You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO comes from Molly, who is looking for a Christmas romance from the 80s. Aw yeah.
I know some SBTBer will know this 1980s Christmas romance that takes place at the mall. Because THE 80s.
It’s a category–I thought it was the very first Harlequin American, but 1) the timeline doesn’t match; and 2) I looked those up by number and it’s not. I got it free in the mail in the fall of 1988. I think it said it was for a new line that was being launched (that’s why it doesn’t fit Harlequin American, which launched much earlier). I thought it was by a Rebecca, but haven’t found anything like it by Winters or Flanders.
Anyway, it’s a Christmas romance that takes place largely at a shopping mall. The heroine works at an independent store (she might even own it) that isn’t doing very well and might have to go out of business. Then the owner of the mall, whose name is Adrian (oh, the 80s!) and who wears things like cashmere coats and loafers and drives a great 80s car (a BMW? A Porsche?) comes along and saves the store and marries her. Come to think of it, it sounds a little like You’ve Got Mail.
This has been bothering me for quite a while. I loved this book at the time, and I can’t imagine how it worked with a mall as the setting, but somehow it did. I think there were also some scenes at Adrian’s sprawling family estate. I seem to recall a sleigh ride. Basically, it was my 1988 fantasy, since I was fresh out of college and working a barely minimum-wage job in a town with a sizable contingent of men who wore cashmere coats and loafers and drove BMWs and had lawns that would totally accommodate at least a short sleigh ride. I hope someone remembers this title.
Thanks!!
Is there a subset of romances that take place at the mall? Because it seems like that would be a thing.
Do you recognize this very 80s romance?
Could it be one of the romances on this list? http://www.romancewiki.com/Harlequin_Romance_Subscription_1_-_100
Bonus: #16 is the old SBTB friend, A Flaunting Cactus!
Really? There was an 80s romance author named Mons? Wow, I missed a lot in the 80s. At least I got to snort-laugh today.
I so read this! Ummm… alas, I’m at work, and my shelves are at home. I can’t remember if I’ve kept it, either. Will hunt
I think it’s Afterglow by Rebecca Flanders. Can’t do a link, but it was an unnumbered Harlequin American Romance, which the publisher gave out as a promotion and gift to subscribers. So yeah, branded as an American Romance, but also not quite part of the line.
OK, here’s the link:
http://www.fictiondb.com/author/rebecca-flanders~afterglow~13008~b.htm
OMG. I have to read this. Christmas tropes are my catnip!
Wow, that was fast! Yes, I’m pretty sure it was Afterglow. I don’t remember the part about jail, but I do remember that his full name was Adrian Wesley, and that her name was Sandy. Thanks, AnAu!!!!!!
y’all are amazin’ … love the 80s–didn’t we all know guys like that
Is anyone else picturing every character and setting in this book as being from the “Let’s Go To The Mall” music video?