Julia Quinn

Historical/Early 19th Century England

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So you're reading a romance and you're starting to get a little antsy. Maybe you like the writing -- the story's a good one -- but the anticipation's been building, the ache if you will, throughout pages of descriptive text.

You ignore the guilt gnawing at you and flip ahead. Because only one thing can fulfill the longing, that desire we feel when we just can't wait to get to the good parts.

Go ahead. Give in to temptation and race ahead to the --

Dialogue.

Dialogue is what keeps a novel moving forward, even through those other good parts.

Good dialogue can render a novel a thing of beauty. The right words on the right lips at the right time and suddenly we're privy to intimate conversations, present at life-changing moments, and "in on" the most fashionable bons mots.

Julia Quinn knows dialogue. Quinn's rare talent for creating intelligent, subtle, and nuanced speech may be -- as her newest hero might say -- "better than perfect." It is at the very least better than most, especially in "It's in His Kiss," the fresh and funny new addition to Quinn's Bridgerton series.

Hyacinth Bridgerton is the kind of young woman few men of the ton dream of marrying. Intelligent and outspoken, witty and irreverent, she's grown up sheltered by her mother and six siblings in a family so warm and loving the ton would be scandalized should they learn that unconventional truth.

Gareth St. Clair has spent much of his adult life striving to "live down to the expectations" of his distant, hateful father. Intelligent and charming, but not wealthy, this handsome roué still manages to cut a swath through most of society while awaiting an inheritance his pater most likely will exhaust before giving up the ghost.

Though the senses revolt at the suggestion, Gareth and Hyacinth have some things in common: Both adore his dotty grandmother, the thoroughly entertaining Lady Danbury, and both feel a mutual attraction that Lady D is oh-so-delighted to encourage.

And what if one stirs into this mix a secret diary, a code concerning a renaissance inventor who is not our friend da Vinci, and a dark truth that could ruin Gareth's and Hyacinth's happiness?

Well, you'd have yourself a delightful, well-written novel with a little out-of-the-ordinary suspense, lots of lovely moments, and a story you'll want to read at least a second time.

Julia Quinn's novels are intimate affairs. We feel included, encouraged to join the fray, to embrace the warmth and engage in the poignancy of the moment. Not just because the setting is vibrant or the scene passionate, but because the words spoken are so inviting.

I invite you …

Buy the book!

Visit www.juliaquinn.com for excerpts from "It's In His Kiss," other Bridgerton Family novels, and lots of fun info from Julia.

Julia Quinn's newest, "On the Way to the Wedding" is out now from Avon.