I got one last book in on my trip to California, making this trip probably the most productive reading vacation I've ever had. On my visit to Oakland I was staying just a few blocks away from
East Bay Booksellers, a store I had heard of because of Jasmine Guillory. I've been following her on Twitter for years (since before her first book even came out) and so I knew it was her local bookstore, from which you can always order her books and request signed copies. So, it felt like the right place to buy a copy of her most recent book,
While We Were Dating -- and I did indeed get a signed copy right off the shelf. I've read and enjoyed all of Jasmine Guillory's books, and they are absolutely ideal for inflight reading, which is how I read the last 200 pages of
While We Were Dating. (I had exactly enough time on the flight to finish
While We Were Dating and watch "Black Widow," so that worked out nicely.)
One thing that's very fun about Guillory's books is the way they are all interconnected. I do think each one could stand on its own, but it's a fun little reward as a reader to encounter central characters from previous books in small parts in others -- and the reverse. While We Were Dating brought back characters from multiple earlier books (and a reference to a cupcake shop that I felt had to be the same one from The Proposal). It's also fun as a reader to imagine which small characters from the book might feature as a future protagonist. While We Were Dating wasn't my favorite book in the series, but it had all the qualities I've enjoyed in Guillory's earlier books and it was the perfect cap to my Oakland vacation.
