5 Diverse & Steamy Romances ❤️🔥
There's something magical about seeing the world through someone else's eyes, especially when it comes to love stories.
Today, I want to spotlight some remarkable diverse romance books that not only capture the heart but also our eyes into different cultural experiences.
What makes these selections special is that each story comes from authors who authentically represent one or more of their characters' backgrounds and experiences. Like, The Truth According to Ember… one of my absolute favorites from last year. Reading a romance through the perspective of a Chickasaw woman gave me perspective and emotional viewpoints I hadn't experienced before in the genre.
We often talk about how reading builds empathy, and I think these books are perfect for helping us be more empathetic. They allow us an opportunity to step beyond our place of comfort (if you are not part of the diverse community) and understand love through different cultural lenses, all while getting wrapped up in a romance.
I've curated this list not only for myself, but hoping you'll find stories that delight you, and also add to your understanding of love in all its diverse expressions.
Ready to explore these passionate tales? 🔥🔥🔥
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an immigrant woman, in possession of no green card, must be in want of a husband.
Luiza Bento will do anything in her power to stay in the United States, except follow what everyone seems to consider the best strategy: a marriage of convenience for the green card.
She’s determined to find a job that will get her to stay, but finding an acting job as a plus-size Latina is hard enough. One that will sponsor her visa? Almost impossible.
After months of working at a theme park, an opportunity to audition for their theater department finally comes around. The only problem? She’s starring opposite Winter Davis, a high-and-mighty snob, who seems to think his past as a child star makes him better than everyone.
How can they play long-lost friends madly in love if their first impressions of each other were anything but friendly?
Brazilian author Gabriela Graciosa Guedes’s debut, FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF YOU is a modern-day Pride and Prejudice retelling set in Los Angeles, with a theme park as the backdrop.
Check it out HERE on Amazon (available in KU) or shop Bookshop.org
About the author
Gabriela is a Brazilian writer, romance enthusiast, and HEA advocate. She started writing in elementary school, and it became an addiction she could never drop.
You can find her here on Substack at
Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.
Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.
After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.
With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.
About the author
Alexis Daria is the award-winning and internationally bestselling author of You Had Me at Hola, A Lot Like Adiós, Take the Lead, and more. Her books have been featured on several “Best of ” lists and have received starred reviews from multiple trade publications. A former visual artist, Alexis is a lifelong New Yorker who loves Broadway musicals and pizza.
Check it out HERE on Amazon or shop Bookshop.org
Two strangers. One cabin. A summer fling .
Grief and fear aren’t strangers to Jake and Mia. Jake, a climber addicted to control, lives for the next thrill but avoids love at all costs.
He has his rules:
Never sleeps with the same girl twice.
No exchanging names.
No staying over—can't risk anyone catching feelings.
That is until he’s forced to share a cabin with princess and her no-noise-before-8-AM rule.
Mia, a writer, is looking for peace and quiet, to rediscover her passion and honor her mother's last wish. Now she has to put up with Mr. Hot-and-As$h*le constantly disrupting her beauty sleep with his blender.
Spending more time together, their frustrations turn into attraction. Lazy mornings at the waterfall lead to tender gazes and soft touches. Their connection is anything but casual and dangerously like falling. It threatens to shatter Jake’s walls and make him face his deepest fears, while Mia risks falling for someone who might never reciprocate her feelings.
As summer ends, Jake must either confront his feelings or let Mia leave with a broken heart, shattering his own in the process.
"At the Waterfall," is a steamy multiracial forced proximity romance.
Check it out HERE on Amazon (available in KU) or shop Bookshop.org
About the author
Smardline is a passionate Black author with a passion for reading for as long as she can remember. She writes heartfelt stories with a touch of magic (because what’s life without a bit of wonder?), and she's planning to explore the fantasy genre soon. Nature holds a special place in her heart—especially waterfalls. Her dream? A cozy home in the countryside, ideally with a waterfall view, but she’d settle for a small river in the background. Add a garden, a few goats, and chickens, and she’d be living her best life.
Selah Bailey, an anxious, risk-averse, homebody determined to finally become the main character in her own story, created a “F*ck It List” filled with goals and experiences to force her out of her comfort zone and introduce her to a life outside of her front door.
Realizing she’ll need a partner to help complete her more adventurous goals by the deadline, she goes on a few dates in hopes of breaking her dry spell with no luck.
After what may be the worst date ever, she meets Greyson in the elevator of her building.
She soon finds herself running out of time to complete the list and seeks an arrangement with anyone tolerable—though a certain neighbor comes to mind.
Greyson is everything she wasn’t prepared for and could be the perfect hero for her story. Except falling in love is against the rules and she should probably leave the house to find it.
Check it out HERE on Amazon (available in KU) or shop Bookshop.org
About the author
Evelyn Leigh is an indie contemporary romance author based in the Midwest. A multifaceted Gemini who’s lived a thousand lives both in and out of books. Designing worlds for you to escape to using the imagination she never quite outgrew.
Evelyn loves creating underrepresented characters that are relatable for you to live vicariously through. She likes sharing fast paced stories sure to make you laugh, cry, swoon and blush. After reading countless happily ever afters, she has decided to write her own. Here’s to her next chapter.
A Chickasaw woman who can’t catch a break serves up a little white lie that snowballs into much more in this USA Today bestselling rom-com by critically acclaimed author Danica Nava.
Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar—well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets “creative” listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie—a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).
Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up as well: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they're caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything.
About the author
Danica Nava is an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and works as an Executive Assistant in the tech industry. She has her MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. She currently lives in Southern California with her husband and daughter.
Check it out HERE on Amazon (available in KU) or shop Bookshop.org
So did you see any books that you want to read? I have You Had Me at Hola requested from my local library.
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I'm definitely going to be adding some of these to my TBR! I enjoyed The Truth According To Ember and I'd also recommend The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches to anyone that likes romance with found family elements!!
Great list! I'm adding some of these to my TBR. I've read You Had Me at Hola and it's really good. And steamy—fair warning for anyone weary of open door romances. For a romance rec with chronic illness/disability rep, I recommend Seven Days in June by Tia Williams.