, I was described by my teacher as always having my nose in a book. During my childhood I consumed books by Enid Blyton, Judy Blume, Rosa Guy and when I hit my teens I yearned for something a bit more mature. This was before Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High came into my life and I needed something to fill the gap, so enter Mills and Boon. This series of books were later mocked by many and deemed sexist but they really set the precedence for modern romantic fiction and what is now called Chick Lit. Mills and Boon are a phenomenon; they have been going since 1908, 130 million titles are sold worldwide each year and in the UK a Mills and Boon book is bought every four seconds. Now you have to admit that is an astounding fact.

So when a press release hit my in-box a few weeks ago informing me about the launch of a Mills and Boon pop-up shop in Selfridges I knew I had to be there. Dubbed The Together Shop, it is hosted in the Wonder Room Concept Store and features old and new Mills and Boons books, vintage artwork as well as cute gifts. The ideology behind the project are two things; to celebrate the launch of RIVA which is a new imprint by Mills and Boon and to to pay homage to Valentine's Day. Fans can purchase titles from the rare first edition  from the 1930s along with the new books. The pop-up store launched last week and what better way to kick off than to get your romantic writer in residence, Heidi Rice to host a series of workshops on romantic writing. She has published four books and she was happy to share her tips on how to write the perfect romance book. I was fortunate to attend one of the sessions and they were very informative and engaging, she talked about her experience in getting published, the painful editing process, where she gets her ideas from and the formula required to write a Mills and Boon book.

The Together Shop at the Wonder Room Concept Store is open till Friday 18th February.

Check out Heidi's website.

Check out a fabulous blog post that Yoruba Girl Dancing wrote about her love for Mills and Boon.