Real men don’t pose for the cover of a Harlequin romance. And that’s something the publisher wants to change.
Representatives of Harlequin Enterprises, the world’s biggest publisher of romance novel series, inspected the assets of about 200 men who lined up at a Toronto casting house on Saturday to prove they could flutter readers’ hearts better than professional models.
”We’re looking for some guys that are not your usual models, but have that iconic look that women go for — sexy, sensitive, beautiful and fit,” said Harlequin spokesperson Marleah Stout, who attended the open casting.
”We want real men … exactly what you think in your mind when you’re fantasising or imagining that ideal man.”
Toronto-based Harlequin, a division of newspaper group Torstar, sold 131-million books in 94 countries last year. It estimates that a third of American women have read at least one of its titles. – Reuters