News historical romance Harlequin Is Ending Its Historical Romance Line After Nearly 40 Years The publisher’s decision to end its historical romance line in 2027 comes on the heels of controversial changes to its international publishing tactics By Matthew Byrd | Published on February 11, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share Reactor has learned that publisher Harlequin Enterprises plans to shut down its historical romance line. Founded in 1949, Harlequin quickly established itself as one of the biggest publishers of romance novels in the world. The company led a boom period for romance novel publications throughout the 1960s, and notably launched a major expansion into European markets throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Launched in 1988, the Harlequin Historical line has long been part of the company’s growth and cultural presence. Its titles helped establish the line as one of the premier sources for romance stories set in various historical periods. Such works have become closely associated with the rise of romance novels in global culture. Though Harlequin Historical has drastically limited the distribution of its physical works in the U.S. beginning in the late 2010s, it remained a significant part of the publisher’s international presence, especially after 2014 when Harlequin was acquired by HarperCollins and its parent company, News Corp. Now, though, the line is coming to an end. According to a recent email Harlequin sent to its authors (which was also published on the company’s Authors’ Network), Harlequin is shutting down its Historical line in September 2027 (though the spines of titles published at that time will list October 2027). The move includes ceasing U.S. and U.K. retail efforts as well as digital publishing related to the line in those markets. The company reportedly will not acquire any new works for the line moving forward. An author familiar with the line informed us that Harlequin’s Historical Romance program has suffered through steady reductions over the past several years, including reduced retail presence, narrowed genre focus, and fewer monthly releases. As recently as last year, their move to Regency/Victorian-only titles was presented as a stabilization strategy, and the line was still actively acquiring books under those guidelines. The author says the subsequent decision to end U.S./U.K. retail and digital publishing came as a surprise. While Harlequin will stop acquiring new historical romances, the author suggests the company plans to continue exploiting foreign language rights in markets where historical titles remain strong, and to publish the already contracted works through the planned shutdown period. We have reached out to Harlequin for further information regarding this decision, but have not received a response as of the time of this writing. Harlequin’s success in international markets (including the international success of its historical romance line) has certainly been a big part of the company’s recent history. In a 2014 press release from HarperCollins regarding their acquisition of Harlequin, it was noted that the publisher hoped their acquisition would “extend HarperCollins’ global platform, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific, helping to fuel its international growth strategy.” In a New Yorker piece published that same year, author Adrienne Raphel noted that Harlequin’s industry presence had declined in more recent years, but that the publisher still had a “strong international presence” that offered a “foothold into digital and international markets that HarperCollins and News Corp. will be able to exploit.” Earlier this year, the company faced criticism over reported experimentation with AI-assisted translation tools after cutting ties with some contracted translators in France. While Harlequin has not publicly linked these moves, taken together they suggest a broader shift toward lowering production costs while maintaining revenue streams from established catalog titles abroad. The company’s recent decision to shutter its previously successful Historical line raises further questions about the future direction of the imprint. We’ll be sure to update you regarding this story as new information becomes available.[end-mark] The post Harlequin Is Ending Its Historical Romance Line After Nearly 40 Years appeared first on Reactor.