Angieville

I'm sorry, but these brand spanking new Veronica Speedwell covers are divine, and that's all there is to it. I mean, the hardback cover of A Curious Beginning wasn't too shabby at all (the dress . . . the fog . . . ), but these ones have my heart. The silhouettes. The butterflies. The font . The problem, of course, is an old one and one that has plagued dedicated book collectors like myself for what seems like time immemorial. This new A Curious Beginning cover belongs to the paperback edition (due out July 12), while the matching cover for A Perilous Undertaking (the second book in the series) will be hardcover (due out September or thereabouts). Naturally, I own the hardcover copy of the first book. Sigh . Why? Why must my series be unmatched? All covers are not created equal, and I want these two gorgeous matched pretties on my shelf. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of lender copies, and my husband will assure you I have zero problem throwing down for

I've been truly impatient to read Evelyn Pryce 's sophomore novel ever since I thoroughly enjoyed her debut A Man Above Reproach a couple of years ago. And so it was with utter delight that I opened my mail a few days ago to find a copy of  The Thirteenth Earl , complete with wax-sealed note. It's the charming little things, guys, that just make my little world go round. Montlake has gifted this novel with another gorgeous cover in the same vein as the first one that initially caught my eye. They're just slightly refined in a way that appeals to me, and I love seeing their spines on my shelf. If you haven't tried any of Evelyn's work yet, I highly recommend snagging a copy of both of these. She writes lovely historical romance with characters I feel for that make me laugh. Just what the doctored ordered for the doldrums before spring arrives full stop. Jonathan Vane's title is Viscount Thaxton, but he is better known to all and sundry as the Ghost. The

You guys. I've been waiting to fall this year. I've been waiting for that first review (embarrassingly late, I know) to need to be written. I've been reading and reading. And I've really liked a number of things (reviews on those to come, promise). But the night before last I fell into a book that filled me up in just the way I needed to kick me into gear to talk about it. Which is good, because you'll want to pick this one up.  His Road Home by Anna Richland is a contemporary novella that I wished was twice as long as it was because I didn't want to be separated from the characters and their compelling situation by its ending. Happily, according to Richland's acknowledgments at the end, we may have a sequel to look forward to in the near future. This is my first outing with Ms. Richlands writing, and I picked it up based on my trusty Chachic 's rating over on GoodReads. Grace Kim's fairly straightforward (very quiet) life is thrown into rather