I've also been feeling like I've hit a dead end with romance novels that don't suck, so I'll definitely be checking out some of the ones you mentioned!

I could not care less about football (or football players' abs) and have enjoyed the ones I've read. Characters are diverse in terms of race, but not sexuality. It's very thinly veiled Taylor Swift fanfiction, if Taylor Swift were secretly gay and in love with a member of her backing band.Īlexa Martin writes a pretty fun series about members of a fictional NFL team. You might like Some Part of Me is You by Adrienne Marsh. But both feature Vietnamese-American and neurodivergent characters, which is cool. I similarly loved the Kiss Quotient but did not particularly care for the follow-up (the Bride Test). The Wedding Date is GREAT, but I've been a little disappointed by the rest of the series (though, Royal Holiday gets points for focusing on a middle-aged black woman instead of yet another hot young 20-something). Many thanks! posted by unicorn chaser to Writing & Language (17 answers total) 32 users marked this as a favorite

I want to read contemporary stories about regular folks. literary fiction with romantic overtones - I am looking for romance novels Who else is writing good stuff in this genre that I should be checking out? I'd love a good romance novel that isn't heteronormative.īut I've been out of the loop lately. I admit that most of these are books about heterosexual pairings.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne also gets an honourable mention because it's funny and well-written but I'm kind of over the whole two-hot-white-people get together thing. Contemporary novels with realistic, well-rounded characters from across the spectra of race and sexuality etc., and the last three named feature protagonists of colour. I enjoyed Linda Holmes' first novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over, A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole, Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren, and Hold Me by Courtney Milan, which are good examples of the kind of thing I am seeking. But only one of her books has a protagonist of colour. every single person isn't young, thin and white. If you've read her books, you will know the kind of thing I'm looking for: funny, feminist, cheerful without being escapist (her characters have real problems but the books don't weigh you down), sex-positive, and have a cast of characters that actually reflect reality i.e. My current favourite author in the genre is Lucy Parker but I have read everything she's read.

Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon