Maybe it's the fact that she has a baby due, literally any minute now, but Richelle gave in to our begging and consented to give us a few tiny hints about what we'll get from "The Golden Lily" when it comes out in June 2012 (aaargh!).

(SPOILER-ish ALERT if you haven't finished "Bloodlines"!)

"I'm still writing it, and in the past we have had major plot lines completely deleted, and so I'm like, I'd hate to tell you something that never shows up," she told us apologetically (OK, sorry she's not really a meany), before giving up the good stuff, fortune-teller-style:

"I can tell you Sydney will get a little romance in her life. It's probably not going to be what readers are expecting-slash-hoping for initially. That's been a lot of fun for me, writing Sydney dating."

Translation: We think this means Syd isn't going to throw out her humans-don't-date-vampires rule just yet to give in to Adrian's soulful stare. So maybe there's a new Alchemist in town? Or football-playing smarty Trey Juarez, who seems to get a kick out of Sydney's awkward speeches? Is she going to lure Micah away from Jill? Hmmm. What else?

"We're going to learn a little bit more about something that was hinted at in 'Bloodlines,' about whether or not there are such things as vampire hunters in the world," Richelle added. "They start to pick up that maybe that's not such the myth that they thought. It's going to be the usual split of an action plot going on along with various romantic entanglements."

That action might be why Dimitri is in town at the end of book one. But his presence there seemed like a teasing reminder of all the hot-and-heavy romance that was missing from Sydney's life, in contrast to Rose's adventures. Richelle knows we're champing at the bit for more of that drama, and she promises that it's coming. Eventually.

"I know a lot of [readers] are geared up for romance, and there's plenty of that, so they can rest easy, especially as the series progresses," she said. "The first one is a little light. I'm going to get some more of those, 'How can you do that?' letters. If they hang in there, there's going to be a lot of drama to come."

All right, we'll be patient. And in the meantime, those of you who are, er, mature enough, I encourage you to pick up Richelle's Georgina Kincaid and Dark Swan series. The conclusion of the Georgina series, "Succubus Revealed," is out next Tuesday.

What are you hoping will happen in "The Golden Lily"? Who do you want to see Sydney date?