These non-cis, non-White, non-straight novels are packed with the usual lust and raunch. “Romance is one of the genres … that is putting out #ownvoices stories where the protagonists are guaranteed a happy ending,” says romance writer Adriana Herrera. And yet, mainstream romance — disregarded as the genre fiction equivalent of a journalistic puff piece — has historically been a glaringly White, straight space. Diversity in the genre “is mainly the preserve of indie presses,” says Clare Ashton, an award-winning lesbian author. This is reiterated by Leah Koch of romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice, where 80 percent of the best-sellers are written by women of color. “We have way more self-published books than most independent bookstores because so many authors of color end up self-publishing,” says Koch. | 