Tearing Through Corsets Likes So Much Wrapping Paper

Decades of beefcakes, bodices and Harlequin romances - CNN.com: "As sort of a 60th anniversary gift to its faithful readers, Harlequin is displaying original artwork for its covers in an New York exhibit called 'The Heart of a Woman: Harlequin Cover Art 1949-2009.'"

"And before you sniff disdainfully at romance novel art, be reminded: That artwork sells a lot of books. Romance fiction is responsible for $1.375 billion in book sales every year, according to Romance Writers of America. The organization says more than a quarter of all books sold are romance novels, satisfying 51 million readers every year...."

"Many early Harlequin covers, like that of Elizabeth Houghton's Island Hospital, in which a man, woman and grizzly bear stand poised in confrontation, depict more than one (fully clothed) character in the crux of a suspenseful moment."

"'You don't know, is the couple going to get together? Is the hero going to save the heroine? The happy ending is not on the cover,' [Elizabeth] Semmelhack explained."

Forget the heroine. With a book cover like that, the only question I'd have is "What happens to the bear?" Wild grizzlies are a significantly underrepresented demographic in modern romance novels. I can picture it now, a special category of romance with titles like Sweet Like Honey Matted in Your Fur and Time Enough for Hibernation. Rawr.