Lisa Kleypas at The Ripped Bodice: Queen of Lombard Street

If you've read historical romance at any point in the last thirty years, you've probably read Lisa Kleypas. Devil in Winter, the Wallflowers books and the Ravenels series sit on a lot of shelves. On Tuesday, October 20, she's at The Ripped Bodice in Culver City for the LA launch of her new novel, Queen of Lombard Street. It's a weeknight pick for anyone looking for things to do in Los Angeles that end with a signed hardcover.

The book

Queen of Lombard Street is a Victorian novel, and the store bills it as historical fiction rather than straight romance. Its heroine, Reina Martin, is an economist in a country that won't let a woman open her own bank account. She sets out to build Britain's first bank for women with her mentor, a powerful banker named William Farlow.

Then things get complicated. Reina's household staff are recently paroled prisoners, and they've become a found family. Her butler, John Pembroke, turns out to be an undercover police detective investigating Farlow for financial crimes big enough to rattle the British economy. He needs her help with a nighttime heist to get the evidence. The characters draw on real women, including Mary Paley Marshall, Britain's first female economist, and the financier Hetty Green.

Who's on stage

Kleypas studied political science at Wellesley, which fits a book about banking and money. Her novels have been published in forty languages. She'll talk about the new book with Maureen Lee Lenker, an LA-based journalist and novelist who has written three books set in Hollywood's Golden Age. Lenker used to be a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she ran Hot Stuff, a quarterly romance review column. She knows this genre from both sides of the page.

A signing follows the conversation.

The store

The Ripped Bodice is a bookstore that sells only romance. Sisters Bea and Leah Koch run it. Its FAQ says seating is first come, first served, and that at sold-out or packed events you may end up standing, so get there early if you want a chair. Doors open at 6:30 PM, half an hour before the 7 PM start, and the whole event runs about two hours.

Tickets and practical details

Tickets are $34.93 on Eventbrite, and each one includes the hardcover. Eventbrite's own ticket data listed the event as sold out when we checked, so look at the page for released seats before you plan your night around it. You can bring up to two books from home to get signed.

Can't get in? The store sells signed copies of Queen of Lombard Street for in-store pickup in LA or shipping, as long as you order by October 13.

Refunds work in steps. You get a full refund through Eventbrite up to 7 days out. Between 7 days and 48 hours before, email events@therippedbodice.com for a 50% refund. Inside 48 hours, there are no refunds. The same address handles ADA accommodations.

The store is at 3806 Main Street in downtown Culver City, a short walk from the Culver Hotel. Culver City runs public parking structures a block or two away. The Metro E Line's Culver City station is also within walking distance.

For more author talks and gallery nights, see the arts and culture calendar or browse events around Los Angeles for other Things Happening In Los Angeles this October.