As part of a push to publish a greater diversity of modern and commercial love stories, Harlequin has announced that its flagship romance imprint HQN Books will be renamed Canary Street Press. The imprint's focus is still on romance, said Harlequin representatives in a release, but its intent is to explore more versions of “happy ever after.”

“The Canary Street Press name was inspired by the Canary District, an historic area in downtown Toronto that has undergone a renewal” explained Harlequin editorial director Susan Swinwood. The district exemplifies “a modern, revitalized community with a rich heritage,” and that is what Canary wants to be for its longtime readership and the next generation of romance enthusiasts, she explained. Harlequin, though part of HarperCollins since 2014, remains based in Toronto.

Canary will publish titles in mass market paperbacks as well as trade and hardcover formats. The new imprint will launch in February 2023 with Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher—a collection of three stories that will be published as one printed volume for the first time. Titles scheduled for a summer 2023 release include include Even If the Sky is Falling, Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up, The Secret to a Southern Wedding, and Exes and Prose. The imprint will publish around 40 to 50 titles a year.

“Canary Street Press will be a destination imprint for romance of all kinds,” said ​​Loriana Sacilotto, executive v-p and publisher of Harlequin Trade Publishing (HTP Books), in a statement about the name change. She explained that the publisher is adding “new and fresh voices” to its existing author list as it focuses on bringing new readers to the romance genre.

See below for a description of Canary’s upcoming titles:

  • Never Never (2/28/23) – available for the first time in print – is "a dark, twisty romance about two soulmates trying to find their way back to each other, and the secrets that stand in their way, will leave readers breathless and believing in the power of love."
  • Even If the Sky is Falling (5/30/23) is an anthology, of six stories "by some of the industry’s most exciting Black and brown romance writers including Taj McCoy, Farah Heron, Lane Clarke (writing as S.T. Cori), Charish Reid, Sarah Smith, and Denise Williams."
  • Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up (6/6/23) by Charish Reid "is a witty, contemporary love story with high emotional stakes and a multicultural cast."
  • The Secret to a Southern Wedding (7/19/23) is the first book in Synithia Williams’s new Peachtree Cove series, "filled with southern charm, good friends and bad decisions."
  • Exes and Prose (7/25/23) is the sophomore romcom from Erin LaRosa, "a friends (with benefits)-to-lovers story about a romance author who's never been in love."