Hello! If you have never heard of me before, which you probably haven’t, my name is Kosoko and I’m the author of I’m So Not Over You, a queer African American lead rom-com coming out February 22nd, by Berkley Romance.
I’m So Not Over You follows Kian Andrews, a struggling journalist who gets the chance to obtain the dream job of his life, if he’s willing to pretend to still be madly in love with his ex-boyfriend at a family dinner. Of course, in typical rom-com fashion, this lie gets out of hand, and the two must pretend to be in love for longer than one night, which forces “lost feelings” to surface.
When I started writing my debut rom-com, I knew I had one central question: did I want to write sex scenes or did I want it to be what we call a fade to black novel. There are pros and cons to both of these, and there are some amazing, well written, and steamy rom-coms, that do fade to black. On the flip side, some of my favorite rom-coms add dripping with steam and sweat on the page. I strongly think the decision to write sex or to not write sex is mostly up to the author, but I wasn’t sure what side of the fence I wanted to land on.
For me, the choice wasn’t so much about whether I wanted to write sex scenes or not, the choice is what type of offer I wanted to be known for. I’ve read many books that have gay sex scenes in them that, to me, do not often clearly represent the gay male experience. And I knew, if I wanted to write sex scenes, I wanted to do that. I wanted to talk about consent, I wanted to talk about Kink, and I wanted to discuss fluid dynamics within the bedroom. But on the flip side, writing fade to black scenes makes me feel, personally, that rom-coms could be more exact.
I’m not ignorant to the fact that writing a queer book, and a book written by a Black man, starring Black characters, breaks the mold a little bit in what is traditionally published. And I am well aware of the preconceived notions and biases that people have coming in reading rom-coms. Every choice, I feel, has a pro and con, and this choice is no different.
But I started writing rom-coms because I wanted to see myself, and my people on the page. It was important to me to change the narrative, and add my own experience of being Black and gay, to not only help other Black and queer readers see themselves, but also add some authenticity to the genre, which so many other queer authors are doing just this year alone. Also, judging by early reads, people seem to LIKE the sex scenes in I’m So Not Over You; which is a win win for me!
Rom-coms to me are a friendly and warm embrace in a time that’s cold and fearful. I wrote this book as a “Welcome home” for queer readers and Black readers especially. But I hope everyone can enjoy the story of love, hijinks and awkward situations equally.
And stay for the sex scenes; I think they’re pretty great.
I’m So Not Over You is available from Amazon and Bookshop.