Bid on Me (and other things)!

It is the Romancing the Vote auction, raising funds for voting rights here in the US and I have two items I am going to get a little long winded about, even though they already have descriptions. 

First, I love quotes. I used to have a box of index cards, just with quotes from various books I loved on them. And last auction I felt bad about not being able to offer international shipping, so tried to think of a thing I could make that would be easily transportable. And so I came up with ten quotes, from various different books, and doodled a little something to go along with it and put it on a postcard. You can send them to your friends, mail them to yourself, hoard them for the hard days, or decorate your fridge. 

Also, I may roll out some incentives on Bluesky to pump up the bidding since this is all for such a good cause. Like maybe a winner's choice postcard added. 

The second option is a stack of three books - a bridesmaid book bundle. One is by me, it's Undercover Bridesmaid. One is by Susie Dumond who also happens to be a DC based author, and one is by Katy Birchall. I have read both and I love them. And these three books are all set in different cities with very different characters but they all feature a secret professional bridesmaid. I think it's such a cool example of how different authors can take the same thing and create three totally different stories. They are all romances, so I can promise each has a happy ending even if their are varying degrees of heartache in them. Also, I can obviously sign and/or personalized my book, if the winner chooses. That one I am sticking to US because sorry, shipping sucks. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo Suggestions

Note: I am, of course, going to include my books in this.  I skipped a few I don't have suggestions for. 

Character smells like fresh cut grass

Song Lyrics:  Oh hello, both I Belong to You and Presented with Love would work for this.  

I Hate Everyone But You: Zomromcom by Olivia Dade

National Park:  Hello again, I Belong to You fits here as well, with Rock Creek Park.  Of Kings and Queens also mentions the Mall. 

Heatwave: Hot Earl Summer by Erica Ridley

Dual Timeline: Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon by Annie Mare

Canoe: Flirting With Disaster by Naina Kumar

TRB Summer 2026 Author: Shirlene Obuobi's Between Friends and Lovers would work this, or you could wait til July for the new one. 

Florist: Hello, both Aloha to You and Of Kings and Queens have brief appearances of the same florist.  

Middle child: 

Cover has an old house on it: Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeepig by Sangu Mandanna

Soccer/World Cup: I confess, I have not read a lot of recent soccer romance, but I did enjoy Rebecca Crowley's Crossing Hearts. 

Rodeo:  Huge fan of Kari Lynn Dell here, especially Tangled in Texas.  

Podcaster - Back After This by Linda Holmes is really more women's fiction, but does have a pro podcaster.  Same with Regina Black's August Lane. 

Wedding Party:  Hello again, we have Undercover Bridesmaid. 

Royal Title in the Title - Oh hello, we have Of Kings and Queens

Don't Fall in Love with Me - Andrea Tang's To The Death would work well here. 

End of summer deadline - Jodi McAlister's An Academic Affair has multiple deadlines, but as they are academics, end of summer, is definitely part of it.  Also, Get Over it April Avans by Ashley Herring Blake.  

Single Parent - One in a Million by Beverley Kendall

Happy reading!

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your work hours, feel free to hold off response until work hours.

"A Fine Madness" from Wooly Mammoth at the Hamiltonian

Content note: discussions of pandemics 

"A Fine Madness" in being staged in multiple locations across DC. I saw it at the Hamiltonian Gallery on U Street. 

"A Fine Madness" is technically a one person show, although it is interactive, so the audience is part of the show, to the extent they wish. 

The show is a few things. It's a little bit autobiographical. It's a little bit reflective. It's a little bit nerdy as it talks about space and ties that together with reflections on viruses and pandemics. It's basically an amazing night. They handed us a pencil to fill out some things. (Sidenote as a super reader, watching a bunch of adults be handed a paper that says fill this part out now, fill this part out later, and seeing who follows directions can be it's own fun.)

I ended up using my pencil to write down a few lines that spoke to me. 

The show I saw was in the Hamiltonion, a long narrow space. The lighting and sound were helpful. At one point I realized that Weaks had altered his outfit and I was amazed because I hadn't noticed when it had happened. 

I went alone and had a great time, but I think it's also a great show to see with a friend or two so you can talk about it later. 

Two Sales

Happy Kings bad, but Lei pretty day, or as it is more commonly known, King Kamehameha Day. As newsletter subscribers already know, my two books that mention King Kamehameha Day are on sale. Aloha to You has a very brief mention as Adriana does a whirlwind of lei making. 

Of Kings and Queens has much of the action taking place on King Kamehameha Day. 

Aloha to You is a little bit snarky dude, anxious but sunshiny girl. And Of Kings and Queens is more of a jump into bed fast, figure out they have an uncomfortable connection later type situation. 

Universal links:

Aloha to You Link: https://books2read.com/u/4XZnd6 

Of Kings and Queens link: https://books2read.com/u/bQAPVv 

Print is not on sale, but links here:

And in print: https://bookshop.org/books/aloha-to-you/9781393545323 and https://bit.ly/3MoW0pT. 

It is an Honor

The Tony's were last night, and not all my faves won. Sure, very many of my faves were up against each other. One could also argue that I have too many faves for someone who has not yet seen these particular shows. 

But in the end, just being nominated is an honor. There were only six eligible musicals this year and the nominations don't even fully reflect that. 

Don't get me wrong winning is cool of course. But also, if you think too hard about how the best play doesn't have any of the best actors, well, it's a bit of a brain teaser. 

As a viewer, I always like seeing multiple shows win. But in the end, the odds of even getting a show on Broadway are incredible. Getting nominated for a Tony is just icing on the cake. 

One Sentence Tony Descriptions

It is the Tony's this Sunday and so we revive the annual tradition of me describing Tony nominated plays and musicals in a single sentence, aka badly. It should be said, I tend to amuse myself describing them so succinctly you can't really tell what it's about. But these are great works, and trust that I have been scouring interviews with everyone, and and so excited to see more of what this season has to offer. 

The Balusters - Have you ever been to a neighborhood association meeting. It's like that but dramatic.

Giant - Ronald Dahl decides if he should apologize for seeming anti-Semitic. 

Liberation - A women reflects on her mother's feminism. 

Little Bear Ridge Road - Death cleaning but dramatic.

The Lost Boys - When you move to a new town and it turns out they have a lot of vampires. But now with singing!

Schmigadoon! - A couples retreat gets very real (or surreal) when the couple stumbles into a fictional town where people sing their feelings, and apparently they can't leave until they find their true love. 

Titaníque - What if Celine Dion decided to tell you what really happened on the Titanic. 

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)- The bride's sister has to pick up her future brother-in-law's estranged son at the airport on her way to get the wedding cake. 

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman - A sad salesman reflects on his life and then dies. (It's not a spoiler, it's in the title.)

Becky Shaw - A very terrible blind date. 

Every Brilliant Thing - Creating a list of things worth living for. 

Fallen Angels - Two women get very drunk waiting to see an ex neither of their husbands know about. 

Oedipus - Imagine Oedipus running for election except, he might have this teeny, tiny, secret. 

Cats: The Jellicle Ball - What if when they say cats they just mean cool people, and then they say ball, they mean ballroom..

Ragtime - The American Dream in the early 1900's has flaws.

Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show - Car trouble can lead you to the most fascinating discoveries.