Book Title: LOVE ON THE SHELF
Character Name: Parker Black
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
I grew up with a single mom who is the best. I also have an awesome uncle who’s been my father figure for years. A former Superbowl winner, he often guests on my radio sports talk show. He also, like my mom, is a writer and he’s not all that impressed by the book I’ve written. Or the new segment I’ve added to my show. Hey, just trying to save men from the bad influence of romance novels. Which my mom happens to write. And yes, that’s a little awkward.
What was your greatest talent?
I can talk, that’s for sure. Before I blew out my shoulder I had a promising career in professional baseball ahead of me. I think I did a pretty good job of reinventing myself.
Significant other?
No one now. I’d just bought the ring and was ready to propose when I found out woman number one was cheating on me. Did I learn from that? No, I fell a second time. Turns out that woman had issues, and after we broke up she wrote a romance novel and put me in it as the villain. That has nothing to do with my current stance. Really.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
Maybe we shouldn’t go there. At the moment, it’s a sore subject.
Where do you live?
I live in Seattle. Got a great condo in West Seattle. A lot of guys would like to be me, with no attachments, nobody turning their life upside down.
Do you have any enemies?
Only half the women in America, who don’t like the advice I’m giving to their men these days on my show.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I’m in a good place. No stress, no problems. And, as my mother would say, no love. I think she’s worried about me, but I’m fine, honest. Well, at least I was until I met Alice Willoughby.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
To have children you need someone to have them with. Maybe I need to get a dog.
What do you do for a living?
Some might say I’m now a shock jock. I host a sports talk show, and I prefer “radio personality.”
Greatest disappointment?
Love. The way I’ve been burned it’s no wonder I feel the way I feel.
Greatest source of joy?
My career. Well, at least it was before things got messy. Now I’ve got PR problems that are sucking the joy out of my job. How did I get in this mess? Oh, yeah, that. I don’t want to talk about it.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
Sports, all the way. If there’s not a game to watch, there’s always a great new sports movie calling my name.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I know it sounds conceited but honestly, I didn’t think I had any… until Alice Willoughby and her band of romantics came along. I’m seeing myself in a new light and I don’t like what I see.
What keeps you awake at night?
Wondering how I’m going to get out of the tangled web I’ve woven! Any man who marches into a battle of the sexes deserves what he gets.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
Oh, man. In short, I think I’m having an identity crisis. It all started with an on-air debate with Alice Willoughby, who owns this romance bookstore, HEA Books. I issued a challenge and she and her mom accepted it. Things got out of hand after that and somehow I found myself in the middle of a battle of the sexes with the woman. Next thing I knew, I was doing time working in her romance bookstore while she was hosting my radio show. What a mess! These women have been enjoying teaching me a lesson or two about those romance novels I’ve been dissing and about love.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
Yes! Alice. I’ve fallen for her and I know she’s fallen for me. Getting together should be easy, right? Wrong.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
Alice and I just reached a détente in our culture war but there’s that book I wrote. It’s a snarky diatribe, encouraging men to dump their troublesome women. That deal on top of the trouble I started with my show and, umm, events that followed (that we won’t go into right now), well, it’s hard to convince her that I’m a changed man. You’d think my mom, the romance writer, would have some suggestions for how to fix this but she’s not helping. I’m supposed to figure this all out on my own. I’ve got trouble! Mom likes to say that love always wins. I hope she’s right because I could sure use a win right now.
The battle lines are drawn—between a romance-loving bookseller and the shock jock determined to tear happily-ever-afters apart.
Alice Willoughby and her mom run HEA Books, a cozy shop devoted to love stories and the people who crave them. Alice is great at matching customers with their perfect happily-ever-after…she just can’t seem to find her own.
Enter Parker Black, a disillusioned radio host who’s reinvented himself as a romance-bashing shock jock. Bitter from his breakup with a romance author who turned love into a four-letter word, Parker takes aim at the entire genre—and his on-air rants start stirring up trouble for Alice’s loyal customers and their partners. He’s arrogant, aggravating, and absolutely not book-boyfriend material.
Parker’s crusade leads to spirited debates and bookstore protests, but when unexpected sparks fly between the two of them Alice begins to wonder if her favorite trope—enemies to lovers—might actually be playing out in real life. Parker may claim romance is a lie…but is he protesting a little too much?
With sharp wit and plenty of charm, USA Today bestselling author Sheila Roberts delivers a modern battle of the sexes where the biggest question is simple:
Are romance novels ruining love—or rewriting it?
Women's Fiction Contemporary | Romance [ MIRA, On Sale: May 26, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780778305828 / eISBN: 9780369774873 ]
Read Sheila for a Good Time
USA Today and Publishers Weekly best-selling author Sheila Roberts has written over fifty books under various names, ranging from romance and women’s fiction to self-improvement. Over three million of her novels have been sold and that number continues to climb. Her humor and heart have won her a legion of fans and her novels have been turned into movies for the Lifetime, Hallmark, and Great American Family channels. Sheila is also a popular speaker, and has been featured at women’s retreats, writers’ conferences, and banquets. When she’s not out dancing with her husband or hanging out at the beach with friends, she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women’s hearts: family, friends and chocolate.
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