AS THE WORLD TURNS' Ewa da Cruz (Vienna) hasn't been seen much around Oakdale lately, but that's okay: You can probably find her on the shelf of your local bookstore — on the cover of Julia Quinn's The Lost Duke of Wyndham.

Soap Opera Weekly: I did a total double take when I saw the cover at Borders Books and Music. Do you frequently do romance-novel modeling?
Ewa da Cruz: Yeah, I've done it before. I do a lot of those [covers]. It's just that people don't really recognize me all the time, because it might be a side shot or a back shot. It just happens to be a big author this time.

Weekly: What's it like to shoot?
Da Cruz: It's pretty fun. It's fast. It takes an hour, and when you go in, you either work alone or you work with a guy. The guys are beautiful (laughs). Sometimes you get to wear all sorts of dresses. I always have fun when I'm working with the photographers that are doing those kinds of shoots. It's a nice side gig.

Weekly: People miss you on your main gig, though. Vienna seems to have vanished!
Da Cruz: I know. I don't know what happened. But she's coming back, both her and Henry. There is a big storyline coming up with Metro, and I don't really know more than that, but it's going to be some fun stuff.

As for Julia Quinn's novel, it’s fun stuff, too. The Lost Duke of Wyndham is about Grace, the long-suffering companion of a dowager duchess, and a wisecracking highwayman named Jack Audley. When the duchess (a total harridan) recognizes Jack as her long-lost grandson, Grace and Jack must deal with his new station in life — and their growing attraction.

I tore through TLDOW in one night because I couldn't put it down. Grace is probably the polar opposite of ATWT’s Vienna, but da Cruz’s delicate features are the perfect (physical) realization of the book's heroine. As for Jack, I think it's safe to say that he’s on the list of my favorite romance-novel heroes. If you like guys who cover up their hidden depths with a wicked sense of humor, you'll love Jack.

So rest assured, The Lost Duke of Wyndham is one book you can definitely judge by its beautiful cover.