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General IR Book Discussion > Ugh. Is it just me??

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message 1: by Erin (new)

Erin Daniels | 88 comments Okay.
So I love western/cowboy romances right? If it's IR on top of that I'm ecstatic ha ha. Anyhoo I was reading and enjoying a novella in which the heroine and her best friend go to a bar with some friends. The best friend, who is black, has too much to drink and is strong-armed by a drunk a**hole who won't take no for an answer. The heroine (white) is grateful when her ex-flame (white) rescues the black best friend and saves the day. Yayyy right?

Okay the following day the ex shows up to talk to the heroine. He spots the best friend outside and tells the heroine "You need to keep a leash on her."

*insert record scratch sound*

What?? Call me sensitive but it is for this very reason that I choose to write romances about black women. I can't control what other authors choose to do but I can do my part to tell our stories with as much dignity and creativity as I possibly can.

Ugh. I couldn't finish the book.


message 2: by Wendy (new)

Wendy W | 20 comments I have rolled my eyes at many things authors have written. But I might have to respectfully contact this author.


message 3: by Erin (new)

Erin Daniels | 88 comments Wendy wrote: "I have rolled my eyes at many things authors have written. But I might have to respectfully contact this author."

Right?! I tried her Goodreads and Amazon pages but no contact info. I'm going to keep trying.


message 4: by Cassie (new)

Cassie (boocluvr) | 6 comments Hi IR Fans!

Is it just me, or is it hard to find an IR book on kindle unlimited that doesn’t have a heroine that comes from a poor background or has a baby daddy or has a rough upbringing? While I think it’s important to have diverse stories and experiences maybe it’s the kindle algorithm bringing these stories to light more than others? Anyone have any suggestions of IR reads on KU?


message 5: by kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude (last edited May 29, 2019 07:36PM) (new)

kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 124 comments Erin wrote: "Okay.
So I love western/cowboy romances right? If it's IR on top of that I'm ecstatic ha ha. Anyhoo I was reading and enjoying a novella in which the heroine and her best friend go to a bar with so..."


Ahh, the ever popular white savior trope. You gotta love it (not).

And the "You need to keep a leash on her." line. Very insensitive at the very the least. However, without negating the impact of what was said, quite often in my younger and wilder clubbing days, one (white) friend and I (biracial) were often told something quite similar in really condescending ways (usually by a man) about our third (white) friend who was always the wildest one of our three.


Cassie wrote: "Hi IR Fans!

Is it just me, or is it hard to find an IR book on kindle unlimited that doesn’t have a heroine that comes from a poor background or has a baby daddy or has a rough upbringing? While ..."


TBH I just ignore books with those kinds of titles, on Kindle and anywhere else. It doesn't weed out all of them, but 98% guaranteed if the title is questionable, the content will be eye rolling. Sorry no recs off the top of my head.


message 6: by Emotonal (new)

Emotonal Reads | 164 comments No Erin,it's not just you.
There are many negative representation of black women in alot of these stories that I am sick of and that is definitely one of them.


message 7: by J.J. (new)

J.J. Murray (johnjmurray) | 11 comments Cassie wrote: "Hi IR Fans!

Is it just me, or is it hard to find an IR book on kindle unlimited that doesn’t have a heroine that comes from a poor background or has a baby daddy or has a rough upbringing? While ..."


All of my heroines are educated, professional, and intelligent, none of them have a baby daddy, and none of them are poor or had a rough upbringing. And sometimes they even "save" the white man. I wonder if there's a trope for that ... Most are available on Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com/J.-J.-Murray/e...


message 8: by Emotonal (new)

Emotonal Reads | 164 comments Hello J.J., I can definately attest to that, that's one thing i do love about your books. I think I have them all, though I haven't read them all yet, ah.. so many books so little time.

I would also like to thank you for writing heroine I can at least respect, meaning, she thinks with her head, I'm not given a step by step description in minute detail in the smuttiest way possible of a sex act, which I refuse to call making love, because from the first time the leads of the story set eyes on each other the mind and heart seems to close down and the body takes over. So .... thanks for not writing that, I can actually recommend your books to my friends and family. :)

I have the utmost respect for all your heroines, though there is one book you wrote that broke my heart when you killed a male character, I almost gave up on your books.


message 9: by kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude (last edited May 30, 2019 06:22PM) (new)

kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 124 comments J.J. wrote: "All of my heroines are educated, professional, and intelligent, none of them have a baby daddy, and none of them are poor or had a rough upbringing. And sometimes they even "save" the white man. I wonder if there's a trope for that ... Most are available on Kindle Unlimited. ..."

Hahaha. One of yours that I read and loved ad me hollering almost the whole way through was Lucky by J.J. Murray !!!


message 10: by J.J. (new)

J.J. Murray (johnjmurray) | 11 comments Emotonal wrote: "Hello J.J., I can definately attest to that, that's one thing i do love about your books. I think I have them all, though I haven't read them all yet, ah.. so many books so little time.

I'm glad you didn't give up on me. :~) ... And I haven't "killed" anyone since--nor will I. I had a reason to do it (over twenty years ago!), but not many people want to know the reason. "You killed Giovanni! How dare you!" No amount of explanation can bring him back, but the IDEA of him still lives, doesn't it? (



message 11: by J.J. (new)

J.J. Murray (johnjmurray) | 11 comments kittykat wrote: "J.J. wrote: "All of my heroines are educated, professional, and intelligent, none of them have a baby daddy, and none of them are poor or had a rough upbringing. And sometimes they even "save" the ..."

Hollering is good. I holler as I write, too. Life is too funny sometimes not to holler. I hope to keep you hollering.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 124 comments J.J. wrote: "Hollering is good. I holler as I write, too. Life is too funny sometimes not to holler. I hope to keep you hollering. ..."

Thanks :) sending you a big fat smiley!


message 13: by Anino (new)

Anino  (anino) Emotonal wrote: "No Erin,it's not just you.
There are many negative representation of black women in alot of these stories that I am sick of and that is definitely one of them."


I agree... It's all rather ridiculous and incredibly demeaning for Black Women. Kind of let's you know where the author's head is at...


message 14: by Emotonal (new)

Emotonal Reads | 164 comments J.J. wrote: "Emotonal wrote: "Hello J.J., I can definately attest to that, that's one thing i do love about your books. I think I have them all, though I haven't read them all yet, ah.. so many books so little ..."

No worries,it was a fleeting, at the moment thought,there is no way I would truly give up on an author that gives me a black female heroine that I can actually respect and root for.
you are one in a few, a very rare author that writes your black heroine with integrity.

I am your fan for life.:)


message 15: by Emotonal (new)

Emotonal Reads | 164 comments Anino wrote: "Emotonal wrote: "No Erin,it's not just you.
There are many negative representation of black women in alot of these stories that I am sick of and that is definitely one of them."

I agree... It's al..."


I am so happy to see that I am not the only one who feels that way. I don't know why our black sisters could love or accept the way we are represented in alot of these books.

Of course alot of these authors have lost their minds, to the dollars.
you know,I have come to see that a white author represents us better than some of the black ones, some not all and I think that's a damn shame.

Let's hope it changes soon.


message 16: by Justine (last edited Jun 02, 2019 05:10AM) (new)

Justine | 1361 comments Emotonal wrote: "Anino wrote: "Emotonal wrote: "No Erin,it's not just you.
There are many negative representation of black women in alot of these stories that I am sick of and that is definitely one of them."

I ag..."


Is it a possibility that many of these writers are only depicting what they know? Depicting situations and life style with of which they are very familiar? When I scan these type books, I oft note that the sentences are not elegantly constructed; they are peppered with tons of grammatical errors and misused words; just poorly written crap with overblown drama...


message 17: by Andrea (new)

Andrea  Tumblin (authorandreatumblin) | 2 comments Cassie wrote: "Hi IR Fans!

Is it just me, or is it hard to find an IR book on kindle unlimited that doesn’t have a heroine that comes from a poor background or has a baby daddy or has a rough upbringing? While ..."


I suggest you take a look at some of my books. I'm Author Ilianna Binoche. My goal is to showcase intelligent black women in all of my stories. I haven't written the whole "Baby Mama" story yet. I figure there are plenty of those stories out there.


message 18: by Andrea (new)

Andrea  Tumblin (authorandreatumblin) | 2 comments J.J. wrote: "Cassie wrote: "Hi IR Fans!

Is it just me, or is it hard to find an IR book on kindle unlimited that doesn’t have a heroine that comes from a poor background or has a baby daddy or has a rough upb..."


J.J., it seems we write with the same characteristics in mind for our female leads. I love to see a beautiful black woman as a business owner or some type of professional. Many of my heroines redeem their male counterparts. I refuse to diminish the true essence of what African American women have added to this country or the world.

We are amazing on every level. If people would take the time to see us for who and what we really are, they would witnessed greatness.

This is not bragging. It's simply the truth.


message 19: by Dani (new)

Dani Morrison | 6 comments Cassie wrote: "Hi IR Fans!

Is it just me, or is it hard to find an IR book on kindle unlimited that doesn’t have a heroine that comes from a poor background or has a baby daddy or has a rough upbringing? While ..."


I noticed this too and I agree with Justine who states, up thread, that some of these authors may just be writing what they know or what they see most frequently in the media they consume.

I mean, the whole "struggle" narrative is pretty much encoded into the black American storytelling landscape because it's part of where we come from as a group- so I wonder if that plays a role in the kind of stories we find compelling/believable and thus, what writers think we want to see.

Personally, I want more black princesses, alchemists (the MC in my fantasy romance is one of these), scholars, mages, assassins, and more. I'm not necessarily against black female characters coming from rough backgrounds, just switch it up a bit and make it interesting. Give the characters more to define them then poverty and blackness because there's more to poor black women than that.

Just my thoughts.


SassafrasfromAmazon | 179 comments Happy Holidays to all of you. I just finished a book entitled, "A Dangerous Man" written by Rachel Cade. The heroine comes from a prominent, wealthy family. Her father is a former Congressman and the family are still movers and shakers in the affluent political world. The hero is a white man who grew up with a father who is a survivalist, and he taught his son those skills from a very young age. Needless to say, the tables are turned.in this book.

I have read several IR romances that don't have any of those features, but for now, I can only remember all of the JJ Murray books. Maybe I'll come up with some others during the holidays.


message 21: by Kathy (new)

Kathy Golden | 244 comments SassafrasfromAmazon wrote: "Happy Holidays to all of you. I just finished a book entitled, "A Dangerous Man" written by Rachel Cade. The heroine comes from a prominent, wealthy family. Her father is a former Congressman and t..."

So did you enjoy this book?


SassafrasfromAmazon | 179 comments yes I did, It also had a bit of humor, some violence, lots of adventure & hot sex. I have to find my notes, and perhaps write a review. I think I rated it 4 stars.


message 23: by Justine (new)

Justine | 1361 comments I have started to reread, "The Heart Wants What it Wants" a BWWM story as I DNF it the first time I read it. I now remember why I did as I found it then and find it now -incredibly annoying.

Heroine is 26 years old and I do make allowances for her immaturity, but...
Her mother constantly berates her for not having a man and children. Her desire to become a lawyer is disregarded by her mother as high malarkey. How could wanting to become a lawyer be considered of no importance?
Is this what some black parents do to their children? Instead of encouraging them to be the best they can be and to aim for the stars, instead they are beaten down to have no ambition and to stay in "their place"? Is this just a plot device or actually life experience talking?
The hero is 42, and one of the wealthiest men in the country so of course he has to be a billionaire. Why he would find such an immature woman interesting is beyond me; but hey, I suppose it takes all types. Surely the dynamic makes for a dysfunctional relationship in the long run...

I hope that as the story progresses she comes into her own, develops a backbone, matures as she ages, understand that she has been given an opportunity and to stop being stupid.
I won't stick around to find out, back to the DNF list this goes.

Now what's the purpose of this post? I have no idea... but I feel much better now that I have vented.


message 24: by Justine (last edited Oct 29, 2020 03:56PM) (new)

Justine | 1361 comments Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I saw this title: "The Dairy Hoe: The Billionaires' Hucow (BWWM Taboo Adult Nursing Erotic Romance"

Really? Sighhhhh


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