by Roni Gehlke

Created on: February 19, 2009

With nearly 40 percent of NASCAR fans being women, Harlequin couldn't go wrong when they started their NASCAR romance series in February 2007. The original idea was to feature three books at a time, every few months, for a year. The romance novels became so popular Harlequin decided to continue the series indefinitely. This month Harlequin is opening the series further by adding a little mystery and intrigue.

The fun part about these Harlequin books is that they are completely sanctioned by NASCAR. Many of the authors of the stories researched a lot of first hand details about the sport from those immediately involved. This is great for NASCAR fans because they work hard to keep the information from the sport angle of the story as accurate as possible.

The fictional romance part of the stories feature people involved in different aspects of the NASCAR world. There have been stories about the drivers, car owners, public relations people and even physical therapists that work with the crews and drivers.

While the romance stories are nice, the inside look at NASCAR itself is what has been paramount to the stories. Recent authors of the series have started to change the format of the stories moving it a little further away from the sport alone and adding more outside influences to their subject.

In true life families have always been emphasized in the sport of race car driving. One of the most fascinating aspects is that family dynasties are built around the sport. Whether it's behind the wheel, in the garage or ownership of cars, the love of racing has been passed down from father to son (or daughter). Harlequin authors didn't miss that connection when writing up their stories based around sport.

The next 16 books of the series will feature the same NASCAR theme, but the stories now include a murder, kidnapped babies and mysteries. The most recent book Scandals and Secrets by Ken Casper started off the month providing readers with a glimmer of what is to come.

The book begins at the infamous NASCAR awards banquet, beginning where the last book left off when Dean Grosso won the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Immediately after the dinner Grosso's race-car-owner is killed. What is to be believed as a mugging may be more sinister.

A few new NASCAR families are introduced in Scandals and Secrets giving viewers a look at some of the new characters they will be reading about in the next few books. This story centers on the Sanford family. The three brothers have grown up in the NASCAR

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