Literary Travel – Rose City Romance Conference 2026

Hi Everybody,

I was back at the Rose City Romance Conference this past weekend in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and it was fantastic! It went on from Friday, April 10 to Sunday, April 12. I was only able to go on the Sunday due to work, but there was plenty to do. All of the photos taken were mine and can be seen at the bottom of the page.

The theme for this year was bigger and better. Last year, the event was confined to one small room at Caesars Windsor Casino. Here, it was in a large space that combined two adjoining rooms. This meant MORE AUTHORS AND VENDORS. I spoke to various people about how vast the area was, and some mentioned that about 600 people attended the day prior.

I met writers from both the States and Canada at the conference, including one that went to the same college as I did. What a small world! There were new faces and familiar ones like Kate Smoak, Wren Grey, Bridget L. Rose, and Alyssa Milani. Smoak recently made an appearance in the local news because she was interviewed for a story about a woman planning to sell her Harlequin romance novels. I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes the face of the Rose City Romance Conference.

There were certainly more diverse vendors at this year’s event. They included book stores like Book Nook Windsor and Turns & Tales Board Game Cafe and Bookstore in Chatham, Ontario. The people from both places were super cool. In addition, there were other vendors selling book-related items like bookmarks, stickers, buttons, etc. Two of the most unique ones involved 3-D printing and crochet. The people at the first booth showed off all the 3-D prints they made, which included little signs, book and eyeglasses dragon holders, dragons to place in between books on a shelf, and lights. I bought a dragon eyeglasses holder for my husband because it looked so cool. At the end of the day, I visited Wren’s Crochet’s booth. Along with her mom, the person who runs that store makes all kinds of crocheted items. These include coasters, fans, and flowers. She even did crochet workshops at the Windsor Public Library in the past. I live for those kinds of collaborations.

The photo wall returned for this year. I was a little sad that it didn’t have the giant letters, but I still had fun posing in front of it.

The ambitiousness came in the extra things that people could do. Conference goers had the opportunity to attend seminars on Friday and a costumed ball on Saturday. They could also do a scavenger hunt on Saturday and a raffle on Sunday. The raffle contained more prizes than last year like books, baking ingredients, and a mini-photo printer. Sadly, I didn’t win, but I still had a good time doing it.

While I mentioned plenty of neat things at this year’s Rose City Romance Conference, the coolest thing was the Ink District. In one section of the room, people could get real tattoos! I’m totally serious! Three artists were present for anyone looking to get body art. By the time I got to their booth, the appointments were already filled up.

And of course, I have to talk about the romance books I bought. My goal this year was to purchase titles from new authors and of even more sub-genres. With the exception of A Blessed Fall by Kate Smoak (I bought a book of hers last year), I was able to achieve this with the following titles: Bro Amazing by Alby Blake, Devil of Dublin by BB Easton, Winging It by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James, Fear and Fortitude by Cheri Champagne, Perfect Strangers by J. Rhys, Unforgivable Lust & Fire by Shay Lee Soleil, Jaded Hearts by Renee Gendron, Mercy by Ashley Matthews, A Follow-Through in Faking by Bridget L. Rose, and Rival Hearts by W. Million.

Overall, I had a great time, and I’m happy that the Rose City Romance Conference was able to expand on its offerings. I hope to attend next year and meet even more authors and vendors. You can learn more about the conference on their Facebook and Instagram pages.

And that concludes the tenth installment of “Literary Travel!” I hope all of you had a great time on this trip. Strangely enough, I’m still not quite done with Canada yet. However, that won’t be until next month.

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