By Alison Crawford, CBC News

Regular readers of Political Bytes might remember how much I love checking in on the website What is Stephen Harper Reading?

Canadian Booker Prize-winning author Yann Martel launched the site more than two years ago to protest government funding cuts for artists.

Every two weeks, Martel sends the prime minister an inscribed book and a letter explaining why he has chosen the particular title.

This week's selection stands out from the usual diet of classics, non-fiction and poetry.

The saucy tome The Virgin Secretary's Impossible Boss is a Harlequin Romance.

Martel points out that Harlequin is a Canadian company that in 2007 sold 130 million books.

Martel's inscription reads:

To Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada,
Can 130 million people be wrong?
From a Canadian writer,
With best wishes,
Yann Martel

Interestingly enough, the Conservative Party may already be familiar with The Virgin Secretary's Impossible Boss, as it seems to favour the bodice-ripper genre.

During last year's election campaign, reporters including me who covered then-Liberal leader Stphane Dion, were met one late evening at the Ottawa airport by young Conservative campaign workers.

They offered us gift bags containing balloons, mouthwash, children's math flash cards and a novel full of naughty passages entitled "Rivals for the Crown."