fourblackgirls

Journal

For The Lover In You

I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on and my love of reading continued into undergrad. At some point in grad school, I fell into a reading slump that lasted for years. I’d listen to an audiobook here or there but nothing like the volume of books I used to read. Well, in the Fall of 2022, I decided to start listening to audiobooks on long drives instead of music or podcasts. I started with some biographies I’d been dying to get into before moving on to fiction. That October, I listened to Tia Williams's “Seven Days in June,” and I was obsessed. I fell in love with reading again and have been elbow-deep in a paperback, e-book, or audiobook since. I’ve been devouring black romance novels almost exclusively, with some biographies and historical fiction slipped in here and there. Because friends are always asking for recommendations, here are all the romance novels I’ve read in the last two years, along with my ratings.

🖤 = black romance (black main characters or black author)

⭐️ = favorites

YA = Young Adult Romance

🚨 = Trigger Warning

DNF = Did Not Finish

  • Revive Me Pt. 3 (JL Seegars) 🖤

  • Revive Me Pt. 2 (JL Seegars) 🖤

  • Revive Me Pt. 1 (JL Seegars) 🖤🚨

  • Restore Me (JL Seegars) 🖤🚨

  • Only For The Week (Natasha Bishop)🖤

  • The Friendship Contract (Mia Heintzelman) 🖤

  • Just for the Summer (Abby Jimenez) ⭐️

  • Anatomy of a Meet Cute (Addie Woolridge) 🖤 DNF

  • Jump Ball (Kasha Thompson)🖤

  • The Problem with Players (Brittainy Cherry)⭐️🖤🚨

  • Funny Story (Emily Henry)⭐️

  • Beach Read (Emily Henry)

  • Between Love & Loathing (Shain Rose)

  • The Kiss Countdown (Etta Easton) ⭐️🖤

  • Fractured Freedom (Shain Rose)

  • The Long Game (Elena Armas)

  • Next Door Nemesis (Alexa Martin)🖤

  • Grip (Kennedy Ryan)🖤

  • Flow (Kennedy Ryan)🖤

  • The Starter Ex (Mia Sosa) 🖤

  • The Partner Plot (Kristina Forest) 🖤

  • This Could Be Us (Kennedy Ryan) ⭐️🖤

  • The Worst Best Man (Mia Sosa) 🖤

  • After I Do (Taylor Jenkins Reid) DNF

  • A Love Song for Ricki Wilde (Tia Williams)⭐️🖤

  • Black Cake (Charmaine Wilkerson)

  • Hot For Teacher (Monique Fisher)🖤

  • Life’s Too Short (Abby Jimenez)

  • Be My Always (Nia Arthurs)🖤

  • Queen Move (Kennedy Ryan)🖤⭐️

  • Romantic Comedy (Curtis Sittenfeld)

  • Surly Romance (Nia Arthurs) 🖤

  • Grumpy Romance (Nia Arthurs)🖤

  • Pleasure Rush (Farrah Rochon)🖤

  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

  • The Honeymoon Crashers (Christina Lauren)

  • Part of Your World (Abby Jimenez)

  • I Got You (Miss Jenesequa) 🖤

  • Goal (Alexandria House) 🖤

  • Field of Pleasure (Farrah Rochon)🖤

  • Huddle with Me Tonight (Farrah Rochon) 🖤

  • The Rebel King (Kennedy Ryan)🖤

  • The Unhoneymooners (Christina Lauren)

  • I’ll Catch You (Farrah Rochon)🖤

  • The Kingmaker (Kennedy Ryan) 🖤

  • Huddle With Me Tonight (Farrah Rochon)🖤

  • Same Time Next Year (Tessa Bailey)

  • How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days 🖤

  • Hoops Shorts (Kennedy Ryan) 🖤

  • Happy Place (Emily Henry)

  • From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home (Tembi Locke)🚨

  • Hook Shot (Kennedy Ryan) 🖤⭐️

  • The Close Up (Kennedy Ryan) 🖤

  • Block Shot (Kennedy Ryan) 🖤🚨

  • The Wedding Crasher (Mia Sosa) 🖤

  • Sweethand (N.G. Peltier) 🖤

  • Longshot (Kennedy Ryan) 🖤🚨

  • Girl Gone Viral (Alisha Rai)

  • Yours Truly (Abby Jimenez)

  • Reel (Kennedy Ryan)🖤

  • You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty (Akwaeke Emezi)🖤

  • Snapped (Alexa Martin)🖤⭐️

  • Blitzed (Alexa Martin)🖤

  • Reggie & Delilah’s Year of Falling (Elise Bryant; YA) 🖤

  • Love, Theoretically (Ali Hazelwood) (STEM)

  • Before I Let Go (Kennedy Ryan)🖤⭐️🚨

  • Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes (Alexa Martin)

  • The Neighbor Favor (Kristina Forest)🖤

  • Tools of Engagement (Tessa Bailey)

  • Fumbled (Alexa Martin)🖤

  • Honey & Spice (Bolu Babalola; YA)🖤

  • Better Than Fiction (Alexa Martin)🖤

  • Love Her or Lose Her (Tessa Bailey)

  • The Right Swipe (Alisha Rai)  ⭐️

  • The Boyfriend Project (Farrah Rochon)🖤

  • Accidental Diva (Tia Williams) 🖤⭐️

  • Have We Met (Camille Barker)🖤

  • Intercepted (Alexa Martin)🖤

  • Secretly Yours (Tessa Bailey)

  • The Dating Playbook (Farrah Rochon)🖤

  • Drunk on Love (Jasmine Guillory)⭐️🖤

  • By The Book (Jasmine Guillory)🖤

  • The View Was Exhausting (Mikaella Clements)

  • On Rotation (Shirlene Obuobi)🖤

  • While We Were Dating (Jasmine Guillory)⭐️🖤

  • Party of Two (Jasmine Guillory)🖤

  • Royal Holiday (Jasmine Guillory)⭐️🖤

  • Instructions for Dancing (Nicola Yoon; YA)⭐️🖤

  • Hook Line & Sinker (Tessa Bailey)

  • It Happened One Summer (Tessa Bailey)

  • The People We Meet on Vacation (Emily Henry)

  • Fake It til You Bake It (Jamie Wesley)🖤

  • The Hookup Plan (Farrah Rochon)⭐️🖤

  • The American Roommate Experiment (Elena Armas)

  • The Spanish Love Deception (Elena Armas)

  • Love on the Brain (Ali Hazelwood) (STEM)

  • The Love Hypothesis (Ali Hazelwood) (STEM)

  • Neon Gods (Katee Robert)

  • Electric Idol (Katee Robert)

  • The Wedding Party (Jasmine Guillory)⭐️🖤

  • The Proposal (Jasmine Guillory)🖤

  • The Wedding Date (Jasmine Guillory)🖤

  • Seven Days in June (Tia Williams)⭐️🖤

  • The Perfect Find (Tia Williams)⭐️🖤

  • Happily Ever Afters (Elise Bryant; YA) 🖤

  • Opposite of Always (Justin A. Reynolds; YA) 🖤

Bria Washington