Staff Picks: Modern Romance
by eapearce
The past few years have offered a slew of great new romance novels, many of them featuring diverse characters and cultures–something that used to be much less common in romance novel publishing! We’re excited to recommend some of these fun new reads this week.
Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley | Request Now
In this sweet romance, a football player and a reality television star pretend to date in order to save his bakery. After starring in the country’s most beloved reality show–and turning down the proposal at the end–going out in public is hard for Jada Townsend-Mathews. Not knowing the real story, people are disgusted with her choice. Back in her hometown, she gets a job at a hot new cupcake bakery owned by professional football player Donovan Dell. Donovan’s uptight nature makes the job less-than-perfect, but when a photographer captures him and Jada together and the tabloids assume the two are dating, they decide to roll with it. The press might help them rehabilitate the bakery and improve Jada’s image, so it seems like a win-win. Faking it proves harder than they anticipate though, until, of course, it doesn’t….
Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson | Request Now
In this modern retelling of, you guessed it, Romeo and Juliet, a bitter food rivalry threatens to keep two young lovers apart. On the Day of the Dead, Julieta and Ramón meet in the street where they celebrate together, and she kisses him before fleeing into the night. Ramón is determined to find her again, and he always achieves his goals, whether it's graduating from an Ivy League school or expanding his dad’s fast food taco restaurant empire. Meanwhile, celebrity-chef Julieta is horrified when she realizes that the man she kissed on Dia de los Muertos is her new landlord at the sea-to-table taqueria she gave up nearly everything to open. And, his father stole her mother’s secret taco recipe decades ago! As the two families wage battle over taco rights in San Diego, Ramón and Julieta find it more and more difficult to keep away from each other. This is a fun retelling best enjoyed with a tasty taco or three!
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake | Request Now
Delilah Green has no interest in returning to her hometown of Bright Falls. She’s made a life for herself as a photographer in New York City, and her childhood memories are mostly lonely ones of living with her distant stepfamily. But when her estranged stepsister Astrid begs her to photograph her upcoming wedding–and throws in a hefty check, too–Delilah is hard-pressed to say no. She plans on making the trip as quick as possible, but when she encounters Claire Sutherland, one of her stepsister’s best friends, she’s tempted to stick around a bit longer to have some fun. When it becomes clear that Astrid should not marry her fiance, Delilah and Claire join forces to stop the wedding and they feel drawn to one another in ways beyond their shared goal, too. This fun, queer romance balances the relationship between Delilah and Claire with complicated family dynamics perfectly.
The Emma Project by Sonali Dev | Request Now
Jane Austen’s iconic Emma gets an Indian-American twist in this delightful romance. Vansh Raje leads what most people–including himself–would call a pretty charmed life. He’s been named California’s hottest eligible bachelor, he uses his wealth to travel the world and make it a better place, his family and friends adore him, and he’s made it to his mid-twenties without anything bad ever really happening to him. Naina Kohli has just gotten out of a ten-year relationship with Vansh’s brother and wants two things: never to encounter the Raje family again, and to devote her life to helping women in South Asia through her microfinance foundation. It seems like things might all work out for Naina, until Vansh shows up to threaten her efforts with his misguided Emma Project that competes with her foundation for funding. Of course, it doesn’t help that the two are wildly attracted to each other and contemplating an enemies-with-benefits relationship…. Romance fans and Austen fans in particular will enjoy this fresh take on a classic!
Blog Post
Subjects
Reviews