So you want to read more romances by authors of color!

So, you loved our episodes on Adam and Eva and Night Song, right?  (Say yes!)  Well, of course you’d probably enjoy reading more Sandra Kitt and Beverly Jenkins books.  But there are tons of great authors of color writing romances you’d love and we want you to find them!  I’m linking to first books in series because that’s where people generally want to start, although with some of these people a later book is the one that’s really popular right now (can I even tell you how happy I am that my actual two favorite characters from Alyssa Cole’s A Princess in Theory got their own lesbian romance book?!?!)

This is just the first installment in a series we’re planning on doing.  Truthfully, I only realized doing this podcast that I hadn’t ever read a romance where both leads were people of color, and I’d honestly never noticed it because I was conditioned to think of my whiteness as a default and the experiences of people of color as optional.  Break the paradigm and decolonize your reading list, y’all!

Alyssa Cole “is a science editor, pop culture nerd, and romance junkie who splits her time between fast-paced NYC and island-paced life in the Caribbean.”  She’s written a lot of books but she’s the new hotness these days for her Reluctant Royals series which starts with A Princess in Theory.

“Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn’t have time for fairy tales…or patience for the constant e-mails claiming she’s betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, she’s learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly e-mail won’t convince her otherwise.


Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed. When Naledi mistakes the prince for a pauper, Thabiso can’t resist the chance to experience life—and love—without the burden of his crown.


The chemistry between them is instant and irresistible, and flirty friendship quickly evolves into passionate nights. But when the truth is revealed, can a princess in theory become a princess ever after?”  


This is one I’ve actually read and enjoyed quite a bit, even though it has my least favorite romance trope in it (the Idiot Plot, which requires everybody in it to never once sit down and explain themselves honestly.)  The fingerbanging, reader, is hot.

An Extraordinary Union is the first book in the Loyal League series.
“As the Civil War rages between the states, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past . . .


Elle Burns is a former slave with a passion for justice and an eidetic memory. Trading in her life of freedom in Massachusetts, she returns to the indignity of slavery in the South—to spy for the Union Army.


Malcolm McCall is a detective for Pinkerton’s Secret Service. Subterfuge is his calling, but he’s facing his deadliest mission yet—risking his life to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia.


Two undercover agents who share a common cause—and an undeniable attraction—Malcolm and Elle join forces when they discover a plot that could turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy’s favor. Caught in a tightening web of wartime intrigue, and fighting a fiery and forbidden love, Malcolm and Elle must make their boldest move to preserve the Union at any cost—even if it means losing each other . . .”


Alisha Rai is an Indian-American author; I’ve read several of her books and love them.  They’re smart and hot as hell.  I can definitely whole, uh, heartedly recommend the Forbidden Hearts books, and Hate to Want You is the first book.
“One night. No one will know.


That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies.


Until the night she didn’t show up.


Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?


Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.


Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.”


These are great because I seriously stuck it out through the third book (even though I always get that thing where I get attached to the people in the first book and just can’t love the other ones as much) to find out what actually happened between the two families thirty years ago.  If you read all three you get a wonderfully diverse cast, a great family business intrigue story, and lots of people who actually feel like real people.  I honestly can’t recommend her highly enough.

Sonali Dev‘s “first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting degrees in architecture and written communication, migrating across the globe, and starting a family while writing for magazines and websites. With the advent of her first gray hair her mad love for telling stories returned full force, and she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up stories that make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world traveler.

Sonali lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and often amused husband and two teens who demand both patience and humor, and the world’s most perfect dog.”

A Bollywood Affair is the first book in her Bollywood series.