Mills & Boon hotel 'The Chatsfield' launches

Mills & Boon publisher Harlequin has launched an intriguing online extension to the series' scandalous world - in the shape of a digital hotel, The Chatsfield.

We'll admit we're perhaps not the biggest followers of the series, but both fans and the curious should check out what is an interesting undertaking by the publisher. And one aiming to deliver "the next chapter in storytelling".

That line comes from Harlequin's UK MD, Tim Cooper, as The Chatsfield seeks to deliver an engaging expansion of the Mills & Boon world through a unraveling three month story. And explaining the launch, Cooper adds:

Women are engaging evermore with on-going characters and wanting to interact and learn more about them and are consuming content in different formats across different platforms. So I looked to create an intersection between our series publishing programme and other media.”

The site will act as the home for all manner of  scandal, delivered through a mix of multimedia linked to social media, uncovering a plot involving over 800 bits of content about a hotel which is rich in style, luxury and your typical Mills & scandal.

If that sounds right up your street get over to the site, perhaps 'check in' and enjoy the experience. If it doesn't, you may return to your favoured genre or series.

But before you do, it is worth noting that Harlequin's move is a noteworthy attempt to expand the fictional into the digital; potentially offering many fans another way to connect to their favoured titles. Perhaps the best way to do so is to just read them - but we can't help but admire potential innovation and added content.

We're certainly fans of David Mitchell's recent interactive leanings and - as the unofficial home of J.K Rowling's Hogwarts shows - there's high interest in making digital the worlds which much-loved characters inhabit.

Mills & Boon fans may perhaps already know that the series had a new site launched earlier this year. And with Harlequin becoming part of HarperCollings, support for any evolution will likely be well-backed.