SORMAG's INSPIRATION - JANUARY: Rochelle Alers

To celebrate our 10 years as loyal supporters of romance novels, I decided to recognize 12 ladies whose books helped inspire SORMAG. These were the writers I looked forward to reading each month. I started SORMAG as a way to support them and their books.

If you’re a loyal reader of SORMAG you know the first woman to grace our website, was the lady who introduced me to African-American romance, Ms. Rochelle Alers.

I can’t began to tell you how her books changed my life and that being friends with her is one of the highlights of my life, which is why I had to kick off this celebration by featuring her as our January Inspiration.

I know there are a lot of fans of Ms. Alers, so please take a moment and share a memory or favorite book with us.



Rochelle Alers was born and raised in Manhattan, New York. After earning degrees in sociology and psychology, she taught pre-school for a time before entering the business world.

She began writing her first novel in 1984, after a decade of reading romance novels. She finished her first manuscript, the novel Hideway, in 1985. After several rejections because her work did not fit the formula of a category romance novel. She has since been published through Odyssey, Arabesque, and Genesis Press, St. Martin's Press, Ballantine Books, , as well as through Silhoutte's Desire line.

Rochelle Alers has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today’s most prolific and popular African American authors of women’s fiction.

With nearly two million copies of her novels in print, Ms. Alers is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award.

She lives in Freeport, New York. Visit her website at http://www.rochellealers.com/.


Sweet Deception


Law professor Myles Eaton knows a lot can happen in ten years. A decade ago, Philadelphia's finest bachelor was a hotshot attorney engaged to a woman he swore he'd love forever—until she left him to marry a powerful politician. The only thing more difficult than forgiving her has been forgetting the searing heat they shared. And just when Myles is sure he's over her, Zabrina Cooper arrives back in his life.

Nothing could stop Zabrina from loving Myles, not even when she was blackmailed into becoming wife—in name only—to another man. And as her secrets are revealed, Zabrina has one summer to convince Myles that beyond their incredible chemistry is a soul-deep bond that never faded.

Thank you Rochelle for helping inspire SORMAG's creation.