This year marks 100 years of Mills and Boon, the famous romance book publishers.

Now a subsidiary of Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., the company has grown to become the UK’s undisputed market leader in romance fiction publishing, with a wide following and readership.

Mills and Boon describes its founding back in 1908 :

Since two dashing young entrepreneurs — Gerald Mills and Charles Boon — launched the company in 1908 with just a modest £1,000 [$2000], millions of women across the globe have been entranced by their books, reaching into their handbags or to their bookshelves to spend a few hours transported into a fantasy world of intrigue, danger, passion and romance.

Such is the strength of the brand that in 1982, a Mills and Boon book was added to a time capsule in the grounds of Castle Howard, Yorkshire, to mark the 60th anniversary of the BBC. The capsule contained ‘vital clues of life in 1982 of generations to come’. Also, in 1997 the Oxford English Dictionary added ‘Mills & Boon’ to its esteemed canon — meaning, ‘romantic story book’.

Mills & Boon’s army of dedicated readers know that once they pick a brightly coloured paperback, they will be taken on an easy, thrilling read - with a guaranteed happy ending. Alan Boon, one of the masterminds behind the stylised romances, once declared that the books “could take the place of Valium” - because they are so well known for their restorative quality.

If you want to know how the company grew into such an epic success story, read it on the M&B website.

There must be any number of books, magazine articles and advice columns that help women to understand men but how often do you see anything that tries to help the man? Yet every day you will hear guys admitting that they “just don’t understand women”. Surely there is a gap in the market there.

But do not despair - Dennis W. Needer has written a book entitled Being a Man in a Woman’s World and it is full of advice on how to be successful in your relationships with women.

It covers subjects like “The Test” (something all women give to men, whether they are aware of it or not, apparently), how to meet women, and how to deal with problems in your relationships. Apart from anything else, it is a sure fire winner to leave lying around for her to find and conclude that you are a sensitive guy who wants to know how to treat her better. Of course, you may not have read it, but there’s no need to mention that…

The book is available from Amazon at a mere $13.57 and, if you read it cover to cover and find it works, Mr Needer has already written a follow up, Being a Man in a Woman’s World II. Hey, if it works, don’t stop doing it!