A Brief History of Black Romance in the 2020s

A couple of months ago, I went to the second annual Black Romance Book Festival in Atlanta. It’s not the first event of its kind, but it’s certainly the largest, hosting nearly 3,000 romance authors, narrators, illustrators, vendors, content creators, and, of course, readers. A full weekend of Black romance lovers occupying a shared space is an incredible experience, and tells us something that should be obvious but that some people still haven’t realized: Black folks love books, romance in particular, and we will go all out for it (I have talked about this before).

Back in 2020, the majority of us had to be at home for a while. In those first few months of lockdown and the next several months of social distancing, we were mostly connecting through various social media, and a lot of people discovered the joys of romance novels. The landscape of romance in 2020 leaned heavily traditional, but indie romance had been pushing through. And we never knew which author’s book, whether they were published traditionally or not, would go viral on TikTok or YouTube or some other platform. But with the viral books came a rising tide of more and more romance books and authors across the board, and more Black readers picking up what those authors were putting down—and it was indie authors who were making the biggest waves.  

More Black Romance Authors Than Ever Before

When my book, Black Love Matters was published in 2022, we were seeing a slow emergence of Black authors in traditional publishing—the books published by familiar names like Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Hachette, Harper Collins, etc. Representation in publishing has ebbed and flowed over the decades: a higher number of Black romance was published by Harlequin and its peers in the 1990s and 2000s, then the numbers went back down in the 2010s, only to rise again right before the pandemic lockdown. (Please note that when we talk about these numbers, we are still talking about less than 10 percent of the romance published every year; the vast majority of romance published has always been by white authors.) So as more Black readers found their peers on TikTok and Instagram, and started sharing their new favorites through word of mouth, some authors pushed through to the front, and others came through with them as potential readalikes. 

So while we entered the 2020s seeing mostly interracial rom-coms being touted by traditional publishers, indie Black authors were cropping up with Black romances spreading across full cinematic universes. Authors like Alexandria House and Christina C. Jones were going about their business, publishing at their own pace, writing contemporary Black romances that felt lived in and uncensored. Urban and street lit were around, but definitely not as discussed in shared spaces. And then we started seeing people talking about authors like Antoinette. About books like Demon’s Dream. About not just finding time to read in the time of COVID, but to write. And suddenly, there were more Black romance authors than ever before, publishing at a pace that nobody could have imagined.

A Rising Romance Tide

Romance novels on the whole have spent the first half of the 2020s growing in conspicuity, and Black romance has been carried along with it. While romance by Black authors on both sides of the trad line remain few and far between in spaces like Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart, Black readers have still managed to find the genre, then gone elsewhere for answers to the obvious question: where am I? Once you’re in the genre, it’s no surprise that you might want to read more books about people like yourself falling in love, and so you venture into the reader spaces outside of the most well-known. You seek out Black influencers and wander the digital shelves for Black faces. Amazon, in particular, has offered Black readers countless options via Kindle Unlimited and Audible Plus, allowing for deep dives into authors’ backlists. For one monthly payment, you could read or listen to countless romances from Black authors, whether urban, contemporary, fantasy, historical, or something else. As social media took over the conversation at a faster and faster rate for the next few years, it became even easier to find new authors, either on your own or through recommendations.

How, then, have we seen such a rise in print book acquisition and author events after a good decade and a half of preferring to read on Kindle? Part of it is the conversation: the public attitude towards romance isn’t quite the hostile environment it used to be, and more people are happy to show their book covers again. (This has also been driven by the lean towards trade paperbacks with graphic covers instead of clinches and torsos, but we’re leaning back in the other direction now.) TikTok and Instagram reels have really drawn readers into the joy of sharing their acquisition of physical goods, and book boxes and pretty special editions are definitely part of that. Black authors don’t get the same treatment around special editions that white ones do, so when we see a book by a Black author, especially a Black romance, getting the fancy treatment, we’re going to take advantage of it.

But honestly, special edition or not, the chance to have a print copy, to meet the person who made it, to acknowledge their work and the joy they brought us, is a feeling like no other. We take it home and put it in our trophy room, and can always have a visual reminder of how great it was. And while the big cons and events might make an effort to showcase a few Black authors, it’s events like One Love Reunion, Chocolate City Lit Fest, The House Party Experience, and so many more that really bring to light how hard we go for our little romance books.

A Very Brief Reading List

Who are some of the Black romance authors who have heralded this rise in readership and interest? Unsurprisingly, I don’t have space to go into anything close to a whole list, but here are a few of the representative books from this explosion.

Capone: An Urban Romance by Jahquel J If you don’t know who Jah is, the readers will tell you. She has been pulling readers along with raw street lit with compelling characters and heartfelt romance stories for a while, but has really popped up in the conversation over the past year or so. She is one of the leading actors in the cliffhanger game, so be prepared to be made to wait—but at least she’s got a lengthy backlist for you to explore! Capone is the most popular of her stories and the best place to start to get into the worldbuilding and character intros, but I’m also here to exclaim about the absolutely unhinged delightfulness of 10,000 Hours With a Rich Menace. Perfection, my friends.

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan Kennedy is another one of those who has been doing this for a long time, and has been winning awards since before the 2020s, but it was Before I Let Go and the rest of the Skyland books that really got folks talking about her books everywhere. (Skyland is also a standout in that while several romance books by Black authors have managed first looks and other option deals with studios, this one should actually get made!) The first in a trilogy about three friends in their 40s who have varying kinds of relationship and personal evolutions, Before I Let Go made me cry with both sadness and joy, and presented a relationship that I would usually balk at: a divorced couple on the path to reunion. The fact that their divorce was born out of grief and not hatred, and that they run a business and a family together with deep respect for each other helps. And you’ll just have to read it to figure out how it all works.

Just Right by Shon One thing that we’re seeing more of across the board in romance is why choose and polyamorous romance, and Black authors are not holding back when it comes to giving us sexy, complicated relationships. This reimagining of Goldilocks and the Three Bears takes us into the mountains, where Goldyn just needs some food and a nap. She sort of breaks into a house to get them, though, and wakes up to three fine-ass confused men. A quick reprieve turns into something else, and eventually the four of them are pursuing their version of a relationship, exploring the different dynamics between each arm of the polycule. It’s a great introduction to Shon, and like the other authors I mentioned, will make you dive into her backlist for more.

There are so many authors I could include on this list, from urban romance authors who have been doing this for decades to newer names who have gotten readers screaming. If you’re looking for more, you can definitely find something else to read in this list of new romance by Black authors from earlier this year, or my list of nine of the best Black romances that I have read. Once you find your niche, you can follow those rabbit holes further and further down to find some of the best stuff you will ever read.

The history of Black romance is long and varied, and its future promises to be the same. The readership of romance in general over the past half-decade has leapt threefold from the before-times, and Black romance continues to draw new readers and build community in ways that readers and authors of the past could only dream of.