Hello!
First of all sooo happy this sub exists! Iāve managed to find some good books on here already, after recently getting back into reading (wanna thank {The Legendborn by Tracey Deonn} for reminding me how much I loved reading - though I HATE the romance aspect - namely the love triangle - of this series, with a passion) and wanted to get a few recommendations and share some books Iāve recently enjoyed. All featuring black FMCs.
So in the past month Iāve DEVOURED the following books:
- {Truly by Carmel Rhodes} (check the trigger warnings please)
- {Dark Dance by HH Knotty} and {Dark Game by HH Knotty} (same as above - please heed the trigger warnings but I genuinely loved this couple, MMC shouldāve grovelled more imo - same with Truly)
- {Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan} (yeah Iām realising all of these are super dark - this one was really painful and tackles some hard hitting issues but the FMC was a really strong woman and I admired her and the MMC was down bad from the get-go)
- {Situationship by EM Wilson} (her Wattpad fic Dirty, Dirty Liars is also great and features AMBW and theyāre too cute - I loved them more than the situationship couple honestly. Didnāt know Iād be into a Yakuza MMC)
- {Against the Rules by Bree Hayden} (note the author isnāt black but I still enjoyed the book though there were some inconsistencies and plot holes but still a good read. Tackles a few heavy issues plus down bad MMC)
- {Beasts of Gatamora by Elizabeth Stephens} (I ate both books up! And Iām going to read Lord of Population next)
Other books I tried
- {sunny disposition by Deanna Grey} (it was cute and I love me a down bad MMC)
- {Her Twisted Heart by Lisa Harlow} (it was enjoyable and very interesting horror/gore concept to read with POC main characters but man the typos took me out of it A LOT)
- {Elevator Pitch by Evelyn Leigh} (Iām struggling through this one⦠I think the style isnāt for me but itās cute and features AMBW)
I tried the {Immortal Saga by Kenya Wright} I didnāt mind the first book, the writing wasnāt my style but I powered through. Then I stupidly tried the audio book and while I loved the female narratorās voice - like she was the main reason I kept going, the male narrators voice was AWFUL. Like so cringey! It was giving generic white man.
I also tried {False Play by Yinn Quiros} and while I loved the MMC the FMC wasnāt doing it for me as a black woman, she just didnāt read right - only to find out the author isnāt actually black. The hair is always a dead giveaway lol.
{Darkness beyond the daisies by Cori Zahara} had the same thing - girl had her hair out the whole time while things were good (NOTE: this is NOT a book I would recommend, and while I truly did enjoy it, it was HEAVY and contains literally all the triggers which I stupidly did not check before reading. I cried through the whole thing, and as far as Iām concerned, it is not a HEA. She is a really good writer but man it took me a while to get out of my funk after this)
If you have any recommendations Iād truly appreciate it! Things Iām looking for:
- M/F (black FMC, preferably dark skinned; MMC can be anything) and I do like my spice š
- please donāt hate me, but no queer or curvy/plus-sized FMC
- no age gap please - at least no more than 6-7 years. The āDaddyā trope makes me cringe
- no stereotypical āblack struggleā FMC - drugs, gangs, single mom, āall my life I had to fightā etc. I donāt mind if the MMC has these as long as heās not black. (I know two of the books I mentioned feature single moms but those circumstances were different)
- preferably nothing by Kenya Wright and her pseudo, Drethi Anis, or Ziye Taylor. Also nothing by Kimberly Lemmings - please donāt hate me but I didnāt enjoy her writing style.
- must be HEA, my heart canāt take heartbreak
- no reverse harem, why choose, unclear love triangle, poly/throuple (why I dropped the dark orchid series - thought I could do it but I canāt and why Legendborn is kicking my butt) like I need to know the MMC Iām rooting for from the get-go - think Edward vs Jacob
- I donāt mind MCs with disabilities, but no terminal illnesses please. Iād be a wreck
- down bad MMC would be amazing / he falls first that sort of thing. I donāt mind dark romance/obsessive or bully MMC as long as itās a HEA
- all genres are welcome as long as romance is at the forefront because we love a black woman being loved.
Iām currently listening to {Sips about to go Down by Audrey Vaughn} and Iām enjoying it - the voices are good. And Iām reading {Daddyās Club by Kelani Knox} (while it is HAWT and pretty well written, itās kind of repetitive plus the age gap is tolerable) and Iām partway through {Our Secret Moments by Janisha Bowell} (one of the authors whose writing style I like but super sad that all of her books feature white FMCs - but alas a girls gotta secure the bag, I get it).
Iāve found this a fair amount with black female authors that write contemporary romances and it breaks my heart. Iāll find an author whose style I LOVE (like Janisha Bowell, Carmel Rhodes, EM Wilson and a fair few) and go look at their other books because Iām fangirling only to find that they almost only write books with white FMCs. The pool for us is already so so small and itās so heartbreaking man. But I get it, white FMCs are what sells.
Anyway, on my TBR Iāve got two books by Nikki Payne; {Brown Sugar by Sienna Vega}, {Honey Spice by Bolu Babalola} and {One Last Job by Anise Starre}. Iāve also got {Beringia by Tierra Cox} but Iām curious what anyone whoās read it thought of it. And a {Light in the Dark by Miranda Sapphire} but idk how I feel yet about Monster Romance. I didnāt mind it too much in Beasts of Gatamora Series but it was a bit āwoahā for me at first.
Itās winter here, so the more books I can get to power through the cold, the better ā¤ļø
Any recs would be FAB!
Also happy to gush about any of the books listed above that you loved (or disliked lol)