#RomanceClass books/projects/events in 2022
#RomanceClass started in 2013 and has helped 100+ Filipino authors write and publish romance books.
1. New releases/editions 2022
Love is All Around: An Alta Holiday Anthology by Carla de Guzman, Bianca Mori, Suzette de Borja (Love Is All Around is a joy to read, builds on the first anthology that was already excellent, absolutely love the feeling that Alta in general imparts that a “Filipino story” can have the world as its setting/playground)
Saved by Hope (a hockey romance short story) by Mina V. Esguerra, audiobook narrated by Sonja Serania (The short story for this was released before 2022 but the audio edition came out in 2022! There’s a conversation between me and Sonja the narrator at the end, love in particular how she thought about the accent she’d give Elias and Hope down to asking which schools they went to.)
If the Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman, audiobook narrated by Jef Flores (If you did NOT know that is Jef Flores on the cover of this book, now you know, and he is the narrator pa saan ka paaaaa)
RomanceClass NomCom: Tropetastic Kindness Bundle 2 (This is no longer available for sale (the fundraising period is over and the authors have pubbed their stories elsewhere!) but we had a GREAT time planning this, it will be a world we will return to. If only to use all the food stall names (Don’t Go Bacon My Heart where lol))
My Quarantine Diary by Ines Bautista-Yao (This captures a very specific moment in time and I’m glad it did. When we study/edit/publish YA this period will be something so many young people experienced and stories about it should be part of the landscape.)
Scambitious: The Complete Series by Mina V. Esguerra (A compiled edition of a fun thing I did in 2013-2014 (if you find writing about heists and conning terrible people fun but don’t we all???))
Take Two by Kaith C. Cimafranca (Kaith’s book (set in Dumaguete and Canada) does the thing of contemporary worldbuilding (yes there’s worldbuilding in contemporary romance) that skips Manila and I’m so glad she did this and it’s part of RomanceClass. We need more! What I mean by this lol:
Manila is not the PH
The culture of Manila is not PH culture
When they code-switch in dialogue it’s English and Bisaya
Where people eat, where they go to school, where they vacation — all the tropes but different places
Richer world for us to read!)
Love to Meet You by Jay E. Tria (Jay’s book, I realize at this time of holiday romance movies, is a city girl who finds love, does romancey things in another city, and then chooses to move to yet another city for her HEA ~and a better job. Get it all.)
Feels Like Home by Angel C. Aquino (If you’re really into UAAP basketball right now it’s a great time to pick up Angel’s book! Girl from Pampanga goes to college in dangerous messy Manila, and the guy who has been so great to her from the beginning (in that annoying way lol) is the basketball superstar.)
Some Bali to Love by Carla de Guzman (This is Carla’s rewrite/re-release of an older book but she has made it so shiny and ~new and hot. The changes made to one character (the most obvious diff from the first edition) feel so right, like it’s how it should have been but also the time for it is now.)
What If We Fall in Love? by Tara Frejas
2. http://romanceclassbooks.com has a list of all our books, and links to Amazon/other INTL retailers. Philippine print editions can now be ordered from the author or Komiket’s Secret HQ (on FB or http://bit.ly/komiketbookstore). Look for our books at #RomanceClass and Komiket events too!
3. We released a food-themed anthology for charity (Feb to April 2022) and donated all proceeds to For Our Farmers, an org helping farmers and fishing communities.
4. #RomanceClass Podcast: This year we’ve discussed food and sex scenes. Stream on http://kilig.pub/youtube, listen on Anchor and Spotify, find all the links at http://romancepodcast.com.
5. Readers’ Camp at Ayala 30th (April): After two years, we sold books at a fair again. Mini reunions every day.
6. #AprilFeelsDay2022 on Twitch: Book launches, new projects, recorded readings by Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates (together!), performance by Jam Binay.
7. #RomanceClass Live: We recorded a complete audio edition of Angeli E. Dumatol’s short story “Choose Your Sweetness” on YouTube, read by Jam Binay. Start here:
8. We did #RomanceClass2022 (Aug to Oct)!
9. #RomanceClass was at #MIBF2022! We were at the Komiket booth.
10. Tres Launches (October): Online launches for new #RomanceClass books! Q&A while the authors were making art. Loved the format and the chikahan.
11. #FeelsFest2022 October 22: Our first in-person FeelsFest in 2 years!
12. KILIG anthology: One year in the making and it’s here and so beautiful! The #RomanceClass and Komiket collab book was launched at FeelsFest2022 and was available at October Komiket.
