The world’s number one romance publisher Mills & Boon has undergone its first major re-brand in over a decade and is set to seduce a new generation of romance fans with its latest line of novels.
Featuring strong female leads, the new series, ‘DARE’, consists of four novels that have thrown the old romance rule book out of the window to become the most explicit series yet.
The first book in the new series, ‘Off Limits’, is penned by Australian author Clare Connelly, who chatted exclusively to Daily Mail Australia about her role in the refreshing new romance series.
Australia’s top romance publisher Mills & Boon is seducing a new generation of romance fans with a new romance series for the modern world (pictured)
Mills & Boon has also released a brand new titillating game for readers called ‘Do you DARE?’ (pictured)
‘These books sizzle with glamour, passion and seduction…They are perfect escapist fantasies,’ one of the authors explained
‘We aren’t afraid to push the envelope and fuel a reader’s imagination. Women in these books know they can have it all and they do what it takes to get it,’ she shared.
‘I’m thrilled to be part of a refreshing new romance series that encapsulates the 21st-century woman’s desires, and encourages women to embrace their sexual fantasies. DARE brings a woman’s passions and pleasures to the fore in the same way Sex and the City did for a whole generation.’
Ms Connelly continued, ‘These books sizzle with glamour, passion and seduction and yet they also have the kind of realism that makes them relatable, perfect escapist fantasies.’
Perfect for a light read, DARE features fast-paced plots that will whisk readers away to a world of love, lust and passion, in exotic locations from Paris and New York to Hawaii and the Caribbean.
DARE turns classic romance clichés on their head, written for today’s women by today’s women. The new series isn’t what is expected from Mills & Boon, and certainly isn’t the stereotypical Mills & Boon mothers and grandmothers once read.
‘I was hooked from the minute they spoke about the premise,’ Ms Connelly revealed.
‘It’s what we need now: 21st century romance that will capture a whole new market of romance readers.’
The first book in the new Mills & Boon series ‘Off Limits’ (pictured right) is penned by Australian author, Clare Connelly (pictured left)
‘We aren’t afraid to push the envelope and fuel a reader’s imagination,’ Ms Connelly revealed
Ms Connelly, now 35, doesn’t just write about women who go after what they want – she is one. When she wrote her first manuscript at age 15, she was devastated to learn that it was rejected.
But as a published romance author with a four-book deal with Mills & Boon two decades later, she’s truly the embodiment of a woman fighting for what she wants.
Ms Connelly is thrilled to see female protagonists finally placed in roles where they’re not afraid to go after what they want with confidence and a sexual assertiveness traditionally reserved for male romance heroes.
‘My debut book and a lot of my books are about imperfect love, and how it doesn’t always look like what you think it will,’ she shared.
‘Women in these books know they can have it all and they do what it takes ‘ said Ms Connelly
The fun and revealing game includes tantalising questions to stimulate intimate conversation
‘My characters come with baggage and a backstory… It’s about fighting through that and falling in love even when you didn’t think you could.’
But the books aren’t just about romance – they also sizzle with hot, steamy sex scenes that offer hours of escapism with women who aren’t afraid to reach for what they want with both hands:
‘All my books feature strong and empowered heroines, sexy sex scenes and contemporary romance with high heat level,’ Ms Connelly added.
Ms Connelly also reminded readers to remember that the books are romance novels, so the sex takes place within a romantic landscape.
‘The book was a total joy to write and I hope readers will fall in love with the characters the way I have,’ she added.
Mills & Boon has created and launched a brand new titillating card game called ‘Do You DARE?’
To celebrate the launch, Mills & Boon has also created a brand new titillating card game called ‘Do You DARE?’.
‘The ‘Do You DARE?’ card game represents the fun, fearless and in-control modern woman, which readers have been crying out for,’ Mills & Boon editorial director Joanne Grant said.
The fun and revealing game includes fifty tantalising questions to stimulate an intimate conversation, helping players to reveal their innermost thoughts and fantasies on romance and sex.
The game is designed to be played by two players for a revealing experience, or with friends for a fun night in.
The game is designed to be played by two players for a revealing experience, or with friends (pictured)
The ‘Do You DARE?’ game asks intimate questions such as, ‘How important is foreplay to you?’
The ‘Do You DARE’ game encourages players to engage with and read excerpts from the books
‘DARE also plays into the new escapism of minimal mindfulness, rather than having to plan ahead to do a yoga or Pilates class, it’s simpler and cheaper to pick up a book and escape into your imagination,’ Ms Grant added.
The game is designed to cheekily reflect the content of the new series, from billionaire boss fantasies, to favourite foreplay moves and the wildest thing done in or out of the bedroom.
Daily Mail Australia also chatted to New Zealand author, JC Harroway, who echoed Ms Connelly’s sentiments about female DARE protagonists not needing men to save or complete them.
DARE features fast-paced plots that will whisk readers away to a world of love, lust and passion
New Zealand author JC Harroway (left) is the author of the DARE novel ‘A Week To Be Wild’ (right)
‘For me the best thing about the DARE series is that it features exactly the kind of stories I love to read,’ JC Harroway told Daily Mail Australia. ‘And writing them is just as much fun.’
Her first novel, ‘A Week To Be Wild’, is a sexy, passionate and bold tale with an an intense and passionate love story at its heart.
‘DARE heroines are the kind of women we want as friends—strong, independent, intelligent and driven,’ Ms Harroway said.
‘They know what they want and they are not afraid to go out and get it. A DARE heroine doesn’t need a man to complete her, but if she wants one as an equal partner, then that’s her prerogative.’
As with all great romance, the journey that hero and heroine take together is fraught with real world issues, but it’s a journey that leads to a happy ever after. It’s a steamy, explicit, escapist romance for today’s woman.
The books hope to open up the iconic publisher to an entirely new audience
But although she’s always been a creative person, Ms Harroway didn’t always want to be a writer.
‘The first attempts [at writing] weren’t pretty….But then I had a new [story] my head, one that wouldn’t go away. One day, a fellow member of a reading group I was part of told me I should ‘just write it’. So I did.
‘That first finished manuscript, took me three months to write and then another twelve months to re-write…I think if I’d known how little I knew about writing when sat down to write that complete story, I’d have been far too intimidated to finish it.
‘But as someone wise once said, you can’t edit a blank page.’
The Kiwi author has already penned two more titles for DARE – Her Dirty Little Secret and One Night Only – so readers of DARE can expect plenty more of her signature style.
Sure to spice up your reading experience, four Mills & Boon novels will be published per month
‘Legal Seduction’ and ‘Ruled’ are out this month, along with ‘Off Limits’ and ‘Born to be Wild’
Sure to spice up reading experiences and conversations in 2018, four Mills & Boon DARE novels will be published each month, in print and eBook formats, in Australia and New Zealand.
The first four titles are available at BIG W, Kmart, Target for RRP AUD $7.99 in paperback, as well as in ebook format for $2.99.
The ‘Do You DARE’ card game will be available through the Mills & Boon Facebook page and exclusively to download for free online at www.millsandboon.com.au.