Add these authors to your Asian Pacific American Heritage Month reading list

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which makes it a great time to discover some new-to-you authors. I’ve seen some lists of Asian American authors to check out, lists heavy on award-winning literary fiction of the sort that, to be honest, I don’t read very much. You should probably read those authors—definitely, 100%, you should read Min Jin Lee’s books Pachinko and Free Food for Millionaires. (As an interesting side note, it’s my strong impression that every woman I know has read or has at least been urged to read Pachinko, while it hasn’t been nearly as widely discussed among men—but the men I know who’ve read it have been blown away.)

But as has been well established by now, I read a lot of romance novels (including young adult romance), and I have some Asian Pacific American Heritage Month recommendations down that path. The month is almost over, so get reading (and then keep going in June).

Courtney Milan writes largely historical romance, but if you’re more interested in books in contemporary settings, her Cyclone series is on-theme for this post. The heroine of Trade Me, the first book in the series, is a Chinese immigrant, and the hero of Hold Me, the second book, is of Thai and Chinese descent.

Sandhya Menon’s When Dimple Met Rishi and There’s Something about Sweetie are delightful young adult romances about Indian-American teenagers managing their immigrant parents’ expectations, falling in love, and living teenage lives. In writing this post I learned she also writes adult romances under the name Lily Menon, so I’ll be checking those out ASAP.

Alisha Rai’s The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral have been good pandemic escape reading for me (escape reading with #MeToo and other serious plot lines, but still), and if you’re into more heavily erotic novels, she’s got you covered with choices like Hate to Want You.

Roselle Lim’s Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune is a delightful, food-filled, magic realism-inflected romance about reviving a Chinatown neighborhood in the face of encroaching gentrification.

In Playing House, Open House, and House Rules, by Ruby Lang, three couples contemplate their housing options and fall in love, this time against a backdrop of gentrification in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan rather than in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

The Bride Test and The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang, are about immigrant life and class and people on the autism spectrum, and they are also terrifically fun, funny romance novels.

Sherry Thomas writes historical romance, and her Lady Sherlock books are a delightful twist on the so-many-times-recycled detective.

(I mentioned some of these in a year-end post.)

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