Must-read romances: 'The Brightest Day,' 'Unmasked Heart,' 'Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys'

Join me every week as I share a few shout-outs on romance author goings-on, related events and recommended reads.

The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology

Hands down, The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology is a great collection of historical romance stories, with a foreword by Beverly Jenkins. Each story has a powerful premise with inspiring characters to tell their side of the story, to share their fears and dreams with a rich historical backdrop, and to provide us with a delightful happy ending. Having the theme around the Juneteenth anchor point of the African-American slave history and narrative is an opportunity to learn and be entertained. These authors have exhibited through The Brightest Day their impressive literary talents. One can hope there is another anthology in their future.

Amazing Grace by Lena Hart

Michelle: What inspired your story?

Lena: My story was inspired by George and Lucinda Stevens and Albert and Lucy Parsons, two interracial couples who married not long after the end of the Civil War. I found it fascinating that despite all the racial tension of their time, they loved each other enough to be together openly. Also, Albert Parson was a former Confederate soldier who married Lucy (a former multiethnic slave), and I found their union all the more intriguing.

Michelle: What is a memorable historical romance that you've read?

Lena: I've read a lot of great historical romance, but there is one I feel relates closely to my story, Amazing Grace, and that's Innocent Fire by Brenda Joyce. In this story, the heroine is also being taken from her comfortable life in France and escorted to her husband in Texas. Though I had my issues with some parts of the story, what I most enjoyed about it was watching the characters grow and evolve, and I especially loved being surprised at almost every turn.

Michelle: What interesting tidbit did you learn while doing the research?

Lena: During my research for Amazing Grace, I learned a lot of interesting — and horrifying — things. But what I mainly enjoyed learning about were the amazing black women pioneers who were a big influence out West. Women like Mary Fields, Biddy Mason, Clara Brown, Elvira Conley and, my favorite, Cathay Williams (who enlisted as a Buffalo soldier for two years under the false male name of William Cathay before she was discovered), were all fascinating women to learn about. It's unfortunate that so many of these women's legacies and contributions to the development of our country aren't made more public.

Drifting to You by Kianna Alexander

Michelle: What inspired your story?

Kianna: I'd always wanted to write a historical set in my adopted hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The city has an extremely rich history, and that's especially true during the Gilded Age (1870-1900), my favorite American historical time period to write about. I live just a few miles from the Cape Fear River, and as I was trying to come up with a unique angle for my story, it came to me: What if my hero and heroine were on a cruise down the Cape Fear? After that, the rest of the story flowed pretty naturally.

Michelle: Do you write strictly historical stories? If not, what other "types" have you written?

Kianna: I have written paranormal romance (Phoenix Files series), contemporary romance (The Gentlemen of Queen City series from Kimani Romance) and erotic romance (Climax Creek series). I have also written one romantic thriller, and I think I probably have a few cozy mysteries or romantic suspense books in me somewhere.

Michelle: What draws you to write historical fiction?

Kianna: I have to say my heart is in historical. I love the research, I get lost in a library for hours, discovering all kinds of interesting things. I've always been a history nerd, and I feel the history of people of color isn't written about enough to begin with. I'd like to contribute to changing that. People of color have an undeniably important role in building the foundation of this country, and it's time our contributions were acknowledged and celebrated.

A Sweet Way to Freedom by Piper Huguley

Michelle: What inspired your story?

Piper: At the beginning of my upcoming novel, A Virtuous Ruby, part of Ruby's motivation for her activism comes from her uncle. So I wanted to explore the love story of her uncle Arlo.

Michelle: Do you find it difficult to be entertaining or to take creative license in historical fiction, or do you feel that strict accuracy should be observed?

Piper: I always wonder about the use of such terminology as "strict accuracy." Of course, as a scholar, I do my research. However, what I also understand is that history is better filtered through the lens of the many, and not just a handful. To me, when I see that term, I understand it comes from people who are committed to espousing a particular historical view. The truth is that many different events occurred across history and many people saw those events from different views. I see historical fiction as having the opportunity to allow individuals who have been silenced to have an opportunity to speak their truth to the events of the past. So, no, it is not difficult for history to be entertaining when we allow the voices of others to speak and contribute to the ongoing historical conversation.

Michelle: For research, what are some of the sources that you use?

Piper: I love to use books, journal articles and the like, of course, but my secret source that I use most often that people don't know about: C-SPAN 3. I just saw a riveting interview with a World War II veteran about the Holocaust. I am not currently writing in that era, but when I do, I know I will go to that interview to capture some of his emotions and feelings.

Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole

Michelle: What inspired your story?

Alyssa: The story was inspired by me reading more closely about the civil-rights movement and reading first-person accounts from the people who participated (in particular, the photo-essay book about the 1961 Freedom Riders, Breach of Peace by Eric Etheridge). I love learning people's stories, and because I'm a romance writer I always think, "This is cool, but what if there was a love story, too?"

Michelle: What would you like readers to take away from your story, or the anthology as a whole?

Alyssa: I would like readers to come away from the book, first and foremost, with the "I just read some amazing romance" feeling. Second, I'd hope that they enjoyed reading characters that don't often get representation in romance, and that it piques their interest and they want to read more!

Michelle: Is this your first foray writing historical fiction? What other time periods interest you?

Alyssa: I was part of a Revolutionary War multicultural/LGBT anthology last year, For Love and Liberty. My novella, Be Not Afraid, featured a romance between two slaves, one siding with the Colonists and one with the Brits. I've also written a Scottish Medieval romance, Agnes Moor's Wild Knight. I'm currently working on a Civil War historical romance series, and I'm plotting a few other things in the North American historical setting.

MORE ROMANCE RECS

Unmasked Heart by Vanessa Riley

Unmasked Heart, Challenge of the Soul book one, by Vanessa Riley is a Regency-set romance that boldly covers issues of slavery and features people of color and interracial love. All elements that garner my attention. There is obvious love for what Riley writes that is evident in the strong, but not annoyingly, vulnerable heroine and a single dad hero who is faced with real-world problems.

But at the end of the day, a memorable story must have more than lessons to be learned. Unmasked Heart has that certain charm and staying power to be well above just a satisfactory read. Well done.

About the book (courtesy of Gallium Optronics):

Shy, nearsighted caregiver, Gaia Telfair always wondered why her father treated her a little differently from her siblings, but she never guessed she couldn't claim his love because of a family secret, her illicit birth. With everything she knows to be true evaporating before her spectacles, can the mulatto passing for white survive being exposed and shunned by a powerful duke who has taken an interest in her?

Ex-warrior, William St. Landon, the Duke of Cheshire, will do anything to protect his mute daughter from his late wife's scandals. With a blackmailer at large, hiding in a small village near the cliffs of Devonshire seems the best option, particularly since he can gain help from the talented Miss Telfair, who has the ability to help children speak. If only he could do a better job at shielding his heart from the young lady, whose honest hazel eyes see through his jests as her tender lips challenge his desire to remain a single man.

Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys Box Set

Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys box set proves why these low-cost, multiauthor collections are great deals for readers. Rest assured that all 10 authors step up with good solid stories full of romance with additional elements for a diverse reading appetite — including suspense and science-fiction, sweet romance and sexy sizzles, and settings in the U.S., Canada and Europe. All around, these stories are wonderful introductions to authors you should try or new works from authors you have come to love. Happy reading for the summer.

The set includes:

• Taking Love In Stride by Donna Fasano: The schoolteacher and the businessman — let the clash begin!

• The Army Doctor's New Year's Baby by Helen Scott Taylor: In the Scottish highlands, a career-driven Army surgeon finds his commanding officer's beautiful sister too much of a distraction.

• I'm No Angel by Mimi Barbour: A Canadian earthquake brings them together ... and their whole relationship is filled with aftershocks.

• Her Greek Tycoon by Mona Risk: In court, an American attorney and a Greek tycoon are ready to tear each other apart, but attraction sizzles during a romantic encounter on Mikonos Island.

• For the Love of Candy by Patrice Wilton: A bar owner and a Boston lawyer plot to keep their two kids from marrying, but their own attraction gets in the way big time.

• Nightfall by Rebecca York: After 20 years, a bride ship finally arrives on all-male planet Palomar, bringing a settler's wife ... won in a lottery.

• Broslin Bride by Dana Marton: When she is accused of murdering her boss, the detective on the case is her jilted high school flame.

• Midsummer Bride by Nina Bruhns: Thrown into an international conspiracy, she learns a few Swedish customs that make for some sizzling hot foreign relations...

• Stars, Love And Pirouettes by Alicia Street: A mysterious stargazer and a TV star take a ballerina for the ride of a lifetime.

• Irish Eyes by Annie Jones: A soft-hearted social worker and an Interpol agent team up to track a kidnapped boy.

Michelle Monkou loves writing her sexy, complex heroes. Her website is michellemonkou.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook.