Conversation Hearts: An Inclusive Love Fest for Romance Readers and Writers

Rebekah Weatherspoon she/her

Jasmine Silvera she/her

Olivia Waite she/her

Piper J. Drake she/her

Austin Chant he/him

Amanda Jean she/her

Romance readers and writers are passionate people. They are passionate about the power of love to transform people’s lives and to transform the world. They are passionate about an HEA (Happily-Ever-After) or a HFN (Happy-for-Now). And it’s safe to say they are tired of hearing ill-informed and dismissive opinions about the genre they love. If you haven’t read a romance or attended a romance event, now is the time!

Romance readers and writers are also asking for more inclusive and representative writers and characters. An article in the Guardian last year, Fifty shades of white: the long fight against racism in romance novels, highlighted the need for diverse voices in the field and much work needs to be done in publishing and the greater reading and writing community to create change.

New fiction roundup, November 2019

No matter what you read – romance, fantasy, historical fiction, prize-winning fiction – November has a new release for you.

11/5: The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel José Older – In this multigenerational Cuban-American family story of revolution, loss, and family bonds, the spirit of a woman who disappeared during the Cuban Revolution visits her nephew to spur him into unearthing their family history.

11/5: The Deep by Rivers Solomon – The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society, and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future.

11/5: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert – In this romantic comedy Chloe Brown – a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list – recruits her mysterious, sexy neighbor to help her get a life.

11/5: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo – The intersections of identity among an interconnected group of Black British women are portrayed in this 2019 Winner of the Booker Prize. A Peak Pick!

11/5: The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton – An elegant and historically inspired story of survivors and healers, of black women and their black sons, of female friendship, set in the American South.

Library Reads for November 2019

Librarians across the country have chosen the ten books coming out in November that they’re most excited about.

The Starless Sea  by Erin Morgenstern
A moving labyrinth of a story, ever changing and evolving. What begins as a mysterious thread in a book, an opportunity taken or missed and the consequences of the choice, evolves into a story similar to a choose-your-own adventure tale or a mystical video game experience. For fans of Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clark, and Lev Grossman.
~ Cynde Suite, Bartow County Library, Cartersville, GA

New fiction roundup, September 2019

9/3: Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore – England, 1879: a fiercely independent vicar’s daughter earns a place among the first cohort of female students at the University of Oxford, and ultimately takes on a powerful duke in a fiery love story that threatens to upend the British social order.

9/3: Dominicana by Angie Cruz – To help her family’s immigration prospects, 15-year-old Ana marries a man twice her age and moves with him from the Dominican Republic to New York City. Once there, she’ll balance duty to her family against her own desires.

9/3: The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine – Twins Laurel and Daphne Wolfe share an obsession with words, a love that binds them together until it pushes them apart in a war over custody of their most prized family heirloom: Merriam Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition.

New Fiction Roundup, July 2019

New titles this July include a fantasy novel inspired by Mexican folklore, a vision of southern Washington state in the early 20th century, a divided family brought together by brewing beer, and much more.

7/2: Deep River by Karl Marlantes – In this family saga, a set of Finnish siblings settle in a logging community and attempt to tame the Pacific Northwest, in an era defined by World War I and the rise of early labor movements.

7/9: The Need by Helen Phillips – Alone at home with her two young children, paleobotanist Molly is hearing strange noises that she dismisses. But when she finds what is making the noise, Molly wonders if her work has released a sinister force, or if she’s hallucinating her anxieties.

7/9: The Toll by Cherie Priest – In this gothic horror novel, newlyweds Titus and Melanie Bell are on their way through the Okefenokee Swamp when they cross a narrow bridge. After an unknown period of time, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, but neither the bridge nor Melanie are anywhere to be seen.