The Women Who Changed Romance: Kennedy Ryan, Tia Williams and Beverly Jenkins

About this episode

Three influential authors discuss the evolution of romance and Black love stories.

This week is a big one. For the first time ever, three romance royals sit down together: Beverly Jenkins, Tia Williams, and Kennedy Ryan. They talk about pioneering Black love stories when the industry didn’t make space for them, reshaping modern romance with depth and desire, and why a happily ever after is anything but predictable — it’s powerful. From writing Black female desire without apology to protecting your creative vision, this conversation is funny, honest, and deeply moving. And at the end the three create the most unhinged romance ever! BOOKS MENTIONED: Night Song by Beverly Jenkins Iola Leroy by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Frances Harper: Poems, Prose, and Sketches – This collection features “Bury Me in a Free Land”. by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger The Perfect Find by Tia Williams Can't Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan Seven Days in June by Tia Williams Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid Hazard and Somerset by Gregory Ashe Ghalen by Walter Mosely Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

People in this episode

Guests: Beverly Jenkins, Tia Williams, Kennedy Ryan

Topics covered

• romance
• Black love stories
• creative vision
• modern romance
• female desire
• storytelling

Keywords

• romance
• Black authors
• female desire
• storytelling
• creative vision
• happily ever after

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Night Song, Iola Leroy, Frances Harper: Poems, Prose, and Sketches, Lolita, Anna Karenina, The Devil Wears Prada, The Perfect Find, Can't Get Enough, Before I Let Go, Seven Days in June

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