If you love captivating emotional drama, glamourous international settings with gorgeous, outrageous characters, then Harlequin Presents is the perfect series for you!
Harlequin Presents stories are where over-the-top drama reigns! Everything is dialed up to the max – especially the main characters’ intense emotions. These 50k-word stories are highly couple focused and where luxury oozes in every opulent setting – whether that’s on a wild secluded island, a billionaire’s penthouse, or a royal bedroom.
Readers particularly love the sexy escapism and high sensuality these stories offer – stories that certainly don’t shy away from desire. Think intense attraction, simmering chemistry, with sky-high sexual tension! This is paired with emotional charged drama and delicious, heart-pulsing angst – something our readers just can’t get enough of.
Popular themes in Presents stories include secret babies, marriages of convenience, fake engagements, surprise pregnancies, workplace romances and royalty. However, editors are always on the look out for fresh takes on classic themes and would love to see stories that offer an innovative take. For example, one of our latest Presents acquisitions features a sexy, forced proximity, runaway bride story where the hero and heroine find themselves snowbound in a remote fjord in Norway!
Harlequin is always on the lookout for new talent, and we are actively seeking to acquire romance authors from marginalized or underrepresented groups. We would love to offer our readers more stories which reflect our wonderfully diverse world.
Here are just some examples of the types of stories and characters we are currently looking for:
- We would be thrilled to acquire an emotional and dramatic queer romance for Presents, featuring an Alpha main character. This could be, for example, a billionaire romance featuring two enemy CEO heroes or a sapphic royal story featuring a queen-to-be! We are especially keen to acquire queer love stories written by queer authors
- We are also excited to explore passion and drama through the lens of different cultures and perspectives, with characters from racially and culturally diverse backgrounds
- We are on the lookout for stories with settings that step beyond the familiar and explore fresh, underrepresented places in Presents. For example, a high-stakes romance set in high society Shanghai against a glittering backdrop. Perhaps the hero/heroine is a modern heir to an old-world dynasty?
- We would love to see more stories where disabled characters take centre stage – by authentic voices who can write these characters with depth and agency
Interested in knowing more about Presents? Check out the series spotlight video below with editor Charlotte Ellis
Find the full submission guidelines for Harlequin Presents on Submittable.
Happy Writing!
