Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Readers,

Two more vol 1’s from Viz. But the first is a Vol 1 from CMX, another publisher who brings quality shoujo to the US.
Land of the Blindfolded by Tsukuba Sakura. CMX. Retail $9.99. Not rated, but I’d say high school and up. 9 volumes (complete in Japan and in the US.)
(I should mention that the main story only takes up about 2/3 of the first book. There are also two unrelated short stories at the end that are rather sweet, both romantic.)
I actually heard of this story back when I first started reading manga and the concept intrigued me. I never knew it was released over here though until recently, and so I bought the first volume. It’s definitely a cut above other shoujo.
The story involves a high school girl named Kanade who can sometimes see the future when people touch her. She thinks of it like living in the land of the blindfolded, only her blindfold sometimes slips. One day she bumps into a young man in the hallway, Arou. He can see the past …

Dear Readers,
Here are some more first volumes of shoujo series coming out:
B.O.D.Y. by Ao Mimori. Viz. Retail $9.99. T+ for older teen (kisses, sexual innuendo). 12 volumes (ongoing in Japan, just starting here this month)
I’d never heard of this title but I was taken with it from the first page. The drawing is clear, sharp, and expressive, the characters modern, attractive and easily distinguished, the storyline cute, funny and lively.
Ryoko has a crush on a silent studious type in her class that everyone else thinks is creepy because he’s so morose. But she likes a guy who’s so conscientious about his work, and can’t stop thinking about him. She decides she’s in love and dons her battle armor (mascara, curls, accessories, and courage).
Then she finds out he’s working as a host (a male escort affiliated with a host club, sex not necessarily included) because he likes playing around and getting paid for it, and he has a completely different personality outside school. She rightfully knocks him on his ass and tells him she would absolutely never fall for …