Something Dangerous (2004)

Something Dangerous sounds like nothing less than a bodice ripper, peopled as it is with caddish husbands, a French lover, and beautiful identical twin sisters. But the second volume of Penny Vincenzi's saga of the Lytton publishing empire — which picks up in 1928 London, where No Angel left off — is in fact a riveting drama, the story of the book business and one not-so-bookish family. What WWII brings to the company, as well as to all the Lyttons (including those stunning, spoiled twins, Venetia and Adele), is rendered in elegant detail. Fortunately for us addicts, the book's last line makes clear that volume 3 is on the way.