Black girls know the drill: Though books, film, and television are rife with romance stories, very few of the ladies who get swept off their feet ever look like us. The works of Kennedy Ryan present a breath of fresh air. The first Black winner of the RITA Award for romantic fiction, Ryan promotes sisters from sassy side chicks to main characters – ones worthy of the same all-encompassing love we’ve usually only seen experienced by others. The author talks and signs her latest offering, Can’t Get Enough, courtesy of Black Pearl Books, Austin’s only Black-owned bookstore. – Carys Anderson