I started my journey into reading Nigerian romance again, (sans Pacesetter books – because I read those ones between ages 7 and 12) with Ankara Press novels.
Sometime in 2011, I took the advice of my dear friend, Modupe and downloaded the Okadabooks mobile application. On getting this app, I couldn’t navigate it as I barely understood how it worked. I downloaded one free book and it was probably the worst book written in the entire universe, I kid you not!
Fast forward to 2014, an account I follow on Twitter – and whose suggestions I like to check out – tweeted about Ankara press. This caught my interest and I decided to try them out. I checked out the website and found it friendly enough, I registered and bought one book, “A Tailor-made Romance”. I picked this book because of the captivating synopsis. I read it the entire day, I couldn’t put it down until I was finished with it. I bought the next book, and the next, and the next, till I had read everything they had published.
I didn’t stop there, I googled “Nigerian romance writers” thankfully, I found a site, RWOWA. I found Myne Whitman’s books and I bought them also, what an amazing writer! And so, it continued, I searched actively for writers. I wished for something different from the regular writers who wrote like they were writing for a target audience. I wanted something light, without all the political undertones. By Jove, we know the continent is dark and gloomy, we already live in it and so when you pick a fictional book to escape your reality, you DO NOT want to read about the sufferings and the wars. We are just tired. Yes, I said it, TIRED!
I downloaded Okadabooks again and navigated through all the yanma yanma to get to these beautiful books. I thereafter discovered literary blogs, those that update (or sometimes don’t) their blogs with stories, a la “HINTS magazine” style.
On this journey I found Lara Daniels, Kiru Taye and a host of many others that we will introduce you to on this blog. I love to share these writers and not hoard them to myself. So, Lady B and I have decided to preach the gospel of these not so known writers to the world. Come along with us.
Books to read this season:
A Heart to Mend – Myne Whitman
A Tailor-made Romance – Oyindamola Affinnih
Wine and Water – Hannah Onoguwe
Love Eventually – Walter Ude & Chisom Ojukwu
Keeping Secrets – Kiru Taye
The Elevator Kiss – Amina Thula
This Crazy Paradise – Aziza Eden Walker
Melodies of Love – Amaka Azie
Always Yours – Somi Ekhasomhi
Lessons in Love – Lara Daniels
Accidentally Knocked Up- The Fertile Chick
Nothing Comes Close – Tolulope Popoola
The Fourth Finger – Sally Kenneth Dadzie
Love’s Persuasion – Ola Awonubi
With Love from Asaba – Sharon Salu
Dirim’s Man – Dumebi Ezar Ehigiator
Gentlemen of the Bar –Umari Ayim
Finding Happiness – Peju Amadi
Scent of Water – Sinmisola Ogunyinka
Literary Everything 
7 responses to “Tis the Season of Love!”
[…] [1] Ankara Press books were the inspiration for starting this blog as we wanted to share their books and other good books which we had read. Read more about our journey: Too Many Books, Too Little Time and Tis the Season of Love. […]
LikeLike
Okay, I love romance and there are hardly many good romance books out there, I haven’t read any of the Ankara Press books but I plan on, once I have the money to purchase all the books.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You don’t need to have the money at once. You can buy one at a time, and before you know it you have the entire collection!!
Please, do let us know what you think about the books once you’ve read them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with Mo. Also, we have reviewed some of the Ankara Press books (check categories> romance). Hopefully, that will guide you on which ones to buy first. *Winks*
LikeLike
[…] Tis the Season of Love! […]
LikeLike
[…] Hi guys, today’s post is a guest post by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu which we read on This is Lagos. We asked for permission to share it on the blog because we were both fans of the Pacesetters series and didn’t know much about its history. I referred to Pacesetters in this post originally published in February, ‘Tis the Season of Love. […]
LikeLike
[…] [i] Ankara Press books were the inspiration for starting this blog as we wanted to share these books and other good books which we had read. Read more about our journey: Too Many Books, Too Little Time and Tis the Season of Love. […]
LikeLike