--- description: Find out why Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'Party of Two' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79aea3d6b8464f76/698a140a011682fc79980065/best-books-2020-Party-of-Two.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 09, 2020 # Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  A chance encounter between a Black lawyer and a white politician becomes a relationship worth rooting for in romance author [Jasmine Guillory](https://time.com/5861861/jasmine-guillory-black-fiction/ "undefined")’s fifth novel. Olivia Monroe has just moved from New York to Los Angeles, where she recently started her own law firm. She’s not looking to date anyone—until she randomly starts chatting about dessert with a cute guy at a hotel bar. The two hit it off, but when Olivia learns that the handsome stranger is actually junior senator Max Powell, she’s apprehensive. The two continue to date, in secret, which Guillory captures with charming scenes filled with funny disguises and romantic getaways. But when they eventually go public, the media starts ripping into Olivia’s past, forcing her to wonder if Max is really worth it. In exploring the tensions of this high-profile interracial relationship, Guillory elevates _Party of Two_ far beyond its rom-com premise. **Buy Now:** _Party of Two_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593100820 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593100824/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0593100824&linkId=b5a499d8f3a3f169dcad26e5555c52d2 "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904346/party-of-two/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904346/party-of-two/"},"headline":"'Party of Two' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-09T20:11:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:44:41.472Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904346/party-of-two/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79aea3d6b8464f76/698a140a011682fc79980065/best-books-2020-Party-of-Two.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79aea3d6b8464f76/698a140a011682fc79980065/best-books-2020-Party-of-Two.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904346/party-of-two/","name":"'Party of Two' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```