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Melissa Harris-Perry: Welcome back y'all. I'm Melissa Harris-Perry, and it's Valentine's Day. What better moment to carve out a little time to curl up with a good romance novel?

Female Speaker: She rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her there. "You've had a tough week, haven't you?" He asked. The concern for her and his question in his voice made tears spring to her eyes. "Yes," she said into his chest. She usually didn't admit this. She felt like she had to act like everything was fine, easy, perfect. That she was working hard and loving every moment of it, but she could tell Luke the truth.

Jasmine Guillory: My name is Jasmine Guillory. I'm a New York Times bestselling author of romance novels, including The Wedding Date, The Proposal, and Drunk On Love.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Jasmine is a New York Times bestselling romance novelist and one of the few Black women writers publishing at this level of the game. Although cut from the traditional happily ever after genre, Jasmine's stories have a way of making sisters who've rarely seen themselves depicted in this genre feel seen. Do you like Valentine's Day?

Jasmine Guillory: I do. I think it's delightful. It's great to have a whole celebration of love. I also think that it's good when people celebrate all different kinds of love on Valentine's Day, whether it's your love for your friends or your family, or romantic love.

Melissa Harris-Perry: For you as one of the biggest romance writers in the world, what drew you? What seduced you into romance writing?

Jasmine Guillory: I started writing romance after a really difficult time in my life. I had been reading a lot of romance novels, and I realized that they are the perfect thing to read when you're going through something hard because you know going in that there's going to be a happy ending, and sometimes that is exactly what you need. Then I was like, "Maybe these are as much fun to write as they are to read, and it turns out they really are."

Melissa Harris-Perry: Do Black women do romance differently?

Jasmine Guillory: Yes and no. I think what is wonderful to write romance novels about Black women has been so sustaining for me. To read them over the past few years, especially during the hardest times, I think it's so important to shower Black women with love and care that we often don't get in the rest of the world. I want to read and to write novels where Black women get treated wonderfully, and that is something that I have found so important in both writing and reading.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Talk to me about what it means to say "where Black women are treated wonderfully".

Jasmine Guillory: Yes. I think there's so much that demands that Black women be strong. There's that strong Black woman with a-- I think romance novels are one of the places where you can see a Black woman let everything down that she's been carrying and having someone take care of her, which is something that I don't get to see that much in media.

I see Black women be the strong person who's in charge of everything, who doesn't have someone who's out there taking away the heavy things that she's holding, sitting her down, bringing her tea on the couch, all of that stuff I love to both write about and read about.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Have any of your characters ever surprised you with what they've taught you about love as you've written their romance story?

Jasmine Guillory: Oh my goodness. Every book.

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Jasmine Guillory: I think there's so many times when I'm writing and I have a vision of what will happen in a book and who these characters are, but then as I write, I realize if I had an outline or I knew something was going to happen at some point in a book, but then I've written this character, and I'm like, "Oh, but the person who would do all of these things wouldn't do that." I have to figure out what love means to them and means to them together. I think that is really important to me as a person, I think I've learned a lot about how to listen to other people, how to treat other people, and how I want to be treated.

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Melissa Harris-Perry: All right, folks, quick pause. We're talking romance on Valentine's Day. We're back right after this. We're back with Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of romance novels, including The Wedding Date, The Proposal, and Drunk On Love. You said that you, in part, discovered that there's something valuable about reading romance even in our challenging times, in our hard times, do we ever just use it as an escape to not actually go find love because we know we can always find a happily ever after between the covers of the book?

Jasmine Guillory: Oh, absolutely. There's nothing wrong with an escape. Sometimes we need a break from our normal lives, the hard things. Whether it's you've been on just too many bad dates, and you need to take a break from that, sure, dive into a romance novel and experience love in that way. The pandemic-- these past three years have been really hard for people, and I think there was something wonderful for people in being able to escape from that terrible world. I think that's something beautiful about romance novels is that we do get to escape our own world just for a little while.

Melissa Harris-Perry: How can we talk about love, romance, happily ever after without projecting a negative judgment on those who maybe haven't been looking for it, don't want it, don't have it? Is there a way to celebrate and enjoy this version of romance and love without casting an aspersion that those who don't have it or don't pursue it, or don't want it are somehow lesser in the fullness of their human experience?

Jasmine Guillory: Yes, absolutely. I think that goes back to one of the things that I said about Valentine's Day. I think celebrating all different kinds of love is so important. Love for your friends. I think friendship often teaches people how to love one another, how being a good friend to someone is so important in this life. I think my friends, my family are the first people I loved in this world. I think knowing that and celebrating all of the different kinds of love, whether it's parental love, loving your parents, loving your children, your siblings, your cousins, your best friends, all of that love is so important. I think being able to celebrate all of that doesn't take away from romantic love and just enhances everything else in this world.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling romance novelist, her book, Drunk On Love, is out now. Jasmine, happy Valentine's Day.

Jasmine Guillory: Happy Valentine's Day to you, too. Thank you so much for having me.

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