CELEBRATING MEN: LOVE WITHOUT BORDERS

  
By Delaney Diamond

How lucky am I that I get to participate in a month-long celebration of men! A big “Thank You” to the Latina Book Club for having me as a guest.

Every day I work on stories about romance, where characters overcome obstacles to live happily ever after with the person they love. My characters are multicultural, reflective of our society. Today, more people embrace their multi-ethnic heritages and cross racial boundaries to find happiness.

So far all the heroes in my interracial novels have been Latino, and they’ve been warmly embraced by readers. Latin culture is particularly appealing to me because I grew up in the Caribbean with Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans.

Meringue, salsa, and reggaeton bear a striking resemblance to soca, reggae-calypso, and reggae. There are similarities in food as well, and the main differences are often limited to the inclusion or exclusion of certain herbs and spices. Plátanos fritos equal fried plantains, empanadas are like beef patties, bacalaitos are saltfish cakes, and rabo encendido are stewed oxtails.

My penchant for writing Latin men includes much more than cultural similarities. Not only do I find Latin men attractive, I find their confidence and the raw machismo they exude to be sexy, and it translates well in romance novels where the ever-popular alpha male still remains at the top of women’s fantasies. I sprinkle in an accent and drop in a few foreign words, and it’s a recipe for seduction no heroine can resist.

My interracial series is called Hot Latin Men. Although there are no big family gatherings in my books (not yet, anyway), I made sure that my heroes exhibit another trait I’ve noted about Latin men: their love of family and the importance of taking care of them.

In the first book, THE ARRANGEMENT, one of the issues I present is the fact that Brazilian millionaire Leonardo da Silva wants to have a child, but his wife doesn’t. They also have a communication problem that’s exacerbated by their individual childhood experiences. As the story opens, the two are estranged, and Leonardo’s wife approaches him for a loan to help her brother out of a financial debacle. He offers to give her the money free and clear if she returns home and resumes her role as his wife for two months.

The second book in the series is FIGHT FOR LOVE about former pro wrestler Rafael Lopez, who shows up to Rebekah’s home unannounced after nine years. Upon arrival, he finds out he has a son, who he’s adamant he will get to know and offer him the kind of life he never had growing up. He takes his son and Rebekah to California for the summer.

SUBORDINATE POSITION is not part of the series, but in this short story Marco Reyes, a Mexican-American, uses his charm to seduce his boss in the office one stormy night.

I have other romance novels with Latin heroes planned. The third book in the Hot Latin Men series involves a reclusive artist and his personal chef, and I’m currently shopping a “sweet” romance about a Puerto Rican contractor whose disarming smile entices the heroine to let her hair down and reopen her heart to love.

Finally, I plan to introduce a few Afro-Latin characters in a current work in progress who will become protagonists in their own stories.

Book trailers and Chapter One of the first two books of the Hot Latin Men series are on my website. I hope you’ll find these Latin men to be as heart-poundingly irresistible as I and my heroines do.♥


Read excerpt from latest book by clicking here.



Delaney Diamond writes sweet and sensual romance novels. Visit her at www.delaneydiamond.com and friend her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DelaneyDiamond.