RT Book Fair Recap

As I mentioned last week, two Saturdays ago I was lucky enough to attend the RT Book Fair down in Los Angeles. With over 300 authors in attendance, you can imagine what a madhouse it was, but it was MY kind of madhouse - stuffed full of booklovers and authors with everyone generally having a good time and lugging around sacks of books. Just check out the size of this place!

I was joined for the day by my good book friend Becca and we both got to meet many, many awesome authors - including:

Julie James (middle)- who, oh my, could seriously be any one of her characters. The woman is gorgeous and very, very nice. We both got our copies of Just the Sexiest Man Alive signed and went away with happy smiles.

Sarah Rees Brennan (right)- Frankly I was extra excited about meeting Sarah and may have wound up babbling like a fool just a little bit while talking with her. True to form, Sarah was more than willing to share spoilers for the upcoming The Demon's Surrender but since I couldn't bear to hear them, she did tell us the story about the time she tried to dye her hair pink like Mae, only to have it turn out a startling green. Also, she was extra generous with the swag and I even scored an alternate first chapter of The Demon's Lexicon with the author's commentary. Excellent reading.

Ann Aguirre - So happy to meet this prolific writer. Ann was even extra nice when I gushed like a goon over her latest YA novel, Enclave. Although I was a bit sad to not see any of her Jax books on display...

Simone Elkeles - So don't look at this picture too long, it's a wee bit fuzzy. Probably because Ms. Elkeles was super expressive and hardly sat still while we were talking. The best part about meeting Simone was hearing all about her trouble while writing Chain Reaction - the third Perfect Chemistry novel which follows the youngest Fuentes brother, Luis, who is..wait for it..a nice guy. Simone said she had no clue how to write a male character that wasn't a jerk who falls for the good girl. Needless to say, I'm even more intrigued now to see how she ended up pulling it off.

Patrick Rothfuss - I have no idea why I didn't get a picture of this awesome author, but for some reason I totally forgot. Probably because I was to busy being incredibly fangirlish at the moment [but you can see him complete with crazy hair here in a picture from the Dear Author's recap]. I adored his book The Name of the Wind and even purchased another copy there just so I could have him sign it since mine was currently on loan to a friend. He was a bit like a fish out of water among so many romance authors and even agreed that it was a little odd to be one of the few men without a rippling six-pack wandering around (courtesy of the Mr. Romance competition).

Linnea Sinclair (right) - As funny in person as she in her books. My favorite author moment? She kept pointing out all of her cats that were used on the covers of her novels.

I didn't get pictures of them, but I also met Kelley Armstrong and Claire Dunkle while catching glimpses of many, many others. All in all, it was a fantastic event - one I wish I had been able to attend more of. But here's the lovely stack of books I got signed:

Annnndd.... Here's the massive amount of swag I came home with. Now, I'm going to be giving some of this away later on when books are released, but I do have a bunch of romance author swag to pass on right now. So if anyone is interested in a bunch of romance bookmarks, teasers etc. drop me a line at mmillet at gmail dot com and I'll send it off to you. First email gets it folks. Taken!

Something About You by Julie James

To say that Julie James has an astonishingly - and refreshingly - irreverent sense of humor would be a gross understatement. Just take James' dedication in Something About You for example (yes, I read those beginning pages; you're missing out if you don't):

To the jokers in the room next to me at the JW Marriott San Francisco -- As you kept me awake with your antics; this is the book I wrote in my head.

Since I opened Something About You knowing it was about a woman who inadvertently winds up next door to an enthusiastically *vocal* couple at a hotel, I may have choked back a laugh or two. And then quickly turned the pages to get started.

U.S. District Attorney Cameron Lynde has earned a vacation. Even if said vacation happens to take place at a swanky hotel mere miles from her home for a little R&R, so much the better. So it might be a gross understatement to say that she was mildly displeased when the couple next door began to engage in some seriously verbal, hot-and-heavy nighttime activities at two in the morning while she was trying for some deserved rest. After calling the hotel desk to complain, Cameron peeks out her door to watch the culprits make the walk of shame but only glimpses a man making his solitary way out. Alone. Fully expecting to finally fall blissfully asleep, Cameron discovers her night is about to get a little bit worse when the room next door winds up becoming a crime scene and the lead investigator is none other than her old nemesis FBI Agent Jack Pallas. AKA Agent Hottie. Cameron and Jack share what I will lightly call 'an unpleasant bit of professional history' wherein Jack made some choice comments about Cameron's ability as a lawyer and in the fallout, was transferred to the Middle of Nowhere. Finally back in the big city and on his first assignment, Jack is not remotely pleased to discover that Cameron is his only eye (err...ear) witness in such an important case.

Upon finishing Something About You, I gave a little sigh. It was a happy sigh because I had such fun with Cameron and Jack - highly loyal and competent people both. Their constant circling was non-stop amusing and of course, Julie James had to go and throw in some truly dynamic secondary characters who were experts at keeping the comedy rolling. That said (*deep breath*), for some strange reason I found Something About You to be lacking in what I call the Unique Sparkle Department (I'm trademarking that BTW) which was oh so present in James' previous two books. One reason could be that the novel lies in the 'romantic suspense' genre: there is an obvious villain, whom Jack and Cameron spend a fair amount of time simply trying to keep her safe from. Which in the end doesn't allow for as much time for their devilishly witty exchanges, darn it.

James' element of humor is what had me previously stepping out of my genre comfort zone to pick up her first two romance novels, Practice Makes Perfect and Just the Sexiest Man Alive in the first place. Thanks to recommendations from The Book Smugglers and Angie, I found both to be laugh-out-loud, is-it-possible-to-die-from-giggling-so-much? funny. And also reports that the 'romance' side of the novels was more left to the imagination than not. I'm one of those readers who like to be left wondering about some things... Which is not to say Something About You wasn't a very good book. It was. It just wasn't exceptionally good - but I will still tell people to read it. In fact, I'm telling you right now: Go Read Something About You. Anytime you get me laughing out loud with your dedication alone Ms. James, I'm going to recommend your book.

Because Everyone Loves a Second Opinion:
Angieville review
The Book Smugglers review
Dear Author review
Janicu's Book Blog review
Smart Bitches Trashy Books review
Tempting Persephone review

book source: my local library

Something About You Contest

Julie James is one of those authors that just gets it. Her books are witty, fun and believe you me, highly addictive book crack. They never fail to put a smile on my face which is why I'm totally looking forward to her upcoming release Something About You. To celebrate the event, Julie James is hosting a contest over at her blog, so stop by and help spread the word.