Romance

The heroines of this thrilling romantasy panel risk it all for freedom, never expecting to find romance along the way. On the high seas of Cassandra James’ Capitana, Ximena Reale offers to rescue the empire’s captured queen from a notorious pirate in exchange for a coveted spot on the Cazadores, seafaring hunters who track down pirates. With only one cloak available, she must compete with Dante, an infuriating yet handsome classmate with mysterious motives, on this dangerous quest. Bita Behzadi’s Letters from the Last Apothecary features Josephine Pinova’s fortuitous job offer from a magic apothecary and her anonymous letter exchange with a sensitive scholar as they study together for a graduate magic program. Unbeknownst to either of them, the fellow scholar just happens to be the shop’s prickly apothecarist, whom Josie must work together with to save the beloved shop against a tide of anti-magic sentiment amidst the city’s industrialization. In Angela Montoya’s Carnival Fantástico, a spectacle of magic and mischief, fortune-teller Esmeralda aims for the lead role in the Big Top Show to win freedom from her former employer, the commander of the King’s army. She makes a deal with Ignacio, the handsome boy who once broke her heart and has resurfaced at this fortuitous moment: she’ll help him expose his father’s corruption if he helps her secure the main act. Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana features a desperate deal between a human woman and a ruthless Fae lord who trapped her village in a forested prison. Although no Fae can enter the cursed doors of an enchanted library, a human might be able to, so she navigates the hostile world outside with the help of two Fae males in an attempt to find magic of her own. Strike a deal and try your hand at this riveting panel, moderated by Danielle DeVeaux, host of the Dark Romance Book Club and Romantasy Book Club at Books Inc. San Leandro!

This captivating panel travels through love stories of the past, present, and future, reminding us that romance novels will always have a place in our hearts. Sophia Benoit puts a fresh spin on regency romance in The Very Definition of Love, which features an arranged marriage between a wallflower writing a dictionary of bawdy slang and the town rake who discovers that spending time with his new wife is not nearly as bad as he thought. Last First Kiss by Julian Winters follows event planner Jordan Carter, who is assigned to a wedding where the bride’s man-of-honor just happens to be the boy he shared his first kiss with as a teenager. Fast-forwarding to 2042 Washington D.C., Keya Chatterjee’s The Revolution Will Not Be Rated G envisions a United States that has fractured into the elite Uplands and the marginalized Lowlands. The best chance at a successful resistance requires the fearless organizer to reunite with her high school flame, now the son of the most powerful woman in government. Moderated by the lovely Lauren and Tiina of Boutique Book Retreats, this romance panel will capture our hearts with stories about trust, identity, and unexpected connections.

There’s nothing like the arts to uncover secrets of the past and kindle buried feelings, as the romantic YA novels of this panel reveal. In Delali Adjoa’s The Free Verse Society, two teens desperate to keep their pasts hidden find fresh starts through their high school poetry club, where the power of the written word tears down the walls they’ve built around their secrets, and their hearts. Taking place at an exclusive writers’ retreat, Love on Paper by Danielle Parker features two ambitious teenage writers from rival families of the publishing world, who must fight through writer’s block, step out of their parents’ shadows, and find the courage to create their own love stories for a chance at publication. For the high school exes in Eva Des Lauriers’ I’m Gonna Get You Back, returning to their small town is their only way for one of them to get into their dream film school and the other to maintain a college scholarship, but any time people return to the mountain, drama follows…especially when an anonymous social media account starts airing everyone’s dirty laundry. Join this tender and heartfelt panel, moderated by Lauren and Tiina of Boutique Book Retreats, to explore the power of love, arts, and second chances in drawing people together.

Sometimes, being forced to work together on a project might not be so bad… especially when it leads to falling in love. At the Crooked Rock Urban Indian Center in Pamela Sanderson’s Heartbeat Braves, Rayanne Larson’s special project is unexpectedly handed over to the underachieving nephew of the Center’s new leader, and she is determined to keep her distance until a crisis forces the two of them closer together. In Native Love Jams by Tashia Hart, Winnow is hired to cook for the first Indigenous Food Days in a rural Minnesota village, where she and her unwelcoming host Niigaanii must pull thorns from their past to harvest their own love story. Dani Trujillo’s When Stars Have Teethtakes place in the San Francisco Urban Indian Center, where employee Buffy Yellowbird agrees on an associates-with-benefits arrangement with an ultra-suave immigration lawyer who leaves her longing for more. Emerging from a past abundant with problematic Indigenous tropes, the romance genre is greatly enriched by the novels of this panel, which showcase genre fiction created by authors who identify with the cultures represented. Moderated by the content creator behind publishing imprint Boozhoo Books Naomi Darling, this lovely panel celebrates Indigenous romance writing and the sparks that arise in partnership.