Carole Lanham has given me the honor of revealing the beautiful cover of her new novel, The Reading Lessons, coming Summer 2013.

Blurb:

Mississippi 1920: Nine year old servant, Hadley Crump, finds himself drawn into a secret world when he is invited to join wealthy Lucinda Browning’s dirty book club. No one suspects that the bi-racial son of the cook is anything more to Lucinda than a charitable obligation, but behind closed doors, O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright. What begins as a breathless investigation into the more juicy parts of literature quickly becomes a consuming and life-long habit for two people who would not otherwise be left alone together. As lynchings erupt across the South and the serving staff is slowly cut to make way for new mechanical household conveniences, Hadley begins to understand how dangerous and precarious his situation is.

The Reading Lessons follows the lives of two people born into a world that is unforgiving as a Hangman’s knot. Divided by skin color and joined by books, Hadley and Lucinda are forced to come together in the only place that will allow it, a land of printed words and dark secrets.

Watch the trailer:

I assume that many web site owners become attached to their template, pretty much as I did with my previous one. Nevertheless, a time comes when you realize that you have to move forward and let go of the old outfit. I got this urge last week, a mere 14 months after I inaugurated the former new look.

It didn't help reminding myself that switching to a new web site involves a lot of work, headache, remembering how css works, brushing up your HTML code. Nothing worked; before I knew it I found myself buying that new template that I had been coveting for quite some time.

The virtual book Tour for An Italian Obsession has started, and the program is shown below. Visit the tour stops to read reviewers' opinions, participate in giveaways, or simply see what's going on...