r/BlackReaders

Cover of The Queen's Bodyguard by Lauren Blackwood

I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

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This was fun! I enjoyed the matriarchal society, the uniqueness of the world and magical abilities, the engaging plot, and the overarching theme of appreciating and respecting cultural differences.

The relationship development felt believable, and I loved the banter/teasing and the progression to mutual respect and love. While Theora was absolutely a brat at times (and was called out for it), I'm glad that she saw the error of her ways. Getting Argos' perspective from early on was also a treat!

Overall, I had a great time reading this, and I will absolutely be checking out the author's other work!

Rating: 4/5. Spice rating 4/5 on romance.io's rating scale.

Bingo squares:

• Published in 2026

Diversity Reading Challenge squares:

• BIPOC MC
• MC from a different culture
• Fits 2 or more squares
• Would also count for hard mode, since the author is a Black woman.

Hey readers! ❤️

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HF8T97NP

I was nervous to do this post but I decided to share it because I have to take that risk. I just finished and published my first novel, Time Can’t Erase Book One (since it's part of a trilogy).

There is no pressure to read it.

I believe everyone has their own preferences when it comes to the kinds of books they enjoy, and reading also takes time, focus, and the right mood. I completely understand that because I go through those same emotions.

I’m a hobbyist writer, meaning I genuinely enjoy both reading and writing. Writing is something I do because I love it. I’m not trying to turn this into a huge business or pressure people into supporting me. My overall plan is simply to keep writing my novels and hopefully the readers who are interested in these kinds of stories will find them and enjoy them.

I actually started this series about two years ago, but I ended up putting it on hold for a while because of school. Now I’m back to it, y'all.

My first book, Time Can’t Erase is Book One of a trilogy. I’m currently editing Book Two, and I’m already about halfway finished writing Book Three, so the story definitely continues.

A quick synopsis:

Time Can’t Erase is a Caribbean-American, Black/African-American contemporary, urban, dark romantic suspense novel about Audrey Marcus, whose life begins to unravel when her husband of eleven years, Eugene, is accused of murdering a woman from their past. As Audrey tries to figure out what really happened, old secrets begin resurfacing, her marriage is tested, and a dangerous man named Zai slowly begins making his way into her life.

The story deals with marriage, betrayal, buried secrets, dark romance, suspense, complicated love, morally gray characters, and the consequences of things people thought were buried in the past.

The book is free. It's available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. I tried to make it free for all but but the Kindle Select doesnt allow it because I signed up for Kindle Unlimited Select thing lol.

I also plan to keep my books accessible for a long time because, again, writing is something I genuinely enjoy doing and sharing.

If you finish reading my book, I would really appreciate an honest Amazon review, and if you feel comfortable, I’d also love for you to come back to Reddit and share your thoughts here too. It can be good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. I'm open to anything. If you love it, I would love to hear it. If you don't love it, I would love to hear it too. I’m open to constructive criticism because a real writer should want to become better. m I have been writing for a while and I have read many books so there are authors who have inspired me a great deal.

If you’d like updates on the trilogy or just want to follow along with my writing, you can find me on Instagram at gljaye.nation.

Like I said, I’m not planning to do anything big like newsletters or anything too elaborate right now. Eventually, I would like to create a website, and one of my goals is to participate in book and reader conferences in the future. For now, though, I really just want to write my stories and connect with readers who genuinely enjoy them.

And again, there is absolutely no pressure to read. If the story sounds like your kind of book, I’d be grateful if you gave it a chance. If it doesn’t, I completely understand that too.

Thank you for reading this. I’ve been working on for a long time so I'm excited about the journey.

Happy reading! ❤️

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HF8T97NP

Hello does anyone have any suggestions for Black romantic-suspense books and Black books that fall under the rom-com genre?

Happy Free Talk Friday, folks! Here you can talk about whatever you want, books are not required. Got something you wanna get off your chest? What have you been watching or listening to? How has your week been? Let us know!

hi! i am looking for books about female hysteria and mental health, similar to the bell jar or the yellow wallpaper but with black women protagonists. i would really appreciate some recs if anyone has any!! thank you!!

I’m looking for books about Black women in their 30s (or close to it) who are going through a really difficult period in life; struggling financially, barely making ends meet, career problems, divorce/breakup, single motherhood, feeling behind in life, etc.
Basically, I want that “I’m scared I’m about to lose everything, but somehow I’m going to get through this and rebuild my life” feeling.
I’m especially interested in stories where she actually prevails and gets to a better place, rather than just suffering the entire book. I want something inspiring but still realistic and messy. Thank you!

Can any recommend nonfiction books about the Red Summer that are written by Black authors? When I searched online, I only found books written by white people or books specifically about the Tulsa Race Massacre (which confuses me every time it comes up cause that happened in 1921).

Thanks!

Im rereading Homegoing, and its getting me emotional just like when I first read it. It hits even harder for me because I am both Ghanaian and American. I’ve noticed that Yaa Gyasi’s books help me to fill the gap of understanding and knowledge of my family ancestry, given my parents separation.

How did you like this book? Are there other books that give you a similar feeling?

Hello again,

I posted in the August 7, 2026 Free Talk Friday that I was reading Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn so that I could read Percival Everett's James. I finished Huck and now I have also finished James. I was prepared, in theory, to encounter racism from Mark Twain. I did not expect to see the "N" word as many times as I did. The way Twain's characters treated Black people was so condescending and in many cases - inhuman. If you ignore the way that Twain writes about Black people and put him into the context of being an equal opportunity offender (he dings many majority stereotypes, too) the book is actually well written. My sole purpose for reading it, though, was so I could have context when I read James.

James is my second Percival Everett book. I listened to Erasure in my audiobook app a couple of months ago. I have to say I enjoyed James far more than I enjoyed Erasure. I actually finished reading James far more quickly than I finished listening to Erasure. What I liked about James: Huck and Jim (James') relationship was far more palatable. The relationship of James and his wife, Sadie and daughter Liz was also more palatable. The relationship between James and the other enslaved people felt more real and true. The code switching was one of my favorite things in the book.

Mark Twain did this awful scene where Jim relates to Huck that he beat his hearing impaired daughter because he didn't understand her disability. I was wondering, while I read that, how Everett was going to handle that scene. He left it out entirely, and I'm glad. There were other scenes that diverged from the original but it didn't take away from the story. I'm glad I read Huck, because I did have some context for James. But I'm glad I read James and it's a good novel that you don't necessarily have to read Twain to get the drift.

The endings are not the same. Something I am also very happy about.