Passionate Page-Turners

Teresa Steele believes one question may be above all others when introducing readers to the romance genre.

“I usually ask what level of steam they want,” says Steele, a bibliophile and bookseller at Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins.

Romance is one of the hottest genres now, thanks to a reader’s ability to pick their niche, from fantasy to historical fiction, and the wide range of spicy romance books trending on BookTok. Prior to 2020, Old Firehouse Books didn’t even have a romance section, Steele says.

It’s Steele’s job to help readers explore the genre and match their tastes to romance novels. She offers recommendations based on everything from how she would rate a book—PG up to R—to what kinds of scenarios a reader might like.

“Tropes are a big part of romance—you know, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers,” Steele says. “I ask readers who are jumping into romance for the first time, ‘What was the last book that you read?’ If you like contemporary stuff, it’s probably safe to read a contemporary romance.”

Popular categories include “cozy romance,” which Steele likens to a Hallmark movie (centered around characters’ “meet cute” in a small town, for instance), and, on the opposite end, dark romances filled with what the industry calls “dubious consent.”

Some writers in Northern Colorado are successfully tackling the genre themselves. If you’re looking for a steamy read, check out the following books by local romance authors.

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Breaking Tradition

By Tory Steel

What it’s about: Angela, a teenager, faces an arranged marriage with the son of a drug cartel leader and embarks on a journey to escape. In the story, a dangerous romance blossoms from a friendship between Angela and an “ordinary guy” named Tyler.

The story is personal for Steel, who grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where gangs and cartels were prominent and she was surrounded by drugs and violence. Steel now lives in Evans and says she wanted to include some real-life elements of how women were treated around her and the pressures they faced.

“I wrote the story as, ‘This is what she’s told she’s supposed to be like, but she doesn’t want to be this way, and she needs to find a way out of it,’” Steel says.

More tidbits: This is the fourth romance novel authored by Steel, a U.S. Air Force veteran who describes herself as a “romantic wallflower.” Keep an eye out for Steel at book signings at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

Where to buy it: Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Old Firehouse Books, The Midnight Oil in Greeley and torysteel.com.

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What it’s about: A lonely priest assigned to kill an injured monster in the forest discovers a love interest in this queer gothic romance. Rather than kill the monster, the priest lifts its curse to discover beneath it a handsome man with no memory. The two characters face “secret, underhanded church dynamics” that point to the origin of the monster’s curse, says author Ian Haramaki.

“It’s kind of a story about healing from trauma and bonding from that and then falling in love,” says Haramaki, who lives in Fort Collins.

Haramaki self-published the book and shipped it to three social media influencers who he thought might be receptive to the story. One picked it up, and since then, he has sold more than 10,000 copies.

More tidbits: “Mercy” is Haramaki’s first novel, which he says is a product of National Novel Writing Month in November (the organization, NaNoWriMo, challenges scribes to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days). He is currently working on a sequel to “Mercy” that he hopes to release in the summer. Haramaki is also an illustrator: He created an original brand of friendly prehistoric animals in 2019 called Primordial Pals, which he has since brought to hundreds of conventions.

Where to buy it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Old Firehouse Books and cometkins.com. It’s also available via audiobook at tantor.com and audiobooks.com.

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What it’s about: Bladesmith Suraya is summoned to a royal palace to compete for the crown prince’s hand, but she discovers the summons is a thinly veiled attempt to find the prophesized starkeeper: A woman with the magic of the stars in her blood. Suraya flees the palace with the prince’s handsome, illegitimate half-brother, who has secrets of his own. When her terrifying power starts to manifest and enemies attack from all sides, he is the only one she can trust.

The story is inspired by Persian and Indian mythology and draws on some personal passions for Howard, who lives in Fort Collins but was born in Trinidad and Tobago.

“I wanted to include some of the myths and stories that I’ve grown up with,” Howard says.
“I wanted to do something that was different, and I wanted to bring something culturally rich
to the playing field.”

More tidbits: Howard is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author following the release of several novels. “The Starlight Heir” was released last month, and her young adult release, “Queen Bee,” has earned a place among reading lists by Target and the Scholastic Book Fair. She’s participating in the Fort Collins Book Fest’s Revealing Romantasy panel from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on
Feb. 8 at The Lyric.

Where to buy it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Old Firehouse Books, The Crowded Bookshelf in Fort Collins, harpercollins.com and amaliehoward.com. “The Starlight Heir” is also available via audiobook at harpercollins.com.

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: Teresa Steele’s 1-5 steam-level rating