"She ran her hands over him, loving the feel of him. Elation was sweeping through her, the ecstasy of his kisses sending a fever through her blood and leaving her heady with desire - a desire that seemed altogether familiar all at once. She needed him, wanted him."
The Honourable Army Doc by Emily Forbes is one of the latest fictions from the house of Mills & Boon, the biggest publisher of romance novels in the world.
Derided by many for being low brow or trashy, there's no denying that M&B novels are popular.
The brand, which is celebrating its 40 year anniversary in Australia and New Zealand this Valentine's Day, sold over 100 million books in 2013.
That equates to four books every second.
The company, founded in 1908 by Gerald Mills and Charles Boon, has entertained, comforted and served as pick-me-ups for millions of women across the globe.
Such is the strength of the brand that in 1997 the Oxford English Dictionary added M&B to its esteemed canon - meaning, romantic story book.
Since the first M&B romance novel was published - Arrows from the Dark by Sophie Cole in 1908 - the encounters between heroes and heroines have evolved from innocent, breathless romantic trysts to raunchier romps and eventually to graphic porn, to compete with the popularity of books such as Fifty Shades of Grey.
This ability to adapt to the needs and desires of the modern woman is at the heart of the brand's success, says Michelle Laforest from Harlequin Enterprises, which publishes the M&B brand.
"M&B editorial has grown and changed to reflect the shifts in attitude to romance and sexuality, from the impact of sexual liberation to fantasies of exotic locations," she says.
Despite the M&B heroine growing to be more strong and autonomous, one notion has stayed the same through the years - desire for true love, says author Melanie Milburne.
"The reality is we all want to be loved and we all want to love," says the Tasmanian based author.
"That experience is so wonderful and that's one of the reasons women read romance."
Milburne has been a dedicated reader of M&B for decades because she enjoys the easy, thrilling read - with a guaranteed happy ending.
She's currently writing her 58th M&B novel and her characters reflect the current values and actions of contemporary society.
"It's really important to me that that comes across.
"The characters will have sex before marriage - not all of them but they generally do.
"And women having a career that they don't want to give up, that's important.
"In the past the heroines were less career driven and some people could have said they were weak, pushed around."
Each month, M&B publish 50 new titles, with manuscripts from 200 authors living in the UK and a further 1,300 worldwide.
Besides the erotic novels detailing toe-curling sex, the brand has a range of products that are targeted to various tastes.
The "Blaze" series features "couples in contemporary romantic relationships embarking on sexual adventures"; "Medical" is full of glamorous young nurses and doctors; and Super-romance are "realistic and passionate" novels that are longer and more involved.
The next new series is Nocturne, based on supernatural passions, which have titles like A Hunter's Passion and Claimed by a Vampire.
Judging by the popularity of the genre, there's no doubt readers will be keen to sink their teeth into the latest offerings.
