Simply Cheris. . .

COLUMBIA—If you remember sitting on the sofa with your grandma or your favorite auntie watching Victor Newman or Josh and Reva, then you need to meet romance author Synithia Williams. If you’re reading Williams’ latest novel,  The Secret to a Southern Wedding,  you might think it’s messy, soapy and full of drama, that’s exactly what she was going for. So, here’s the premise of the book: It’s been years since Dr. Imani Kemp has returned home to Peachtree Cove, Georgia. As Tallahassee’s most sought-after OB-GYN, she doesn’t have much time for anything else. But when her mom announces she’s marrying a man she just met on a dating app, Imani knows she has to put a stop to it immediately. Let her mom be hurt again after the disastrous way her last marriage ended? Absolutely not. Always her protector, Imani won’t rest until her mom sees reason. She just never expected sparks to fly with the groom’s son… After his mother’s tragic death, Cyril Dash and his father relocated to Peachtre...

By now, you have to be a fan of romance author Kathy Douglass . If you're not, then let me tell you that it is time to treat yourself to some of the sweetest romance on the shelves right now. Kathy introduced us to the small town of Sweet Briar, NC in  HOW TO STEAL THE LAWMAN’S HEART   – Harlequin Special Edition – February, 2017 Forgiveness starts with a stolen kiss… Chief of police Trent Knight had it all until an accident took his wife and he was left alone to raise two beautiful girls. Now the person he always blamed for his loss is back in town, and all bets are off. But soon his anger toward Carmen Shields gives way to a very different emotion — awareness of Carmen as a woman. On one hand, it feels like a betrayal of his late wife’s memory. On the other, it could be his second chance at life — and Carmen’s shot at redemption. Maybe she can go home again — with the help of a certain lawman. And she takes us back in her latest,  THE RANCHER’S RETURN   – ...

Another day, another publisher shuts down. Crimson Romance, a division of Simon and Schuster, is no more. This is significant because according to the Ripped Bodice 2017 Diversity Study, Crimson had 29.3 percent of their books written by people of color. That's the highest number of the publishers on that list. Also from the report: For every 100 books published by the leading romance publishers in 2017, only 6.2 were written by people of color. Down from 7.8 in 2016.  Authors of color have the odds stacked against them when it comes to traditional publishing and you almost wonder, why do we do it? Obviously, it's because we love telling stories. We think Black Love matters and we want to tell our own stories without stereotypes. See, when you see #ownvoice, #weneeddiverseromance #Diverseromance, those hashtags aren't for marketing purposes, it's a rallying cry. I don't know about you, but as a romance reader, I want to see people who look like me falling i...