10 hot romance books by Black authors to heat up your summer

From seasoned veterans to the romance aisle to debut authors, we’ve gathered 10 top romance novels by Black authors. 

As temperatures climb and the daylight starts to linger a little longer, summer has a way of making everything feel a bit more romantic. Maybe it’s the rooftop happy hours that stretch into moonlit fêtes, the potential for vacation flings, the sundresses and open linen tops catching a breeze, or the simple fact that love just hits differently when the sun stays out past 8 p.m.

Whatever the reason, this is the season for stories that make your heart race, your group chat buzz, and your e-reader battery work overtime. From second-chance romances to forbidden attractions to slow burns hot enough to rival the heat (and the humidity…), contemporary romance by Black authors is in no short supply.

Below, we’ve gathered 10 Black love stories that are either out now or arriving later this summer with plenty of anticipation behind them. The authors range from seasoned favorites in the romance aisle, like Tia Williams’ return with a globe-trotting love story and Kennedy Ryan’s next installment in the “Hollywood Renaissance” series, to debuts like Haili Blassingame’s queer polyamorous romance. Each title delivers plenty of chemistry, tension, and juicy drama to carry you through the season. Grab your favorite drink, put your phone on do not disturb, and prepare to fall hard for these titles.

“The Score” by Kennedy Ryan (out now)

Billed as a “steamy second-chance” novel, “The Score,” which follows an award-winning screenwriter and a thriving musician forced to reunite a decade after a devastating breakup, has already taken readers by storm as one of the hottest books of the season. Published as the second installment in Ryan’s “Hollywood Renaissance” series (following “Reel”), the story delivers yet another unforgettable love affair.

“The Missed Connection” by Tia Williams (out now)

When busy casting agent Sasha Cruz shares a meet-cute with a handsome stranger on a flight to Paris and loses him at the airport before they can even exchange names, she does what any sensible woman would do: launch a global manhunt for the mystery man. There’s just one problem. She didn’t count on sparks flying with the private investigator she hires to help track him down.

“Struck and Speechless” by Tati Richardson (out now)

In this contemporary romance, a fierce sports agent suddenly loses her voice after a mysterious encounter with an eccentric stranger. To break the magical spell, she must learn to quiet her tongue and listen with her heart. Easier said (no pun intended) than done when she ends up teaming up with her ex-boyfriend and fiercest professional rival.

“Summer on the Bluffs” by Sunny Hostin (out now)

Set between Martha’s Vineyard and New York City, this novel chronicles one life-changing summer when a woman decides it’s time to pass her estate down to one of her three goddaughters. It has everything: a soapy multigenerational plot packed with decades-old secrets, a luxurious estate soon to change hands, compelling romances, at least one queer love story, and plenty of page-turning passion.

“Losin’ Control” by Ladii Nesha (out now)

This urban romance takes readers to Detroit for a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers story centered on a rapper with a bad-boy persona and a woman with a complicated past. After the two collide, they are swept into a whirlwind romance that pushes the boundaries of healing, grief, and vulnerability.

“They All Fall in Love at the End” by Haili Blassingame (out now)

In this brand-new, sizzling debut, a 20-something bisexual creative writing student navigating the complicated realities of polyamory and the love triangles it can sometimes create decides to write it all into her MFA novel. What could possibly go wrong?

“Last First Kiss” by Julien Winters(out now)

What’s summer without a wedding? In “Last First Kiss,” everything is going according to plan for an unlucky-in-love event planner overseeing a high-profile celebrity wedding until he realizes the man of honor is his childhood crush. Soon, they go from passive-aggressively working together to sneaking around together, all while trying to figure themselves out and pull off the wedding of the year.

“The Princess Trap” by Talia Hibbert (out now)

Hop across the pond to the United Kingdom in this scorching romance that follows what happens when a scandal-prone prince and an “ordinary” Black British woman are forced to pretend they’re engaged after paparazzi catch them together.

“Die For Me” by Shirlene Obuobi (out July 14, 2026)

In the vein of predecessors like “True Blood” and “Twilight,” “Die For Me” is a paranormal romance about a jaded cardiologist healing from heartbreak while rising in her career when she meets a younger man with a haunting allure. The deeper she falls, the more dangerous their relationship becomes and the less human he appears to be. “Sinners” hive, this one may be for you.

“I Punched an Alien, and Now We’re in Couples Therapy” by Kimberly Lemming (out August 18, 2026)

This upcoming title, the second installment in the “Cosmic Chaos” series, promises a zany, sexy sci-fi romance. After a fiercely independent woman is abducted from Earth and dropped on a foreign planet to help solve a population crisis, she punches the warlord she learns is supposedly her “fated match.” The result? An intergalactic version of couples therapy that feels like a cross between “The Bachelor” and “Survivor.”