I am currently writing a historical romance novel, which means that I love to read historical romance novels, too. One day, I went to the Google machine in search of historical romance novels with black or African American characters—or historical romance novels written by black authors. The list is small. (Sad face.) Here’s what I found, in case you’re also looking for books in this niche market.
- Ms. Beverly is like the Aretha Franklin of black historical romance. With about 50 books sold, she definitely deserves R-E-S-P-E-C-T. And like Aretha, she’s left an imprint on individuals of all cultural backgrounds. In 2017, she was awarded the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award by the Romance Writers of America.
- Ms. Alexander writes historical (let’s talk about California in the 1880s), as well as contemporary romance. And she shouts out the Twitter hashtags #WeNeedDiverseRomance and #WOCinRomance, which are both worth checking out.
- Ms. Gayle’s books must be amazing, because her novel Sunrise and Shadows is on sale on Amazon.com for $2,003.98. (Huh?) Well, at least the shipping is free.
- The novel Murmur of Rain, by Patricia Vaughn, is about a musician set in Paris in the 1890s. Oh la la…
- One of Gunn’s novels, Nowhere to Run, captures a love story during slavery times in America.
- Ms. Washington is best known for her contemporary and erotica novels, but she has also penned two historical novels. She received Romantic Times Magazine’s Reviewers Choice Award in 2012.
- Let Us Dream was nominated for Best Romance Novella by the Romance Writers of America (RITA’s Award nominee). Besides historical romance, Ms. Cole also writes contemporary romance and sci-fi.
What do you think of the novelists on this list? Please help me expand it. Which authors have I missed?
Photo by Henri Meilhac on Unsplash
Rene Penn 