What the world needs now

Torstar, the publisher of Harlequin romance novels, announced this week it's cutting 4 percent of the jobs at the Harlequin Enterprises division, saving $3 million a year.

Torstar also owns the Toronto Star and other newspapers, and that seems to be the weakest side of the business. Even so, the romance-publishing world, dominated by Harlequin, has also been lackluster.

Oh dear, what can the matter be? Are women (Harlequin books are explicitly marketed as "women's fiction") less interested in love than they used to be? Perhaps Harlequin should rip a page from bestselling writer Tess Gerritsen, who also has a largely female audience, but specializes in blood and gore.

A few more bodies piling up, amid the sighs and kisses, may be just what Harlequin needs.