Are Any of the First Ten Harlequin Books Worth Reading?

Start of a new series of posts about Harlequin. I'll answer the question -which books Harlequin published in its first ten years are worth reading? Or which Harlequins will bump Moby Dick or, The Whale down my reading to-do list? We'll start with the first ten Harlequins:

1 Bruff, Nancy                    Manatee
2 Wees, Frances Shelley     Lost House
3 Hunt, Howard                  Maelstrom
4 Bryant, Arthur Herbert      Double Image
5 Nichols, Margaret             Close to My Heart
6 Snow, Charles H.             Wolf of the Mesas
7 Cooke, Ronald J.             The House on Craig Street
8 Wees, Frances Shelley      Honeymoon Mountain
9 Fuller, Samuel Michael      The Dark Page
10 Long, Manning               Here's Blood In Your Eye

There is one book here I have read - The House on Craig Street, a Canadian author's PBO that is not worthy. What about the other books? Does a book need to be in print (not a POD object which is a collection of reproduced pages and not a published book)? No, but it helps.

There is one book here that qualifies - The Dark Page which happens to be the only book on the list in print. That edition has an introduction by Wim Wenders who explains why Sam Fuller's novel is a worthy.

Harlequin 9 - August 1949

Harlequin 9 back

Kingly Reprieve - 2007