Natasha Bishopis the author of the upcoming romance The Art of Loving You, releasing April 14th from Zando/Slow Burn. Here, she shares three books that reflect the themes of grief and healing that run through the story.
Fast by Millie Belizaire: Grief shows up as motion. It is constant, controlled, and deeply intentional. The heroine, Caprice, leans into her independence, using it as both protection and identity. That tension felt familiar to me when writing Dani. InThe Art Of Loving You, her drive is real, but so is the way it shields her from what she hasn’t fully faced. This storytelling reminded me that strength and softness aren’t opposites, and that sometimes love asks us to slow down enough to feel what we have been outrunning.
A Timeless Love by Shanel:There is this idea that grief can connect as much as it separates. There’s something powerful about shared loss acting as a thread. It’s something that quietly pulls two people back into each other’s orbit. That feeling deeply informedThe Art of Loving You. I was drawn to the idea that love isn’t confined by time. That the past doesn’t just haunt—it can guide. The writing captures that sense of emotional familiarity, where love feels both new and already known.
Colliding with Fate by A.E. Valdez: Love is a risk that neither character feels fully ready to take. Grief has shaped them in ways that make vulnerability feel dangerous, but also necessary. That emotional push and pull is at the heart ofThe Art of Loving You. I wanted to explore how healing often comes through connection, not before it. And even in the heavier moments, there’s still space for banter, tension, and softness: the things that make picking up a romance book feel just as exciting as it is transformative.