Pushing the boundaries of the romance genre

1A | Jun 9

Novels centering on love and sex are among the best-selling books year after year. More and more are challenging the conventions of romance as a genre — and bringing us well beyond fairy tale endings.

Two novels out this summer are pushing some of the boundaries of romance writing and love stories as we know them.

Haili Blassingame’s “They All Fall in Love at the End” follows a young Black writer in D.C. as she explores non-monogamy while her city (and the whole world) deals with the fallout of the 2024 election.

And in Tia Williams’ “The Missed Connection,” a casting agent tries to find the handsome stranger who sat next to her on a flight while navigating past trauma and a shaky work-life balance.

We ask these new authors about writing complex love stories.

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