Reading these books has given me people to relate to in a way that I didn’t have when I was younger, and it’s fun to see Black women learning how to thrive in both life and love since that’s not an image I’ve gotten to see very often in media. As a recent Ph.D. grad, immersing myself in fictional romantic worlds and humor has been a great way to unwind but also think through how I want to operate in the world as a (sort of??) adult. These books can appeal to anyone, but this has just been a bit of why they resonate with me.
Reading Jasmine Guillory’s books is one of the first times I’ve been able to relate to modern fictional main characters as a Black woman. This book has steamy romance (whew) but also has characters who are able to learn from each other and grow together, which makes the romantic element that much sweeter.
Throw in a dash of local politics (it’s still enjoyable, I swear!) and the media attention that comes with that, and I was hooked! A main character who seems to have it together but is still grappling with how others perceive her and her past. Who can’t relate to that? Plus, I can’t resist a couple that finds their connection in the bedroom (or office) and through exploring food spots together and bonding over local places.
A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking in this New York Times bestseller.
Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe’s mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can’t resist—it is chocolate…
A secret underground book club, small-town kooky characters, a main character trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, and a book-loving, star-crossed love interest, how could I not love this book?
Shauna Robinson has such a warm and inviting writing style (and she’s sharply witty to boot). Her characters leap off the page, and I know that this book totally made me want to start an underground book club to stick it to the people who think that they should dictate what everyone in a community can read.
Breaking the rules and societal norms is the way to go with this read.
I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books. If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules.
When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend's struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn't easy. Bell River's literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative…
I absolutely love Amber as a comedian, so when I found out she and her sister were writing a book about racism, I was all kinds of intrigued. This book is hilarious, of course, but it also highlights the inherent ridiculousness of racism in a way that can be difficult to show in fiction. I mean, how else can you be mistaken for a prominent historical figure who has been dead for centuries at the bank?
This book made me laugh, made me angry, and made me feel so seen. Sometimes, I need a spoonful of sugar to help the hard lessons go down, and this book offers a whole lot of humor to really drive home important messages about how society treats us as Black women.
Writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers Amber Ruffin writes with her sister Lacey Lamar with humor and heart to share absurd anecdotes about everyday experiences of racism.
Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one's First Black Friend and everyone is, as she puts it, "stark raving normal." But Amber's sister Lacey? She's still living in their home state of Nebraska, and trust us, you'll never believe…
Grumpy/Sunshine is one of my favorite romance tropes, and this book does it absolutely perfectly. The chemistry between the main characters had me kicking my feet and squealing the entire time.
Talia Hibbert’s books, especially this one, just make me smile. They bring me so much joy and are funny, sweet, sexy, and oh so swoon-worthy. I’m also obsessed with the idea of running an adorable bed and breakfast, and I love seeing neurodivergence and autism spectrum being portrayed in literature in a more nuanced and positive way.
The banter is top-notch, and the relationship is one of my favorites in modern romance.
In Talia Hibbert’s newest rom-com, the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard—literally.
Featured on Parade, PopSugar, Marie Claire, Oprah Mag, Bustle, Shondaland, CNN.com, Kirkus Magazine, Bookpage, USA Today, Bookish, Bookriot, and more!
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's…
This book made me want to scream at the main characters (in the best way!) most of the way through. There’s a perfect meet-cute, the kind that had me wondering why no one has ever thought to approach me in that way.
Plus, as a recovering grad student, I totally relate to having a quarter-life crisis and trying to figure out if the career I thought I wanted was really where I wanted to go.
The dialogue is whip-fast (even when the main character, Angie, is decidedly NOT getting her s*** together), and the romance combined with the growth that Angie experiences over the course of the book makes the ultimate payoff totally worth it.
'Sexy, fun and smart' BETH O'LEARY, author of THE FLATSHARE
'I couldn't put down On Rotation, and you won't be able to, either... I personally couldn't get enough' MEG CABOT
Angie has checked off all the boxes for the Perfect Immigrant Daughter: medical school, a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend and a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends.
So when she bombs the most important exam of her medical career and gets dumped by her boyfriend, it is safe to say her parents are more than a little disappointed . . .
Just when things couldn't get more complicated, Angie meets Ricky,…
Gen assumed she’d enter her fourth year at her newspaper with a bigger story than the latest seasonal ice cream flavor. Instead, she’s relegated to doing copyedits and sensitivity reads on the articles her white colleagues write. Gen finally gets an opportunity to cover a prominent CEO’s gala, but it turns out that the CEO is her ex, Jude, whose proposal she publicly rejected.
Following their awkward run-in, Jude personally requests Gen to write the first-ever authorized profile of him. The potential for scandal is high, but Gen decides to risk it—if she proves herself, it could jumpstart her career. But between the racist backlash from her colleagues and her conflicting feelings toward Jude, Gen soon realizes she’s in way over her head.
Kelly Simmons has been published in 12 countries by Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks, and her widely praised novels are frequently compared to Big Little Lies.
Her new book, The Off Season, is set on the tranquil shores of the Chesapeake Bay, where headstrong thirteen-year-old Savannah bursts into the local police department, insisting her mother’s drowning was anything but an accident. She’s forced to tangle with the languid Bay police department as well as the year-rounder adults and teens who might be complicit not just in her mother’s death but a decades-old cold case.
For fans of Lisa Jewell and Liane Moriarty. Published in 12 countries by Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks, Kelly's widely praised novels are frequently compared to BIG LITTLE LIES.
THE OFF SEASON explodes on the tranquil shores of the Chesapeake Bay. A headstrong thirteen-year-old girl insists her mother’s drowning was anything but an accident. She’s forced to tangle with the languid bay police department as well as the year-rounder adults and teens who might be complicit not just in her mother’s death, but a decades-old cold case. With echoes of GONE GIRL and STAND BY ME, it’s part crime, part…
