Happy Monday!
I have a lot to tell you this week – aren’t you happy? lol The excitement started Wednesday when I got an email from Malle Vallik who is the Digital Director for Harlequin. She stated that along with Angela James, Executive Editor for Carina Press, they were having a dinner that night to meet with bloggers and get to know them a bit. Holly from Book Binge couldn’t attend but was nice enough to forward some other bloggers emails to her and mine was one of them – woohoo! I ended up at the dinner (at Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse which was excellent) with Malle, Angela, Lori, Renee (So Cal Bloggers), Katie (young librarian on twitter), Amber (Buried by Books blog), Sarah (Smart Bitches), Mallory (an editor for Carina) and Barbara Vey from Publishers Weekly. We had a great discussion about Goodreads and just talked about books for hours – so much fun.
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| From left to right: Renee, Sarah, Katie, Malle, Angela, Me, Lori, Mallory, Amber |
On Friday I drove back down to LA and shacked up with Holly, Lori & Nikki for the weekend. We attended the Ebook/Graphic Fiction expo that day where I got to meet ZA Maxfield again, Belinda McBride, Mari Freeman, Mari Carr, Vivian Arend, James Buchanan, Angela Knight and many more. It was great meeting all of these wonderful authors. And of course I got to see my friends LB Gregg & Rosie after not having seen her for a year and that was a huge highlight. 🙂 That evening after dinner at LA’s famous Pantry we hung out in the lobby bar and talked to authors Beth Kery & Julie James who are just nice, nice, nice women. (I was doing my inner fan-girl squee and trying to act calm. lol) We were joined later by Lorelei James, Angela James and Jane from Dear Author which was very cool as well. I think others joined later but sadly after 2 margaritas my brain didn’t latch on to much. lol
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| Me, Julie James & Jane from Dear Author |
On Saturday we attended the Giant Book Fair and it was incredibly fun. I got to meet and see so many wonderful authors – Shana Abe, Ann Aguirre (who I’m pretty sure managed to talk me into reading the Sirantha Jax series even though I’m not a sci-fi fan), Tessa Dare, Lydia Dare, Joanna Bourne, Elizabeth Hoyt, GA Aiken/Shelly Laurenston, KB Alan, Jennifer Ashley, Tara Taylor Quinn, Lorelei James, Victoria Dahl, Heather Davis, Ashleigh Raine, Jennifer Haymore, Jill Sorenson (who actually knew me by sight – how cool is that?*waves*), Delilah Devlin, HelenKay Dimon, Lila DiPasqua, Megan Hart, Courtney Milan, Kate Noble, Jeri Smith-Ready, Mary Wine, Veronica Wolff. I think I might have missed some in there but it was all a bit overwhelming but fabulous. I did miss Lynsay Sands, Shelly Bradley/Shayla Black who I had on my list but somehow missed them. I suck. lol
On Saturday we had a So Cal Blogger/Author get together in the lobby bar and invited anyone and everyone to attend or stop by and say hi. We were joined throughout the night by Zoe Archer, Sabrina Darby, Eden Bradley, Nico Rosso, Jill from Romance Rookie, Holly, Lori, Renee, Rosie, Rowena, Beth Williamson, Lorelei James, Vivianne Westlake, LB Gregg, James Buchanan, Rhiann Cahill, RG Alexander, Stephanie Dray & Susanna Kearsley, Colleen Gleason, Lisa Hendrix. Did I miss anyone? Sorry if I did.
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| KB Alan, Vivianne Westlake, Lisa Hendrix |
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| Zoe Archer, Renee & Lisa Hendrix |
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| Amber, Nikki, Holly, Renee, Sabrina Darby in the back there with Stephanie Dray next to her. James Buchanan has her back to us with the lovely black and white jacket…and I can’t tell who the others are. Anyone? |
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| Lorelei James, Beth Williamson, the back of LB Gregg and the side of Colleen Gleason |
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| Lori & Rosie & the back of Rowena on the right |
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| Holly |
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| Holly looking adorable & Me (I apparently have really squinty eyes and 1 wandering eye. Who knew?) |
We headed up to the Carina Press party for a bit where I met some other great authors, Caridad Pineiro, Dee Tenorio & Hunter Raines among others. And Carina gave away an IPAD2 and a Nook Color – neither of which I won – bummer.
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| Nikki and others at the Carina Press party |
I gotta tell you that I haven’t had that much fun in a long damned time. Every single author that I met was just as nice as could be and was more than willing to stand or sit and talk about books as well as a myriad of other subjects. I’m so glad I went!
My co-worker just handed me this comic that he cut out of the paper so I thought I’d share. Funny.
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| Click on picture to enlarge |
Ok – what did I read this week?
I started off the week with Dead on Delivery by Eileen Rendahl. This is book 2 in the Messenger series and it was a good one. I didn’t like it quite as much as the first because I think there was less action and because our heroine, Melina, was a bit stressed throughout the book. She had every right to be but her stress kind of fed through the book. If interested you can read my review here on The Book Binge. 3.5 out of 5
My next read was Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger. I am now firmly a fan girl of Steve Kluger. I read Almost Like Being in Love and it became one of my favorite m/m books. I ordered LDoS from the library and dug in and it was so. damned. good. It’s not a romance but a story told in epistolary style about a 12 year old boy, Joey, back in 1936-1942 who needs a father figure in his life since his father re-married and wants nothing to do with him. He latches on to the 3rd baseman for the NY Giants, Charlie, and starts writing him letters. Charlie doesn’t want to be latched on to but eventually the two become friends. The story follows their friendship and how Charlie changed Joey’s life but Joey had such an affect on Joey’s as well. It was hilarious and heart-wrenching and just an absolutely fabulous read. 5 out of 5
Next up was Secrets of a Proper Countess by Lecia Cornwall – another book I read for The Book Binge. This was the story of Isobel who is at a masked ball and can’t keep her eyes off of the Marquess of Blackwood. The Marquess approaches her and they end up having more than a little fun in the garden. He wants to know who she is but she has to have a squeaky clean reputation because if she doesn’t her son will be taken away from her. This was a romance/spy for the crown/evil in-law story and on some levels it worked for me and others not so much. I’ll let you know when my review posts on TBB and you can read more of what I thought. 3.75 out of 5
Last for the week was The Good Thief by James Buchanan. This was a great story about Caesar who is a thief who cases and breaks into houses for a living and Nate who is a beat cop. They meet at a party and end up going home together and really love being together but the next day Nate’s a bit of an ass and then Caesar finds out he’s a cop and decides not to leave his number. When Caesar breaks into a house and finds some horrible pictures involving kids he takes them to Nate and an investigation begins that puts Nate and Caesar firmly together. They finally realize that they’re falling for each other but how can a cop and a thief live happily ever after. I really liked this book. Buchanan really knows how to suck me into the book and keep me there with the relationship. She really knows how to balance the romance with the sex and the other parts of the story and I really enjoy that about her books. Good stuff. 4 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
That’s it for me. I’ll leave you with a picture of a place I saw when Lori was driving me to the train station. Do I really want those two things at the same time? I don’t think so.
Happy Reading!
OMG. What a wild time you had. I think you are just drunk in that picture, hence the wonky eye. 🙂
There is "supposed to be" a sequel to the Good Thief. It was one of the first m/m books I read and definitely hooked me on James' work from the start. It is often a reread for me.
Hope you survive your week back in the real world.
Thank you so much for all the photos Tracy! It looks like so much fun – I feel like I've been without actually attending 🙂 One day…
And I think you look gorgeous in the photos!
There is "supposed to be" a sequel to the Good Thief.
Ohhhh. I have this, but I haven't read it. Initially I had it in PDF and spent hours trying to convert it to ePub. Gave it and then realized (thank you Chris) that Calibre converts Mobipocket into ePub, so I bought it in Mobipocket. And have I read it? Nooo 🙁 I've been saving it (I know, that sounds terrible). But, it's going on 'The List'! (Which BTW is not exactly my TBR list 🙂
OhMyGod what a great time you had! Meeting all those authors and bloggers is so cool. *seeing green of envy here*
Thanks for sharing the pictures and story, Tracy. 😀
Wow, you had so much fun! I'm so jealous, but also really pleased you had a great time :).
What great pictures!!! It really looks like you had a wonderful time. Ooh, and that Lecia Cornwall book looks right up my alley. And is that Nathan? Sigh…
What awesome pictures! I'm so jealous!
Tam – Got it…drunk or nearly drunk=wonky eye. Note to self: have all pictures taken prior to drinking.
A sequel to The Good Thief? How much would I LOVE that?
Yeah, reality sucks sometimes. lol
Orannia – Glad to be of service. I hope we'll see you at one of these shindigs one day – especially if it's in LA so I'm nearby! 🙂
Oh definitely break out The Good Thief!
Jenre – Thanks. It was loads of fun. A bit overwhelming but fun!
Barbara – Thanks it was a great time.
The Cornwall was good – I think you might like it. I don't know if it's Nathan. I'm not a fan *ducks and runs for cover*
KB – It was great. But you'll have RWA in your backyard soon, won't you. I'll have to be the jealous one then. lol
Janna – Glad you enjoyed the pictures. They were taken with my phone and it has no flash so I never knew if I was getting a good one or not. I think Renee will come out with better ones. I'll let you know if she does.
What a fun weekend! I'm still on a high.
I loved looking at the pictures, especially since I can't find my freaking sync cable for my camera.
I see you got a great shot of my brace, in the picture with Zoe and Lisa.lol. After trying to get around the Bonaventure, I'm even more sick of it than ever. 😛
The James Buchanan book looks good! Must add it to the list. Extra bonus: she was so nice when we got to chat in the bar on Saturday.
To the left of Sabrina, is Stephanie Dray/Stephanie Draven. IDK who the guy is.
I think you'll like Grimspace by Ann Aguirre.
Renee – I know, hard to get back to reality! lol
Oh noes – find that cable! 🙂
You were a trooper with your brace, lemme tell ya. I don't know that I would have been half as energetic! lol
James was very nice and it was lovely talking to her. The Good Thief is one you'll definitely like.
Oh thanks for the heads up about the people in the picks. There were so many people it was hard to keep track!
Grimspace – we'll see. lol
Sounds and looks like an absolute blast – and I'm impressed by how many people you remembered!
Oh, it's been a long time since I read The Good Thief. Maybe I need a reread… I just read Hard Fall over the weekend and loved it.
It was, as always, awesome to chat with all of you. I was looking through the pictures, and realized the second one, with you, Julie and Jane on the couch? Yeah, that's my zombified face behind your head! yikes. As for the group pic with the unidentified, on the floor with our backs to you are me, Terry-Kate (sp?) from RITBS, and James Buchanan, if I remember correctly.
I think we can blame the wonky eye on the sketchy photographer and her camera phone! I, oops, I mean she, was too busy paying attention to rumors spreading on twitter to take a better pic.
The Good Thief looks yummy, I'll have to add that to my list!
I had a great time! As always, it was super fun hanging out with you all.
Tracy, it looks and sounds like a fabulous time! Love the pictures, the commentary and LOL on that comic strip!
Welcome to the Kluger fangirl club! I can't stop pimping his books and I've only read the same two books that you've read. I'm saving the other two he has written to read slowwwly. I wish the man would write and write and write. 😀 Love, love, Joey and Charlie.
You should feel honored Tracy – I saved this post for last when cleaning out my Google Reader because I wanted to gawk some more at the pictures 🙂 Plus "leaving it in my GR" is shorthand for "leave a comment Wendy."
Looks like you all had a super time, and dang, you still got some reading done! I never get a damn word read when I'm at conferences. Too busy….and brain dead.
Chris – Well it was fresh in my mind. Even now I may not be able to remember them all! lol It was so much fun!
I have Hard Fall I'll need to dig in to that one soon.
KB – OMG that IS your zombified face! lol Catching you at your best. 😉
Oh thanks for the heads up on the people I couldn't remember!
IDK – I'm thinking the photographer was fine – just the subject at hand was bad. lol Those rumors were fun – too bad no one fell for them! lol
Lori – So Fun! Great slumber party too. 🙂
Hilcia – Seriously I want to gobble up ALL of Kluger's books asap. They are so good and I just love his voice.
Wendy – I DO feel honored! You were definitely missed this weekend, my friend. So many people asked where you were! Next time, definitely.
I actually got the reading done before and a little after on Sunday. I think I read all of 2 pages while at RT! lol
Put me on the jealous train also…looks like you had a great time!!! How do you find all the time to keep up with your reading, you party person?
SidneyKay – Well, as I said I only read about 2 pages while at RT. The other books I read before going and after coming home. I was too dang tired every night to even think about picking a book up while at RT! lol
Really sound like you had a blast, Tracy 🙂 How fun was it to meet all those authors? 🙂 You definitively were in great company the whole convention!
and woohooo on the Steve Kluger! me too, a definite fan… just wish he would release something soon!
The skull shirt is mine (Me, back to the camera, and goddamn I need a hair cut)
It was fun meeting you all. And I'm sorry I had to bail early on Sat.
Nath it really was a great time. And YES I'm huge Kluger fan! I love his books.
James – It's is you! Sorry about not realizing that, but I guess I didn't recognize you from the back without your hat. 🙂 It was great meeting you, finally!
lol, I love that comic strip. Cracks me up. Poor Goat.
And yet again more books to add to my wish list… you are bad for the health of my wish list. lol.
Jessica – I know, poor Goat. He'll get readers soon. 🙂