At the height of his modeling career in the ’80s, Fabio Lanzoni ... on the covers of their books. Around this time, the Canadian publisher Harlequin started reprinting romance books from ...

ITV/Shutterstock; Tommaso Boddi/Getty While Fabio became a 1990s pop-culture icon for his appearances on some 1,300 romance ... to be booked for photo shoots to appear on the cover of books.

The photorealistic “clinch cover ... Fabio? Hasn’t been seen around these parts in years. But he hasn’t been traded in for a younger model; models generally have vanished from the romance ...

Fabio was the king of romance covers. But a new era in publishing is replacing hunky men with what publishers are calling "golden retrievers." Corbis via Getty Images Back in the swinging Eighties ...

In her long life, Dixie Browning penned more than 100 tastefully erotic romance novels for Harlequin ... acquainted with Fabio, the swarthy, shirtless model for romance covers everywhere.

You look exactly like the guy on our books,' " Fabio told PEOPLE While Fabio became a 1990s pop-culture icon for his appearances on some 1,300 romance ... photo shoots to appear on the cover ...