In March, the Bodice Tipplers podcast will be leaving the reservation to explore a few novels peripheral to their sphere of interest: trashy romance novels. They plan to do three books that month: the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Imzadi by Peter David, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews and ... well, the third is still up for discussion. Seeing as how I'm married to one of the two hosts (and am producer-by-default of the podcast) I've got a little influence over the title of the third book. It will absolutely be a Marilyn Ross book from the Dark Shadows line, but which one should it be?
Here are the candidates. You can vote using the Twitter poll below.
Summary: "Despite warnings from the townspeople, Victoria Winters accepts the offer to come to the strange Collins House as governess. For some curious reason she feels the secret of her past may be uncovered in the bleak manor high on Widow's Hill. From the moment she arrives, Victoria becomes the target of someone in the house determined to destroy her. As the wind moans and the rain lashes around the isolated Collins House, Victoria, without friends in the manor, feels death close in on her, a choking, frightening death."
Summary: "America's Grooviest Ghoul Barnabas Collins, the 175-year-old vampire who has taken the country by storm comes alive in this new novel of gothic suspense. Your blood will grow cold as you read the never-before-told story of the foggy night in 1899 when Barnabas first arrived at Collinwood. You'll chill to the full horror of the real truth about Barnabas - a secret so terrible that it could not be revealed until now."
Summary: "While searching for the woman who will replace his long-lost Josette, and thus end the terrible curse upon him, Barnabas meets lovely Clare Duncan. The story of their romance--and of the terror it brings to the beautiful young noblewoman--is a tale of Gothic suspense that will chill and delight the legions of Barnabas Collins fans."
Summary: "Barnabas predicts trouble for Collinwood when Nicholas Freeze, in whose antique shop Carolyn Stoddard works, discovers a centuries-old potion that promises eternal youth. Soon after, Mr. Freeze's daughter Hazel, tricked into taking the serum, dies. Carolyn is grief-stricken over her friend's death. Barnabas insists she stay on at the shop to watch Nicholas Freeze and his associates, one of whom Carolyn suspects is Quentin Collins, back at Collinwood in a disguise. Then Carolyn sees Hazel's ghost. She interprets this as a warning that Mr. Freeze has marked her for his next victim. Barnabas still refuses to let her quit. Has Barnabas made a fatal mistake by deliberately endangering Carolyn's life? Or will his plan avenge Hazel's murder and put her spirit to rest?"