Sunday, July 7, 2013

Multicultural and interracial romances...


I never really thought about it when I was writing these stories, but each one of these has a non-white hero. A hero of "color". To me, the heroes are simply heroes...sexy men with enough alpha appeal to wipe out any woman's resistance. In Never Tempt Fate, the hero is Hispanic (or as many reviewers say, "Latin/Latino). Tonio is one of my special men...hot and sexy and vulnerable. But his vulnerability makes him stronger.


My identical twins in Double Your Pleasure are Native American. Hot, delicious, and total opposites in personality, if not in looks. Hard-headed but soft hearted. They share cars, clothes, an apartment, and sometimes, women. Jonathan and Jason are modern big city guys. But they never forget their roots.


In Nothing but Sex, the hero, Mike Running Elk is a down-to-earth Native American. Strong and loving, and in love with an older woman who was once married to a man with looks and charisma...something Mike doesn't believe he has. But those who have read this book know that this man has more than enough of both to sink a battle cruiser.


The hero of My Sexy Sensei is Korean-American.  A man with a mission. And that mission is to overcome the resistance of one hot female black belt who thinks that work and sex don't go hand-in-hand. But James Rhee can't afford to let her off the hook, because she's the first woman in a very long time who has exactly the combination of attributes he wants...


Azrael Thunder Horse is one hard-headed, powerful man who firmly believes that Native Americans should stick with Native Americans. In Woman on Fire, our hot, sexy hero tries his damnedest to fire the new teacher he just hired...because she isn't a "real" Indian. But he can't seem to get the sexy red-head out of his thoughts...and he sure as hell can't keep himself out of her bed.

Each one of my "men of color" has very real issues...issues that helped make him what he is.  But I didn't write my stories with the color of his skin in mind...rather his cultural difference that builds conflict and tension in the story. But I am learning that there are many readers and reviewers out there who buy these books because they love romances between interracial or intercultural couples.

Never thought about that until my books began to show up on review sites that specifically review such books. I am learning as much from my readers as they are learning from me. And I love it!

My latest wip is about a Native American hero who is also a shapeshifter...now there's a combination of cultural conflicts if ever there was one. Again, I never thought about that while writing. But if my editor likes it enough to contract it, that will bring my special heroes to a total of seven. And it will be my first Native American heroine...

What do you think about interracial/intercultural stories? Any thoughts?

Fran Lee

17 comments:

  1. I love interracial stories. I've been considering my second book in the Bag of Tricks series with a Latino lover. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you, sweetie! It certainly broadens your horizons when you have to do major research to flesh those characters out. You are SO good at what you do...I love your books!

      Delete
  2. Love interracial stories. I don't go looking for them specifically but I do notice that the things that shape the men add a lot of depth to the story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, love! You have reviewed a couple of my books, and I love your reviews. Thanks so much!

      Delete
  3. I love culture contrast and beautiful dark men! Count me in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also love men who turn furry from time to time...now there's a definite cultural conflict...

      Delete
  4. One Brown girl's perspective - I have read romances seems like forever. Yeah, my mom got me started ;-} In the good old days it was Harlequin, then Devine, Lindsay, Garwood, Woodiwiss, McNaught, etc. I love/d them all. But the heroes and heroines were always non-brown/black. It was a wonderful thing when I started finding interracial romances. I'm from a multi-racial background and I love reading about people who 'look' like me and I think it's wonderful that authors from all backgrounds feel comfortable enough to 'broaden their horizons.' Looks like I'm not the only one ;-}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My recently subbed wip has both hero and heroine who are non anglo. I'm going to be doing more of these.

      Delete
  5. I'm currently writing the 8th book in my Arbor U series, titled Love Is Color Blind, and features a young African-American and her new love, who is bi-racial. I tried to have her paired with a new character, but there wasn't any chemistry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're all on a roll here! Can't wait to read it!

      Delete
  6. Cris and I have the same take on your books, luv. I love how you handle the cultural differences between your characters and you write some of the hottest Alpha males I've ever read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, sweetie! It's truly wonderful to know that you enjoy my guys. I appreciate that!

      Delete
  7. Love inter-cultural stories, especially when the hero is a hulk-plus. And all yours are!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jean! One of the most complimentary things about getting comments from wonderful authors like Jean Hart Stewart is that they truly know what they are talking about. Thanks so much!

      Delete
  8. Hence the "multicultural". :) I'm thrilled that an author like you likes to read my books. I'll take that as a major compliment!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cultural differences add another layer of emotional depth to the romantic relationships.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment...it helps me know that people really do read my blog posts. If you read back through my prior posts, you will notice that I get very few comments. :)