Tea in the OC

New and Recycled Romances in Costa Mesa is one of my favorite used books stores ever. While it sells all manner of books it is very romance reader friendly. When my brother worked down in Newport Beach we worked together on a series of short stories for over a year. We had delusions of getting published but the project ended up being a labor of love more than anything else. Someday I'll talk about that and maybe even link to one of the stories.

Anyway, I never visit any place for very long without looking for a good used book store. You just never know what treasures you are going to find. I've had a list of books I'm looking for in my purse for the past 20 years. Unreal.

So I guess it's been about 18 years since I first walked into Toni's store. A friend gave her 700 books to start the store and Toni was off to the races. For many years I'd stop in about once a month or so when I was in the area. In the 90's Toni started having her author teas. So much fun. But then GG had pacemaker surgery, Mom got sick, my brother got sick and my trips to the used book store in Costa Mesa just disappeared.

I was delighted to get my invite to a tea commemorating her 20 years of business. I realized that she's been in business the length of Beanie's life. Wow! I immediately emailed Wendy and asked her if she'd like to meet at the tea. As it happens, in conversation when we first met and were discussing UBS that rock Toni's store came up in conversation for both of us. Freaky fun coincidence, isn't it? Anyway, I was glad when Wendy was up for going too.

The authors present were Meryl Sawyer, Mary Castillo, Brenda Novak, Cheryl Holt, Sylvia Day, Sarah McKerrigan, and Lauren Royal.

Besides Meryl Sawyer and Cheryl Holt I have to admit I haven't read these particular author's books. Meryl Sawyer's MIDNIGHT IN MARRAKESH is on my keeper shelf. I haven't read any of her suspense recently, but I have lots of fond memories of MIM.
If you've read this blog for any length of time you know I've read Cheryl Holt. She's a guilty pleasure (yes, I have lots of those) but I have a sort of love/hate relationship with her books. Some of them I love and some of them I...well you get the drift. There just doesn't seem to be an in-between for me. Cheryl has a new book coming out in September that, knowing myself as I do, will be buying.

I bought Sylvia Day's book PLEASURES OF THE NIGHT to read in anticipation of the tea, but alas I didn't get it read before going. Bummer. BUT, I did buy another copy while I was there and I will be giving away a signed copy of the book. Due to Ms. Day's sweetness and generosity the book giveaway includes a shiny RED Sylvia Day book bag and poster.

Look. See? Yeah, it's kind of blurry, but you get the idea, right?




Here's the lovely Ms. Day...



What do you have to do to win? Nothing. I'll just put everyone who comments on my blog this week into a hat and have one of the child units draw a name on Saturday August 18th and I'll post the winner on Sunday. The more you post the more chances you have to win. Yes, even you dear ones in Canada may enter. What's the cost of postage among blogging buddies?

Here's a few more photos. Our dear Super Librarian has a friend who loves all things Fabio. So we snagged this pillow off of one of Toni's chairs and took a picture for Wendy to send on. That Fabio...he's everywhere, isn't he?


I think everyone had an enjoyable time. Toni and her staff are so enthusiastic and fun and it's contagious. Everyone seemed pretty happy with the results.

More photos.



L to R: Meryl Sawyer, Mary Castillo, Brenda Novak's absolutely gorgeous daughter, Brenda Novak and Cheryl Holt





A look at the ladies under the tent. To the left that gentleman is Toni's husband Don who took photos and helped with the goody give away.




The lovely lady in the hat is Toni. She's standing between Cheryl Holt (L) and Lauren Royal who's blocked *sigh* by the tent poles.

Of course Wendy and I talked our heads off and were giving recs...but only to people who asked us. :) Yes I left with a bag of books. This post has gotten so long I'll post about the lastest stash and show you my newly organized TBR loaded into five rubbermaid tubs.

So, I read some books...

I've read a bunch of books lately. Normally I don't mention a book here unless it makes an impression on me one way or the other. But I had the books stacked up to add to my spreadsheet and thought what the hell, let's see if I can give a brief review of the books. Of course this lead to all sorts of conflict for me. But screw it. No worries about linkage, authors, or book covers. Here's the low down on my latest reads.


TO HAVE AND TO HOLD by Patricia Gaffney - Good book. Surprised me...and I'm a jaded reader.

EDGE OF DANGER by Cherry Adair - Was sufficiently hooked to want to continue trilogy.

EDGE OF FEAR by Cherry Adair - Paranormal elements begin to be a little thin, but I'm hooked.

EDGE OF DARKNESS by Cherry Adair - Went too far with magic elements. Disappointed.

MURPHY'S LAW by Lori Foster - Anticipated story of secondary characters form JUDE'S LAW and I was disappointed. Still a fan, but this was not Ms. Foster's best effort. I thought it was a waste of some terrific characters.

TOO WICKED TO WED by Cheryl Holt - I don't know why I keep buying her books. I didn't finish the last two. I expected nothing and was surprised. Language rhythm and syntax bugged me.

DARK DREAMERS Anthology by Christine Feehan & Marjorie M. Liu - Ms. Feehan's story was tried and true Carpathians...boring. Ms Liu's story was moving, intriguing and I wanted more. IMO Ms. Liu's book makes it worthwhile purchase.

THE SOUTHERN DEVIL by Diane Whiteside - Not as good as IRISH DEVIL, but better than RIVER DEVIL. How's that for vague? Only an okay read.

A REASON TO LIVE by Maureen McKade - A rec by Wendy Super Librarian. Wendy's review(Aug 29 2006) is awesome use link on my sidebar and go check it out. This was a great book. I highly recommend it.

ZERO TO SEXY (EC e-book) by Jan Springer - Just not a good book. I've got other Springer books, but while this is a quickie...it has no substance at all.

HAWK'S PREY (EC e-book) by Dawn Ryder - Okay. Liked enough to try another book. I'm looking for more character development.

IMPROPER PURSUITS (EC e-book) by Dawn Ryder - All dessert and no main course.

So all in all I really liked A REASON TO LIVE by Maureen McKade. I very enthusiastically recommend this book. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD by Patricia Gaffney is a gem to read. I'm very intrigued by the Majorie Liu story in the DARK DREAMER anthology I can't wait for her to write the secondary character's stories. Once I read the first EDGE book in Cherry Adair's trilogy, I was sufficiently intrigued that I knew I'd read all three. Like Ms. Foster's book MURPHY'S LAW, I think there was a missed opportunity here. While having the books come out in three successive months is great for the reader, maybe taking longer with the plot development particularly in the third book would have been better.

Whew! I did it...I feel so much better. Was it good for you?

P.S. I went back and put Amazon links in for books.