Home Again, Home Again

But Being On Tour Was Awesome, Too

*staggers in the door panting, pushes it shut with her butt, slides down until she’s sitting on the hallway floor, surrounded by luggage*

Hi! How are you all? I’m a little dead, thanks for asking. Turns out going on a mini cross-country book tour is tiring, who would have thought?

Rather than write you a whole play-by-play of the last few weeks, here are some snapshots of moments that made me happy:

-Seeing The Slowest Burn IN REAL LIFE in bookstores, from singular copies in the romance section in the back to a pile on the display table right in front of the store (shout out to Books Inc in the Marina for giving this debut author a great big surge of prideful joy), and even hand-selling one to a complete stranger on the spot.

-Also buying books in said bookstores, because I don’t have enough to read at home already *cough*. I managed to keep my Gollum-like covetousness largely under control until I got to New York and bought two MASSIVE BOOKS, and then it all went to hell. Apologies to my back and shoulders for making them carry all those books home.

-The first cold-sweet sip of Martinelli’s apple juice, the first salty-spicy-comforting bite of a truly excellent breakfast burrito at Corrales Mexican Food in Ventura, the platonic ideal of dessert that is the lime passionfruit coconut bar at Republique in LA, the bruschetta topped with what I can only describe as a down comforter of butter and anchovies at Via Carota in the West Village. Horchata cold brew, guava-coconut-pickled mango shave ice (Ululani’s forever), pineapple buns stuffed with char siu, really good strip mall sushi, and of course a Double Double Animal Style.

-Speaking of complete strangers, it was brilliant meeting new people at events who were excited and engaged and wanted to take a chance on me and my book. Romance readers are the best readers, don’t let anyone tell you different.

-LCD Soundsystem singing, “You spend the next five years trying to get with the plan/ and the next five years trying to be with your friends again” just as I arrived in New York and feeling my shoulders drop with the sense of recognition and welcome. I have never lived in New York City and don’t plan to, but I’m now at the point where I’ll take the smallest excuse to visit for a few days and soak the place in. (Hello to all of my early-mid 2000s indie fan friends, did you also watch Meet Me in the Bathroom with all those ridiculously young and talented musicians and wish with all your heart you could have been at that exact place and time?)

-Seeing family and friends every place I went, eating and drinking and laughing and catching up and shooting the breeze. Making London home was the right decision for me, but I miss my hometown people and this time with them was all the sweeter.

-Looking out over the Ojai Valley at the stunning view I saw all the time in high school twenty years ago, loving it for staying the same while I have changed so much for the better.

***

I’ll return to our usual three books-and-a-cocktail format in the next issue, but for now, here’s a list of great books to check out that I read over the last five weeks. I was spending a lot of hours traveling and needed distraction from the sensory grimness of mass transit and the disorientation of jet lag, so these are mostly romance novels. A few of them aren’t out in the world yet, but I loved them so much I’m including them here so you can pre-order and share in the joy ASAP - you’re welcome.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Unromance by Erin Connor (out January 2025)

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb

Love You a Latke by Amanda Eliot

One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin

The Worst Duke in London by Amalie Howard

You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon (out February 2025)

Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti (out January 2025)

And for those among you who aren’t typically romance readers…

A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater

Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Swindled the World by Yeepoka Yeebo

Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner

Looking forward to talking to you all again on Wednesday, 6 November! Until then, go play in the falling leaves, drink something spiced, and get cozy with a blanket and a great book.