Apparently there’s more bodice-ripping going on in Montlake than we ever knew.

Amazon.com is expanding its publishing business with a new line of romance novels under the “Montlake Romance” imprint, named after the upscale Seattle neighborhood. It’s part of a broader push by the Seattle-based online retailer into the business of publishing books, not just selling them. It’s also part of a trend in which Amazon is increasingly competing with its own suppliers, as noted in this Wall Street Journal piece this afternoon.

Explains Amazon in a news release …

Montlake Romance takes its name from the central Seattle neighborhood of Montlake, and will publish a broad range of front list titles in popular romance sub-genres, including romantic suspense and contemporary and historic romance novels, as well as fantasy and paranormal. The new imprint joins AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing and Powered by Amazon as part of the Amazon Publishing family. Montlake Romance books will be available to North American readers in Kindle, print and audio formats at www.amazon.com, as well as at national and independent booksellers.

The first book to be published under the imprint will be Connie Brockway’s “The Other Guy’s Bride” this fall.

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