You guys. I had the most amazing experience at RT! My childhood friend, Astin, and I only attended Saturday’s events, but it was a whirlwind of a day. We got to meet so many amazing authors and even made some new friends. ♥
First off was the Giant Book Fair. It was 3.5 hours long and it wasn’t near enough time for us to meet everyone we wanted to. We each brought huge stacks of books to be signed and we did get that accomplished. But there were still so many authors we wanted to meet. Here are the books I brought….
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We took pictures with the authors who signed our books and also who’s books we’ve read. I’m sure I was a huge, smiling, rambling mess. In case you haven’t picked up any of these author’s books yet, which we can’t recommend enough, I linked each author to their Goodreads, Amazon and Website.
Lorraine Heath (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Rachel Van Dyken (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Astin & C.L. Wilson (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Jill Shalvis (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Kimberly Bell (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Mary Ting (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Jennie Marts (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
Jennae Vale (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
JoAnn Sky (Goodreads l Amazon l Website)
We also met some of the cover models………
Astin and I both yelled REN (HA that’s a Jennifer L. Armentrout character reference!). We’re with Dillion Lalor and Justin Edwards.
And Stuart Reardon
We also met so many other authors, here’s just a few……
Avery Flynn was absolutely hilarious and had Astin and I cracking up! I definitely need to pick up one of her books!
Sonali Dev was the sweetest person ever and she’s another author I’m looking forward to reading!
Tina DeSalvo had the most amazing sweater! It had holes on the sides and it felt like it was meant for hugging. We got to receive the hugest hugs ever and I made sure her books are on my TBR!
Ginger Scott was so much fun to talk to but Astin and I totally embarrassed ourselves in front of her. *Deep breath* Astin and I were talking about how much we loved a side character in one of her books, A Boy Like You. Astin and I kept going back and forth over what one of the character’s initials were. We weren’t even close and Ginger Scott had to tell us his correct initials. Oh we felt so bad *hides face*! We swear we love him!
We also got to talk to Sylvia Day, Shaila Patel, Anne Bishop, Anne Eliot, Rebekah R. Ganiere, Dakota Willink, Brenda Novak, Elizabeth Hoyt, Shayla Black, Victoria Dahl, Rebecca Zanetti, Jasmine Guillory, Lexi Blake, J. Kenner and so many others. And we came home with a huge tote bag filled with swag that we’ll treasure forever! ♥
After the Giant Book Fair we got to run out to my vehicle to put all of our books and swag in. We grabbed a sandwich to go and then sat in line for the next event which was Berkley’s Talk Wordy To Me Party. At the party we got to chose a few authors who’s books we’d receive for free and also have signed by them. We had NO clue that would happen. So amazing! Also, at that party they had the yummiest dessert bar and lemonade. I don’t even want to say how many brownies and cookies I ate, but the part cookie part brownie?! That one definitely had my heart!
We then went to Audible’s event. It was filled with lots of fun games and cocktails. We left with a fabulous t-shirt and this picture which we will treasure forever. We met a Highlander!
And after all of that we attended the FAN-tastic Day Party. Soooooooo, like above, call us clueless, but we had NO idea that you got free books at RT for just attending the Saturday events. We also didn’t know that a lot of them would be signed while you got to talk to the authors. We were shocked and beyond grateful! It was so overwhelming how giving these events were. We had so much fun talking with the authors and also getting a lot of fabulous books!
I got to meet all of these authors and have the books signed. ♥
These are other books I received. ♥
So all in all…..we had truly no clue what we were getting ourselves into. It was an amazing fun-filled day and I’m so thankful we got to attend! RT Booklovers Convention was an absolute blast and Astin and I kept saying ‘oh my gosh this is better than Christmas’!
PS I received a copy of Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf at RT and then I received a fabulous box from Entangled Teen with the same ARC. So I’m giveaway a copy of the book on our Instagram and Twitter. It ends tomorrow and you can find it here on Instagram and here on Twitter.
Wow I see you had a great time! 3,5 hours is not enough I do agree with you. At RARE London we had 5 hours and I got to meet Stu too 😉
Sophie recently posted…Cocktales…because we love freedom of speech!
Aw 5 hours sounds awesome, RARE looked like an amazing time! Stu was super nice but I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with him on the cover. I definitely need to fix that!
Great Post, Jen! Looks like you guys had a great time! Ginger Scott is a great author! I can’t wait for you to read A girl like you! 🙂
Raven recently posted…Game Of Lies(The Messenger Chronicles#2) By Pippa DaCosta [Review]
I can’t wait to read A Girl Like You too! I need to get through a few more ARCs and then I’m jumping into that story. I’m verrrryyyyyyy nervous for how it’s going to pan out. Come on HEA lol!
I absolutely loved meeting you and Astin at the RT Booklover’s Giant Book Fair! Hearing the story of how you two reconnected through your love of books after being apart for years …was so wonderful! Love your blog and reading about your passion for Romance novels through your account of your day at RT! I’m looking forward to reading more posts– Hope to meet up with y’all again– maybe I’ll be wearing my hugging blouse when we do! Tina DeSalvo💕
I’m so grateful that I got to meet you at #RT, and that sweater was definitely the best! I’ve never seen one like that before! Ohhhh Jennie Marts told me that RWA was coming to San Francisco in 2020 so I should be there! Hopefully we’ll get to meet up again and I’m looking forward to reading Elli! ♥
Omg I never even thought about the male cover models being there😂😂 that’s so awesome lolol
Yessssssssss!!!!! It was so funny because the moment we saw Dillion Lalor we were like REN!! It’s JLA’s REN HA! They were super sweet to talk to. 🙂
So fun! I used to review books for Romantic Times magazine, but I never did go to their conventions. They always sound fun, and wow, you got lots of free books which is AWESOME. Yay for meeting so many fab authors too!
-Lauren
ShootingStarsMag recently posted…Glossies Made Me Watch Ali Wong – Hard Knock Wife
Oh my goodness, I didn’t know that you use to review for Romantic Times magazine, that’s amazing! Yay you! Oh, we had NO clue that we would get books, I thought that was for the people who were there all week. It was such a wonderful surprise. 🙂
I’m so glad you loved it!! I read somewhere that this was the last year for the convention, so I’m REALLY sad that I missed it. 🙁
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted…May 2018 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch
Thank you! It was the last year and I was so sad to hear that because it was such an amazing experience. There’s going to be a spin-off? that will share some of the same elements as #RT. I believe it will be held in New Orleans next year and there’s some information about it on Twitter but I haven’t dived into it to see what it’s all about.
Ooh! Let me know about the spin-off if you hear more. I’ll have to watch for it.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted…Bite-Sized Reviews of City of Bastards, Everless & Ice Wolves
I definitely will!