017. An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole with Katrina Jackson

Sign up for the Shelf Love newsletter for bonus content!Kat on social media:Twitter: @KatrinaJaxInstagram: @KatJacksonBooksGoodreadsKat’s new books:Every New Year: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZS3ZL3P/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0(Andrea’s Twitter review: “High-heat contemporary m/f. For fans of that Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock movie with the letters in a mailbox. 2 Emotional Idiots (TM) (with believable character development) circle around each other for 18 years annually around NYE. Sex on top of a teddy bear A+”Grand Theft N.Y.E.: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z268N51/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1A con woman who is stealing. She meets a rich man who steals her heart so she steals his car.Alyssa ColeAlyssa Cole’s episode: “Alyssa Cole Wants You to Use Your Power, Be An Emotional Badass - Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh”Kat’s Formative Years in RomancelandiaAshwin by Kit Rocha: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30291044-ashwinAnne Rice’s Erotica: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleeping_Beauty_QuartetKat’s influences:Rebekah WeatherspoonAlyssa ColeBeverly JenkinsKit RochaAn Extraordinary Union - first book in the Loyal League SeriesHistoryKat’s specialty is the African diaspora as a social movement historian.#FallsOnLove Podcast (with Nicole Falls), where Kat said she doesn’t want to write historical romance.Historical romance is really white/European.Familial bonds: love as a particular Black radical organizing impetusStudents’ expectation of African American history = traumaI think the article I was thinking of about change in social attitudes about LGTBQ people because “love was in place.”But I think I was also drawing on listening to this Hidden Brain podcast episode about how selling same-sex marriage was key to the strategy for LGBTQ rights.What this book does: Centers the story of the Civil War on the marginalized POVDiscussions of enslaved people in the book:Agency existed even without freedom/ability to truly consent (just because people used their limited choices to make their life better does not mean that “slavery was not that bad.”Janeta’s mother: Melancholy of freedom/separation from her communityPTSDYou are worthy of being loved, not just because of how you serve other people’s needs.You should read White Fragility by Robin DiAngeloWTF was up with working class white people at this time?Race and Class is the USClass doesn’t matter (as much as): Race does, in AmericaThis was one of the articles I read as I tried to understand the perspective of poor white people in the south (and why they felt invested in slavery):Andrew Johnson = The WorstReconstruction is the roots of the public education system in America.Rebel by Beverly Jenkins covers reconstruction/early public education. Discussed in episode 3 of Shelf Love.The journey each goes through makes them able to enter into a healthy relationship = Kat wants more of this.Reluctant Spy Partners:Kat Recommends:Beverly Jenkins: Midnight (m/f - historical. The father is a Tory, the FMC is a spy for the Rebels) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7935443-midnight?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jiJfji8PWm&rank=2Lust + Found ReadsHither, Page - Cat Sebastian (m/m - historical)Think of England - KJ Charles (m/m - historical)Felicia Davin recommends:Ada Harper: A Conspiracy of Whispers (m/f - scifi/fantasy)  Shelf Love:NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]