BIPOC Romance
Here are some suggestions for your 2024 Book Bingo NW category: BIPOC Romance. Book Bingo is our annual adult summer reading program presented in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures. Annotations from NoveList, unless otherwise attributed. GN=Graphic novel
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Can't Resist Her
In this steamy, queer Black romance from Alexander (Carolina Built), Summer Graves and Aiko Holt are reunited years after a fateful high school dance when Summer moves back to their hometown of Ivy, Texas. However, they find themselves on opposite sides of a battle over the future of their former high school, which has been abandoned. (Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Courting Samira
Set in Sydney, Australia, Courting Samira is a charming and frothy romantic comedy about a twenty-seven-year-old Palestinian woman who finds herself in an unexpected love triangle—a sparkling ode to meddling best friends, traditional courtship, The Princess Bride, and, of course, the possibility of love.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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And They Lived Happily Ever After
Beharrie delivers an ambitious story of magic, romance, and healing from past trauma. Gaia Anders has been escaping into romance novels since she was a preteen in the foster care system. As an adult, she both writes and reads the genre--and, through some magic she does not understand, the stories she writes during the day become vivid dreams that she can manipulate at night. (Publisher's Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Black Love Matters
Nonfiction. Romantic love has been one of the most essential elements of storytelling for centuries. But for Black people in the United States and across the diaspora, it hasn't often been easy to find Black romance joyfully showcased in entertainment media. In this collection, revered authors and sparkling newcomers, librarians and academicians, and avid readers and reviewers consider the mirrors and windows into Black love as it is depicted in the novels, television shows, and films that have shaped their own stories. Whether personal reflection or cultural commentary, these essays delve into Black love now and in the past, including topics from the history of Black romance to social justice and the Black community to the meaning of desire and desirability.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Basil and Oregano
YA GN. Basil Eyres and Arabella Oregano are both students of cooking with magic at Porta Bella Magiculinary Academy, and although the two are instantly smitten with each other, Arabella has a secret with the potential to throw Basil's future aspirations into jeopardy. (Bibliocommons)
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Manila Takes Manhattan
Music producer Raymond “Mon” Mendoza is newly arrived in Manhattan from Manila, Philippines, and feeling unsettled and lonely. Enter his gorgeous pinoy neighbor, Olivia, who helps him feel connected to his home during a steamy one-night stand. That should be the end of it—until Mon discovers that Olivia is the famous actor/director who hired him to do the music for her upcoming film. (Publisher’s Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Recipe for Persuasion
Chef Ashna Raje thinks that joining the cast of Cooking with the Stars will help save her restaurant and prove to her mother that she's not a failure, but when she's paired with her first love, Rico Silva, the kitchen begins to heat up. (Bibliocommons)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Neighbor Favor
A shy bookworm enlists her charming neighbor to help her score a date, not knowing he's the obscure author she's been corresponding with, in this sparkling and heart-fluttering romance by Kristina Forest. (Publisher)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Love Con
He's cosplaying as her boyfriend but their feelings for each other are real in this romantic comedy from Seressia Glass. Can Kenya and Cam fake it until she makes it, or will she be real about her feelings, knowing it could cost her the best friend she's ever had? (Publisher)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry
YA. Quinn makes a list for everything in her spiral notebook: It keeps her grounded. But when her notebook goes missing and an Instagram account posts one of her lists, an anonymous blackmailer informs Quinn she needs to complete her list of seven fears or else the entire notebook goes public. She knows Carter is the last person who had her notebook, though he swears he's not the blackmailer. Goffney's debut novel hits all the right points as a dynamic modern romance full of heartache and courage. (Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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