New BIPOC Romances to Keep You Warm

After a breakup, Farzan Alavi is a hot mess. When he decides to drown his sorrows in some fine red at Kansas City’s newest wine bar, he unexpectedly gets VIP treatment. He’s ushered to a special table for one and given extra special attention by a sommelier who’s super fine. This sommelier, David Curtis, thinks Farzan is Frank Allen, the city’s super influential food critic, and tries his best to razzle dazzle him. This razzle turns into some bedroom tussling, and once the case of mistaken identity is cleared up, both men have a good little kii. It starts to seem like their fun has come to an end since David is focused on studying to become a sommelier, until Farzan inherits his family’s bistro and needs someone’s restaurant knowledge. David agrees to help, as long as Farzan helps him study for his test, and things stay on a spicy and delicious path.

I feel like I don’t see a lot of this kind of romantasy. It’s more magical realism plus romance, meaning it’s rooted in a more realistic world, as compared to the more epic worlds I’ve come across in other romantasies. We met the gifted—or cursed, depending on how you look at it—Flores women in Witch of Wild Things, and here, we’re given another sister’s story. Teal Flores is trying to learn to control her gift of weather, and needs a date to her ex’s wedding. The second issue is where Carter Velasquez comes in, who needs to be married by 30 to receive his inheritance (courtesy of his über traditional Cuban granny). Teal posing as his wife gives her a date to the wedding, and him a way to his inheritance, but fakery gives way to real feelings before long, and Teal’s emotions can kinda sorta cause lightning strikes. You could say their love is electric.

Looking at this cover, you already know it’s going to be a kii. In it, Rex Araneta hears about Aaron Berry’s failing karaoke bar and decides to step in. Now, Aaron was Rex’s college boo thang back in the day, and Rex always felt like he was the one that got away. But Rex’s methods of helping are a little secretive—he decides to whip out the mega wigs and contour and become his internet-famous drag queen alter ego, Regina. Regina is That Girl at the bar, and the ruse seems to be helping, but no one knows it’s Rex underneath it all. And him revealing the truth—to himself and to Aaron—may be what he needs for a happily ever after.

First things first: I love the art style of this cover! As for the contents, it is very much giving the classic good girl/bad boy trope, with its preacher’s daughter and grumpy, cussin’ tattoo artist. But, Aaliyah Montgomery might not be as good as the people around her would hope her to be. She’s a runaway bride desperate to break out of her small town when she lands in Chicago. She gets a job as a nanny with Von Howard, and honestly, she’s terrible, but he’s just trying to hold it together after his divorce. But things get complicated because Aaliyah is thicker than cold peanut butter, and Von is high-key gorgeous.

August Hodges is super down for the girlies, and now everyone knows it. After a feminist rant of his goes viral—in which he details, emphatically, how woman bakers are what make the baking industry—he quickly turns into That Guy. Now, his business partner, Sloane Dell’s brother, is trying to capitalize off of August’s newfound popularity in the hopes of getting Sugar Blitz Cupcakes some business. Then Sloane is brought on to help the bakery’s social media presence, and August and she are trying not to rekindle some old feelings, but August is still fine af, and… you know how that goes.

Now see, reading this book would pair well with the smell of baking cookies while you dodge the cold outside. Just saying.

More sweet foodie romance! This time, in sapphic YA form. Lan lives in Sài Gòn with her widowed mother, who she helps out by working their bánh mì stall. She doesn’t mind taking care of her mother and everything, but secretly, though? Her real interests lie in her food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two, but she hasn’t updated it since her father passed away. It’s this food blog that helps guide Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh’s food journey once she goes on a study abroad college trip to Vietnam to find out more about the country her parents won’t tell her about. When the two meet, they decide to help each other: Lan will help Vivi discover her family’s story, and Vivi will help Lan write again to enter a contest. And of course, exploring the city leads to exploring some feelings.

Leo Vega is all banged up after being shot and put on leave from the fire department. Turns out, his love life is also in shatters because he still hasn’t figured things out with Sofi, his sister’s bestie and his on-again-off-again boo thing. Then, Sofi decides she’s had enough of the Vegas because of a lie, and distances herself from all of them, including Leo. But wouldn’t you know it, the universe pushes the two into a “tense” (read: hot) roommate situation, and she realizes maybe it’s not so easy to turn away completely. Especially from Leo.