The Joy of Diversity: A Summer Reading List from Some Kind of Hero Author Suzanne Brockmann

Author Suzanne Brockmann’s compulsively readable Troubleshooters series continues with its 19th novel, Some Kind of Hero, which features a romance between a tough Navy SEAL and a romance novelist (who is also a single mom!). We asked Ms. Brockmann to share a list of her most highly anticipated summer reads featuring diverse characters—and her fantastic, inspiring picks encompass a wonderful assortment of books we can’t wait to add to our own TBR pile.
Characters in modern romance novels come in all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, creeds, abilities, and orientations! Reading stories about people who don’t look, act, and think exactly as we do allows us to step into a different (or perhaps not so different) life, and experience both challenges and joys we otherwise might’ve missed—widening our world-view even while keeping us wildly entertained.
Here’s my summer reading list of diverse—and wildly entertaining—books:

How to Bang a Billionaire, by Alexis Hall.
Confession: I find nothing appealing about billionaires these days, so it’s nice to see that the first person hero of this romance—a funny, charming, adorable undergrad at Oxford—is well outside of his comfort zone, too, as he collides with his billionaire love interest. Still, I’ll gladly go anywhere Hall leads me. If he writes it, I’ll love it—he’s just that good. (Also…? Gotta love that title!)

Trust Me, by Farrah Rochon
The latest romance in Rochon’s popular, Louisiana-set Holmes Brothers series has a kickass heroine who’s running for mayor and a freelance journalist (and Holmes Brother) hero! I’m already in love!

Mature Content, by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell
I’m a huge fan of Erickson and Hassell’s funny, edgy Cyberlove series of romances, and this is long-awaited book number four. All set in the same fast-paced (mostly on-line) world, these searingly h-h-hot and heart-wrenchingly emotional books can be devoured in any order.

The Ship Beyond Time, by Heidi Heilig
The sequel to The Girl From Everywhere, which I loved madly, merges time travel and fantasy with history and adventure. I’m so glad I’ll have a chance to spend more time with Nix, the book’s brilliant YA heroine who, like Heilig herself, hails from Hawaii.

Under Rose-Tainted Skies, by Louise Gornall
Yet another intriguing YA romance—with a heroine who has agoraphobia and OCD, yet manages to connect with the super-cute boy-next-door. According to a review from Library Journal, Gornall “(draws) from her own experiences” to tell this story. But it’s this line from the book’s blurb that made me click the buy-now link: “Norah can’t leave the house, but can she let someone in?” I can’t wait to take this complicated journey with her!

An Extraordinary Union, by Alyssa Cole
I recently read and loved Alyssa Cole’s An Extraordinary Union, set during the Civil War, and immediately went to see when her next book (a sequel, called A Hope Divided) comes out. It’s not until November, but that’s okay, because Cole’s backlist of historical romances is deliciously diverse. I’m eager to read both Be Not Afraid for its Revolutionary War time-period (and that awesome cover), and Let it Shine, set during the Civil Rights era in 1961.

P.S. Your Cat is Dead, by James Kirkwood
Originally published in the early 1970s, I was sixteen when I first plucked this book from the paperback rack at the grocery checkout—on the day that my best friend’s cat was killed by a car in front of her house! That fateful encounter was the start of my lifelong love of Jim Kirkwood—who went on to co-write the book for A Chorus Line before AIDS stole his genius from the world. I can’t wait to do a reread of this life-changing story, and hope that all of Kirkwood’s novels comes back into print soon.

Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection, by Sharon Salzberg
Yes, it’s non-fiction, but Salzberg’s classic Loving Kindness is a go-to book for me in these troubling, turbulent times. I’m looking forward to this new release from a mindfulness expert whose easy-to-read voice is that of a loving, compassionate friend.

Off Base, by Annabeth Albert
I’ve heard great things about Albert’s military romances, and decided to start with this romance featuring a closeted (even to himself) Navy SEAL, and his journey towards love, light, and truth. That’s the kind of HEA I simply can’t resist.

The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
Lyrically poetic, heart-breaking, sharply funny, and breathtakingly tragic, this YA novel about a girl who witnesses the violent death of a friend in a police shooting is the must read of 2017. (And probably 2018, 2019, and 2020, too.) I read it earlier this year when it first dropped into my e-reader, but I’ll definitely be reading it again this summer.
Suzanne Brockmann’s latest book, Some Kind of Hero, is available on B&N bookshelves now!