NPR's Book of the Day A meet-cute followed by real life: 'Party of Two' is about love in the real world
Jan 29, 2026
Jasmine Guillory, a bestselling romance novelist who centers relationships and race, chats about Party of Two. She describes a meet-cute turned long-distance fling and how race shapes characters' worldviews. Conversations about arrest experiences, food as intimacy, and the need for real talk about race in fiction also come up.
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Meet-Cute That Becomes Complex
- Party of Two follows Olivia, a Black lawyer starting a firm, and Max, a white U.S. senator in a long-distance fling.
- Their meet-cute at a hotel bar launches a weekends-only relationship that becomes more complicated.
Race Shapes Worldview And Relationship Dynamics
- Jasmine Guillory highlights that race shapes people's worldviews and life experiences, affecting relationships in tangible ways.
- She shows that Max's privilege and Olivia's struggles create different attitudes toward navigating life together.
Privilege Versus Lived Experience
- Max understands issues academically from his former prosecutor role, but lacks visceral experience of Olivia's arrest as a teen.
- Guillory uses this gap to show well-meaning privilege versus lived experience.
