Six months from right about now, Laura Kinsale’s new book, Lessons in French will be released. But Sourcebooks asked if we’d like to see the cover they’d been keeping under wraps inside a vault behind the sofa hidden under some weird tapestry.
I said, “Sure!”
So: here it is, the cover for Lessons in French.
Placing the couple off-center on the cover is interesting, and the colors pop in that illustration. I can’t help but think her leg is underlining the lessons, part. Lessons in French—avec leg!
What do you think? Are you looking forward to reading it? Or have you never tried a Kinsale novel?
Definitely a question of taste. I think I’m getting a tad intolerant in my middle age… 🙂 There are certain things I cannot deal with any longer that 25 years ago didn’t bother me one bit and overall, I’ve always tended more towards the ‘darker’ stories. I only discovered your books last year and have had a lovely time with many of them (except the hedgehog one, lol).
I’ll definitely check out LiF and thank you for explaining its genesis. I love hearing how these things evolve and get insights into the author’s process.
I hope the muse will bring you many more stories, if not for me, then for the many thousands of other fans you have.
Laura Kinsale could probably take the phone book and turn it into an interesting character study. I’ve been saving Seize the Fire just so I’d have an unread Kinsale to look forward to, but now I can read that one and have Lessons in French to look forward to. I like the cover—it’s not groundbreaking but it’s very pretty.
I have never read Kinsale but it sounds like I should give it a try. Is there a specific title anyone would suggest for an introduction to her writing?
I think I’ve had bad Laura Kinsale luck. I checked Shadowheart out from the library, but a 30 page section was missing. The first love scene was in there! That’s crucial stuff! Yeah, the subsequent relationship pretty much hinged on that scene. Because I was missing that intense (I think) scene, and hadn’t read For My Lady’s Heart, I wasn’t as moved as some were by Allegreto’s story. Then I tried to read The Hidden Heart, and I just couldn’t get into it. I keep looking for the Kinsale books everybody mentions and loves; they’re in my “to read” pile. Until then, I remain unconverted.
This cover is all kinds of awesome 😀 Colors are pretty, chick on top is hot, a little leg looks flirty, I just love it!
Also, Kinsale is in my Top 3 authors, everything she’s written has touched my soul, and I thank her for it. Although, out of all her books, Seize the Fire is the only one I can’t reread, it’s entirely too heart wrenching. I am beyond excited for a this new book, I’m counting down the days already lol
Ps: For new readers, I recommend Flowers from the Storm, it’s not like any other romance I’ve ever read 🙂
Just wanted to say that her leg is WAY too small in comparison to the rest of her, particularly her bosom!
These kinds of things always distract me and then I can’t stop noticing it!
I agree that the cover is fantastic (I love her dress) but what is the book about? even the title is sexy!
The cover? Meh. And the leg looks weirdly lit and over-photoshopped.
A new Kinsale book? CAPSLOCK CANNOT FULLY EXPRESS MY FANGIRLY JOY!!!!
Hope it’s good. I’ve loved 4 of the Kinsale books I’ve read, but darn near threw ShadowHeart against the wall.
GrowlyCub,
Lessons in French is, imho, NOT very much like Midsummer Moon.
Yes, there is the bull in the kitchen. But underlying this one is much more angst than Midsummer Moon. The heroine is not absentminded, the hero is not uptight.
And to my delight and surprise, this one can actually be considered a reunited-lovers story, which Kinsale does not do very often.
Mellisandre,
If you like medievals, by all means give For My Lady’s Heart a try. I love it so much. I also love The Shadow and the Star, which totally turned me onto the turn-of-the-century era.
I LOVE Laura Kinsale and I can’t wait to read the book. She is hands down the BEST!
BTW can we all get off of our high horses about “realism” people? Romantic fiction is all about fantasy. Having a girl bare her leg on the cover of a novel is sexy and that is what we are all after when we read these books (or am I wrong, and it’s just me and I’m just a huge horn-dog?) Sorry but I’m more likely to read this book than, say, a Heyer book with a properly dressed Laaaydaaay.
Yup, you are wrong.
Sherry, thanks for letting me know. I’ll be curious to compare notes next year!
Well, a sexy bare leg on a Heyer would be false advertising, since she doesn’t write overtly sexy romance. But I LOVE Heyer, and don’t need or want her books to be sexy.
Thanks, Ms. Kinsale, for giving us that insight into your process and your choices. And thanks as usual for being a classy writer who understands that you can’t please everyone and so it’s okay for a reader not to like everything you’ve written. I haven’t found the book of yours yet that I didn’t like, but I really respect that attitude from an author.
argh, just typed up a comment, pressed the wrong button, and the computer ate it.
This site introduced me to Kinsale, and when I was deterred by the truly terrible Fabio cover of Flowers from the Storm, convinced me to read it. I loved it, and everything else of hers I could get my hands on (though some worked better for me than others). I’m eagerly awaiting the new book, especially knowing it’s not so heavy/dark (pick your word). My patience is pretty low for unrelieved angst (which all too often comes with unrelieved sap) and I’ll take a sprightly romcom over a trip through the emotional wringer any day. Kinsale excepted, of course—she’s one of the authors who made me realize I could and occasionally did like the trip through the emotional wringer.
As for the cover, I love the colors, but I’m a little tired of partially headless people, though I think it’s interesting that they [partially headless, or completely headless people] don’t seem to signify “romance” quite as strongly as some of the older cover conventions, but rather “fiction.” Which is a good thing, since I’m not a fan of genre segregation.
That cover could have a turd on it and I’d buy it cuz it’s LK…I am so excited to get a new book from her FINALLY!
New Kinsale? And I have to wait 6 months? What sweet torture! This site also introduced me back into romance in general and Kinsale in particular and I am a 60 year old squeeing fangirl!
Gotta agree with Suzanne. Doesn’t matter what the cover looks like (even though I do like this one), as long as it is a new Kinsale, I’m gonna read it. I’ve have been waiting and waiting for her new book. Read on multiple blogs many moons ago that she was in the midst of a new book, but nothing ever got published. I checked her website periodically for updates and was sorely disappointed when the website turned into just a holding page. Arggg. But now I’m definitely filled with delight knowing that in 6 months there will be another to read! I’m just hoping that LK is filled with tons of inspiration because I’m sure I’ll devour the book in a few days. And waiting for a favorite author is torture if you have no idea they will be publishing another or not.
I agree with Sherry Thomas that Lessons in French is not very much like Midsummer Moon. At least it wasn’t for me.
I have to say that I loved this book, perhaps because it felt—to me, at least— a little like what Olympia and Sheridan’s (from Seize the Fire) story would have been were they raised MUCH more normally (and lovingly) and met as happy-go-lucky teenagers.
Does anyone else think that the woman’s anatomy is a bit off? Maybe it’s the angle she’s twisting at, but her leg and arm look kind of small in comparison to her torso.
Interesting that they went with such a different look from the soft landscape covers of the reissues.
Like the cover – pretty colors – but I’ll pass. Uncertain Magic was such a wallbanger of a book.
Yay, yay, yay! To be honest it could be another Fabio (*ducking*) cover and I’d be happy that this book is being published. Doing my Happy Duck Dance!
The cover is okay but doesn’t really do anything for me. I’ve seen a gazillion similar to it in the historical romance group. Nice colors, but the woman’s leg looks disproportionate to the rest of her.
I’ve read several of Kinsale’s books. She’s not an auto-buy for me, and I wouldn’t consider myself a fangirl by a long shot. However, I’ve liked her stories for the most part and would recommend them to someone who might just be dipping their toe in the historical romance subgenre.
well, I think the cover is blah—but, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LK’s BOOKS!!!
She is my all time favorite author, and seriously, I don’t even care what the freakin’ cover looks like—if I see her name on a book, I will buy it, end of story.
I think the graphic designer must be a fan of her work because he/she did a great job of putting her name in big bold letters. It’s almost as if the artist new a simple image would never do justice to the words that follow…all one really needs to know is that LK wrote it, LOL 😀
Seriously though, whenever I finish one of her books, I always put it down with a sigh, and a little smile.
I had only read Kinsale’s titles that were available as ebooks until the last few weeks. My local library – small, rural – is not able to carry them, nor the other area libraries. I’ve been pickigng them up from online used book dealers.
I love the depth I find in her books. I just finished The Dream Hunter, and am ready to go to Wiki and see what else I can find about Lady Hester Stanhope. Her books are more than plot and character; they are a window into the time and culture(s) in each book.
I trust LK: a light book may be just what some of us need.