With CBS Drama Series in the Works, Three Stacey Abrams Romance Novels Returning to Bookstores

Abrams
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

With a CBS drama series in the works, three romance novels written by failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams — under the pen name Selena Montgomery — are returning to book stores.

The Penguin Random House imprint, Berkley, plans to bring back Rules of Engagement, The Art of Desire, and Power of Persuasion by Selena Montgomery, Stacey Abrams’ pen name, to book stores next year, according to a report by New York Times.

“As my first novels, they remain incredibly special to me,” Abrams said in a statement. “The characters and their adventures are what I’d wished to read as a young black woman — stories that showcase women of color as nuanced, determined, and exciting.”

The news comes just months after CBS said it’s developing a drama series based on one of Abrams’ romance novels.

The romance novels were first published in the early 2000s, and have long been out of print, the report adds.

In 2019, Abrams told The Late Show host Stephen Colbert that she wrote her novels under a pseudonym because her editors were concerned that romance readers would googled her name and be put off by her other published work.

At the time, Abrams also told Colbert that she was on a “prolonged hiatus” from writing romance novels. Now, it appears that hiatus is over.

Abrams recently secured the rights to the books — originally published by Harlequin books — which Berkley bought from her a few months ago, according to Cindy Hwang, vice president and editorial director at Berkley.

Last month, Abrams, who is also a Democrat activist, proclaimed that Republicans “will not stop men from murdering women of color.” One month prior, the failed gubernatorial candidate declared “we are at war” with the GOP, claiming that the Republican Party is trying to “deny access to the ballot.”

Abrams was also among the many Democrats voicing supporting for boycotts, just days before Major League Baseball pull the All-Star game from the majority-black city of Atlanta Ga, over its voter integrity law.

“Boycotts work. The focused power of No, trained on corporate actors used to being told Yes, can yield transformative results. As a Black person, a Southerner, an American, I respect and defend the right to boycott — and the advancement of civil rights has relied heavily on economic boycotts.” Abrams wrote in a USA Today op-ed.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.

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