Hello from Romancelandia!
I’d like to say it’s the land of glitter, no-strings massages and calorie-free chocolate and talk about escape and distraction as I did last month, but even here this year has already felt like it’s about 967 days long. It’s hard to be chipper and talk Happily Ever Afters when there’s a virus stalking the world and something far more insidious that’s infected our societies – everywhere, all over the world, not just in the USA – for much, much longer, causing untold damage, pain and hurt.
So, this month it’s Amy with her rose-coloured glasses off. And in that vein, I want to talk about romance books written by women of colour. I’m not offering any fruity cocktails this time round, just asking that you come in and sit down and be blown away by the amazing breadth of books about the world’s most powerful emotion – love – written by awesome Black and First Nations women featuring awesome characters getting their HEAs.
All these books are available via Booktopia in either print or digital, so just click on the covers if something takes your fancy!
Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan
Great title. Absolutely knockout cover. Kennedy writes powerful stories. You should also check out her backlist! In 2019, she was the first African American winner of the RITA award in the US for her incredible book Long Shot.
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The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have …
Dig a little and you’ll find photos of me in the bathtub with Ezra Stern. Get your mind out of the gutter. We were six months old.
Pry and one of us might confess we saved our first kiss for each other. The most clumsy, wet, sloppy … spectacular thirty seconds of my adolescence.
Get into our business and you’ll see two families, closer than blood, torn apart in an instant.
Twenty years later, my ‘awkward duckling’ best friend from childhood, the boy no one noticed, is a man no one can ignore.
Finer. Fiercer. Smarter.
Taken.
Tell me it’s wrong. Tell me the boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have.
When we find each other again, everything stands in our way–secrets, lies, promises. But we didn’t come this far to give up now. And I know just the move to make if I want to make him mine.
Buy it here
The Cowboy’s Claim by Nina Crespo
Nina is another US author hitting it out of the park and I just love her storytelling!
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He’s discovered his leading lady. The role of her dreams: in his arms.
Chloe Daniels is determined to land the role of a lifetime. Even if she’s terrified to get on a horse! And the last thing her reluctant teacher, Tristan Tillbridge, wants is to entertain a pampered actress. But the enigmatic cowboy soon discovers that Chloe is as genuine as she is gorgeous, and he’s determined to make her his. Will this unlikely pair discover that the sparks between them are anything but an act?
Buy it here
The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon
How awesome is this cover? I absolutely love what an illustrated cover can do for diversity and representation in publishing.
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Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah — along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor — have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status …
For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?
Buy the eBook here and the paperback here
Get A Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Talia is an English romance author whose fabulous books not only feature racial diversity but neurodiversity, too. Also, can’t get enough of this cover!
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Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan and a list. After almost – but not quite – dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her ‘Get a Life’, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
– Enjoy a drunken night out.
– Ride a motorcycle.
– Go camping.
– Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
– Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
– And … do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle and more sex appeal than ten thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior …
Buy it here
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
This book made Oprah Magazine’s list of romance novels to read in 2020, which is pretty freaking awesome. Much deserved – great cover, knitting, brothers, Harlem. What more can I say??
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Jesse Strong is known for two things: his devotion to his adoptive mom, Mama Joy, and his reputation for breaking hearts in Harlem. When Mama Joy unexpectedly passes away, he and his brothers have different plans on what to do with Strong Knits, their neighborhood knitting store: Jesse wants to keep the store open; his brothers want to shut it down.
Jesse makes an impassioned plea to Kerry Fuller, his childhood friend who has had a crush on him her entire life, to help him figure out how to run the business. Kerry agrees to help him reinvent the store and show him the knitty-gritty of the business, but the more time they spend together, the more the chemistry builds. Kerry, knowing Jesse’s history, doesn’t believe this relationship will exist longer than one can knit one, purl one. But Jesse is determined to prove to her that he can be the man for her–after all, real men knit.
Buy it here
Marrying His Runaway Heiress by Therese Beharrie
Therese is a South African author who has written multiple diverse romances for Harlequin’s Romance line. I absolutely love Therese’s voice!
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A diamond isn’t forever … until it’s from the right man!
For journalist and heiress Elena John, heading to Italy on assignment is her chance to avoid her impending arranged marriage. But Micah Williams, the star of her article, is nothing like the uptight tycoon she’s been told to expect, and alone in Italy she falls under his charming spell. Their time’s almost over, but Micah’s not ready to let her walk away. His proposal? A convenient counteroffer!
Buy the eBook here and the paperback here
Now … that’s six books to keep you going, but if you’d like to explore and actively support diverse romances written by own voices authors then here’s a really great resource – WOCINROMANCE. You can go there for recommendations of romance books written by Black, Indigenous and Native romance authors and you’ll be spoiled for choice! They’re across all social media but I really love their Instagram account.
And also, thanks to the ABC, I’ve just found an Australian resource which is super fabulous. The Blackfulla Book Club is an Instagram platform founded by two young Indigenous women highlighting books written by Australian Indigenous authors. It’s not romance specific but if you want to support Aussie Indigenous authors this is a great place to start!
Some Aussie Favourites
As per usual at the end of my column each month, I recommend one of my fave reads to you. This month, keeping with the topic of diverse romance, I’d like to recommend four books by Dr Anita Heiss.
Anita is a well known Aussie Indigenous author/academic/advocate/activist who has written multiple fiction and non-fiction books throughout her career. But, from a romance perspective, Anita wrote a few romcoms for Random House about 10 years ago now – back in the days when we called it chicklit – centring strong Indigenous female characters and featuring covers with great representation. They’re a little hard to find today but, thanks to Booktopia’s partnership with Kobo, you can download them from the Booktopia site! I read these when they first came out in paperback and absolutely loved them!
Manhattan Dreaming by Anita Heiss
From Manuka to Manhattan, Lauren’s going all the way!
Lauren is a curator at the NAG – the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra. She’s good at her job, passionate about the Arts, and focused on her work – that is, when she’s not focusing on Adam, half-back for the Canberra Cockatoos.
But Adam is a player, on and off the field. Lauren knows he’s the one, but he doesn’t seem to feel the same way about her. If she just waits long enough, though, surely he’ll realise how much he needs her?
Then her boss offers her the chance of a lifetime – a fellowship at the Smithsonian in New York. Lauren has to make some big decisions: The Man or Manhattan?
Buy it here
Paris Dreaming by Anita Heiss
Libby is on a man-fast: no more romance, no more cheating men, no more heartbreak. After all, she has her three best girlfriends and two cats to keep her company at night and her high-powered job at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra to occupy her day – isn’t that enough?
But when fate takes Libby to work in Paris at the Musee du Quai Branly, she’s suddenly thrown out of her comfort zone and into a city full of culture, fashion and love. Surrounded by thousands of attentive men, nude poets, flirtatious baristas and smooth-tongued lotharios, romance has suddenly become a lot more tempting …
Buy it here
Avoiding Mr Right by Anita Heiss
Peta thinks that ‘…taking a man to Melbourne would be like taking a sandwich to a smorgasbord’, that’s why she is leaving him at home.
Peta Tully has found her Mr Right – the only trouble is, she’s not sure she’s ready to settle down. Not just yet, anyway – so when she’s offered a twelve-month contract interstate which just might win her the job of her dreams, she puts her Sydney life on hold, packs her bags and jumps on a plane, leaving her doting boyfriend behind. Peta takes a voluntary vow of celibacy, but sticking to it proves harder than she imagines.
Buy it here
Not Meeting Mr Right by Anita Heiss
“I am deadly, desirable and delicious”… is Alice’s mantra as she hilariously negotiates her way through the rocky terrain of singledom.
Alice Aigner is successful, independent and a confirmed serial dater – but at her ten-year school reunion she has a sudden change of heart. Bored rigid by her married, mortgaged and motherly former classmates, Alice decides to prove that a woman can have it all: a man, marriage, career, kids and a mind of her own. She sets herself a goal: meet the perfect man and marry him before her thirtieth birthday, just under two years away. Together with her best friends Dannie, Liza and Peta, Alice draws up a ten-point plan. Then, with a little help from her mum, her dad, her brothers, her colleagues and her neighbour across the hall, she sets out to find Mr Right.
Unfortunately for Alice, it’s not quite as easy as she imagines … Who could not fall in love with our Koori heroine as she dates (among others): Renan, whose career goal is to be the world’s best moonwalker and male hula dancer; Tufu the commitment-phobic Samoan football player; scary Simon the one-night stand; and Paul – Mr Dreamboat, but perhaps too good to be true. All the while, Alice skilfully avoids dating Cliff, son of her mum’s friend, a confirmed bachelor who isn’t likely to settle down with a woman anytime soon.
Buy it here
Okay – that’s the rundown this month. I hope you join me next month in Romancelandia – until then, stay safe and happy reading.
Amy Andrews
About Amy
Amy Andrews is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling Aussie author who has written seventy plus contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets.
She’s sold three million books and been translated into over a dozen languages including manga. She has won three Ruby awards and is a triple RITA finalist.
In her other life, she was a paediatric intensive care nurse for twenty-one years. Amy lives near the sea with her husband of 30 years.
You can find out more about Amy and her books here.
Nothing But Trouble
For five years, Cecilia Morgan’s entire existence has revolved around playing personal assistant to self-centred former NFL quarterback Wade Carter. But just when she finally gives her notice, his father’s health fails, and Wade whisks her back to his hometown. CC will stay for his dad—for now—even if that means ignoring how sexy her boss is starting to look in his Wranglers.
To say CC’s notice is a bombshell is an insult to bombs. Wade can’t imagine his life without his “left tackle.” She’s the only person who can tell him “no” and strangely, it’s his favourite quality. He’ll do anything to keep her from leaving, even if it means playing dirty and dragging her back to Credence, Colorado, with him...
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