Read Harder #9: Read an Independently Published Book By a BIPOC Author

If the title makes you think this is a silly story, you are absolutely right! But it isn’t just silly; it’s fun and heartfelt and scary and sexy, too! Cin (short for Cinnamon) is a spice farmer (lol) who — you guessed it — gets drunk and accidentally rescues a hungry demon from the centuries-long curse. And then he recruits her to help him slay the witch who cursed him. Road trip!

If you want your story to run a little darker, here’s the first in a new series setting the machinations of the Greek gods in a modern underworld. We start with Hades and Persephone — the man who runs the darkest corners of Khaos Falls and the aerial dancer who sets his world on fire. 

If you’re looking for a fun romp across the plains, look no further. When Lorena shows up to help out at a ranch hosting more than its usual number of guests, the last thing she expects is that the ranch owner’s grandmother has set up a scheme for several young women to show up in their own private season of The Bachelor.

The first book in a series of romances set at the Crooked Rock Urban Indian Center, Heartbeat Braves sees two feuding employees with fiery chemistry forced to work together to help ensure the Center’s future. There aren’t many Native/Indigenous/First Nations romance authors, and Pamela Sanderson’s skillful writing of both relationships and Indigenous social issues are a lot to strive towards matching. 

Did someone say a loose retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the Caribbean at the turn of the twentieth century? Involving a fierce meet-dislike between a woman who secretly writes a serial and the man who publicly tears them apart (but might also secretly love them)? 

Food vlogger Tara just wants her parents to be proud of her, but their skills in STEM and her failing math grade do not mesh. When she discovers that she’ll be sharing space with Farah, one of her mother’s new grad students, she isn’t very pleased. But they strike a quid-pro-quo bargain and end up spending a lot of time together in the meantime. 

How about a comic book? La Boriqueña is the story of Marisol, a Boricua college student who travels to Puerto Rico for a study abroad program. While she’s on the island, one thing leads to another, and she ends up getting superpowers. 

Bootlegging in the hills of Appalachia and a marriage of convenience between warring families. What more could a person ask for? Well…honesty, communication, searing hot sexytimes, and some violent warfare might make it the best thing ever?

This novella is a delightful little story about a woman named Pinky and the biker who comes into her family’s restaurant. They have instant, intense chemistry, but there are secrets afoot, and he’s not exactly the safest guy to be around. 

If you want a completely different change of pace, check out this Edwardian story of love and society. Aubrey Fanshawe is in a…special kind of relationship with his best friends, Lord and Lady Hernedale. But when he meets journalist Lucien Saxby, he becomes the living embodiment of that Bugs Bunny heart-eyes meme. 

Bar owner Sofia lives by one rule: she’ll go home with anyone she wants, as long as they know she’s not in it for the long haul. One night, and one night only. When she tells this to rock star Bren, he’s fine with it. Until morning, when he realizes she was…serious about that. He wants more, and will do anything to prove to her that he’s worth it. 

You would think Harlow would be happy; she’s the girlfriend of a famous baseball star and has everything anyone could want in life. But that’s just it. It seems like her role is just that of the girlfriend to the famous baseball star. So she sets off on her own path of self discovery. 

This first book in a fantasy series features a grumpy archmage with a hidden heart of gold and the woman relying on him to survive when they both end up trapped in the Shadow Realm. There are wars to fight and secrets to uncover, but their need for each other might overshadow all the rest.