Everyone who reads romances knows there are very specific heroine types. For example, in Historical Romance you have your bluestockings, your wallflowers, and your prim and proper society misses who secretly long to rebel (to name a few). In Paranormal Romance the primary women you find are the intrepid human women who’re dragged into the paranormal world by a big, hulking, alpha non-human, or the non-human woman who still ends up going for the alpha male who is established as the stronger, “better” (for lack of a better word) non-human. What you almost never find, even when both hero and heroine are paranormal creatures, that the woman is more supernatural than the man. That thought is what drove my creation of the gargoyles with their Sacred Mothers in my just-released book, Locked in Stone.
In this modern world, where there’s such a push for women to be equal (and in many cases) better than men, why is it that the heroines still end up being the “lesser” (not in a derogatory/weak fashion, just simply they can be out-paranormaled by the heroes – alpha wolf shifter to take charge of the female wolf, who may be alpha in her own right, but still falls secondary to the male wolf) of the pair in a paranormal setting? Is it because we still want the man to be the one who grows more/changes more to fall in love?
Personally, I would love to see a new trope rise up in paranormal, where it’s the paranormal woman who seduces and draws in a human man – maybe converting him, maybe inducting him into the supernatural in some way. But in the end, I want her to remain the more “paranormally” of the hero and heroine. Just as an occasional change of pace. Don’t get me wrong, I still adore the big bad supernatural bringing a human creature into the supernatural world. But it would make a nice change, don’t you think?
I’ve probably seen this attempting, but when I’ve seen it, it’s usually been the man already was paranormal, but didn’t know it and he still ends up being the stronger by the end of the book.
So – let me put the question to you because there’s a large audience getting this and you’ve probably read a lot of books that I haven’t and I’m always looking for great new books to read. Have you seen any books out there where the woman is, from the beginning, the more “other” of the hero/heroine and remains that way through the end of the romance? If so, please, share the name. I wanna look it up!
In the meantime, I hope you’ll check out my attempt to turn the stereotype on its head with my gargoyle Rose Johnson and her half-human/half-angel Sentinel, Cal Levesque in Locked in Stone.
Happy reading!
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LOCKED IN STONE
Her enemy is her only hope…
Rose Johnson’s adoptive mother was murdered, and Rose is next. She may be the last gargoyle in the world—the last being who stands between this world and the evils of Otherworld. In order to keep her existence a continued secret, Rose needs to find the stone that holds her adoptive mother’s soul. Which means enlisting the help of her enemies the Sentinels…
Sentinel Cal Levesque never forgave himself for failing Rose’s family years ago. Seeing Rose alive is shock enough, until the stunningly beautiful gargoyle attacks him upon sight. As they strike an uneasy peace—and unexpected and escalating attraction—Cal knows he’ll have to tell Rose who really betrayed her family. And with Rose’s life in greater danger than ever, Cal has a chance to make up for the past…as long he doesn’t fall in love.
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