Today I’m excited to welcome contemporary romance author Delaney Diamond to Paranormal Unbound! Delaney writes sexy contemporaries, and I devoured her latest release, The Wrong Man over the holidays–I’m a sucker for a blue collar hero!  Delaney also runs Romance Novels in Color, a blog devoted to celebrating diversity in romance fiction. I asked her to join us and share some of her reviewers’ top paranormal romance picks from 2013. Welcome, Delaney!

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Is it too late to say happy new year? I hope not, so Happy New Year! I’m very excited to be visiting Paranormal Unbound and sharing a selection of the top paranormal romance novels Romance Novels in Color reviewed in 2013. Thank you so much for having me. Before I begin, let me tell you a little bit about Romance Novels in Color (RNIC).

RNIC was created because of conversations in the blogosphere that I and other authors “overheard,” where romance readers and authors said they had a hard time finding novels that feature diversity. It made us realize that we need to get the word out a little bit more about these books. In April of 2013, I created the site and rounded up volunteer reviewers and a few more romance lovers to help me manage it.

Our main goal is to advance the awareness and appreciation of diversity in romance novels. The hero or heroine of all romance novels on our site will be a person of color. At RNIC, you’ll find all romance genres – contemporary to YA and romantic suspense to paranormal. As long as the hero or heroine is a person of color (i.e. African-American, Asian, Native American), we want to hear about it.

Okay, let’s talk books. That’s why I’m here, right? I picked 4 from the best in 2013 to give you an idea of the variety of novels on our site.

Colorblind by Violette Dubrinsky – 5 stars

Genres/subgenres: paranormal romance, historical romance, interracial romance

Blurb:

Leon Arnaud is a French werewolf on a mission in America. With wealth and connections at his disposal, he arrives in Louisiana with one purpose only: to free as many slaves as possible. His mission is upended when he finds not only slaves on his newly acquired plantation, but one of his own kind, a female werewolf. A slave, Penny has never met a white man who does not think her beneath him. Her new master is an anomaly. Not only does he treat her as an equal, but he’s like her: able to change forms, taking that of a wolf whenever he chooses. Can their love survive on a plantation in the slave-holding South?

Reviewer Barbara said: First I need to say that I did not mean to pick this type of book to read.  I have never been a fan of paranormal. Well Violette Dubrinsky has made me eat my words.  Never say never…Colorblind is a tale of love in adversity, of two souls defying the odds to be together. A love story between two wolves that were under some strained circumstances.
Purple Hearts by Jessica Lane – 5 stars

Genres/subgenres: paranormal romance, YA romance, interracial romance

Blurb:

Karina Morris is your typical teenager…you know aside from the fact that, unbeknownst to her, she’s a witch. She’s also in love with her childhood friend, Joshua Brock, though he hasn’t the slightest inkling of her feelings for him. Josh returns from the Army with secrets of his own that threaten to put everything and everyone important to him in jeopardy. When all these secrets spill out, and skeletons begin to rattle in everyone’s closets, the tiny town of Hardstone, Texas will never be the same.

Reviewer Pamela said: I loved this young adult romance by Jessica Lane! You know the writing is great when you can feel the passion between the hero and heroine even though there are no sex scenes! Bravo!

 

One Warlock’s Love Story by Shad O. Walker – 4 stars

Genres/subgenres: paranormal romance, sci-fi fantasy romance, African-American romance

Blurb:

In a world where shape shifters are openly bisexual, vampires have insatiable sex drives, and warlocks emit pheromones, warlock Zander Knight struggles to make sense of his own strict upbringing. Everything in Zander’s world changes the night he decides to break the rules and meet on-line chat buddy Giovanni at supernatural hot spot Club Arcane. Suddenly, he finds himself face to face with a magical conspiracy, a huge family secret, and the most handsome man he’s ever seen.

Reviewer Levon said: I truly loved this book and had a hard time putting it down once Zander got to Atlanta. My only issue was the book did not grab me at the beginning, but as mentioned in the foregoing, once he met up with Giovanni, I was all in. The action was great, the love was amazing, and the drama was spectacular. I suggest that anyone who enjoys a read that is full of suspense, drama, passion, romance, and hot m/m sex to grab this book. You will not be able to put it down.

 

Jax and the Beanstalk Zombies by Avery Flynn – 4 stars

Genres/subgenres: paranormal romance, interracial romance

Blurb:

The treasure hunter…Veronica Kwon is determined to be the only person in control of her destiny.
The ex-fiance…Jax Taylor is a Southern charmer with enough sex appeal to melt the polar ice caps. He disappeared three months before their wedding and swore he’d never cross paths with Veronica again. Brought together again by their dying mentor, who has found three enchanted beans, Veronica and Jax agree to an uneasy partnership. Together they’ll climb a magic beanstalk to the cloud kingdom, but will their destiny be the riches they so desire, the passion they thought dead…or will the undead get them first?

Reviewer Juliette said:  The one thing I love about this book is both points of view (Veronica’s and Jax’s) were given. It was great to see how this quest brought out their unresolved feelings for each other. Kudos to Flynn for throwing in witty interchanges between the main characters. I love a story with humor!

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Delaney Diamond writes sweet and sensual romance novels and is the site manager of Romance Novels in Color, where diversity in romance is celebrated. Her most recent novel, The Wrong Man, is an Amazon bestseller and features a Cuban construction foreman who sweeps a divorced ad executive off her feet. When Delaney’s not reading or writing she’s trying out new recipes or traveling to an interesting locale. Find free reads and the first chapter of all her books at www.delaneydiamond.com.