In April 2015, working from an idea she had sketched out in the Notes app of her phone, she said she spent every spare moment getting words on the page. She joined an online writers’ challenge that prompts fledgling novelists to commit to writing 50,000 words in one month. When she began to read contemporary romances, including “A Bollywood Affair” by Sonali Dev, she saw her future, she said. Guillory said she worried that, as a former history major, she would get bogged down in research if she tried to write such a book herself. In 2013, while dealing with health issues, she binged on historical romance novels, including Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” series. Guillory clerked for a federal judge and worked in a high-paying job at a big law firm before moving on to legal aid and nonprofit work.

After graduating from Stanford University Law School, Ms. “If you knew Jasmine, you knew she was going to become a lawyer,” said Nicole Clouse, a longtime friend from their days as students at Wellesley College. While growing up in California, she thought her own H.E.A. When you’re one of a handful of Black people, these are the small moments that you have.” Guillory said, “because I’ve had enough of those conversations myself, working at a law firm and in plenty of other situations.

“I know these conversations would happen,” Ms. When Margot is training employees to lead tours of the winery, for instance, she cautions them to anticipate certain frequently asked questions from visitors, including “‘So, you guys are … Black, and you own a winery?’” And when Luke tells Margot why he stopped working at a tech company, he says, “Mostly, I was tired of being one of the only Black people in the whole place.” Some of the dialogue reflects the author’s experiences, Ms.

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