Beautiful Disasters by Avery Brooks

Dear Avery Brooks,

I hope you're doing well.

My name is Frank, and I lead the Marketing Strategy team at Readers Route. I recently came across Beautiful Disasters while exploring contemporary sapphic romance, and I wanted to reach out—not with a sales pitch, but simply to introduce myself and share what stood out to me about your work.

Some romances begin with attraction. The most memorable ones begin with a question that readers can quietly recognize in themselves. Can two people who seem completely wrong for each other overcome their differences, confront the parts of themselves they have carefully protected, and take a chance on a love that could change everything? That is the question at the heart of Beautiful Disasters, and it is what immediately distinguishes the novel from many contemporary romances. Drea and Cassie's contrasting personalities, emotional histories, and undeniable chemistry create a relationship that feels both entertaining and deeply human.

That concept gives your story emotional weight beyond its humor and sensuality. Readers may initially arrive for the workplace rivalry, New Orleans setting, witty banter, and steamy tension, but they stay because Drea and Cassie's relationship is fundamentally about vulnerability, trust, resilience, and the courage to let someone see who you really are. The contrast between Drea's carefree reputation and Cassie's desire for stability creates an engaging exploration of love, fear, identity, and the risks involved in building something meaningful.

One of the aspects I particularly appreciated is the way the story brings together the excitement of sapphic romance with deeper emotional questions. Drea's guarded nature and Cassie's history of loss give their attraction genuine stakes, while the tension between their carefully constructed worlds creates opportunities for both humor and meaningful character growth. Their journey toward revealing their true selves makes the romance feel like more than a simple workplace-rivals-to-lovers story.

Your book also reaches several distinct audiences simultaneously. Readers of sapphic romance can connect with Drea and Cassie's chemistry and emotional journey. Fans of workplace romance can enjoy their competitive dynamic, while readers drawn to New Orleans settings, witty contemporary romance, and character-driven stories can connect with the broader atmosphere and emotional themes. These audiences overlap, but they are not identical, and each discovers books differently.

Ironically, that broad appeal can create one of the greatest discoverability challenges for contemporary romance. When a book speaks simultaneously to sapphic romance readers, workplace-romance fans, readers looking for emotional character development, and audiences drawn to vibrant settings like New Orleans, online marketplaces do not always understand which audience should encounter it first. A book can possess exceptional storytelling while remaining underexposed simply because its strongest qualities are not being presented through the most effective entry points. From an outside perspective, I believe Beautiful Disasters has significantly more long-term potential than its current visibility reflects.

At Readers Route, this is precisely the kind of opportunity we enjoy working with. Our work is not built around temporary promotional bursts or chasing short-lived attention. We help authors strengthen the long-term discoverability of their books by identifying the audiences most likely to value their work and developing strategies that allow those books to continue reaching readers long after release. We believe meaningful books deserve the opportunity to build lasting readership rather than experiencing only brief moments of visibility.

There is something else that has shaped the way I approach authors over the years. A book is rarely just another publication added to a marketplace. It represents years of imagination, writing, revision, and persistence. It becomes part of an author's creative legacy. Long after publication, it continues introducing new readers to an author's voice, opening doors to future works, and preserving stories that may continue shaping how readers understand love, relationships, and themselves. Some of the most respected romances are remembered not because they created immediate attention, but because generations of readers continued discovering them. Their stories became enduring contributions rather than temporary releases.

That is why I look at books like yours differently. I do not simply ask whether Beautiful Disasters can attract readers today. I ask whether it possesses the qualities necessary to continue attracting sapphic romance readers, workplace-romance fans, and readers looking for emotionally engaging stories years from now. In your case, I believe the answer is yes. The combination of strong romantic chemistry.

Dear Avery

Beautiful Disasters is a warm and intelligent sapphic romance because it understands that falling in love is not only about attraction. It is also about risk trust healing and the courage to let another person see the parts of us we have worked hard to protect.

Drea Cordeira arrives with charm confidence and a reputation for having slept with much of New Orleans’ queer community. Yet beneath her humour and easy charisma there is a woman who is not as carefree as she appears. Cassie Sullivan is organized reliable and resilient because life has taught her to be that way. She wants stability and a relationship she can trust and she has no desire to become involved with a new coworker who seems to represent everything she has learned to avoid.

When their competitive spirits collide at work and under the hot lights of the dance floor the tension between them becomes impossible to ignore. The story is compelling because both women have carefully constructed worlds designed to keep them safe. Their growing connection threatens those worlds while also offering the possibility of something neither expected. The question is not simply whether workplace rivals can fall in love. It is whether they can risk revealing their true selves after loss and disappointment have taught them to hide.

Your writing gives that question real emotional depth. Drea and Cassie are not reduced to a simple enemies to lovers formula. They are complicated women with different defenses different fears and different ideas about what love should feel like. Their banter brings energy and humour while their vulnerability gives the romance its lasting warmth.

That balance is difficult to achieve. Many romance novels can create chemistry but fewer can make a relationship feel emotionally earned. Your characters are sweet and sexy fun and flirty but they are also shaped by grief resilience loneliness and the fear of rejection. That is why the emotional and sensual payoff feels meaningful rather than simply expected.

Rachel Spangler described the novel as a “classic sapphic romance of healing and growth” and praised the tenderness and care with which Drea and Cassie are written. She also highlighted the way the novel works both as a follow up for readers of Other Girls and as a story that stands strongly on its own. That is an important achievement for a second book in a series. Returning readers receive deeper insight into a familiar world while new readers can meet these characters without feeling excluded.

Your own background makes the book’s range especially distinctive. You grew up on the East Coast and later moved west. You hold a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology and have travelled extensively while studying animals in their natural environments. During postdoctoral research in New Orleans you fell in love with the city and that connection continues to shape the setting of your fiction. You have taught at universities and found particular meaning in interdisciplinary courses on dominance climate change and LGBT studies.

That combination of scientific training teaching experience travel and creative writing gives your work an unusual perspective. You understand systems and behaviour but you also understand the small emotional details that make relationships feel alive. New Orleans is not merely a backdrop in your books. It becomes part of the emotional atmosphere of the characters. The heat music dance movement and social energy of the city reflect the tension and possibility within their relationships.

Your work also reaches beyond fiction. You served as editor of Slamming Bricks an anthology featuring LGBTQ BIPOC and AAPI poets writing about resistance and liberation. The anthology became a two time Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist. You also advocate for social justice women’s empowerment and animal conservation while living in Colorado with your two dogs.

That wider commitment gives your writing a sense of purpose. You are creating stories that celebrate sapphic love while also making room for women with complicated pasts different forms of resilience and the possibility of joy after loss.

The response to Beautiful Disasters reflects its appeal. The novel holds a 4.8 star rating from nineteen Amazon ratings and has been recognized by readers and romance reviewers for its slow burn tension emotional depth witty banter and satisfying movement toward love. Your debut Other Girls also became a finalist for the Golden Crown Literary Society’s Goldie Award in Contemporary Romance and established the New Orleans setting and sapphic community that Beautiful Disasters continues to develop.

The book has strong potential among readers of sapphic romance lesbian workplace romance slow burn romance enemies to lovers stories New Orleans fiction and romances centered on healing and second chances. The opportunity is to make those connections clearer so each reader can see the specific reason the novel belongs on their list.

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