So a couple of months ago my friend Jen (more commonly referred to as my old man from our days at Virginia Tech), asked me if I wanted to go to a reader/blogger luncheon that was being held in DC. An author friend of hers, the fabulous Jamie Farrell, that I have read and reviewed here was going to be attending, along with about 40 other authors. Pretty sure I gave her a look that said, are you really asking me this, of course I want to go…lol! So yesterday (Saturday) we headed out to Bethesda and spent the afternoon hanging out with some great authors, meeting lots of new folks and adding to the TBR pile (in massive ways).
The event was hosted by the fabulously dressed (down to the awesome Zebra-stripped shoes – that I debated tackling her for) Kimberly Kincaid and Lynne Silver. I’d read Kimberly’s stuff before (in the The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap – which also featured a story by Kate Angell with anatomically correct gingerbread men…). Lynne is a new author to me, but when I saw that the promo card for her book, Desperate Match had mad libs on the back, I was in love and will be reading her in the near future.
Then came the all important introduction! While I have read all of Jamie Farrell’s books so far (and loved them) and we’ve been facebook friends for over a year – we’ve never actually met! (I know, weird right). Jen and I were lucky enough to be sitting at Jamie’s table, so we were able to chat all afternoon and I finally heard the hilarious story about how they met. Its like something you would think only happens in books 😉 For anyone who hasn’t read Jamie’s stuff, she writes contemporary romance with a southern twist – and bonus, she is a military wife (even if it is air force 😉 ).
Along with Jamie, we had Geri Krotow who writes military romances for Harlequin (and is just moving into suspense) – and she is a former Naval Officer (so she knows her stuff) and Hope Ramsey. Both of these authors are new to me (although I know I have at least one of Hope’s books on Mt TBR). Hope was also the fabulous designer of our picnic baskets that everyone at our table received. Aren’t they gorgeous!
Also at our table was Rheanna who is a blogger at Cammo Style Love – so it was like a military fest at our table most of the afternoon. As well as raffle prize central – I mean, a reader luncheon isn’t complete withour prizes right.
Speaking of prizes, I always have to laugh how things workout. I was just sitting back, chilling, making jokes (like always) when they were doing one of the groups of raffle prizes. Kimberly Kincaid got up with this HUGE bag of books, donated by her publisher, Kensington Books. Laughing, I turned to Jen and said, OMG, I want to win that – I mean, what girl doesn’t love a bag of books…and voila! yep, yours truly had her name drawn out of the bag. I think there was like a stunned silence for a moment or two, before it finally sunk in. 
The bag was like a cornucopia of books – there are so many authors in there, some i am familiar with, but most of them are new to me. a few people at my table got donations from me for books that I had already read – I figured the prize was a gift that keeps on giving 😉
After all the prizes were given out (and there were some seriously great ones) and we had sufficiently gorged ourselves on food (that butternut raviloi was melt in your mouth delicious), it was time for the best part – mingling with authors! I always love doing this because it gives me a chance to gush over authors I love and meet new ones who may have books I want to try. I FINALLY got to meet Avery Flynn – i’ve read several of her books and they are all highly rated (bonus, my ARC of her newest one popped into my email while i was at the luncheon). So we totally had to take a selfie (courtesy of her). 
Jen and Mary Behre (Paranormal Mysteries/Suspense) bonded over their mutual love for the color purple (i swear, they are just attracted to each other!). I got a pen in the shape of a rifle courtesy of P.A. DePaul and tons of other swag.
And saving the best for last, the cardboard cut-out of Jensen Ackles from Supernatural. Now, I’m probably going to shock people, but I’ve never actually watched this although it often shows up in my Facebook feed – but I think i’ll need to check it out in the future. Jensen is seen here with Kimberly Kincaid, Robin Covington Tracy Brogan, and Avery Flynn.
I left the luncheon with plenty of swag and books, so for a chance to win a goodie bag – if you could have lunch with any author ALIVE today, who would it be and why?
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