HaBO: Pink Satin Gown

This HaBO is from Fin, who wants to find this romance:

Once, a long long time ago, I was aspiring to be an archaeologist and spent a hot summer in Southern Illinois digging very precise holes in a cornfield with twenty other college / grad students. On our one day off each week we would pile in whomever’s car had the best AC (not mine) and run amok. One of those weekend days we drove through miles of cornfields only to come upon a farmhouse, set back from the road, with a tiny sign out front that said “BOOKS.”

Books indeed! Inside, the entire downstairs had been turned into a used bookstore of the paperback exchange variety, wall to wall packed with every sub genre of Romance imaginable, from Time Travel and Fantasy, to Thriller and Contemporary. The largest room though was devoted to Historical Romance, and that’s where our fearless leader led us, with the goal of each picking out a book to read over the next week …and one for her to read to us, aloud, on the 20min drive to and from the dig site each day.

I hemmed and hawed, having never read a romance in my life. Finally, with some help from the proprietor, and at the recommendation of a fellow digger, I selected a fairly thick paperback from the shelves.

The cover was one of the old school painting versions, not the newer photos. A white woman stood facing away from the camera, wearing a pale pink satin gown, with full skirts. The back of the gown had lacing …which to my memory was slightly undone, if not in the process of being let out and her falling away from the dress. The background was plain, and I think I remember it being red. I think some of her hair was visible, a reddish blond in a loose ringlet up-do.

I remember being surprised the story, being delighted by the spice (middle w/some open door). I don’t remember anything else and DESPERATELY want to find the book so I can re-read it.

I was hoping that maybe it would show up during a Stepback Saturday on reddit, but I don’t remember there being a stepback …in fact, I remember being mildly miffed that my cover was so tame compared to some of the others folks wound up with. Alas, I’ve dug through the internet to no avail, both instagram and google.

I love this story and I hope we can find it.