R&R Reads | The Secret Crush Book Club: A Spicy Small T...

The Secret Crush Book Club: A Spicy Small Town Black Sapphic Rom Com (Peach Blossom, 3)

Karmen Lee

Save to Your Books

100% of affiliate revenue supports R&R Reads

A dedicated single mother and a librarian with a secret write their own sweet and sexy love story in this small-town rom-com about family, friendships and embracing the next chapter.

“[Such] HAWT sex scenes.… Every touch, kiss, caress, feels incredibly real and deliciously sexy.”—Autostraddle on The 7-10 Split

Nothing cures a lonely heart quite like a good book and an unexpected crush… For Dani, life is a juggling act. As a single mom devoted to her son and family, she barely has a moment to herself. But when her sister announces she’s moving out of the house, the ache of loneliness creeps in, and Dani can’t help but wonder if there’s something else she’s been missing in her life…

Zoey came to Peach Blossom eager to start her new job as the town’s librarian and do a little research for her next book. Yet she never expected to find inspiration in fellow book club member Dani, whose captivating brown eyes tell a story of their own. Before they know it, lingering glances over their favorite fiction turn into first dates and sizzling nights.

As their connection deepens, the two women must decide if they should turn the page on what their lives used to look like or if this thrilling plot twist is the happily-ever-after they’ve been chasing all along.

From showing up to glowing up, the characters in Afterglow Books are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way.

Don’t miss any of these other fun titles…

Peach Blossom

Book 1: The 7-10 Split

Book 2: The Relationship Mechanic

Book 3: The Secret Crush Book Club

Get the Bindery app

Posts about this title from R&R Reads

R&R Reads\ \ Ebony\ \ • Aug 1 2025

HAPPY AUGUST (It's My Birth Month!)

11 books

R&R Reads\ \ Ebony\ \ • Jul 2 2025

96 BOOK RELEASES 💫

✨🍃UPDATE! 2025 Releases for the Back Half of 2025

There are definitely books I forgot and to them I say I’m so sorry Pookie😖

We Are Already Halfway Through 2025… anyway if you find any fault in this post get mad at Goodreads and Amazon not me …🥰

#books #bookreleases #romancebooks #fantasybooks #bookstagram

92 books

R&R Reads\ \ Ebony\ \ • Feb 20 2025

✨🍃2025 Anticipated Releases Post

thank goodness they extended this to have 20+ pictures

I missed some because covers have not been released yet so there will probably be a part two to this post

i am for sure going to get back to posting monthly anticipated releases on here rather than the clock app if the clock app gets deleted

#bookstagram #books #romancebooks #fantasybooks #blackauthors #diverseauthors #diversebooks #2025bookreleases

67 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

Wanderland Reads\ \ Sayer\ \ • Nov 2 2025

Join for free

[Romance novels have always been about hope. They promise emotional connection, communication, and repair. When you read inclusive love stories—especially sapphic ones—you’re not only witnessing romance, you’re watching healing in motion. These stories dismantle shame and rewrite what safety and intimacy can look like when everyone is allowed to belong.\ \ As a trauma therapist, I often use romance in bibliotherapy with clients who struggle with attachment wounds, shame, or fear of being seen. Inclusive romances provide more than escapism. They model what emotional safety looks like in relationships. They remind readers that love can be gentle, patient, and affirming.\ \ Love After Trauma: Stories That Make Space for Healing\ \ Healing isn’t linear, and neither are these stories. Sapphic romances that include therapy, self-reflection, and recovery arcs let readers see that healing and love can coexist.\ \ Books like Battle Scars by Meghan O’Brien or Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner show characters working through trauma without being defined by it. They fall in love while learning to regulate emotion, set boundaries, and communicate—skills that mirror therapeutic goals.\ \ When I recommend stories like these in session, it’s often to clients who believe they have to be “fully healed” before they can be loved. Reading characters who love and are loved through imperfection helps dismantle that belief.\ \ Bibliotherapy here isn’t about identifying with every plot point. It’s about seeing your nervous system reflected in another person’s healing arc. Clients often say, “If she can learn to trust again, maybe I can too.”\ \ Love looks different when it carries the weight of culture, race, or community expectation. Intersectional sapphic romances—like Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers or You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi—show the intersections of queerness, race, and belonging.\ \ These stories normalize complexity. They explore what it means to exist at multiple margins and still claim joy. For clients of color, especially queer women, reading these stories becomes an act of witnessing. They see themselves not as side characters but as the main story.\ \ In therapy, I might ask:\ \

How does this character balance identity and love?\ \
What cultural or familial expectations shape how she expresses desire?\ \
Where does she give herself permission to want more?\ \ \ These reflections often open conversations about cultural trauma, code-switching, or the fear of losing belonging when stepping into authenticity.\ \ Pleasure and Power: Reclaiming your Body\ \ For trauma survivors, especially those who’ve experienced body-based harm, pleasure can feel inaccessible or unsafe. Reading stories where diverse bodies and sexualities are celebrated—like Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner or The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite—helps reconnect the idea of pleasure with safety and agency.\ \ When clients read scenes where consent is explicit and communication is mutual, they’re not just reading erotica. They’re watching a healthy model of attunement. The body learns through observation too.\ \ In bibliotherapy sessions, I ask clients to note:\ \
How do these characters talk about consent?\ \
What language makes desire feel safe?\ \
How do power and vulnerability coexist in this story?\ \ \ The answers often become springboards for conversations about reclaiming autonomy and rebuilding trust in one’s body.\ \ Inclusive romance teaches something therapy alone can’t always provide: an emotional blueprint for connection. Readers internalize what safety feels like through story. They learn pacing, repair, and communication by seeing it modeled repeatedly and gently.\ \ When clients see love that looks like theirs—two women, a trans character, a fat protagonist, a disabled heroine—they see proof that their body and identity are worthy of tenderness. That experience, even in fiction, begins to rewire shame into self-compassion.\ \ In my work, I often frame reading as “emotional rehearsal.” When a client reads a story about vulnerability, their nervous system gets to practice what it might feel like to open up—without real-world risk. That safety-through-story is where processing begins.\ \ I don’t assign books like homework. I offer them as companions. We use them to reflect, name patterns, and imagine what healthy connection can look like. Sometimes a novel says what the client can’t yet articulate. That’s the quiet magic of bibliotherapy.\ \ Here is a non-comprehensive list of books I recommend\ \ \ \ Join for free or login](https://wanderlandreads.binderybooks.com/item/Gf4ozbJU7XBcUmlWt3GN/)

Why Inclusive Love Stories Belong in the Therapy Room

9 books