where have you been?

I'm sure someone has been asking that question, but after spying The Orchid Affair on the new fiction shelf at the library, I've been holed up re-reading the entire series of spy stories by Lauren Willig. The first is The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, with 8 others following. To get a gist of them, think Jane Austen time frame and setting with lots of British and french spies trying to kill each other with a bit of spice and much romance thrown in. I have come up for air, meals, school, and Mass, but am spending all my free time immersing myself in Napoleonic exploits, hair dressing tips, George III, the myriad of ways one can tie a cravet, a bevy of flowery spies, and proper decorum for young ladies at balls.