An Affair to Remember – An Afternoon of Romance

Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!

So…..on Sunday January 8th I and my niece headed off for a drive to an event I found out about on Facebook:

An Affair to Remember – An Afternoon of Romance

Please join us for an exclusive romance tea, hosted by Avon Books and University Book Store in Bellevue, Washington! An intimate tea and conversation with bestselling romance authors, Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, Christina Dodd, Lisa Kleypas and Connie Brockway.

What could be better than the opportunity to listen to some of my favorite author talk about their books and maybe get a signed book to two…..

We had a few problems finding the bookstore mostly because I typed the address incorrectly into Google Maps 🙁  I was so happy to arrive and find that although we were a few minutes late, some of the authors hadn’t arrived yet!

Not to worry, we settled in to relax and listen;  happy to be in a non-moving seat 🙂  A few minutes later, the rest of the group arrived with stories of all the places they had been during the process of trying to find the University Bookstore.  I’ll tell you, they got way more lost than we did!  Not only that, they saw alot of more interesting places in the process of finding the bookstore – we should have been following them 🙂

The next hour or so passed quickly, with each of the authors talking about their latest books and answering questions from the audience members.  Although I’ve read books from all of the authors, I’ve probably read more books by Lisa Kleypas, Eloisa James and Julia Quinn.  I found it delightful to be reminded of some of the older books by all the authors as they talked about their favorite hero and heroines.  My niece that came with me has not read a book by any of these authors.  She is *gasp* a sci-fi fan and was chuckling at me as I was smiling and nodding to the various answers from the authors.  I’ll have you know, however, she took home a romance by Julia Quinn…..we might have a convert 🙂

Once the Q&A was done, we could get some books signed by the authors!

The line-up was long but the time passed quickly as everyone in line was discussing their favorite authors and their favorite books – a great way to pass time!  I decided to get a copy of Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn, Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James and A True Love Wedding Dress by Catherine Anderson, Connie Brockway and Casey Claybourne.  I got them all signed and am planning on giving them away!!

As you can see, in addition to the books, I got some swag 🙂 In the bottom left of this picture you can see I got a promo piece with the artwork of Julia Quinn’s next book.  Here’s a closeup of the cover.

Everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I LOVE the Bridgerton series!  Just Like Heaven is sort of an extension of the Bridgerton series and so is this book.

Isn’t this cover beautiful?? 

But May 29th??? 

Really??? 

We have to wait that long??

How am I ever going to fill my time?

Right…..there’s that TBR pile that my husband claims is so large it needs it’s own room!  Oh well, I guess time will pass, but in the meantime, look forward to a review of the books that make up the Bridgerton Series in the weeks before this release!

This post can’t be finished without a mention of Eloisa James.  I’ve read alot of her books, but I’ve never heard her speak to an audience before.  She’s funny, she’s engaging, and I love how her writing challenges my brain!  I look forward to sharing my thoughts about Kiss at Midnight with you.  ( I loved it!)

Until then, happy reading and stay warm 🙂