Romances by Black authors to read this month

for people who were not local to show their support. The union then held a second rally, with a slogan of “Take it to the Top,” on Feb. 2. This rally was held outside the offices of HarperCollins’ parent company NewsCorp.

This was not the first rally that union members have held in front of NewsCorp offices, as another protest was held there in mid-January.

The union is still asking for support throughout the process of mediation. Authors and agents have been asked to refrain from submitting new material to HarperCollins.

Laura Harschberger, the union chair, revealed in an interview with Hellgate NYC that “more than 200 agents [signed] a letter indicating that they’re going to withhold submissions from HarperCollins until the strike is over.” Supporters of the strike who are not within the publishing industry are also encouraged to donate to the union’s strike fund. These donations contribute to employees’ ability to strike in a sustainable way, as “striking workers have been without a paycheck for months” according to Andrew Limbong of NPR. The strike fund replaces a striking worker’s regular wage, as employees on strike do not get paid.

Amid HarperCollins’ monthslong strike, the unionized employees of HuffPost, a news website, also began negotiations on a new contract. On Jan. 30, a day before their contract expired, the HuffPost union released a statement pledging to strike if their demands were not met. The statement had a 98 percent signature rate from union members. The union bargained from the morning through the night, and at 1:43 a.m. on Feb. 1, almost two hours after their old contract expired, a new contract that met the union’s demands was made. In comparison, the contract for HarperCollins union members expired on Dec. 31, 2021, making it over 400 days since the union has had a valid contract.

BY AMELIA POTTER ’26 STAFF WRITER

February marks Black History Month, which aims, according to the U.S. government’s website on the topic, to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Under this umbrella is the rich selection of romance books written by Black authors which celebrate and uplift Black love. Here are three romance books authored by Black writers to read this Valentine’s Day.

‘Rare Danger’ by Beverly Jenkins

“Rare Danger” is part romance, part adventure and part murder-mystery, according to Goodreads, as it follows the plight of librarian Jasmine Ware and Air Force veteran Torr Noble, now a private security consultant. At just 110 pages, “Rare Danger” is a fun and fast-paced read, one Goodreads reviewer wrote, with well-developed, “amazing” characters. The plot kickstarts with the mysterious disappearance of a rare books dealer, an old friend of Jasmine’s, whose partner is then suspiciously murdered. This leads to page-turning tension as Jasmine and Torr must unite to unravel the secret plot, find the missing book dealer and possibly discover romance along the way. Full of chemistry and suspense, “Rare Danger” is an excellent, genre-blending read.

Author Beverly Jenkins is from Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Michigan State University.

In 2013, she was nominated for the 2013 NAACP Image Award. She has won the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romances, the 2017 Romance