I also had a difficult time chosing between the 3 good books (CD sucked, sorry).
CW: Swashbuckler, a number of PrCs I've used or plan to use, feats!
CA: WARLOCK, swift metamagic.
CV: Scout looks good, already planning to use several of the PrCs, feats, a few swift spells (more! must have more!).
I almost went with CA just for warlock. I ultimately chose CV for the best balance of usefulness (base class, PrCs, feats, spells, skill uses).
I was, however, VERY VERY VERY disappointed with the lack of a 'sneaky' bard PrC -- after the fantastic bard PrCs in CA for bards wanting to follow a more arcane route, I was really hoping for something that would follow the same concept as the Seeker of the Song (& War Chanter from CW) -- dropping spells to gain unique bardic music abilities.