The book reads like a kaleidoscope of (to quote the cover) the fun, quirks and trivia of romance. Good reading companion for gaining insight into the mechanics of romance in novels and the than current publishing era.

A.o. this work (1983) describes the disappearance of the 'old hero and heroine' in favor of 'modern hero and heroine' in harlequin novels and alike, due to the preferences of american reading audiences.
Whereas both old and new hero may be TDH (tall dark handsome) or BBB (bronzed blond beautiful), he is no longer so macho, brutal, moody, mean tempered, nasty like he used to be. New hero can still be gorgeous, rich, confident, and a little older than new heroine, but new hero can also be sensitive, emotional, wrong and sorry for it. The biggest change is that new hero will not grab new heroine the first time he sees her.
New heroine has undergone a change as well. She is no longer 17-year old virgin straight from the cellophane package, but instead may have had boyfriends or even a husband, lives a normal life, has a career/meaningful employment, is in her twenties or thirties, is capable and has opinions of her own. ( )