Chronic Illness Rep

Jen’s 2024 Diversify Your Romance Challenge

There are many lists of romance novels with disability rep on Goodreads, Reddit, other blogs, and more. As I started to build my own list, I kept thinking that my fifth challenge isn’t specific enough. There are excellent romance novels where a main character has a physical disability, a chronic illness, mental illness. There are romance novels featuring main characters who are Deaf, visually impaired, unable to speak.

One of my favorite authors and Bookstagrammers, did this great little summary of books featuring everything from severe allergy to Graves disease to endometriosis. (Great books on that list, by the way!)

I want to be more specific, I guess.

I believe so much that readers should be able to find themselves in books. Reading has helped me (with my endometriosis/adenomyosis, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and PTSD) feel seen. So… Like Ximena always says, when in doubt make more lists!

This week is chronic illness rep. What’s very cool about this list is that the women who wrote these books are living with challenges themselves. I love that these writers have been brave enough to share these stories so that those of us who also suffer can find themselves in romance novel to love.

Week 5: Chronic Illness Rep

Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, Book 2 — can be read as a standalone) by Chloe Liese, narrated by CJ Bloom & Nelson Hobbs

Love Flushed (All Access Series, Book 2) by Evie Mitchell, narrated by Teddy Hamilton & Savannah Gilmore

Kissing Kosher by Jean Meltzer, narrated by Dara Rosenberg

What romance novels with disability rep have you read? Recs please!