Notes from the road

How is it possible that I'm not tired?

The thing that’s completely bananas about book tour is that I wake up and go to the airport every single day. I go through security and buy a couple of hard boiled eggs in a little plastic container and find someplace remote to eat them because you really shouldn’t open that container around other people. I land, get an Uber, go to my hotel, and iron a dress. I’ve been doing this for eight days.

Why is it fun? Why is it actually the best week of the year? I think it’s the readers. I have so many photos from the past week that I could share here, but I’ll just leave the one above. It’s me seeing

Kasee

for the first time since I last saw her on book tour. We know each other on Instagram, and she shows up for me again and again. This astounds me - readers that keep showing up and taking a chance on my new book because they liked my other ones.

It’s hard to describe what it’s like to be in a room with a bunch of people who are bonded by their love of happy endings. Romance readers walk into a room excited, like they’re a hundred percent sure something great’s about to happen. Their enthusiasm for everything - books included - is contagious. I leave these book events feeling totally energized and restored.

Then I go back to my hotel, have soup and a glass of wine, and fall asleep watching Dr. Pimple Popper. I mean who could complain about that?

The rest of the week’s events

• Tonight - Isle of Palms, SC at the Wild Dunes Resort with Mary Alice Monroe at 6pm

• Thursday - Boston, MA at Lovestruck Books with Laura Zigman at 7pm (but it’s sold out)

• Friday - Brooklyn, NY at The Ripped Bodice with

  Becca Freeman
  at 7pm

  How did I get so lucky to get these authors to talk with me? No one knows. All info for the rest of June and July are on my website, click below. These include Michigan, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

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Other People’s Books

There are three GREAT books coming out on Tuesday June 10. I know this because I’ve read them all, this isn’t hearsay.

If you’re starting to think this book is becoming my whole personality, that’s fine. WELCOME TO MURDER WEEK by

Karen Dukess

is about an American woman who travels to the English countryside when she discovers tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town. It’s my favorite (favourite?) kind of funny, with a delightful cast of characters and a bit of romance. Just absolutely perfect on every level.

It’s no secret I’m low key obsessed with Amy Poeppel’s books. She is the master of smart and funny interpersonal chaos, and FAR AND AWAY is her best novel yet. It’s about a house swap (between Dallas and Berlin) gone wonderfully awry. Expertly woven and hilariously executed, this one gets five gigantic stars from me.

I’m actually going to be live on Instagram with Amy and Karen on June 10 at 12 noon. Mark your calendars and please join us. If I figure out how to get two people on an IG live, it will be super fun.

ALSO - the three of us are doing an event at RJ Julia in Madison, CT together on June 25. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about that. RSVP here if you can come!

SING ME HOME TO CAROLINA by Joy Callaway is a swoon fest. A small town girl turned big city businesswoman returns home to help her parents, only to find her heart being tugged between her old flame and the town’s mysterious new guy. Thick with atmosphere and deeply romantic, Callaway brings it all home in this heartfelt small-town romance.

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Thank you for showing up in such a big way this past week. It means the world to me. Headed to the airport now to suss out the hard boiled egg situation. Any travel hacks you want to share with me? Put them in the comments!

lots of love,

Annabel

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