Speed Reading: Cheeseball NASCAR romance novel covers we can't help but love
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Harlequin NASCAR romance novels - Click above for cover gallery
Perhaps more than any other motorsports series, NASCAR is renowned for its marketing prowess, with branded merchandise efforts in virtually every segment of the consumer world, from t-shirts to beverages to vacuum cleaners. Back in late 2005, we first told you about the series' foray into the world of romance novels, and apparently it's been quietly chugging along since then, adding new titles ripe with double-entendres and libidinous scenarios of loves found and lost in the world of roundy-round racing.
Given the (apparently) burgeoning Harlequin romance series and the possibility of amusingly breathless texts like:
The image of Josh James stared down at her from the lofty heights of his souvenir rig, plastered across a ten-by-twenty strip to the left of a portable store's open window. Josh's arms were crossed, his shoulders thrown back, a haughty look of disdain on his face as he stared down at lesser mortals, i.e. herself. He wore a red uniform, a color that would have looked silly on most men, but Callie had to admit, looked great on Mr. James. Gorgeous blue eyes stood out like twin neon signs, high cheekbones set off a masculine chin, one that was really, truly square, and had a tiny cleft in the center. The lower half of his face was covered with a five-o'clock shadow, one that matched his jet black hair.(Excerpt from Slow Burn by Pamela Britton)
... well, we couldn't pass up revisiting the series for your enjoyment. Whether you're looking for some summer beach reading or just a good laugh, we've compiled a gallery of some of the best titles in the series for your viewing pleasure below.
Gallery: Harlequin NASCAR romance novels
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[Sources: eHarlequin; PamelaBritton.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9600baud 3:06PM (7/06/2009)
I'm confused, is this real or a joke? I guess if you have to ask its better to not know...
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tuna 3:06PM (7/06/2009)
Nascar fans can read?
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ronEbear 3:33PM (7/06/2009)
No, but apparently their wives can. Which begs the questions:
Who marries, and stays married to a NASCAR fan?
Were these books created as a means to trick your wife into thinking that NASCAR lore is filled with chivalry and admiration towards women?
Were these books written to debunk the apparent homo-eroticism present in activities where men admire other men for doing something as mundane as manipulating a gas, brake and steering wheel in the same direction for hours and hours and hours and hours....
tuna 3:40PM (7/06/2009)
"for hours and hours and hours and hours...."
No, that would be sports car endurance racing. NASCAR races don't last that long... or is it because I'm asleep by the first 5 min?
Ben Poese 3:09PM (7/06/2009)
-50 man points for whoever admitted to finding this.
and -100 man points for Chris for posting this.
sorry... had to be said.
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Erik 3:33PM (7/06/2009)
And -1000 man points for Ken Casper, who wrote the second to last book pictured. That had better be a pen name, I couldn't imagine any man owning up to writing one of these.
Aki 3:20PM (7/06/2009)
Ugh, out of morbid curiosity I read the excerpts... blows my mind how anybody can get any pleasure out of this rhetorical dreck. I guess it's too easy to fit innuendos of admiring her body lines, revving her engine... these things write themselves, hahah.
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Rich 3:21PM (7/06/2009)
Did you ever download the free BMW audio books? They were hilarious.
Rich 3:20PM (7/06/2009)
The FIA will be releasing its Gestapo-bondage themed novels shortly.
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gefinley 3:29PM (7/06/2009)
As long as they get a better writer than the third-graders writing this I won't care.
Redline 4:08PM (7/06/2009)
Harley Davidson will probably be following with their own line up pretty soon...
meshies 3:30PM (7/06/2009)
I know I'm not the only one that felt the awkward-uncomfortable feeling when looking at this mess.
Is this foreal?
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dukeisduke 3:53PM (7/06/2009)
Those guys look too chiseled and perfect to have anything to do with NA$CAR. And yes, they are real. More $$$ for Brian France.
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bearpaws 3:55PM (7/06/2009)
For all of the previous posts. Try treating your wife/girl/boyfriend with the lust and desire you show toward your car. You might find something else to do when the race is rained out.
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Redeemed 3:58PM (7/06/2009)
Great.....another excuse for the ill tempered here to hate on something.
3 things are certain in life. Death, taxes, and hate on Autoblog.
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13enS 5:10PM (7/06/2009)
For everything to love, there is something to hate...
....these just jumped up the list. lol
John P. 4:17PM (7/06/2009)
Other car racing series only wish they were popular enough to be able to pedal such junk. Personally I think these fit the demographic about perfectly and think it's a stroke of genius by Nascar.
If I was Nascar I'd start selling Men's Pajamas that look exactly like the racing uniforms the drivers wear. The wives can then fantasize when reading the book, and be ready for when their Lazy-Boy husband finally turns off the race on tv and comes upstairs.
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Rocketboy 4:17PM (7/06/2009)
Wait, what?
And does the guy always lean to the left?
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David 4:20PM (7/06/2009)
My wife works at the library and tells that there are terrible, terrible titles in the romance genre. There's junk like - The Italian Boss's Virgin Wife or Hard and Fast.
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LoneWolf 4:40PM (7/06/2009)
I bet these books are a lot better than the countless ones from TV Starlets, Moderators and such....
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