Celebrating 10 Years Penning Black Love: A Salute to Love Belvin

Saying this with love

There are authors whose work you read, you smile, and your eyes might even bulge out while reading their words. You call your friends and make sure they read the book that kept you up all night. 

These are good stories. 

These are the stories you talk about in the group chat–these are the stories you make character mood boards for. You argue with your friends about who the hero belongs to, “he’s my book bae.” You tell the world that this book should be on the big screen. 

These are…good stories. 

And then there are authors whose work leaves your mind bewildered–using nothing but their words, they make your brain do mental gymnastics. Tap dancing on your heart while you consider if you’re a masochist because what else would make you endure the emotional rollercoaster rides of fictional characters? 

Right and wrong gets blurred, and you reconsider everything you once believed as fact. Your personal beliefs are challenged and you don’t allow anyone to borrow your books because they will see the dried-up tear stains and the notes you’ve written to yourself to remind you that somewhere in these pages, using fictional characters an author has solved a problem you had in the real world. 

You felt seen, heard, amplified, and exalted. Because for Black women, it’s so very hard to be loved in any state, but it’s especially hard to be loved out loud when your flaws are visible. 

These aren’t good stories.

These are the great ones. 

The ones that make you reconsider.

The ones you sit with long after you’ve finished reading. 

The ones you fall in love with. 

It was about nine years ago when I first read Love Lost, (book one in Love’s Improbable Possibility series) and I distinctly remember my reaction. It was visceral. 

I had never spoken to Love Belvin, but I knew there was something about her pen that couldn’t be tamed or replicated. And of course, I wanted to read the rest of the series. 

My reading palate is very specific, so specific it’s the reason I don’t select monthly books for our book club. (Thank God for Lissa-Marie…lol) 

But back then, I didn’t know how fixed and tailored my reading was, and it had been a long time since I felt challenged by a story. 

When I read a book, I want to be sucked in, forced to reconsider my personal beliefs. My hard, “I would never,” should bend in the fictional world to accommodate the characters I’ve fallen in love with. 

It’s only then a story moves from good to great. 

And it’s not the big literary leaps that are obvious page-turners–they matter but it’s also the small ones like when Rayna finds out Azmir isn’t legit and she curses him out while he is at his lowest. And just when you think Rayna has given up, she has an aha moment. 

And you wonder, “Could I be with a drug dealer who is also a fine intellect?” 

I bend. 

I couldn’t. Could I? 

I bend a little more.

It’s the soft moments when Rayna and Azmir first get together and in the loud ones when they are literally on the brink of destruction and Rayna leaves. 

Love’s Improbable Possibility is a literary journey worth taking–it’s meaty, raw, uncut, and it’s love. It’s that kind of love that will have you looking for shorty in the daytime with a flashlight. It’s not black and white, and its imperfections make the story even more enjoyable to read. 

Belvin uses simple details to showcase how a character feels, yes I love inner monologues but I also enjoy when characters are trying to learn each other by their tells. What does it look like when a character shows restraint? 

And when love languages don’t match up on paper, how does it play out in a relationship? If I take an alcoholic drink out of your hand and replace it with a bottle of water am I looking out for your safety or am I controlling?

If I don’t provide the full details of how I make money but I give you a good life, am I loving or a liar? If I run away every time I feel like the pendulum is not swinging in my favor, am I dramatic or traumatized?

These are just a few questions that had my mind doing mental gymnastics while reading.

Belvin brought two strangers together with strong pasts, they fell hard for each other, and in the end, they honored, loved, and trusted each other after going through Dante’s Inferno and making it out on the other side. She did all this while simultaneously sprinkling Jesus throughout the story.

This series stands the test of literary time. I can easily read the series today and have the same feelings I had when I read it some nine years ago. 

Love Belvin has penned over 25 stories but it all started with Love’s Improbable Possibility. 

She has made readers near and far love her, and I’m positive she will keep going until the entire literary world knows her name.

Congratulations on making 10 years Belvin, I wish you nothing but success and blessings on blessings.

Bonus

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