Winners - - Buns & Roses

The randomly chosen winners from my Buns & Roses post are:

Frances B.

and

MsAwesome

Congratulations!

The first winner to contact me at 

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com 

gets their choice of the two prizes.

PJ's Adventures - - Buns & Roses

Lorraine Heath

One of my goals for this year is to visit new places and meet new people. This past weekend I did both when I traveled to Texas to attend the 2017 Buns & Roses Romance Tea for Literacy. I had heard about B&R from Lorraine Heath, a driving force behind the event and Donna Finlay, a hardworking B&R committee member and was eager to experience it firsthand. This Tea - a whole weekend of events, actually - benefits the Richardson (TX) Adult Literacy Center, an organization with the mission to transform lives by "providing English as a second language instruction to adults who live or work in Richardson or the Richardson Independent School District area." In the past year, more than 500 adults have been helped by their English as a Second Language programs in classes that are all taught by trained volunteers. Literacy is a cause near and dear to my heart so, of course, I was happy to direct my dollars their way. Add to that a fun weekend with thirty romance authors plus fellow romance readers and how could I say no? I'm so glad I said yes! Here are a few highlights from my Buns & Roses weekend.




Fellow reader - and B&R committee member - Donna Finlay picked me up at the airport Friday morning and was my host for the day. She took me to the adorable town of Grapevine where I could have spent the entire day browsing the shops. Spices and Teas and Pastries...Oh, My! 







Friday night, I joined good friend Suzanne Ferrell and her husband for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. The food was delicious, the ambiance made me feel like I was in old Mexico, and the company was, as always, superb. I love catching up with old friends! If you haven't read Suzanne's terrific romantic suspense novels, I highly recommend them. Her newest, Close to Danger was just released October 10.

Janna MacGregor and Valerie Bowman

On Saturday, about 30 authors and readers gathered at Spring Creek BBQ in Garland for some down-home Texas deliciousness. The conversation was lively, the smiles, beaming, and the food, superb. Janna and Valerie both have new books coming out on October 31. Be sure to check out The Bride Who Got Lucky and The Right Kind of Rogue. I loved both of them!

Julia London, Cindy Nord, PJ, Mary Jo Putney

Following lunch, we all headed for Barnes & Noble at the Firewheel Town Center where 20 romance authors signed books with B&N generously donating a portion of all book sales to the Literacy Center. Smart, talented, wonderful women gathering for a good cause. Such fun! 

Jo Davis, Kari Lynn Dell, Elizabeth Essex, Cheryl Etchison

After the signing, we were on our way to the Buns & Roses VIP Authors' Reception at the home of committee member, Karen. What a gracious hostess she is! See that quilt over there? It was made by committee member, Wanda and included each of this year's authors. All 30 of them! The quilt was raffled off at the Tea on Sunday. Alas, I didn't win but not for lack of stuffing the box with raffle tickets. ;-)

Sunday brought the main event: The Buns & Roses Tea. What a fun time! I met online friends in person for the first time, caught up with friends I didn't know would be there, and made new friends, something I always enjoy. Here I am with the fabulous Lenora Bell! Are you reading her books? I love them! I already have my calendar marked for her next book, What a Difference a Duke Makes, due out in March. 






With one of my all-time favorite authors, Sabrina Jeffries. I'm so excited for her next book, The Secret of Flirting, due out in March. Baron Fulkham finally meets his match! 

Sabrina Jeffries & PJ

Diane Kelly and D.D. Ayres

In the "it's a small world" category, I even discovered an unexpected connection to one of those new friends. At the Tea, each author hosts a table. I sat with Diane Kelly (who is delightful in addition to being a terrific author!). As lunch was served, I heard a woman on the opposite side of the large, round table mention being a Cubs fan (I am too). I introduced myself, we started chatting, and eventually discovered that when she was growing up her family vacationed every summer on a small lake in Michigan...the same small lake I grew up on! A woman from Chicago who now lives in Dallas sits down at a table with a woman from Michigan who now lives in North Carolina and they discover they both spent time on the same small lake between two tiny towns in Michigan. What are the odds? You never know what you'll discover when you smile and chat with a stranger.



You just know there's mischief brewing with these four! 

Tracey Livesay, Ilona Andrews, Cathy Maxwell, Cheryl Etchison

Kerrelyn Sparks

In addition to the Tea, Sunday afternoon also included the auction of several donated items (really good items!), the raffle of the quilt and a Kindle Paperwhite, and a book signing with all thirty authors. Each person in attendance at the Tea received a beautiful Buns & Roses Autograph Keepsake book (designed by Lyndsey Lewellen who designs fabulous romance covers) which the authors happily signed. The B&R committee thinks of everything!








One of the special highlights of attending events like this is connecting with online reader friends...

Ladies of the Facebook Old School Romance Book Club

A special highlight of the afternoon is the unveiling of the Buns & Roses Bear. Each year, adorable stuffed bears are donated, then costumed by a volunteer in a theme connected to that year's guest speaker. The bears are pre-sold and any still available are then sold at the Tea in a high-energy process with women all over the room madly waving $20 bills in the air and hoping to take one of these cuties home. This year's magic wizard bear (Isn't he adorable?) was themed for the speakers, husband and wife writing team Ilona Andrews who gave an inspiring speech about the impact of literacy on their lives. By the way, if you have not yet discovered their books, I highly recommend anything written by these talented writers!




Because it's all about the shoes...

And the laughter...

PJ & Cathy Maxwell

And the smiles...

Addison Fox

And the cake...

I love when people come together for fun and a good cause. Buns & Roses combines the two in an event that is not to be missed. I had the best time and am already hoping for a return visit.


What was your last adventure?

Have you participated in any "events for a cause" lately?

What authors would you most like to meet in person?

One randomly chosen person will receive a signed book and the Buns & Roses Autograph Keepsake book. (U.S. only)

One randomly chosen person will receive a signed copy of Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews and a 2017 Buns & Roses Bear. (U.S. only)