ABSTRACT
Publishing over 80 novels in the late 19th century, Laura Jean Libbey produced melodramatic romances of innocent young heroines beset by dangers which are far removed from the sexually explicit encounters of adult women characters in contemporary romances. The decades have changed-and brought changes in the heroes, the heroines, and the perils they confront. But the publication history of Libbey's romances, the host of titles in the numerous series of contemporary romances, and recent signs of the main-streaming of romance by successful writers like Jayne Ann Krentz suggest a continuing focus within the evolution of mass-circulation publishing on a dream of romance fulfilled, even as images of that dream have altered in ways reflecting their eras.