Turn the Page, Catch the Flame: June Romance Reads
3 min read
This June, fall in love with stories that celebrate love in all its complex, passionate, and powerful forms. From steamy summer flings to rekindled flames and lyrical journeys, these five new releases by African American romance authors will sweep you off your feet.
1. Plus Size Player by Danielle Allen
Release Date: June 10, 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Danielle Allen, the queen of confident heroines, is back with Plus Size Player, the sizzling sequel in her Curve series. Nina Ford is thriving: body-positive, brilliant, and basking in the glow of multiple situationships. But when one of her casual flings starts getting way too real, Nina has to choose between playing it cool and risking it all for a deeper connection.
If you’re into stories where the plus-size heroine isn’t just the sidekick but the full fantasy, Plus Size Player will make you swoon.
Tropes: Friends with benefits, secret feelings, boss babe energy
Why Read It: Danielle Allen brings heat, humor, and heart with every page.
2. The Love Lyric by Kristina Forest
Release Date: June 11, 2025
Publisher: Penguin Random House
In the third book of her beloved Greene Sisters series, Kristina Forest gives us Iris Greene—mother, mogul, and master of reinvention. After a tough divorce, Iris swore off men and put her energy into building her media company. But when she’s asked to oversee the comeback campaign for R&B singer Angel Hughes, sparks fly—and not just the musical kind.
What follows is a rich, slow-burn romance between two artists who understand the spotlight—and the shadows it casts. Forest’s prose is as melodic as the story itself, blending love, ambition, and healing.
Tropes: Workplace romance, second chance, single mom
Why Read It: It’s an elegant blend of Black excellence and soulful storytelling.
3. The Devoted Husband by B. Love
Release Date: June 24, 2025
Publisher: Penguin Random House
This one isn’t your typical romance—and that’s what makes it stand out. B. Love drops us into the heart of a psychological thriller disguised as a marriage story. The Devoted Husband follows Detective Jones, who is determined to catch a woman tied to several murders. But beneath his obsession lies a truth that could destroy everything.
Expect intensity, desire, and betrayal all wrapped in gripping prose. It’s part love story, part unraveling mystery, and absolutely unputdownable.
Tropes: Domestic noir, obsession, enemies-to-lovers (kind of)
Why Read It: A masterclass in blending suspense with emotional complexity.
4. Where There’s Smoke by Aricka Alexander
Release Date: June 2025
Publisher: Indie Published
It’s hot girl summer—literally—in Aricka Alexander’s sapphic firefighter romance. Where There’s Smoke centers on Phee, a no-nonsense firefighter, and Angel, the hometown sweetheart who left but couldn’t outrun her past. When fate brings them back together, their chemistry is impossible to ignore.
This is the kind of book that crackles with tension—emotional and physical. Alexander writes with real tenderness, honoring both trauma and joy, and crafting a love story that burns bright and deep.
Tropes: Small town, sapphic second-chance romance, forced proximity
Why Read It: Black queer love, written with depth and emotional honesty.
5. The Catch by Yrsa Daley-Ward
Release Date: June 3, 2025
Publisher: Amistad / HarperCollins
Best known for her poetry and contributions to Beyoncé’s Black Is King, Yrsa Daley-Ward steps boldly into fiction with The Catch. This novel follows twins Clara and Dempsey, navigating the aftermath of their mother’s disappearance and the magical legacy she left behind.
With lyrical storytelling and surrealist magic, this novel is not just a romance—it’s a meditation on love, grief, and womanhood. For those who want their summer reads a little more literary but no less emotional, The Catch is a standout debut.
Tropes: Magical realism, twin sisters, healing through love
Why Read It: A dreamy, genre-blending debut that stays with you.
This month’s lineup of romance novels by African American authors is vibrant, vulnerable, and full of heart. Whether you’re looking for high-heat flings, reconnections filled with tension, or sweeping, poetic storytelling, June has a book waiting to be devoured.
Which one are you reading first? Tell us in the comments or tag us in your summer book hauls.
