32 BIPOC Books I’d Read If I Was New to Romance, Pt. I
Octogenarian matchmakers, a second-chance made in the movies, and plants that talk back.
If you talk to a lot of romance readers, their reading preferences have changed a lot over the years.
Maybe their tastes have expanded to embrace subgenres they haven’t before (I’m looking at you monster romance) or maybe they’ve firmly decided that some content warnings put a book in the “not for me” category. Over time you discover what an “absolutely for you” book looks like. For me that’s women of color following their passions and being loved hard. If there’s a child or elder that provides significant sources of laughter, I’m all the more here for it.
I didn’t discover these things accidentally though. I discovered them by reading widely and feeding my mood reader gene. If I was starting over though, I’d tear through a list that looked like this to find the stories that most spoke to me. And then I’d keep going.
I’d also be okay with not liking something. It doesn’t mean that the book or the author aren’t great. It just means the horned seven-foot green alien subgenre doesn’t hit your on button. That’s okay and it doesn’t mean that the people who do like it are weird.
Also not weird is liking things that are entertaining. You can read and enjoy novels that are not up for Pulitzers’ or heralded by fancy news people who make fancy book lists. Just because others don’t see the beauty of the time-traveling wolf shifter who finds her peace in her Viking wolf shifter husband in the 1700s, doesn’t mean you can’t either.
As always, please check your trigger warnings before diving into these books!
Note: If you purchase books linked here via Bookshop, I may receive a small commission.
1) Rom-Coms: Romance deserves a side of laughter.
Chloe’s chronically ill and all but married to her house when she decides to make a list to get to the next stage of her life. And luckily her new neighbor Red is up for helping her embrace her new life. Both outside and behind bedroom doors. (Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Talia Hibbert)
Two octogenarian grandfathers con their grandchildren: Kamilah, a Puerto Rican chef, and Liam, an Irish-American whiskey distiller into a fake engagement. Hijinks ensue. (A Proposal They Can’t Refuse, Natalie Caña)
In this meetcute, Liza B., a Black D.C. native plans to protest the property developer at a party in their honor. Only she accidentally tells the developer, Dorsey, a Filipino transracial adoptee, exactly what she’s going to do. And so begins the back and forth that is this Jane Austen retelling. (Pride and Protest, Nikki Payne)
Zoey is burning out from trying to find a cure for the cancer that didn’t kill her younger sister. Davy is a K-Pop star in psuedo hiding on his pseudo animal sanctuary off the coast of Canada. She bombards her way into his life and in just a week it feels more natural than circumstance. (Wild Life, Opal Wei)
2) Contemporary Romance: Love stories so real that the passion heals as much as the pain.
Lily started a penpal-ship with a mysterious author that spanned many months and even more emails. Then he ghosts her. Months later, totally absolutely over it, she’s enamored with the new guy across the hall. And that guy is none other than, Nick the his former penpal who instantly recognizes her. Did I mention she never saw his face? And then also ropes him in to help her find a date for her sister’s wedding. (The Neighbor Favor, Kristina Forest)
Kaliya and Danny dated in college and then didn’t. Danny’s spent the last 7 years making a name for himself as an in demand movie director while Kaliya’s a sorta in demand film studio receptionist. They reunite as coworkers and then grow into more. Their love is beautiful and passionate. The beauty here is that we get to see these characters make themselves whole against the backdrop rebuilding of their love. (When I Think of You, Myah Ariel)
When Rachel catches her husband of 13 years having an affair via misdelivered text messages, she quickly agrees to stay together long enough to get him reelected. In exchange for an advantageous divorce settlement of course. With a new leash on life, she seeks to redefine herself in a way that doesn’t scream trophy wife and finds two things: her old love of art and a twenty-something artist, Nathan. (The Art of Scandal, Regina Black)
An accident causes Alejandro, an award-winning photographer, to return home to Key West for the first time in forever. The girl he left behind Anamaría, a firefighter and personal trainer, is none too pleased. Mostly because seeing him makes her realize she never really got over him. (Anchored Hearts, Priscilla Oliveras)
3) Historical Romances: Badass, rule breaking women and the men (or partners) that are absolutely wild for her.
Beverly Jenkins has a beautiful intimidating backlog by nature of sustaining herself in the genre for decades. Start anywhere, like with one of her most highly recommended, Indigo.
Ailsa is a freeborn Black, yet currently enslaved Highlander who has her escape thwarted by fellow Black highlander Kallum. He’s on his Harriet Tubman-ish and insists he can escape better than her. So he kidnaps her, to freedom? (Never Cross a Highlander, Lisa Rayne)
Luz Alana travels from Santo Domingo to Paris in 1889 with an impressive amount of rum to offload. Only, the powers that be (the largely white male buyers and shippers) don’t want to work with a woman of color. Evan, a whiskey entrepreneur, needs a wife to keep his Scottish title. He also thinks Luz is really hot and wants to do sex things to her. (A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, Adriana Herrera)
Ana María is a Mexican heiress sent to London for safe haven from the French occupation of Mexico. Gideon is the grandson of a formerly enslaved woman and a politician looking to secure the votes to stop the Atlantic slave trade. They are united in lust and then purpose when they align forces to sway parliament. (Ana María and The Fox, Liana de la Rosa)
What do you do when your uncle is holding your inheritance hostage? Hire someone to fake kidnap you and request a ransom of course! This is exactly what Amalia does with the help of her kidnapper-for-hire Julian who is trying to be a gentleman when he only wants to be a rake around her. (Alliance with His Stolen Heiress, Lydia San Andres)
4) Paranormal Romance: Witches, aliens, and merpeople need love too. And are super helpful for when you need to dissociate.
Sage Flores totally talks to plants. Not in a green thumb kind of way but in a witch magically identifying almost extinct species kind of way. And that’s a skill Tennessee Reyes, the guy from back home who broke her heart, needs. And maybe her too. (Witch of Wild Things, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland)
Witches make wishes too, and sometimes those wishes backfire. Lucinda casts a spell with the side effect of not letting her say no. And then her high school crush, and merman, Alex moves across the street from her. And she finds herself saying yes, and only yes, to Alex. (Witchful Thinking, Celestine Martin)
A laugh out loud, mascara smearing story of an alien pirate, Rhork, and Deena, the human woman in need of an escape from other alien pirates. (Taken to Kor, Elizabeth Stephens)
Sometimes a lady needs to be saved from a chaotic evil merman gang by a chaotic good merman gang. Naomi is on the run when she gets taken in by the mermen motorcycle club. And then they all fall for her and she decides to keep a few and blow some things up along the way. (Queenie & the Krakens, Aleera Anaya Ceres)
But wait, there’s more.
Launching with a duet is wild but I won’t make you wait too long. Tomorrow I’ll share part two to this list. In the meantime, please consider supporting me by sharing this post.