Fans of Interracial Romance discussion

I realized that I love IR where the hero is a Alpha/Knight in Shining Armor. This is not to say that I want the female lead to be weak I want her to be strong also I think that you can have characters that have weaknesses and yet still be strong. What are some of your favorite books with these characteristics?

LOL I was just replying about this book but IMO, from what I have read so far it has to be the Medlov men.


The Medlove Crime Family Series starting with Dmitry's Clost


Both Dmitry and Anatoly Medlov are Alphas. I think there should be another book on Anatoly though because he still that last book didn't do him enough justice.

I love alpha heroes but they have to be well-written, multi-dimensional characters, not oversexed, abusive asshats. Unfortunately, most alpha males being penned today are just bad and if I met them in real life I'd send them packing. Do not get me started on the weak-willed doormat heroines they tend to get paired with--another reason why I can't stomach the BDB's.

Some of the best alpha males in my opinion (and this list is not comprehensive, just the ones I can think of right off the top of my head) are: Pussycat Death Squad, Go Fetch!, Divine Party, Happily Even After, Eternally I Do, Dmitry's Closet (loved Dmitry, wanted to slap some sense into Royal), Her Black Knight and Corruption.

Trolling Nights is what came to mind for me. Tim is a confident alpha, but he's also very caring and lovable. He's my kind of alpha.

I love Dmitry, no question, but in real life, I definitely would choose a Tim over a Dmitry.

Haha yeah I'm reading Trolling Nightsright now and Tim is definitely an Alpha.

I think in real life Tim is more realistic, but Dmitry is an extreme of both. The ultimate Alpha but very very loving.

Definitely !

I liked the heroes in

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "I love alpha heroes but they have to be well-written, multi-dimensional characters, not oversexed, abusive asshats. Unfortunately, most alpha males being penned today are just bad and if I met the..."

I agree and it helps that those writers are also talented but I will add Suzanne Brockmann's Sam Starret to the list.

I remember Sam Starret. Does Suzanne have any other IR couples books?

Channasl wrote: "I realized that I love IR where the hero is a Alpha/Knight in Shining Armor. This is not to say that I want the female lead to be weak I want her to be strong also I think that you can have charact..."

I don't believe my heroes have to be one or the other so when I write my books the heroes are Alpha/Omega. They are Omegas who become Alpha when the need calls for it. They don't go around controlling and bullying everyone, but they don't take no crap either. I call my men Alphas with patience. So I honestly don't understand why writers or readers feel they need to settle or make a choice. No one want their man to be strong or weak all the time. Heck, no woman wants to be taken care or wear the breeches all the time. So my heroines also tend to be Omega/Alphas unless their evolving is part of the storyline. I like mentally flawed women and men who have had painful past. So most of my books deal with "healing" while growing closer and solving issues going on around them beyond their control.

Its hard to separate "alpha" from just manly. When I hear "Alpha", it kind of evokes...take charge with a level of disregard for anybody else's preferences LOL. Alpha's assume they know whats best for you and will do it no matter how much you demure, complain or fight then on it in general. They are confident that even if you're mad, the ends justify the means (re: if its to keep you safe, exact revenge, assert authority/dominance, etc). Tim wasn't an alpha in that regard. He wouldn't blatantly disregard Bevin's wishes unless there was absolutely no help for it. He was just a confident, strong man. So I guess it depends on how you define Alpha.

Savannah wrote: "Its hard to separate "alpha" from just manly. When I hear "Alpha", it kind of evokes...take charge with a level of disregard for anybody else's preferences LOL. Alpha's assume they know whats best ..."

No, no I think Bevin killed any Alpha in Tim. By the end of the book he was all Beta.

Tim was set up as an Alpha....navy man....loner...very possessive. Trying to make Bevin feel better all the time didn't give him a chance to show his true Alpha.

In my opinion, there are two kinds of Alphas....the ones from the bodice rippers romance novels and the ones that are tortured and very commanding/possessive, yet still know how to love their woman.

Ren wrote:
Tim was set up as an Alpha....navy man....loner...very possessive. Trying to make Bevin feel better all the time didn't give him a chance to show his true Alpha.


You are so very right. Maybe thats what ultimately made me rebel against liking her fully. He spent so much time trying to boost her that everything else about the relationship took a backseat. Yes..thats it exactly. Thanks for figuring out what was in my head cuz its been driving me NUTS! LOL!

I wish she had written ways for Tim to show his sensitivity and devotion without making it all about Bevin's insecurities and constant need for reassurance. That turned me off.

My List:
This was a hard list to create, when it comes to the top Alpha’s and Heroine's. So I listed my top Alpha’s and Heroine's by Series rather than individual stories.

Mob Stories: Top 5

Alpha and Heroine:
1. Alfonzo Diaz: Selange Diaz: (The Alfonzo Series by Frank, S.W)
2. Dmitry’s Closet: Royal Stone: (Medlov Crime Family by Latrivia S. Nelson)
3. Giovanni Battaglia: Mira Ellison: (Battaglia Mafia series by Sienna Mynx)
4. Reno Gabrini: Trina Gabrini: (Mob Boss by Mallory Monroe)
5. Diego Andes: Marcella Garcia (Mi Carino Series by Sienna Mynx)

Contemporary Top 5

1.Shawn McPherson: Sylvia Payne: (Bomaw Series by Mercedes Keyes)
2.Dutch Harbor : Regina Lansing : (DUTCH AND GINA by MALLORY Monroe)
3.Dr. Saint Aknaten: Xenia Donnellson: (The Naughty Sins of a Saint by Tiana Laveen)
4.Many Alpha’s and heroine's: (Teaching Between Midnight and Dawn Alexandria Infante)
5.Many Alpha’s and heroine’s: (50 Loving States Series by Theodora Taylor)

I really wanted to read the Alfonzo Series but then I read the reviews about what the heroine did and just reading it made me dislike and not want the heartache from reading it.

Diego Andres.....after a while I couldn't stand him and I think it was because of Marcella.

The Hero from Whatever He Wants James is an Alpha. He treated Noelle so bad and didn't care what anyone else had to say about. He told her to get in bed....she had to get in bed. He told her you can't have company....No company for her. Just because we were talking about it the heroine in this book wore weave at some point. In the end, James had to work to get her back and no doubt he will never think about treating her like he did before.

Anyway, I liked that book because the both the hero and heroine matured and learned a lot from their relationship.

Alfonzo Series has a few stories giong on at the same time that eventually coming together with a bang. If I never read any of the author work, I will read some of the reviews. I recommended these series because the authors have proven to me they are true artist, when it comes to their writing abilities. I think certain genres like a Mob storyline or a Historial are harder to write, because of the research in involved.

I have read “Whatever He Wants” and James was truly an arrogant Alpha, in which I wanted to slap the hell out of.

With all due respect, being an alpha doesn't just have to be negative, overbearing traits. Those are uber-alphas, aka alpholes. An alpha is a man who is take charge and a leader who watches out for others. He's confident and a doer.

I think the jerky alphas tend to stand out and negatively stereotype who alphas are. I used to think I wasn't a fan of alphas as much because of the negatives traits that seem to proliferate alphas in romance fiction, but that's just the dark side of being an alpha.

That's like saying a beta is weak and a cry-baby when you can be a perfectly strong beta. The beta is just a thoughtful, introspective, and emotionally demonstrative type of hero than the alpha in general.

Very true, not all Alpha are negative and uncaring. I do think some Beta also can be introspective and turn into an Alpha when the situation calls for it. So the question I may ask, do we see more Alpha’s than Betas in I/R romances?

Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "With all due respect, being an alpha doesn't just have to be negative, overbearing traits. Those are uber-alphas, aka alpholes. An alpha is a man who is take charge and a leader who watches out fo..."

Agreed. I honestly consider a true alpha a man who is just an assertive, take charge, strongly masculine lead. The other ones are just jackasses. LOL I think the line gets blurred with writers sometimes.

Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "With all due respect, being an alpha doesn't just have to be negative, overbearing traits. Those are uber-alphas, aka alpholes. An alpha is a man who is take charge and a leader who watches out fo..."

once again I agree an alpha is a natural leader and a leader takes care of their people, he doesn't disregard others feelings or opinions he weighs the options and makes the right choice not just for himself but for everyone.

The way some alphas are being written they are just jerks and that is doing a disservice to what an alpha male should be, same with alpha females who are written to be extremely bitchy.

A VERY high percentage of Alpha's are sociopathic. That can add a whole new dimension to a story, particularly a thriller. In romance it can be used in Dom/Domme scenes.

Sociopaths have no conscience, no sense of guilt, and feel remorse only when something does not turn out to their advantage.

It is estimated that 1 in 25 is a sociopath in the US in the general population. It could be as high as 50% in the Alpha community.

Deni wrote: "It is estimated that 1 in 25 is a sociopath in the US in the general population. It could be as high as 50% in the Alpha community. "

Can you cite scientific studies that support this theory as to the high rate in the Alpha community?

DSM-5 is being dissed by the left brained psychiatric community, possibly because the right brained segment of that profession find it more lucrative to prolong analysis. However there are newer studies in which functional MRIs are being utilized to study the different brain activity patterns in an attempt to further understand the phenomenon. Most studies currently do not venture outside the US, or at least I have not been able to find English recaps of such studies.

However, let me say that trying to combine the words "scientific" and "psychoanalysis" in the same sentence is problematic.

The best new book I have found is "Pictures of the Mind" by Fitzgerald. A great basic book on sociopaths is "The Sociopath Next Door" by Stout. However there are a number of articles published about the fact that the higher you go up the ladder of power, the more likely a person is to be sociopathic. For instance, estimates are that at the Federal congressional level, 92% are sociopathic. So, once psychiatry catches up with reality, I suspect, based on my own observations (having been married to a sociopath, and brutalized by another) the percentage of sociopaths at the upper levels of any organization will be at least 50%.

Seriously I've often wondered if authors who write asshat alpha males would want such a man dating or marrying their daughters, LOL. Or even would they want to be married to a jerk like that. I get that romance is fantasy, but it's hard for me to enjoy the fantasy when the hero makes me want to castrate him.

One thing I think most romance authors forget when pairing uber-alpha males with weak females is he can't be there all the time. For instance since we've been talking about Dmitry and Royal, he can't be there to protect her 24-7, so she needed to be more self-sufficient. Her naivete does not protect her.

I really liked the idea you expressed about the story having a healing.

Shiree wrote: "Channasl wrote: "I realized that I love IR where the hero is a Alpha/Knight in Shining Armor. This is not to say that I want the female lead to be weak I want her to be strong also I think that you..."

Sam Starrett was strong and he had flaws too. That's what I like to see in characters.

Sam is fantastic. His warts make him even more endearing.

Who is the author in yhe knight and shining armor book you all are discussing?

Sam Starrett not only a hero but sexy, smart, honorable and damn near irresistible. Even his flaws are endearing and he loves his woman to the bone. What I love is his woman is an alpha also, the perfect alpha couple. She doesn't lose her independence or her voice around him.

Connie wrote: "Who is the author in yhe knight and shining armor book you all are discussing?"

Suzanne Brockmann. It's her Troubleshooters series which starts with

The Unsung Hero. Sam is a secondary character whose story grows over the series. His book is Gone Too Far.

Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "Connie wrote: "Who is the author in yhe knight and shining armor book you all are discussing?"

Suzanne Brockmann. It's her Troubleshooters series which starts with

The Unsung Hero. Sam is a sec...

Thank you! I felt left out of the conversation. Not having any clue as who you all were referring to. :)

YW. Sorry about that!

I'll be honest. It's hard for me to like an Alpha hero. Most of the ones that I've read weren't that good IMO. So, I really, really don't like them. I prefer it if they weren't really an Alpha hero but maybe had a few Alpha moments here and there I guess. I don't know.

Sad to say, there are very few well-written alpha male characters these days. For the most part, they've ceased being multifaceted characters and have simply become CARICATURES. They've become a paint-by-numbers default or a recipe.

I date beta, and fantasize about alpha. I'm kind of a controlling person that tends to run people. The idea of the alpha guy who can make even me behave is irresistible. I've had this in real life before with disastrous results. Now I'm pretty content to live it in my books. I seem to perversely gravitate to the "worst" offenders in the genre.

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "Sad to say, there are very few well-written alpha male characters these days. For the most part, they've ceased being multifaceted characters and have simply become CARICATURES. They've become a pa..."

Yeah, it's really hard for me to like a novel sometimes because of that. :/

I've dated both, and both do work for the different facets of my personality. However, it is the few secure alphas I've been with who are comfortable enough with themselves who got me. Mainly the betas (whom I've discovered can be far more dangerous than any alpha when those they love are threatened) have been amazing men. They're not pushovers; they just don't feel the need to "prove" their masculinity.

I think we all feel like this when reading our books

http://youtu.be/WrW0kySM6CE