Love is In the Air
It’s time to celebrate love, all shades of love. Today, Saturday, August 21, 2021, is Bookstore Romance Day. This is the third year of celebrating romance in fiction. According to the website:”Bookstore Romance Day is a day designed to give independent bookstores an opportunity to celebrate Romance fiction—its books, readers, and writers—and to strengthen the relationships between bookstores and the Romance community.”
If you’re looking for some romance fiction ideas, I have a few suggestions for you. I’ve been a romance reading diva since the pandemic began. Okay, I’ve always read romance fiction, but I’ve gone into overdrive with the romance fiction since the pandemic began. I enjoy romantic suspense, romantic comedy, historical romance, as well as contemporary romance. Steamy romance or mild romance, I’ll read them all.
First, up is my all-time favorite author, the incomparable, the Slayer of Words, the Queen…Beverly Jenkins! I’ve recommended her books in the past and I sincerely hope you’ve taken my recommendations and read her Blessings series (soon to be a television series [we hope]). This series, more inspirational with hints of romance, begins with Bring On the Blessings, A Second Helping, Something Old, Something New, A Wish and a Prayer, Heart of Gold, For Your Love, Stepping to a New Day, Chasing Down a Dream, Second Time Sweeter, and On the Corner of Hope and Main. If you enjoy historical romance, then I encourage you to grab copies of Ms. B’s Indigo and Vivid, especially the 25th anniversary editions.
Next up is Jasmine Guillory and her Wedding Date series. This series includes: The Wedding Date, The Proposal (one of my favorites), The Wedding Party, Royal Holiday (another favorite because the main female character is named Vivian!), Party of Two, and While We Were Dating (a new favorite). All of these books offer great romance with touches of comedy that just make for wonderful reads. I love them all and so does my 86-y.o. mother!
I also recommend the Bromance series by Lyssa Kay Adams. This series features men learning how to be better husbands or significant others by reading romance novels. The series has plenty of serious moments, but it is also packed with a lot of laughs. Start with book one, The Bromance Book Club, then Undercover Bromance, followed by One Crazy Stupid Bromance, and the latest release Isn’t It Bromantic?.
And for something a little different, I highly recommend you grab copies of Ayesha at Last and Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin. These are great romance stories that feature Muslims as the lead characters and have just as much drama and comedy as seen in other romance reads. Come on people, read diversely! I’m not just saying that because I’m a Black Muslim woman from Appalachia or a Muslim Affrilachian, I’m saying that as a book diva!
Of course, there are a number of other authors that I read and can recommend to you. A partial list includes S.K. Ali, Sandra Brown, Alyssa Cole, Lori Foster, Linda Howard, Sarah Jio, Susanna Kearsley, Sandra Kitt, Alexa Martin, JJ Murray (only male on this list), Alisha Rai (I have read and can highly recommend the Modern Love series: Girl Gone Viral, The Right Swipe, and First Comes Like), Juno Rushdan, JD Robb & Nora Roberts, Sharon Sala, Meg Tilly, Sarah Title, Lauren Willig (love the Pink Carnation series), and more.
If you want to learn more about virtual events happening today, please click here. Please note that registration may no longer be available, but you can watch missed events on YouTube.
And remember, Love is Love! Now, go out to your favorite indie bookstore and treat yourself to a romance book or two.
Happy Reading, y’all!
The Book Diva's Reads 