This post was originally published on Audible.com.
Romance is a vast genre, but there is still a comparatively small number of Black authors working within it. But stories by Black authors are essential—their viewpoints, their art, and their experiences should be uplifted, celebrated, and widely listened to. Here are some of our favorite Black romance authors who are making their mark in the field. No matter what kind of romance fiction tugs at your heartstrings, there’s something to fall in love with in the list below.
Beverly Jenkins
Beverly Jenkins is the premier author of Black historical romance. After publishing her first American historical, Night Song, in 1994, she continued to offer a previously unseen point of view in the form of Black love stories across the 19th century. She also writes the Blessings series, an ongoing contemporary fiction series set in a small town, and the Edge series of romantic suspense novels. She received the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, for nearly 25 years worth of romance, and she shows no sign of stopping.
Her most recent historical, Rebel, is best experienced in audio. The first in the new Women Who Dare series, this novel chronicles the courtship of Valinda Lacey, a Northern teacher who has come to New Orleans in the aftermath of the Civil War to set up a school for the newly emancipated Black community, and Captain Drake LeVeq, an architect from a wealthy Black New Orleans family who she reluctantly turns to for help. Kim Staunton’s narration helps to envelop listeners in this stirring, multi-layered story.
Brenda Jackson
Brenda Jackson has published more than 100 novels and novellas, including the best selling Westmoreland, Steele, and Catalina Cove series. She received the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, and recently launched a production company to begin film and television projects based on her books.
Many of her series have the same narrator throughout so you can dive in without fear of a storyline feeling disjointed. Pick up the Madaris series and enjoy Pete Ohms’s lush narration of each story of a member of the Madaris clan, starting with Tonight and Forever, which follows the tentative romance of widower Justin and his recently divorced neighbor, Lorren.
Alyssa Cole
Alyssa Cole is a relative newcomer to the scene, but has proven herself to be an incredible talent in contemporary, historical, and speculative romance alike. The first novel in her Loyal League trilogy, [An Extraordinary Union] was the 2017 RT Best Book of the Year, and her Avon debut A Princess in Theory was the only romance title selected for The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. Her novella Once Ghosted, Twice Shy featured Avon’s first Black lesbian couple to be published in print.
Alyssa’s books are practically a mood listen, as each different series can offer a different kind of feeling and experience, but we think that The A.I. Who Loved Me is the best introduction to her work. (It was written exclusively for audio!) A full cast, including Regina Hall and Mindy Kaling, draws listeners into a wild rom-com plot featuring artificial intelligence, secrets, and romance that will doubtlessly leave you yearning for more.
Rebekah Weatherspoon
Rebekah Weatherspoon’s excellent paranormal vampire novel Soul To Keep won the Lambda Literary Award in 2017. All of her books focus on the importance of body and sex positivity, while also exploring concepts of mental health, work-life balance, and getting the happily ever after you deserve. Her newest series, starting with A Cowboy to Remember, brings familiar fairy tales to life in new ways.
Better Off Red, her debut romance about a vampire sorority, is a particularly fun listen. Keira Grace’s narration encapsulates the college feeling of the protagonist and the various characters she meets while diving further and further into an unknown, underground world.
Christina C. Jones
Christina C. Jones established her name and brand early on in the self-publishing renaissance, and went on to publish more than 50 novels in less than a decade. Tones in her mostly contemporary repertoire range from solemn to hilarious as she tells stories of everyday Black people who find themselves in extraordinary romantic situations.
In I Think I Might Love You, the first of the Love Sisters trilogy, Jaclyn and Kadan (narrated respectively by Dana La Voz and Dontavious Breighton) don’t start off on the right foot. Jaclyn first meets a sensitive part of Kadan during a misunderstanding involving her sister’s apartment, and their continued meetings around town continue to be similarly distressing. But they can’t help but notice that. underneath those tensions, they work very, very well together.
Talia Hibbert
British author Talia Hibbert started self-publishing her novels at a young age to a very positive response from readers on both sides of the Atlantic. From the beginning, she approached topics like racism and mental health, while still offering familiar tropes and delightful romances. Her groundbreaking novel A Girl Like Her touched on Hibbert’s own experiences with autism and put her even more in the public eye. Her first novel from a major publisher, Get A Life, Chloe Brown received acclaim from O Magazine, The Washington Post, and NPR, among others.
Narrated by the supreme Adjoa Andoh, Get A Life, Chloe Brown introduces us to the Brown sisters, including the titular Chloe, who has had a rather sheltered life in part due to her fibromyalgia. When a near-death experience leads her to make a Get a Life
list, she starts with moving out of her parents’ home. But she needs someone to teach her how to do something bad—and her new landlord, the tough-talking, tattooed Red, might be the perfect guy for the job.
Holley Trent
With a publishing history as expansive as Holley Trent’s, it’s a wonder there is still more for her to explore. Having published early erotic romance with smaller presses, she moved on to self-publishing paranormal and sci-fi romance as both Holley and H.E. Trent. Many of her books feature snarky protagonists of all genders and races finding love while also having to save the world, and often portray unconventional
relationships—primarily, polyamorous or menage romances. Her Plot Twist series, starting with Writing Her In, brought her back to contemporary romance, but she continues to write both contemporary and speculative romance for ongoing and new series.
Shirl Rae’s narration of Beast, the first book in the Norseton Wolves series, pulls us into a world of wolf shifters, mated pairs, and alphas. Christina, the heroine, relies on an advantageous mating in order to permanently escape her life of poverty and abuse back in Appalachia. Anton (the Beast) doesn’t have time for love, and doesn’t want to take care of a mate. But she won’t let him take no for an answer.
Kennedy Ryan
Kennedy Ryan was one of the first Black authors to win a RITA award from the Romance Writers of America. Her contemporary romance novels are full of angst and trauma, but always offer that sweet, satisfying happy ending. While her Grip series sparked conversation, it was the Hoops series, starting with Long Shot, that truly put her on the map. Her most recent novel, Queen Move has been steadily winning raves since its release in 2020.
Long Shot, narrated alternately by Sean Crisden and Jo Raylan, is an intense, unforgettable listen. While Kennedy Ryan sometimes delves into difficult issues including domestic and sexual violence, the promise of the emotional payoff—overcoming each trauma and finding real love in the process—will keep a listener captivated and hopeful.
