By Jer’tarme Williams
In need of a sweet small-town romance pick me up? Or maybe your heart is craving a dark mafia romance. Whatever your desires, Willow Winters, has you sorted with her discreet romance book collection.
Starting back in 2015, Willow’s mind was racing with story ideas that soon turned into making her a ‘USA Today Bestseller.’ For ‘Between the Lines with Jer’tarme’, very first blog post, I was fortunate enough to chat to Willow about what inspired her discreet collection.
Jer'tarme Williams
After falling in love with CD Reiss’s Midnight collection whose books sported black and grey, simple covers, Willow knew this could influence her own books. In fact, “at the time I was looking for a way to number my books. I wanted them organised because when I initially started writing, I didn’t write dark.” Willow wasn’t the only one enthralled by CD Reiss’s approach to her book covers, readers were too and “were commenting they wanted discreet,” covers for Willow’s books. Willow beautifully describes, it was “a few storms that all came together at once.”
So where should you start if you want to enter Willow’s universe? There is a psychology behind colours and that is “pairing tropes with colours that felt like they fit.” It is suggested that you should start with your favourite colour because you are most likely going to be attracted to those tropes than any other colour. For example, if you like baby pink’s, you’re going to love Willow’s small-town romances. Whereas if you lean towards dark red, you may often read mafia romances. The biggest takeaway Willow shares is to start with “whatever colour you feel drawn to.”
Having almost written a book for every trope, Willow knows what she likes to write and what she finds challenging. There won’t be very many occasions that you’ll find an age gap romance written by Willow. But she loves “second chance romances because you get two timelines.” You’ll easily find these offered throughout Willow’s collection since she enjoys “having the ability to pick up where you left off but to start a story there.”
Where to next for Willow and her romance books? Well, the landscape of the romance genre is constantly changing and growing. Though Willow trusts “the goal of the romance genre right now is to expand.” When we discussed what it means to read and write romance, we noted the importance of the genre to liberate women in different cultures who may feel uncomfortable reading romances in public. We also recognised how romance novels can highlight to men, the female gaze. Considering the many facets of romance, it is hoped that these amalgamate to create a positive impact overall. We both agreed that sex education in all countries is lacking, very much so in terms of emotional wellbeing and it should be the role of romance novels to safely teach readers what healthy relationships look like. Willow understands that for so long the romance genre has been misrepresented and until there is more education around the existence and importance of romance novels, then changes will happen.
You can check out Willow’s discreet collection here.
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