Bolu Babalola isn’t done with Kiki Banjo and Malakai Korede just yet.
The author is writing a sequel to her romance novel, Honey & Spice, Entertainment Weekly reports. Sun Under Skin is scheduled for publication in 2024.
Babalola’s Honey & Spice, published two weeks ago by Morrow/HarperCollins, got an instant sales boost after Reese Witherspoon selected it as the July pick for her book club. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called it a “shining romance debut” and “smooth, sophisticated, and sexy.”
The novel follows Kiki, a Black British woman who hosts a university radio show and ends up falling for Malakai, an attractive film student who’s working on a romance documentary.
Sun Under Skin will take place years after the previous novel and will see Kiki and Malakai reconnect when Kiki is planning her best friend’s wedding.
“I think second-chance romance is so uniquely beautiful, though, because it takes a lot of courage and belief to go back to a place and hope it works out again,” Babalola told EW. “It takes immense vulnerability, but also faith—that’s at the core of love generally, and I think second-chance romance really hones in on that.”
Babalola shared the news of Sun Under Skin on Twitter, writing, “Not me announcing a novel called SUN UNDER SKIN on the hottest day of the year in the U.K. Am I the drama?”
Not me announcing a novel called SUN UNDER SKIN on the hottest day of the year in the U.K. Am I the drama?
— Bolu Babalola ???????? (@BeeBabs) July 19, 2022
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
