Brighter Than the Sun
by Raveena Raju
BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN might just be the world’s first solarpunk romcom. This whimsical rivals-to-lovers workplace romance is set in a speculative version of San Francisco, where sustainable urban design illustrates real pockets of hope in our warming world.
After three years as a corporate cog, Ahana Desari finally has her chance to matter: she’s selected to lead her company’s $11 million pitch to build California’s new life-saving wildfire notification system. The catch? She’s forced to team up with Samuel Sterling, the uptight coworker who once dismissed her as “frivolous and destructive,” putting words to her greatest insecurities.
To win the contract, Ahana and Sam must navigate their clashing personalities as they journey through Northern California on high-speed rail, metrocables, and electric rickshaws. When their boss botches the timeline, their month-long project becomes a one-week sprint. While Ahana confronts her spiraling climate anxiety, Sam must make sense of the religious trauma that complicates his growing desire for Ahana. Will they each be brave enough to prioritize their values—and their budding relationship—over the “safe” and predictable paths laid out for them?
Heat level: On a spice-level scale of 1 to 5, this would rank: 4 [Multiple sex scenes; lots of chemistry play]
Romance author Raveena Raju is obsessed with happily ever afters. Because there are no happy endings on a dead planet, Raveena writes love stories set in solarpunk realities where we take care of each other, our communities, and our earth—we can’t step into the future we deserve without imagining it first. Her work as an AAPI immigrant founder examining power structures through narrative change has been profiled by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Grist 50 list, and more. When she’s not reading, writing, or ranting about dystopia, you can find her building the world’s most joyful community spaces for climate action as the founder of Soapbox Project. She is based in Seattle. Learn more about Raveena here!
if you like this, check out...
if you like this, check out...
Contemporary romance where BIPOC professionals find love, just as they are.
In this interconnected collection of modern sapphic stories, the main characters are in the business of building a better world!
An erotic and meditative novel, at once an unconventional sapphic love story and a poetic ode to the wilderness.
Climate anxiety or nature horror? Another beautiful, awful world to enjoy!