Mills & Boon commissions 10 stories set in UK's most romantic places

Mills & Boon has commissioned 10 short stories to celebrate the UK's most romantic spots.

The HarperCollins romance imprint has teamed with PR agency Taylor Herring to launch a nation-wide summer reading campaign, revealing the top beauty spots with short stories inspired by the areas.

Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, has been revealed as the UK’s most romantic place, followed by Grasmere in the Lake District and Bath. Meanwhile Paris, Santorini in Greece and Venice have been chosen as top romantic destinations overseas. A longlist of places was drawn up by a panel of travel experts from UK travel, news and magazine publications before being whittled down by a national poll of 2,000 people.

Each of the top 10 UK places has now been celebrated in a specially commissioned Mills & Boon short story set in that location. They include "A Scandalous Liaison on Skye" and "A Passionate Portmeirion Proposal", all freely available on the publisher's website. They have been written by local authors with “extensive knowledge of the area” and feature “exclusive” Mills & Boon cover art.

Lisa Milton, the imprint’s executive publisher, said: “With all of us looking for any opportunity to bring a little extra romance into our hectic lives, holidays in these places offer the perfect chance to switch off and rediscover romance.  Readers everywhere can find an instant escape with Mills & Boon - and whether you are reading on holiday or at home, our brand new stories will whisk you away to some of the most romantic places in the UK.”

Mills & Boon relaunched in January, the first facelift for the 110-year-old brand in a decade with sleeker logo and revamped covers, refreshed point-of-sale material, a beefed-up book club and the brand’s first engagement with the blogging community as well as various commercial partnerships. The PR campaign was also managed by London-based Taylor & Herring.