Exoticised Ethnicities, take #23498

[oyceter]

I forgot to post these while I was in Michigan! Anyway, we found these in the Harlequin/serial romance rack at Borders.

In honor of rachelmanija and my Exoticised Ethnicities romance titles:

(these are all real and published, by the way)

The Spanish Prince's Virgin Bride
The Greek Tycoon's Virgin Night (his, or hers? Since only men are allowed to be Exotic Ethnicities, particularly rich ones)
The Mediterranean Billionaire's Secret Baby

I note that the list of acceptable ethnicities has expanded from Spanish, Italian, Greek and Sheikh (don't ask) to: Spanish, Italian, Greek, Sheikh, and Mediterranean.

But the best one of all was:

Willingly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded

Comments

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember reading quite a few about rich French guys.

In the historicals, of course, there were loads of Native Americans and Scots (something about being able to paint them in a loincloth/kilt on the cover, I imagine).

[oyceter]

OMG. The Native American romances are so bad! And it seems like now the Scots and the French are not brown enough to be exotic, at least not for this line. Although I could swear that Harlequin has a separate line for Scots. Possibly it is the actual historical romance line.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any romance novels since high school, so I am sadly behind the times. What always amused me about the Native American ones was that he was inevitably a halfbreed, or sometimes just a white boy who'd been raised by Indians, so it was like their thinking was to have it exotic enough to be exciting...but not too much!

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

LOL Apparently I should have read down further to see the convo about shieks.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

...The hero must be a half-breed, half white and half Indian, preferably
from a horse culture. He should often weep alone. That is mandatory...

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

No one knows his halfbreed pain!

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Except for all the white people who are channeling their own past lives as tragic halfbreeds, preferably from a horse culture!

(non-horse-culture, non-tragic halfbreed here, LAUGHED SO HARD I HURT MYSELF the first time I read that poem.)