Tinder Press first birthday party

This was a week of bookish events, first up on Tuesday was a birthday party for the wonderful Tinder Press, an imprint of Headline Publishing Group. In the one year they've been live, so to speak, they've already brought out a range of critically acclaimed novels such as The Invention of Wings, The Lemon Grove and Amity & Sorrow. There is always a great buzz around the publication of their titles which is a testimony not only to the quality of the books, but also to the fantastic marketing team.

The event was held at The Lucky Pig Cocktail Bar in Fitzrovia, which I'd not been to before but was the perfect intimate venue for the evening. As soon as we walked in we met some of the lovely people from the Headline team (Hi Sam! Hi Ben!) - it was great to be able to get a chance to chat to these guys in person after stalking following them on Twitter.

Bagging some spots on a very comfy couch at the back of the room we ordered our first round of cocktails before settling in for an evening of readings and author Q&As.

Peggy Riley (author of Amity & Sorrow) was the host and first welcomed to the stage Helen Walsh, who read a steamy scene from sizzling summer read The Lemon Grove. In a complete turnaround of genres Natalie Young then provided a taster (pun intended) from her novel Season to Taste (Or How to Eat Your Husband) - which sounded both grotesque and strangely alluring at the same time.

After an interval (and another round of drinks - we tried several of the cocktails on the menu and our unanimous vote goes to the delicious Lahore Libre), Roopa Farooki took the stage for a reading from The Good Children (I hadn't heard of this book before the event but this taster definitely made me want to check it out), followed by Morgan McCarthy who gave us a sneak peak of her novel The Outline of Love.

It was a great literary evening and, bonus, I walked away with a new read as well. The bar was decked out with copies of Tinder Press titles which had inviting "take me home" stickers on their covers and after Natalie Young's animated reading of what sounds like a modern day Sweeney Todd I couldn't resist a gorgeous hardcover copy of Season to Taste - I can't wait to dig in (the book, not the pies...).

OF COURSE I didn't take photos of the books or authors, just of the cocktails... #alcy