Willful Impropriety

Just finished my forward for an anthology called Willful Impropriety: 13 Tales of Society, Scandal, and Romance. As you can tell from the subtitle, it's a set of stories about people young people flouting Victorian-era convention in various ways. There are a few girls-dressed-as-boys tales in the bunch, which is perhaps why I got the chance to read it early and write a forward.

Here's the rather awesome cover:

And the cover copy:

The Season has finally arrived, filled with the magnificent balls, scandalous gossip, and clandestine romances that every lord and lady in good society has come to expect. But far within the walls of lavish estates and in the dark corners of the city lies a world that the aristocracy dares not touch, with rules and risks that glamour cannot overpower. Yet true love has no boundaries, and heiresses and street thieves alike must use their savvy and strength to create new beginnings and happily-ever-afters. Sometimes luck is enough, but every once in a while, a touch of magic may be needed.

Deliciously alluring, these thirteen historical romances from a talented array of YA authors will make even the most cynical heart swoon.

How can you resist it?

Edited by Ekaterina Sedia, Willful Impropriety comes out September 4, 2012.

Oh, and here's the full roster of writers:

AT WILL by Leanna Renee Hieber

THE UNLADYLIKE EDUCATION OF AGATHA TREMAIN by Stephanie Burgis

NUSSBAUM'S GOLDEN FORTUNE by M. K. Hobson

THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER by Barbara Roden

MERCURY RETROGRADE by Mary Robinette Kowal

FALSE COLOURS by Marie Brennan

MRS BEETON'S BOOK OF MAGICKAL MANAGEMENT by Karen Healey

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Caroline Stevermer

THE DANCING MASTER by Genevieve Valentine

THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND by Sandra McDonald

RESURRECTION by Tiffany Trent

OUTSIDE THE ABSOLUTE by Seth Cadin

STEEPED IN DEBT TO THE CHIMNEY POTS by Steve Berman