Happy Valentine’s Day book nerds! Starting today until February 16, the Irvine Lovers Club is giving away five Asian American erotic stories. Each of the stories acts like a book chapter, following Korean American Claudia Kim on her steamy adventures set in Orange County California. The series aims to change the sad lacking of Asian Americans in the erotic romance genre.
Or, as the publishers have written:
Hating on Valentine’s Day is a tired and rusty sentiment. How about this year we try something new and embrace the treat-yo’-self aspect of the day? If you don’t want to celebrate with $60 flowers and an overpriced seafood dinner, the publishers of Irvine Lovers Club are offering a cost-effective alternative.
Maybe the best part about this series is its origin story. The author Karina Hahn is fictional. A group of Asian American friends gathered in California to collaboratively plot out the stories, using a ghostwriter. One of the contributors explained, “We figured that Jhumpa Lahiri and Chang Rae Lee are doing an amazing job in contemporary literature, but Erotic Romance (think 50 Shades) is a category that Asian Americans are sorely underrepresented in. I’m the first one to admit that this is not serious or fine literature. It’s just supposed to be fun and trashy…like eating doughnuts.”
Maybe this kind of reading is not up your alley, or maybe it is, or maybe it’s free and you might try it out. So here’s to self love, friend love, romantic love, and to loving books.
