Telling a Book by its Cover Redux
"Just looking at its cover, would you guess that this is a very sexy romance novel?" A fellow romance writer held up a copy of my now out-of-print The Slightest Provocation at lunch last summer. And the answer, repeated 'round the table of history hoydens? Sadly (especially sadly in light of such a lovely, period-appropriate cover) the answer was a resounding NO! The consensus being that you'd more likely suppose The Slightest Provocation was a classy -- even an elegant -- historical novel, perhaps of the snobby "stealth romance" variety. "Ah, yes," a distracted shopper might tell herself as she makes her way past it on the bookstore shelves, "I think I read somewhere that Pam Rosenthal writes 'poetically.' "Maybe I'll check it out later," said shopper might think, "when I'm in the mood for something improving and uplifting." But sexy? No way. While as for hot (not to speak of hawt? ) -- not a chance. Which...