4 Books That Shaped the Way I Read Romance

A life ender for hire who hooks up with strangers at 40,000 feet before facing off against a loose assembly of other life enders for hire.

Aug 09, 2024

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Hi Librarygoers!

I’m trying something a little different today. I love a good listicle but if your TBR is anything like mine, it’s already too full. At this time, I don’t want to contribute to making yours larger by throwing 20 amazing novels you absolutely need to read right now.

I reserve the right to do this in the future but for now, I’m going to offer deeper dives into a few books and how they made me feel. Like these four novels.

I’m the definition of a life longer reader. People who knew me as a child remember me with a book and a dance bag. I actually ran into someone recently who described me in this way. As an eight-year-old, I was reading books more like Anne of Green Gables and less like Next of Kin. I also didn’t have a category romance phase so reading romance almost exclusively was a journey for me.

It was a journey through assigned texts and way too many public library holds in grade school. In college I navigated towards courses that went beyond the “classics” and broadened the type of novels I gravitated towards. Then after years of assigned reading and earning a writing focused degree, I quit reading books for pleasure cold turkey. Every few months I would struggle through a self-help book I was “supposed” to read. I was so goal oriented I forgot what made books special to me.

These four books entered my life at different times but they all left a mark and all mean something to me now, even though non-romance books rarely make their way beyond my TBR. No shade, to non-romance books, real life just sucks so hard sometimes that I need the promise of an HEA at the end of 300ish pages to make sure I get an appropriate refund on the investment of my time.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Note: If you purchase books linked here via Bookshop, I may receive a small commission.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?: The story of Janie returning to her hometown in 1930’s Eatonville, an all Black town in the Florida Everglades. Janie is in her 40s, like many Black people 1-2 generations removed from slavery there are a lot of lingering effects on her life and those that raised her. We see her rediscovering her life, finding (a version of) love, and facing a hurricane. There’s also rabies involved? It was a lot but it was a welcome change from reading something like Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
WHEN DID I READ IT?: Maybe middle school? Maybe high school? I’m not sure. I do know that the book was on a summer reading list (because rebelling against banned books was a thing in the early aughts) and I chose it because I could only take so much Poe and Twain and Shakespeare.
WHY DID IT CHANGE MY READING?: It was the first time I read a book in AAVE where the language didn’t feel like it was used to intentionally separate or denigrate the characters.

How does this show up in my romance reading today?: Anything by Grey Huffington. Lawe is my absolute favorite because he is the most unhinged and sometimes it scratches the exact itch my moody reader heart needs.

Gideon Series by Eric Jerome Dickey

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?: A series of 5 books released between 2007 and 2017 about the adventures of a hitman with a mysterious (even to him) past who really likes to smash women (sometimes multiple at a time) after taking care of his assignments.
WHEN DID I READ IT: College years
WHY DID IT CHANGE MY READING?: I absolutely should not have been reading about a hitman who fingerbangs strangers at 40,000 feet before facing off against a loose assembly of hitmen known as the Four Horsemen, but I did! I especially loved it because the small town that I grew up in found its way into the series.

How does this show up in my romance reading today?: I’m actually incredibly inspired to do a re-read but the high paced energy of the Gideon series also has a lot of heavy urban romance vibes for me. But also, mafia like K. Alex Walker’s International Mafia series or Asia Monique’s Mafia Misfits series.

The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?: A story of historical fiction that tells the story of Haiti before, during, and after the Haitian Revolution led by Toussaint Louverture, as seen by its central character, Ti Noel.
WHEN DID I READ IT: In college.
WHY DID IT CHANGE MY READING??: This was my first exposure to magical realism. It tells the experience of the two hundred year Haitian Revolution through the eyes of one person. Magical realism doesn’t always mean bending of time but this is a story that benefits from it. Not that we need extra help understanding the injustice of enslavement, but how many stories do we need generations to discover the actual impact? Pressure doesn’t start mounting at the moment of protest and all is not right at the moment a law is signed.

Unsurprisingly I hadn’t learned much about the Haitian Revolution before reading this book and I appreciated learning about history through a fictional lens. It inspired many a deep dive and it’s something I’ve carried into my romance reading.

How does this show up in my romance reading today?: I get giddy whenever I see a romance novel that includes a hint of magic realism. So much so that I accidentally bought two copies of Raquel Vasquez Gilliland’s adult debut, Witch of Wild Things.

Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?: A second-chance, forbidden romance set in and around the world of the NBA.
WHEN: Circa 2020
WHY DID IT CHANGE MY READING?: I went into this blind otherwise I’m almost positive I would have skipped it because on page domestic violence is a trigger I generally skip.

However, I’m forever grateful to past me for not skipping Long Shot and discovering my top autobuy author. My life would forever be bereft without Kennedy Ryan’s pages in my life and I wouldn’t even know it.

In the vein of why I resonated with The Kingdom of this World, Long Shot answers the question of how women end up in abusive relationships, why they stay, and what getting out looks like. There is also an incredibly deserving love story on the back half of the book between Iris and August, and a love story as Iris learns how to love herself again.

I also appreciate that there’s no redemption arc for the villain in this story. In fact, my petty heart is full because of how much redemption he does not get!

How does this show up in my romance reading today?: Reading everything that Kennedy Ryan writes.

Are any of these on your lists? Share with us below!