The information for this index was compiled from various online sources like FictionDB, the Catalog of Copyright Entries, the Internet Archive, Goodreads, Publishers Weekly, eBay and Amazon, and listings that appeared in the books themselves. Despite the uniform cover design, the books were not numbered aside from Pocket Books' general ISBN numbers, so I've included those numbers below which helps to keep them in (somewhat) chronological order. This list is not 100% accurate, so there are some anomalies here and there, and probably some omissions. But as far as I know it's the only list available for Gallen Romance titles.
In his book Publishing Romance: The History of an Industry, 1940s to the Present, John Markert writes that "between 1977 and 1978," Richard Gallen "packaged a line of sensual historicals for Dell," and that Judy Sullivan became editor-in-chief of the Gallen romance line shortly before Gallen left Dell for Pocket Books. The earliest Pocket Books books from Gallen are from October 1979. I've not been able to definitely identify any Dell books that Gallen produced before that; possibly they lacked a uniform cover design for the line like the Pocket Books ones had, making them less identifiable at a glance. I did notice that in a Dell/Bryans book, Barbary Bounty by Melissa Masters (May 1980), the author dedicated the book to [among others] "Jim Bryans, and Richard Gallen, who weathered the storm." Jim Bryans was, like Gallen, someone who packaged novels for publishers like Dell. (An article in the December 13, 1981 New York Times noted that "Gallen owns a share of Bryans Books, distributed by Dell, and Tor Books, distributed by Pinnacle.") To explain why he was involved in "all phases of publishing except distribution," Gallen admitted that "I feel sick when I see books come back unsold.''
The June 11, 1979 issue of Publishers Weekly ran the following item about the forthcoming Gallen romance line. The first two books in the line were Rosewood and The Enchantress, published in October 1979.
Another article in the same issue had this to say about Gallen's covers: "The most outrageous examples are the Gallen historicals where, against black backgrounds and white embossed titles with gold in-lines, Harry Bennett's wildly erotic, complicated paintings -- reminiscent of Gustave Moreau and the 19th Century Decadents -- display nudity, hints of sexual variations and visions apparently more attuned to Baudelaire and the absinthe drinkers than to a housewife in Dubuque." Per Sullivan: "You can tell from the amount of cleavage on our covers how much sex each book contains."
According to that issue of Publishers Weekly, "Gallen Books sell an average of 120,000 copies on a print run of 200,000 to 250,000 copies. Advances can vary from $3000 to $25,000, depending on the author's track record and the amount of editing required, notes Sullivan. Working with her are a permanent staff of four and a stable of a dozen freelance editors."
Another editor at Gallen was Star Helmer who according to Paul Grescoe in his book The Merchants of Venus: Inside Harlequin and the Empire of Romance (1996) was "editor-in-chief of Richard Gallen Books." It may be that Helmer replaced Sullivan in that position near the end. A March 8, 1982 New York Times article still referred to "Judith T. Sullivan, vice president and editor in chief of Richard Gallen Books, which distributes romances under Pocket Books." The writer David Wind credits Helmer with being the Gallen editor who accepted his first novel in 1981 (see the entry for By Invitation Only below). The April 9, 1982 issue of Publishers Weekly reported that Denise I. Batts "has been named associate editor at Richard Gallen & Co.," having been "formerly an editorial assistant" and before that "an editorial assistant at Pocket Books."
In Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature by Janice A. Radway (1984), Radway quoted from a Gallen tipsheet for writers regarding the handling of rape in their stories. "I would like to thank Star Helmer for giving me a copy of Gallen Books' 'tipsheet' for contemporary romances," Radway adds in a footnote (#40 for Chapter 2) for that section of her book. (The same tipsheet was quoted in an April 13, 1981 Time magazine article.) Reading the Romance is the best-known academic text about the romance genre and its readership, and Radway wrote and researched it at a time when the short-lived Gallen line was thriving. As a result, of the 44 romance novels included in the bibliography at the back of the book (assuming I counted correctly), five of them are Gallen novels.
While Radway was asking survey questions of a select group of romance readers to determine what they liked (or didn't like) about particular books, Gallen had its own questionnaire printed in the books themselves in order to figure out who was buying them and what they wanted. The November 13, 1981 issue of Publishers Weekly noted results similar to what Radway heard from her group of readers: "A reader poll which Gallen conducted found that while rape, violent sex and explicit sex were frowned upon, a surfeit of wholesomeness was also considered undesirable. This feedback altered the editorial stance of Gallen, says Sullivan, who further contends that her books are better written than those put out by competitors." The article added, "Sullivan provides would-be authors with a tipsheet, and makes certain they're aware that two-thirds of the Gallen audience lies in the 25- to 45-year-old age group. The Gallen reader seems to be quite responsive to the product; a questionnaire at the back of the books a few months back garnered some 5000 demands for a newsletter, which is now in production."
In the first year of their partnership, the Gallen line had "produced 22 romances for Pocket Books," according to the 3-page ad shown below, which originally appeared in the November 28, 1980 issue of Publishers Weekly. The ad announced that more Gallen books would be published each month beginning in April 1981.
This page was created on March 18, 2025 and will be updated as more information becomes available. The most recent update was on March 20, 2025.
The GALLEN ROMANCE "Pocket Books" Index (1979-1982):
The following list arranges the titles in alphabetical order, from A to Z, in order to make the books easier to organize. (The words "A," "An" and "The" are ignored in this alphabetical arrangement.) A chronological arrangement of the books, according to their publication date, can be found in a separate list at the bottom of this page. The name given in brackets is how the author was credited on the book's copyright page (usually their real name) when I have access to that interior page. The date listed below is the date given on that copyright page, although the book may have actually arrived on store shelves at least a month prior to that date.
Category: contemporary
Date: June 1982
Book number: #44701
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive (although in a later edition published by Paradise Press). The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Jordana Daniels was a pseudonym, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author.
Category: contemporary
Date: August 1982
Book number: #45145
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. This novel is a favorite of many readers. In Romantic Times #50 (April/May 1988), reviewer Melinda Helfer wrote: "Lee Damon became an all-time favorite author with just one book because of a groundswell of reader approbation for AGAIN THE MAGIC, not because her book was heavily advertised or printed in large numbers. To this day, even though she has not written anything in years, readers still write in, desperately hoping that a new book from her is in the offing."
Category: contemporary
Date: September 1981
Book number: #43539
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: historical
Date: November 1981
Book number: #43927
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: ______?
Date: 1982?
Book number: _______?
Note: An ad that was published in the September 11, 1981 issue of Publishers Weekly states that this Gallen Romance would be released in early 1982. (You can view the ad at the bottom of this page.) However I have not been able to determine that this book was actually published. It may have been released under a different title.
Category: historical
Date: June 1982
Book number: #43557
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: historical
Date: July 1980
Book number: #83682
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. In Reading the Romance by Janice Radway, this novel is analyzed in chapter five ("The Failed Romance") concerning romance novels that the readers she was studying did not enjoy. When told by a reader that they could tell whether a novel was written by a man or woman, based on what aspects they chose to focus on, Radway was skeptical. "I still wondered whether this was, in fact, possible," she writes. "I discovered to my surprise that it was, for after finishing half of Jocelyn Wilde's Bride of the Baja, particularly its descriptions of sexual contact between the heroine and various male characters, I realized that the crucial passages about emotional satisfaction were not centered on the heroine's experience at all but expressed the male fantasy of what it would feel like to find a totally uninhibited female. In looking at the copyright page, which I had not checked earlier, I discovered that Jocelyn Wilde is, in reality, John Toombs."
Category: historical
Date: January 1982
Book number: #43934
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. Copyright owner listed inside the book is J. C. Conaway. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book confirms that Leila Lyons is a pseudonym.
Category: historical
Date: November 1979
Book number: #83216
Cover image source: Goodreads page (lo-res).
Note: One of the earliest Gallen Romance novels and one of only three that does not have a frame around the cover illustration. (The other two are Reap the Wild Harvest and The Velvet Promise.) Listed inside as a Gallen book, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. The Catalog of Copyright Entries database confirms that Susanna Good is a pseudonym for Susanna C. Bates.
Category: contemporary
Date: March 1982
Book number: #44690
Cover image source: Online auction (lo-res)
Note: In a 2015 interview, David Wind said, "in 1981, Editor Star Helmer, at Gallen Books, published my first novel." Wind wrote two novels for Gallen, both published in 1982 under pen-names, but By Invitation Only was published first so presumably this was his first novel. (Also see Whispers of Destiny by Jenifer Dalton below.) Romance archivist/historian Steve Ammidown notes on his blog that Monica Barrie is presented as a real person (David Wind's wife) on an author website, which may be another fiction from Wind. In Love Lines: The Romance Reader's Guide to Printed Pleasures (1983) by Rosemary Guiley, it mentions that "two minor characters become involved in a homosexual affair" in the novel. Without naming the book, Paul Grescoe in The Merchants of Venus (1996) noted that the Gallen line "was mature enough even to allow a homosexual affair between minor characters."
Category: ______?
Date: 1982?
Book number: _______?
Note: An ad that was published in the September 11, 1981 issue of Publishers Weekly states that this Gallen Romance would be released in early 1982. (You can view the ad at the bottom of this page.) However I have not been able to determine that this book was actually published. It may have been released under a different title.
Category: historical
Date: July 1980
Book number: #83681
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. The Paducah Sun (Kentucky), September 24, 1980 newspaper has an article about the book's authors: "Meanwhile, the Ballantine editor moved to Richard Gallon [sic], a producer of books for paperback houses. 'Caravan' was accepted by Gallen and reached the stands in July."
Category: historical
Date: June 1982
Book number: #45144
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: historical
Date: December 1981
Book number: #43922
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Category: historical
Date: May 1981
Book number: #43054
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book confirms that Diana Stuart is a pseudonym for Jane Toombs.
Category: historical
Date: January 1981
Book number: #41786
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: November 1981
Book number: #43923
Cover image source: Online auction (lo-res).
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive (although a 1994 edition published by River Books). The name given as the copyright owner inside the book is Elizabeth Bright. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for the book also lists Elizabeth Bright as the copyright owner, with no mention of it being a pen-name. However a few entries there for other Gallen novels by Elizabeth Bright do note that it is a pseudonym. The Fantastic Fiction site states that "Elizabeth Bright is a pseudonym used by Tim Myers." In Reading the Romance by Janice Radway, this novel was included among the books belonging in "the garbage dump" according to the readers she studied.
Category: historical
Date: March 1982
Book number: #44689
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: A sequel to her earlier novel, TANYA. Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: historical
Date: August 1981
Book number: #43468
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Category: contemporary
Date: May 1981
Book number: #41783
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Publication date was May 1981 according to the Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this novel. (I don't have access to the book's interior pages to compare.) In Reading the Romance by Janice Radway, this novel was included among the books that had been rated highly and recommended by bookseller and romance fan Dorothy Evans in her newsletter. Available to read on the Internet Archive (although in a later Paradise Press edition).
Category: contemporary
Date: August 1981
Book number: #43469
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Kathleen Morris was a pseudonym, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author.
Category: historical
Date: May 1982
Book number: #44697
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: historical
Date: October 1979
Book number: #83165
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: One of the first two books in the Gallen romance line (the other being Rosewood). A review in the August 27, 1979 issue of Publishers Weekly concluded: "This is a cut above the usual historical romance, as the plot holds some surprises, and the glimpse of gypsy culture and tradition is interesting. But the characters are mere vehicles for the action." According to the Fantastic Fiction website, Katherine Yorke was a pseudonym for Nicola Thorne.
Category: historical
Date: March 1982
Book number: #44688
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Her second book, according to the "About the Author" page at the end of the book.
Category: historical
Date: February 1980
Book number: #83446
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: The book is listed inside as a Gallen book, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book confirms that Clarissa Ross is a pseudonym for William Edward Daniel Ross.
Category: historical
Date: January 1980
Book number: #83332
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: October 1980
Book number: #41295
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. Reprint of a 1979 Futura [U.K.] book.
Category: historical
Date: October 1981
Book number: #43873
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Nicole Norman was a pseudonym, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author. However, the site's entry for her other Gallen novel, Heather Song, gives her real name as Edythe Cudlipp (writer of the non-fiction book Understanding Women's Liberation in 1971).
Category: contemporary
Date: August 1982
Book number: #45142
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: contemporary
Date: January 1982
Book number: #44313
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book confirms that Candice Adams is a pseudonym for Lois A. Walker.
Category: historical
Date: July 1981
Book number: #43349
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries database notes that Eleanor Howard is a pseudonym for Eleanor Hodgson.
Category: historical
Date: May 1980
Book number: #83366
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: contemporary
Date: July 1982
Book number: #45146
Cover image source: FictionDB entry.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: historical
Date: December 1981
Book number: #43926
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: My copy, shown here, is a Canadian edition, with a "published in Canada" maple leaf symbol on the top left corner of the front cover, which is absent from U.S. editions. The title page and copyright page note that the book is distributed in Canada by PaperJacks, Ltd. The name given as the copyright owner inside the book is Virginia Standage. The Catalog of Copyright Entries confirms that name as a pseudonym and lists Rona Randall Shambrook as the copyright owner.
Category: contemporary
Date: April 1981
Book number: #42773
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: This novel was originally scheduled to be released under the title Windswept (see that title's entry below).
Category: contemporary
Date: December 1981
Book number: #43929
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Jessica Dare was a pseudonym, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author.
Category: historical
Date: November 1980
Book number: #41463
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Front cover doesn't mention Gallen. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Nicole Norman was a pseudonym for Edythe Cudlipp.
Category: historical
Date: July 1982
Book number: #44687
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Elizabeth Bright was a pen-name, but doesn't mention Tim Myers.
Category: historical
Date: July 1982
Book number: #45147
Cover image source: FictionDB entry.
Category: contemporary
Date: May 1981
Book number: #43164
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book notes its author as "Victoria Reiter, writing as Victoria Kelrich." An article titled "Victoria Kelrich Morhaim, Conflicted Feminist" (about the author's 1960s novels) can be read on The Neglected Books Page. In Reading the Romance by Janice Radway, this novel was included among the books that were rated three stars, "those thought to be 'good' but not 'better' or 'best'" by bookseller and romance fan Dorothy Evans. According to Radway, "Though very different, Bride of the Baja [see above entry] and High Fashion each fail, as do so many others, because they do not trigger the essential emotions in the reader." On the other hand, Radway seemed to have a higher opinion of High Fashion than Dorothy and her group of romance fans because the ending satisfied her needs more than theirs. "Although few of the books written in recent months advance the truly radical suggestions that women do not need men to define themselves or to be happy, that they might be able to operate in the public world on their own just as men do, still some have appeared that come remarkably close to making one or the other of those observations. Think of Victoria Kelrich's High Fashion, described in Chapter 5, which ends not with a projection of a blissful future for the newly wedded pair but with a note of uncertainty about the permanence of the romantic attachment while the heroine turns enthusiastically to her work!" For Radway, it seems like Dorothy's complaint about the "ambiguous" ending meant that the romance fan "did not understand Kelrich's suggestion that it will be [the heroine] Elisabeth's work that directs her life in the future, even though she intends to try to integrate it with a personal life."
Category: contemporary
Date: December 1981
Book number: #43928
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: historical
Date: February 1982
Book number: #44183
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. The book is copyrighted by Madeleine Carr inside the book, but the Catalog of Copyright Entries database notes that the name is a pseudonym for Maggie Wilson and Amelia Cook (which is how I have listed their names above). This is also how their names were given in a January 20, 1982 Forsyth County News article shortly before the book's release ("Forsyth Author Has Finished First Book"). An obituary for Margaret Wilson (1943-2023), however, has her co-author's name spelled differently: "Maggie's literary contributions were marked by the co-authorship of the book 'Island of Promise,' written under the pseudonym Madeleine Carr alongside her friend Amanda Cooke."
Category: historical
Date: January 1981
Book number: #42431
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. In Reading the Romance by Janice Radway, this novel was included among the books that were rated only two stars, or deemed "moderately good," by bookseller and romance fan Dorothy Evans.
Category: historical
Date: September 1981
Book number: #43537
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive (although in a Cherish Books edition). The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Elizabeth Bright was a pen-name, but doesn't mention Tim Myers.
Category: historical
Date: November 1980
Book number: #41464
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: Gallen not mentioned on cover. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book confirms that Angela Gray was a pseudonym for Dorothy Daniels, best known for her Gothic novels of the 1960s and 1970s.
Category: contemporary
Date: May 1982
Book number: #44699
Cover image source: FictionDB entry.
Note: Copyrighted to Katherine Kent inside the book, but that is a pen-name of Joan Dial.
Category: historical
Date: January 1980
Book number: #83331
Cover image source: Online auction.
Category: contemporary
Date: May 1982
Book number: #44696
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: contemporary
Date: March 1982
Book number: #44702
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Category: contemporary
Date: April 1982
Book number: #43933
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries confirms that Paula Moore was a pen-name for Robert Vaughan.
Category: historical
Date: August 1982
Book number: #44698
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for her other Gallen novel, Sweet Enemy, states that Martha Brewster was a pen-name, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author. The site's entry for this book, however, does not indicate that Brewster was a pen-name.
Category: contemporary
Date: February 1982
Book number: #43936
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: historical
Date: June 1981
Book number: #41782
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The name given as the copyright owner inside the book is Elizabeth Bright. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book also lists Elizabeth Bright as the copyright owner, with no mention of it being a pseudonym. However a few entries there for other Gallen novels by Elizabeth Bright do note that it is a pseudonym. The Fantastic Fiction site states that "Elizabeth Bright is a pseudonym used by Tim Myers."
THE PERFECT COUPLE by Paula Moore [Robert Vaughan]
Category: contemporary
Date: July 1981
Book number: #43347
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The name given as the copyright owner inside the book is Paula Moore. The Catalog of Copyright Entries states that Paula Moore was a pen-name, but doesn't mention Robert Vaughan (unlike the Nothing But Roses entry above).
Category: historical
Date: August 1980
Book number: #41266
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: September 1982
Book number: #45796
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Category: contemporary
Date: October 1981
Book number: #43561
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: contemporary
Date: June 1981
Book number: #43161
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: Copyrighted to Kris Karron inside the book, but the Catalog of Copyright Entries notes that the name is a pseudonym. FictionDB lists Carol Norris as the author.
Category: historical
Date: November 1979
Book number: #83233
Cover image source: FictionDB entry.
Note: This book is only one of three Gallen Romance novels that does not have a frame around the cover illustration. (The other two are Burning Secrets and The Velvet Promise.) The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. This was one of the earliest Gallen romance novels and the first of five Gallen novels to be written by Elizabeth Bright. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Elizabeth Bright was a pen-name, but doesn't mention Tim Myers. Instead the copyright claimant is listed as G/M Publishing Company, Inc. (I don't have access to the book's interior pages to see who was listed as the copyright owner in the book itself.)
Category: contemporary
Date: June 1981
Book number: #43053
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The November 13, 1981 issue of Publishers Weekly had an article about romance cover art which included a reproduction of this book's cover, described as depicting "the new breed of cover heroines -- Richard Gallen's liberated lady takes control." The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Jessica Dare is a pseudonym, but doesn't provide the name of the actual author.
Category: contemporary
Date: August 1981
Book number: #43470
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book gives Sophi O’Bryan as an alternate spelling for her name. A "Cherish Romance" reissue of this novel is shown below (near the bottom of this page). A profile of the author Sofi O'Bryan can be found at the Vintage Nurse Romance Novels blog.
Category: historical
Date: October 1979
Book number: #83164
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: One of the first two books in the Gallen romance line (the other being The Enchantress). Gallen not mentioned on cover. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Petra Leigh is a pseudonym for Peter Ling. The copyright owner of the book is listed as Star Books.
Category: contemporary
Date: September 1982
Book number: #45141
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: contemporary
Date: November 1981
Book number: #43925
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: historical
Date: June 1981
Book number: #43163
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
Category: historical
Date: April 1980
Book number: #83561
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. My copy has a March 1980 date stamp on the bottom page edge.
Category: historical
Date: February 1982
Book number: #43931
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: historical
Date: April 1982
Book number: #44693
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Category: historical
Date: September 1982
Book number: #45852
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. The copyright page in the book itself names only Lynda Trent as the copyright holder, but the Catalog of Copyright Entries contains the names of both Dan and Lynda Trent, noting "Dan Trent (author of anon. [anonymous] contribution)."
Category: contemporary
Date: September 1982
Book number: #45797
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Category: historical
Date: July 1981
Book number: #43348
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. Cover art by Harry Bennett. The book Love Lines: The Romance Reader's Guide to Printed Pleasures (1983) by Rosemary Guiley mentions that "Jude Deveraux spotted one of his historical covers for Richard Gallen, The Silver Kiss, and decided she wanted him to illustrate all her books."
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: April 1981
Book number: #42772
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. There was a novel with the same title by Gallen author Lynn Erickson (pen-name of Carla Peltonen & Molly Swanton) published in 1985 by Pocket Books.
Category: contemporary
Date: September 1981
Book number: #43801
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: contemporary
Date: October 1981
Book number: #43558
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Category: contemporary
Date: July 1981
Book number: #43346
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: contemporary
Date: June 1982
Book number: #44695
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Category: contemporary
Date: April 1981
Book number: #41784
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Category: historical
Date: January 1982
Book number: #43930
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The February 18, 1982 issue of The Vista, the student newspaper of the University of Central Oklahoma, had an article about the author Lynette Wert and her new novel, which can be read here.
Category: historical
Date: October 1981
Book number: #43538
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. The novel is copyrighted to Martha Brewster inside the book. The Catalog of Copyright Entries states that Martha Brewster was a pen-name, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author. The site does not list her name as a pseudonym for her other Gallen novel, On Wings of Song.
Category: historical
Date: March 1980
Book number: #83524
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: June 1980
Book number: #83564
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: See DESTINY'S STAR for the sequel to this novel. Available to read on the Internet Archive. Gallen not mentioned on cover.
Category: contemporary
Date: January 1982
Book number: #43559
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The novel is copyrighted to Vanessa Pryor inside the book. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for the book states that Vanessa Pryor was a pseudonym, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author. The Fantastic Fiction page for Yarbro confirms her authorship.
Category: historical
Date: April 1982
Book number: #44694
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for the book states that Joanna Makepeace was a pseudonym for Margaret E. York.
Category: contemporary
Date: July 1982
Book number: #45410
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: In 2014 Territo wrote the following on a webpage about her career as a jazz singer: "To pay the rent regularly, I had a parallel career in the publishing business as a freelance editor. One of my clients was Judy Sullivan, editor-in-chief of a line of romance novels. Due to late delivery of an unsatisfactory manuscript, Judy had a hole in her schedule. She told me I’d be writing the book to fill it, then plunked me down in an unused cubicle, and said she’d send in coffee and sandwiches. I turned on the typewriter and the jazz radio station. Three weeks later, the book was done, and my career as a writer was launched. For several years, I wrote romance novels under a variety of pseudonyms, as well as non-fiction collaborations, primarily in the fields of health and psychology." (Judy Sullivan was editor-in-chief of the Gallen line, and this is the earliest book listed for Territo at FictionDB, so this is likely the novel she wrote at Sullivan's request.)
Category: historical
Date: May 1981
Book number: #43055
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The introduction to a 2014 interview with the author noted: "Her first published book, This Bitter Ecstasy, a historical romance from Pocket Books, was her introduction to film when she was asked to write a treatment of that novel for possible adaptation. Subsequently, she was hired by the studio to write the prequel of the successful TV series, Cagney and Lacey."
Category: historical
Date: October 1980
Book number: #83683
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. Robert Vaughan is listed as the copyright owner inside the book.
Category: historical
Date: September 1981
Book number: #43563
Cover image source: FictionDB entry.
Note: Later reprinted in July 1996 by Warner Books.
Category: historical
Date: August 1980
Book number: #83680
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen. Barry Myers is listed as the copyright owner inside the book. The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for the book confirms that Jeanne Sommers is a pseudonym of Barry Myers.
Category: historical
Date: February 1980
Book number: #83445
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Gallen not mentioned on cover. This novel is available to read on the Internet Archive (although in a different edition).
Category: historical
Date: September 1980
Book number: #41293
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Gallen not mentioned on cover. Publication date was September 1980 according to the Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this novel. (I don't have access to the book's interior pages to compare.)
Category: historical
Date: April 1980
Book number: #83560
Cover image source: Amazon page.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: May 1980
Book number: #83562
Cover image source: Internet Archive.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive. The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: historical
Date: June 1980
Book number: #83636
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: Gallen not mentioned on cover.
Category: contemporary
Date: November 1981
Book number: #43540
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The author's debut novel.
by Jude Deveraux 
[Jude Gilliam White]
[Jude Gilliam White] Category: historical
Date: April 1981 (1st printing)
Book number: #41785
Cover image source: Online auction.
Note: An ad in the November 28, 1980 issue of Publishers Weekly (shown near the beginning of this blog post) had a B&W cover image for this novel with the usual Gallen cover design of a frame around the illustration. A close-up of that B&W cover is shown at right. The book number for this edition in the 1980 ad was the same as the eventual published version: #41785. Since I have not see a printed copy that looks like the one in the 1980 ad (with a frame), presumably the first edition was published without a frame (as seen at left) -- one of only three Gallen Romance novels to not have a frame on its cover. (More about this novel below.)
Category: historical
Date: August 1981 (2nd printing?)
Book number: #44341
Cover image source: FictionDB entry.
Note: This printing still has the Gallen name on the cover, but a different book number than the first printing (#44341 instead of #41785). The Gallen name was dropped from the front cover in later printings and replaced by the Pocket Books logo in the bottom right corner, with slightly different title lettering and a new book number (#54756). The three other books in the "Velvet" series by Jude Deveraux were published by Pocket Books but apparently not part of the Gallen line: Highland Velvet (#45034), Velvet Song (#45404) and Velvet Angel (#45406).
Category: historical
Date: August 1981
Book number: #43467
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: My Goodreads review can be read here, where I rated it five stars.
Category: historical
Date: August 1982
Book number: #45411
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for the book confirms that Candice Arkham is a pseudonym of Alice Ramirez.
Category: historical
Date: May 1982
Book number: #45143
Cover image source: Goodreads page.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this novel lists Willowwind Productions, Inc. as the copyright holder, and notes that Jenifer Dalton (spelled Jennifer there) is a pseudonym.
(unpublished version; title was changed to The Golden Sky)
Note: The Encyclopedia.com entry for Candace Camp lists this book in their bibliography for the novels she wrote as Kristin James, and they indicate that it was published in 1981 by Richard Gallen. A B&W image of the cover appears in the November 28, 1980 Publishers Weekly ad shown at the top of this page, where it had the book number 42773.
However, it appears that the book was not actually published as Windswept. The book was released under the title The Golden Sky, using exactly the same cover art and book number (#42773) as Windswept had.
Category: historical
Date: September 1980
Book number: #41294
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The book is listed as a Gallen book on the copyright page inside, but the front cover doesn't mention Gallen.
Category: contemporary
Date: February 1982
Book number: #43941
Cover image source: Scan of my copy.
Note: The Catalog of Copyright Entries page for this book states that Victoria Fleming was a pseudonym, but doesn't mention the actual name of the author.
Category: contemporary
Date: April 1982
Book number: #44691
Cover image source: Etsy page.
Note: Available to read on the Internet Archive.
_____________________________________________________________
A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE ABOVE TITLES:
The following list arranges the Gallen titles in publication order, according to the dates printed in the books. Within each month's grouping, the books are arranged below according to ISBN book number, from lowest to highest. (These numbers do not necessarily follow a strictly chronological order, and some are out of sequence from when the books were published. In most cases the number may be off by only a few months from what the numerical order would suggest. In two instances the assigned number is so remarkably out of sequence -- by more than a few months -- that those cases have been noted below.)
October 1979:
#83164: ROSEWOOD by Petra Leigh
#83165: THE ENCHANTRESS by Katherine Yorke
November 1979:
#83216: BURNING SECRETS by Susanna Good
#83233: REAP THE WILD HARVEST by Elizabeth Bright
(Note: The two books released this month did not have the usual frame around the cover illustration.)
December 1979:
[none?]
January 1980:
#83331: THE MOONKISSED by Barbara Faith
#83332: A FEAST OF PASSIONS by Carol Norris
February 1980:
#83445: THIS RAGING FLOWER by Lynn Erickson
#83446: FAN THE WANTON FLAME by Clarissa Ross
March 1980:
#83504: SILVER LADY by Nancy Morse
#83524: SWEET NEMESIS by Lynn Erickson
April 1980:
#83560: THIS REBEL HUNGER by Lynn LeMon
#83561: SAVAGE FANCY by Kathryn Gorsha Thiels
May 1980:
#83366: THE FROST AND THE FLAME by Drusilla Campbell
#83562: THIS TENDER PRIZE by Nancy Morse
June 1980:
#83564: TANYA by Muriel Bradley
#83636: TOMORROW AND FOREVER by Maud B. Johnson
July 1980:
#83681: CARAVAN OF DESIRE by Elizabeth Shelley
#83682: BRIDE OF THE BAJA by Jocelyn Wilde
August 1980:
#83680: THIS PERILOUS ECSTASY by Jeanne Sommers
#41266: PILLARS OF HEAVEN by Leila Lyons [numbering now reverts to 40000-series]
September 1980:
#41293: THIS RAVISHED ROSE by Anne Carsley
#41294: WINGS OF MORNING by Dee Stuart
October 1980:
#83683: THIS GOLDEN RAPTURE by Paula Moore
#41295: THE FIRE BRIDE by Julia Wherlock
November 1980:
#41463: HEATHER SONG by Nicole Norman
#41464: THE LOVE OF THE LION by Angela Gray
December 1980:
[none?]
January 1981:
#41786: DESIRE'S COMMAND by Marlene Suson
#42431: JASMINE SPLENDOR by Margo Bode
February 1981:
[none?]
March 1981:
[none?]
(From this point onward, the front covers have the Gallen symbol in the corner instead of the Pocket Books symbol.)
April 1981:
#41784: THE SUN DANCERS by Barbara Faith
#41785: THE VELVET PROMISE by Jude Deveraux [first printing]
#42772: SOME DISTANT SHORE by Margaret Pemberton
#42773: THE GOLDEN SKY by Kristin James
May 1981:
#41783: DREAMTIDE by Katherine Kent
#43054: CRY FOR PARADISE by Diana Stuart
#43055: THIS BITTER ECSTASY by Serita Stevens
#43164: HIGH FASHION by Victoria Kelrich
June 1981:
#41782: PASSION'S HEIRS by Elizabeth Bright
#43053: RHAPSODY by Jessica Dare
#43161: THE RAINBOW CHASE by Kris Karron
#43163: THE SATIN VIXEN by Linda Shaw
July 1981:
#43346: THE SUDDEN SUMMER by Muriel Bradley
#43347: THE PERFECT COUPLE by Paula Moore
#43348: THE SILVER KISS by Lynn Erickson
#43349: FORTUNE'S CHOICE by Eleanor Howard
August 1981:
#43467: WATERS OF EDEN by Katherine Kent
#43468: A DREAM OF FIRE by Drusilla Campbell
#43469: AN ELEGANT AFFAIR by Kathleen Morris
#43470: ROMAN CANDLES by Sofi O'Bryan
#44341: THE VELVET PROMISE by Jude Deveraux [2nd printing?] [numbering out of sequence; numbering would suggest an early 1982 date instead]
September 1981:
#43537: A LASTING SPLENDOR by Elizabeth Bright
#43539: ALL MINE TO GIVE by Marsha Alexander
#43563: THIS LOVING LAND by Dorothy Garlock
#43801: SOMETIMES A STRANGER by Angela Alexie
October 1981:
#43538: SWEET ENEMY by Martha Brewster
#43558: STAR QUALITY by Leila Lyons
#43561: PROMISE ME FOREVER by Jacqueline Marten
#43873: THE FIREBIRD by Nicole Norman
November 1981:
#43540: TRADE SECRETS by Diana Morgan
#43923: DESIRE'S LEGACY by Elizabeth Bright
#43925: THE SAPPHIRE SKY by Kristin James
#43927: ARABESQUE by Rae Butler
December 1981:
#43922: CRIMSON INTRIGUE by Devon Lindsay
#43926: GOLDEN REBEL by Virginia Standage
#43928: AN INNOCENT DECEPTION by Linda Shaw
#43929: HARVEST OF DREAMS by Jessica Dare
January 1982:
#43559: A TASTE OF WINE by Vanessa Pryor
#43930: SUNRISE TEMPTATION by Lynn LeMon
#43934: BRIDGE TO TOMORROW by Leila Lyons
#44313: FOR LOVE ALONE by Candice Adams
February 1982:
#43931: SCARLET LILY by Dee Stuart
#43936: OPAL FIRES by Lynda Trent
#43941: WITH EYES OF LOVE by Victoria Fleming
#44183: ISLAND OF PROMISE by Madeleine Carr
March 1982:
#44688: THE ENDEARMENT by LaVyrle Spencer
#44689: DESTINY'S STAR by Muriel Bradley
#44690: BY INVITATION ONLY by Monica Barrie
#44702: MORNINGS IN HEAVEN by Perdita Shepherd
April 1982:
#43933: NOTHING BUT ROSES by Paula Moore
#44691: A WORLD OF HER OWN by Anna James
#44693: THE SEARCHING HEARTS by Dorothy Garlock
#44694: TEMPTATION'S TRIUMPH by Joanna Makepeace
May 1982:
#44696: MOMENTS TO SHARE by Diana Morgan
#44697: ENCHANTED DAWN by Barbara Faith
#44699: MIDNIGHT TANGO by Katherine Kent
#45143: WHISPERS OF DESTINY by Jenifer Dalton
June 1982:
#43557: A BREATH OF PARADISE by Kris Karron [numbering very much out of sequence; numbering would suggest a late 1981 date instead]
#44695: SUMMER SKY by Kristin James
#44701: AFTERGLOW by Jordana Daniels
#45144: CONQUER THE MEMORIES by Janet Joyce
July 1982:
#44687: A HERITAGE OF PASSION by Elizabeth Bright
#45146: GENTLE BETRAYER by Lynn Erickson
#45147: HIDDEN FIRES by Laura Jordan
#45410: THAT CERTAIN SMILE by Kate Belmont
August 1982:
#44698: ON WINGS OF SONG by Martha Brewster
#45142: FLOWERS IN WINTER by Muriel Bradley
#45145: AGAIN THE MAGIC by Lee Damon
#45411: WAYWARD ANGEL by Candice Arkham
September 1982:
#45141: ROYAL SUITE by Marsha Alexander
#45796: A PROMISE IN THE WIND by Perdita Shepherd
#45797: THE SILKEN WEB by Laura Jordan
#45852: SHINING NIGHTS by Lynda Trent
There were no Gallen Romance titles from Pocket Books after September 1982. The July 2, 1982 issue of Publishers Weekly reported that "Pocket and Richard Gallen have discontinued their relationship 'by mutual agreement,' and the last Richard Gallen titles will appear in September."
The very next month, October 1982, Pocket Books began their TAPESTRY historical romance line, beginning with "Marielle" by Ena Halliday (#45962). Several writers who had books in the Gallen line also had books in the Tapestry line, including Monica Barrie, Jude Deveraux, Lynn Erickson, Janet Joyce, Serita Stevens and Lynda Trent. Two Tapestry novels were released by Pocket Books each month, the last being book #94 in August 1986 (#61740). Publishers Weekly had noted that the Tapestry series would be "filling the vacuum in the romantic fiction area" now that Pocket's relationship with Gallen had ended (and would cut out the middleman).
In 1984 Dell reissued some of the Pocket Books Gallen novels (using the same covers as the Pocket Books versions) under a Dell "Emerald" imprint, such as The Endearment by Lavyrle Spencer (was Pocket Books #44688, now Dell #02446). Later a publisher based in Plantation, Florida named Paradise Press reprinted several Gallen novels with new covers. The only dates listed inside them are the original publication dates, though, making it difficult to determine when exactly these Paradise editions came out.
As noted earlier, some Gallen romance books were issued as "Cherish Romance" instead of Gallen or Pocket Books, but have the same cover design as the originals. Christian publisher Thomas Nelson filed a lawsuit against Cherish Books, Ltd. because they had a romance line with the same name. You can read the judge's decision here, but the following excerpt provides some background on these Gallen reissues under the Cherish brand:
"
In April 1983, defendant Cherish Books decided to publish a series of romance novels which had been previously published under the imprint Richard Gallen. By early September 1983, Cherish had conceived the mark CHERISH ROMANCE and, using the CHERISH mark, had commenced soliciting orders for the novels. In response, by December 1983, K-Mart Corporation had ordered 150,000 volumes with the CHERISH mark. The first printing of the novels using the mark was on March 20, 1984, and on April 9, 1984 Cherish filed an application for registration of its mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. By the end of July 1984, over 240,000 novels had been distributed to every major city in the United States. They were sold to the public by major retail stores and bookstores and were also distributed by national and international distributors. Cherish has expended over $150,000 in connection with the publication and marketing of its books using the mark CHERISH ROMANCE."
"
In April 1983, defendant Cherish Books decided to publish a series of romance novels which had been previously published under the imprint Richard Gallen. By early September 1983, Cherish had conceived the mark CHERISH ROMANCE and, using the CHERISH mark, had commenced soliciting orders for the novels. In response, by December 1983, K-Mart Corporation had ordered 150,000 volumes with the CHERISH mark. The first printing of the novels using the mark was on March 20, 1984, and on April 9, 1984 Cherish filed an application for registration of its mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. By the end of July 1984, over 240,000 novels had been distributed to every major city in the United States. They were sold to the public by major retail stores and bookstores and were also distributed by national and international distributors. Cherish has expended over $150,000 in connection with the publication and marketing of its books using the mark CHERISH ROMANCE." Paul Grescoe in The Merchants of Venus (1996) notes that "after Gallen began collapsing around" her, Star Helmer became an editorial director at Harlequin in January 1983 and "eventually bumped up to vice-president" of romance, editorial (as the position was technically called). In 1988, "she was among three high-level executives fired in what was becoming an almost routine Harlequin housecleaning."
The August 15, 1986 issue of Publishers Weekly ran a short item (shown below) on Richard Gallen backing a partnership between Judy Sullivan and Vivian Stephens "to acquire and edit women's fiction" (which presumably would include romance novels). Named the Okra Group, presumably they would package the books for another publisher. But I have no information about what books they may have put out.
Richard Gallen continued to be involved in the publishing industry long after the demise of the Gallen Romance line. He passed away on December 3, 2013 at the age of 80, according to an obituary in Publishers Weekly.
If you have any additional information about the Gallen romance line, feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks!
The above ad originally appeared in the September 11, 1981 issue of Publishers Weekly.
