Is there a moment in time when someone faces a reckoning with the biases they harbor? I hope so. In relation to this newsletter, I hope people at least attempt to check their biases when it comes to romance and who gets to experience it in its rawest, purest form.

I can’t exactly mark when my reckoning occurred, but it was definitely sometime during college. It became a time when I had to sit face to face with my biases and the tropes I was indoctrinated with via pop culture growing up as pertains to Black women. (i.e. the Mammy, the Jezebel, the Sapphire, pretty much any Black woman character you can find in a Tyler Perry or white savior movie.)

At school and even on local library shelves, I rarely saw young adult romance books that centered on young Black women like myself and our coming-of-age. And to be honest, it made me question if I’d ever get to experience the romance I read about in books featuring white characters. Authors like Nicola Yoon, Renee Watson, and others started to chip away at this questioning thankfully. Also, I’d be remiss not to mention the endless re-runs of Sister, Sister, A Different World and That’s So Raven I watched that made me feel hopeful about Black girlhood and becoming a young adult.

As a shy young girl, I enjoyed being enraptured into other worlds through books. As I approached my tween/teen years I started to gravitate more toward romance novels. I believe I was drawn to the tenderness and sweetness I felt when I read about first kisses, first loves and the butterflies only a crush could awaken.

In college, experienced dating for the first time, entering into relationships that eventually petered out but also informed me how I wanted to be loved. The connections I fostered with other Black students, plus the courses I took (shout out to African American Politics and Beyonce Feminism, Rihanna Womanism) elevated my appreciation for my blackness and informed my philosophy on romance. Even experimentation with my hair (shout out to my natural fro during my sophomore year) helped me figure out how much self-love and the love I thought I deserved intersected.

My philosophy on romance informs what romance books I read and those I choose not to. I think of this philosophy as a living, continuously evolving ethos. And I thought it be good to share it, in this first edition of Swoon. Here it is.

• There’s power in love amid injustices, and fighting against injustices doesn’t mean there isn’t space for healthy romantic love. (See my article in Teen Vogue for more on this.)

• No one— particularly Black women— should have to endure hurt in order to receive love. It’s possible to receive love without having to go through some weird, arduous trial period or test(s). Mature love doesn’t consist of gotcha moments.

• A solid partnership can’t exist without having hard, honest conversations. In previous relationships, I’ve learned skirting around concerns or worries only amplifies them down the road. It takes a certain level of comfort, and emotional maturity, to support the transparency that can sustain a loving relationship.

• Love doesn’t require you to shrink or silence who you are or what you want. To quote Quinta Brunson, “There’s no dimming me.” Period.

• Love can be grounding. It can make the hard times feel bearable to get through.

Want to share your own philosophy on romance? Feel free to email me at [email protected] or leave your comment on the webpage edition of this newsletter. I’d love to hear from you. (Please keep it cute in the comments, thank you 🤗)

• Situationship by Taylor Dior-Rumble was released this August. (The Black Book Blog)

• The sports romance Cross the Line by Simone Soltani releases on Sept. 15. (Goodreads)

• Deanna Grey’s “rivals to lovers romance” novel Outdrawn will be released on Nov. 2. I’ve also been wanting to get my hands on her Mendell Hawks series. (Instagram)

• Bolu Babalola is penning a sequel to her beloved romance novel Honey & Spice. Releasing in 2024, Sun Under Skin will revisit characters Kiki and Malachi as they embark on their love story after their brush with fake dating. (Entertainment Weekly)

• Vanessa Riley has a new historical romance releasing March 2024 titled A Gamble at Sunset. It will be the first in the new series Betting on the Duke. Riley is also celebrating the recent release of Queen of Exiles about Haiti’s first and only queen Marie-Louise Christophe. (X.com)

• First Look: American Fiction Challenges Hollywood’s “Poverty of Imagination” About Black People (Vanity Fair, Aug. 31)

• From Friends to Lovers: The Fanfic-to-Romance Pipeline Goes Mainstream (Vulture, Aug. 29)

• The First App to “Help” Libraries and Schools with Book Bans Has Arrived— It’s Not What It Seems (Book Riot, Aug. 28)

• The Pleasure and Communion of Austen’s Country Dance (LitHub, Aug. 17)

• Romance Readers Swoon for Brooklyn’s Newest Bookstore (The New York Times, Aug. 12)

• Fiction Analytics Site Prosecraft Shut Down After Author Backlash (Gizmodo, Aug. 8)

• Simon & Schuster’s Private-Equity Marriage Looks Good on Paper, but Will the Honeymoon Last? (Vanity Fair, Aug. 8)

• The Best Romance Books of the Year So Far (The New York Times, Aug. 8)

• Op-ed: SAG-AFTRA, WGA Strikes Are Trying to Topple a Broken Industry (Teen Vogue, Aug. 2)

• The Smutty Hockey Drama Melting Down BookTok (The Cut, Aug. 2)

• A New Startup Proposes Influencer-Driven Publishing (Publishers Weekly, July 28)

• The Current State Of Celebrity Thirst With Bim Adewunmi & Nichole Perkins (Refinery29, July 31)

Rating System

• 😴 Snooze-worthy read: A book not worth finishing or one that you wish you could forget you took the time to read.

• 🙁 Dry-read: A story that grabs your curiosity in the beginning, but doesn’t completely, if at all, live up to the hype

• 🙂 Semi-sweet read: A book that leaves you wanting more but is not completely unbearable and has some memorable moments

• 🥰 Sweet read: An engrossing read that keeps you hooked from beginning to end. Think of it as a book that you don’t mind returning to because you enjoyed it so much the first time.

• 😍 Swoon-worthy/must-read: This is a book that you’ll be thinking of well beyond the last page. It’s a major literary canon event. Who you were before you read this book is not the same as who you are after you’ve finished.

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

*Disclosure: I was sent this book from Penguin Random House.

I loved that this novel was a Black historical romance that drew inspiration from America’s first Black-owned car company. The book takes place in Chicago in the early 1900s, with a focus on the city’s South Side. The Davenports are part of a web of well-to-do Black families and the book centers on sisters, Olivia and Helen, family friend Ruby, and the Davenports’ maid Amy-Rose. I enjoyed how the book touched on respectability politics and the hardship that comes with growing and making your own decisions while also trying to appease others’ expectations. There were very few risqué scenes but palpable romantic moments between the story’s key couples. I will say the chapters felt a bit choppy. The entire book was in third person, so having each chapter divvied up between different characters seemed redundant. The pacing sort of dulls at some points, but I think it’s a solid start to a series, which I guess, lives up to its purpose of the reader wanting more. (Rating: 🙂 semi-sweet read)

Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins

Note: This book is not a romance read, but if you’re into women’s fiction, along with magical realism, keep reading!

Morgan Jerkin’s fiction debut kept me engrossed from beginning to end. I literally finished the book in two days. At the center of the book sits the reclusive, yet mystical, Melancon family, who are known to possess caul, “a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power.” Laila, a woman who unfortunately has experienced numerous miscarriages, seeks out their help to ensure a healthy pregnancy. But the Melancons’ refusal sets off a chain reaction of events all touching on Black motherhood, maternal health, body autonomy and so much more. I appreciated how the story dipped into folklore and explored the Melancons’ roots in Louisiana, my home state. It’s a book I don’t think I’d get tired of recommending. (Rating: 🥰 sweet read)

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

Set in the pre-Civil War era, this book encapsulated what I love about the romance genre: that wistful feeling you get when you see the protagonists finally admit their feelings for one another and the incessant blushing that amplifies with each page turn. What really touched me with this book is how unashamedly Galon Vachon— a.k.a the Black Daniel, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, who comes from a family of immense wealth — expressed his love for Hester Wyatt, a fellow conductor. I admired Hester, who was born in slavery and grew up harvesting Indigo, for how she opened herself to love. Jenkins Indigo is a landmark Black romance read that doesn’t make light of Black Americans’ hardships, but shows how love and community can still thrive in the midst of it. I’m sure I’ll relish revisiting this novel for years to come. (Rating: 😍 swoon-worthy)

“She liked the way he touched her, as if she were made of silk, as if her arms were the rarest of black porcelain and her back unburnished gold.” — from Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

That’s it for the first edition of Swoon! Be on the lookout for the next issue later this month, featuring a recap of my time at the Popular Romance Fiction Conference in Connecticut. (I’m so excited 😋) Until next time, and with love,