Author Alyssa Jarrett and her brother Nick Jarrett, who made the cover art for “Love and Paklava.”
MARYANNE CASAS-PEREZ
mcasasperez@fresnobee.com
In an industrial corner of Fresno’s Chinatown, Alyssa Jarrett sat in front of a packed crowd. As she read from her debut novel, “Love and Paklava,” the audience listened with their eyes fixed, eager to learn more about the woman behind the words.
For Jarrett, this moment was years in the making. Born and raised in Sanger, Jarrett’s newest romance novel is a love letter to the Central Valley, particularly the Armenian-American community that shaped her identity. It’s a book filled with local references from the iconic Forestiere Underground Gardens, the delicious tri-tip sandwiches at Doghouse Grill to the Armenian Genocide Memorial at Fresno State.
“It’s really fun because I can tell all these stories around California and like the places that I grew up in and the places that I love the most,” Jarrett said.
A book rooted in family and heritage
Jarrett intentionally wove in pieces of Fresno’s fabric, drawing from childhood and family memories including a fictional bakery.
“My grandfather had a motor shop in Old Armenian Town, and he’d take me to these kinds of places,” she said. “There’s even a Chinese restaurant in the book based on one we always went to.”
The Armenian community in Fresno, which has long been a cornerstone of the city’s identity, plays a central role in the book. Jarrett combines generational trauma, the genocide and cultural preservation into the romance plot. Tori Townsend, the book’s protagonist, is a fierce, witty woman from San Francisco who finds herself in Fresno for a wedding when she meets Vahe Derderian, an Armenian baker. The two characters end up in a playful rivalry, trying to prove whether San Francisco or Fresno is superior.
Fresno readers may be more familiar with the spelling “baklava,” but “paklava” is the traditional Armenian version of the same beloved pastry, just one of many cultural details Jarrett layers into the story.
“What I love about Fresno is I never have to feel like I had to explain myself for my culture because it was always a very tight-knit community,” Jarrett said. “ You have so many people from all walks of life, and the food is great.”
Though it’s a spicy rom-com on the surface, Jarrett doesn’t gloss over the heavier parts of Armenian identity.
“You can’t write about the Armenian diaspora and not mention the genocide. But it doesn’t always have to be this godawful thing,” she said.
She credits fellow Armenian author and friend Taleen Voskuni, who wrote “Sorry, Bro,” for breaking ground by including the genocide in the rom-com genre.
Nostalgia and modern romance
The novel’s setting isn’t just a backdrop but a character in itself. Sharp-eyed locals will spot even more Easter eggs: the “Sanger S” painted on Campbell Mountain, familiar stretches of downtown Fresno and intimate nods to Armenian family life including an off-color endearment from Jarrett’s real-life grandfather that finds its way into a key emotional moment in the book.
“My family will recognize a lot of things,” she said with a laugh. “It was really fun to show a very eclectic family.”
While working as a marketing VP for a startup while self-publishing her romance series, she’s built a loyal following for her books, which blend modern romance with humor, identity and culture.
She loves satire and romance. Her next project is a Christmas novella set to publish in November. The final installment in the “Glam Fam” series will be released in 2026, finally introducing readers to the elusive billionaire Alex, whose story has been building behind the scenes.
“Love and Paklava” was published in Spring 2025 by Fresno-area author Alyssa Jarrett. MARYANNE CASAS-PEREZ mcasasperez@fresnobee.com
From Sanger to self-publishing
Graduating from Sanger High in 2007 before heading to UC Santa Cruz for her literature degree, she later earned her master’s in mass communication and journalism at Fresno State.
“So I started off as a journalist and then I made the pivot into marketing after grad school and I moved to the Bay Area, to take my first marketing job in the tech industry,” said Jarrett.
She initially pursued traditional publishing, then self-published the “Glam Fam” series. Jarrett said self-publishing has empowered her to tell stories on her own terms.
“My brother is the cover designer and he lives in Fresno,” she said. “ So I get to build my own community now, and that’s really fun that I don’t have to wait for a gatekeeper to tell me what to do.”
Her next project is a Christmas novella set to publish in November. The final installment in the “Glam Fam” series will be released in 2026, finally introducing readers to the elusive billionaire Alex, whose story has been building behind the scenes.
Maryanne Casas-Perez is a summer news intern at the Fresno Bee. She is in her last year studying journalism at Cal Poly Humboldt. Maryanne grew up Orange County and Tijuana, MX and is a native Spanish speaker.
