Lady in a Blue Dress — The Allure of Attraction's Got a Cover!

If you've ever wondered what it's like when an author gets a book cover from a publisher, it goes something like this: *email from editor dings to phone*

Me: Oh my god, please be good. Please be good. Please be good.

*opens email inbox on laptop for higher image resolution/because I'm terrified that I'm going to hate the cover and this delays the reveal for a moment*

Me: Just don't suck. That's all I want. I can handle mediocre. Totally. No problem. Oh, please, please, please don't suck.

*clicks on email and downloads image*

Me: OH THANK GOD.

That is an exact play-by-play of what happened when I opened the email from my editor for The Allure of Attraction's cover. And you know what, it didn't just not suck. I loved it.

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Not only was I blown away by how striking that vibrant blue is, the cover model is smiling. Smiling! I've never had a smiling heroine on the cover of my historical books, and something about it makes me so incredibly happy.

In this book, you're going to meet Lavinia, our heroine. She'd be the first to tell you that a lot of bad things have happened in her life, but she's made the most of it. She's a successful dressmaker in Edinburgh, and between her shop, her friends, and her somewhat irresponsible but charming brother she has a full life. Everything is going well until the childhood sweetheart she was supposed to marry years ago walks back into her life.

Andrew's life sailing merchant ships has taken him across the globe—convenient given that he's also a spy for Her Majesty's government. He's all set to retire until his handlers give him one last job: go back home to Scotland and recruit Lavinia, the woman who broke his heart, to help him infiltrate a group at the center of a dastardly plot.

So yes, dear readers, in the summer you're going to get this beautiful book and all the second chance romance/enemies-to-lovers/espionage romance goodness inside. I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

The Allure of Attraction releases this summer, but you can preorder it now from all major ebook retailers!

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#5forFriday: New Shows, Jazz, and Wonder Woman

Another week's gone by and I'm feeling more settled than ever into London. Here's a look at five of my favorite things from last week: 1) A brand-new book from a good friend! When I met fantasy author Nigel Henry two years ago he was just wrapping up his Demons of Sedona series and starting to think about writing this kick-ass monster fighting high school girl named Ria. Well, I'm happy to say that Ria's Web of Lies is now out at digital retailers everywhere and looks fantastic! I've got this one loaded up on my iPad, and I'll be diving in this weekend.

2) This week I handed in the developmental edits on my book The Look of Love which is due out in October. After a couple back-to-back deadlines, it'll be nice to have a little free time to work on book 3 in the Matchmaker of Edinburgh series, The Allure of Attraction, before the craziness of RWA Nationals kicks off in late July.

3) I managed to unintentionally sync my move to the U.K. with the start of several new shows airing here on iTV. This week alone I've watched the first episodes of The Loch, Fearless, and Riviera (plus plenty of the half hour soap Emmerdale). It's been a great switch off for my brain after long days of editing and rewriting.

4) I've been listening to a lot of jazz as I work this year and this week I've been on a Lester Young kick. Give his dreamy version of "I Can't Get Started" a listen:

5) I'm finally seeing Wonder Woman this weekend! I'll be heading up to Oxford for a visit with my sister and her Scottish fiancé, and we're all excited to pile into the theater and watch it (a week after everyone else, but we're just helping keep the box office healthy).