Read, Swoon, Repeat: Romance

Read. Swoon. Repeat. These contemporary romance novelists take on tropes. In Amy Mass’s Reality Bites, Grace is a scientist devoted to saving frogs from extinction . . . until her funding is cut. If she can fake her way to victory on a reality dating show, she may just save her lab and the frogs—unless she falls in love along the way. Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt combine their pens for a bighearted rom-com! How to Fake a Southern Gentleman reimagines My Fair Lady with two women teaming up to make over a sexy hustler and take down a corrupt businessman. Filled with sparkling wit and swoony love, this session is perfect for anyone who feels underestimated. 

Purchase your book from Brave + Kind, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the festival.

This event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required, and seating is first come, first served. Signing information: Signing time: 11:15 AM

Signing location: DeKalb History Center North Lawn (Ponce de Leon side)

About the Authors

Mayra Cuevas is the award-winning author of picture books and novels for readers of all ages. Her young adult novel Does My Body Offend You? (co-written with Marie Marquardt) was long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mayra is a former award-winning CNN producer, and currently a creative writing professor. She co-founded the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival and its Latinx Storytellers Conference. Mayra keeps her sanity by practicing modern Buddhism and meditation. She splits her time between Atlanta and Puerto Rico. Her new book with coauthor Marie Marquardt is How to Fake a Southern Gentleman, and her new children’s book is We're Going on a Parranda! A Puerto Rican Navidad Story. 

Marie Marquardt is the award-winning author of four YA novels, including The Radius of Us and Does My Body Offend You? (with Mayra Cuevas). Marie has also published two nonfiction books and several articles about Latin American immigration. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her spouse and four kids. You can connect with her on Substack @MarieMarquardt. Her new book with coauthor Mayra Cuevas is How to Fake a Southern Gentleman.

Amy Mass began her career in New York City, writing those “Can you hear me now?” Verizon commercials, before moving to Los Angeles, where she wrote TV comedies for 12 years, including hit shows like Last Man Standing and The Goldbergs. During the pandemic, she moved to rural Georgia, where as a City Girl in a Small Town, she obviously had to write romance novels and rom-com movies. While she’s on her third writing career, she’s still in her first marriage, despite her husband’s questionable sports teams allegiances. She has two rescue mutts and an eight-year-old daughter who is the funniest one in the family by far. When not writing, Amy can be found hanging upside down in aerial yoga, dressing in team costumes for trivia night, or pressuring her family and friends into flash mobs and theme parties. Her new book is Reality Bites.

About the Moderator

Ashley Jordan is a millennial from Atlanta by way of Brooklyn. She attended Spelman College, obtaining a degree in Psychology and a lifelong love for women’s stories. She currently works in public health, but she has been writing since elementary school. In 2025, Ashley released her debut novel, Once Upon a Time in Dollywood, which became a Reese’s Book Club Pick, an instant USA Today Bestseller, and was named one of the best books of the year by Amazon, Audible, Southern Living, and NPR. In 2026, Ashley was named Georgia Author of the Year in the Romance category.