# Can Paranormal Romance have a male lead?



## mikelewis (May 31, 2011)

All of the paranormal romance books I have seen are very much based on the Twilight model of female lead with two male love interests.

Are there any books with a male lead character or does that not appeal to the readership because they are 95% female?

Just wondering...

Mike


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## Rhonda Helms (Apr 8, 2011)

They're out there. I believe Jim Butcher's stuff is paranormal, with a male lead, and people love him--women included.


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

There are definitely paranormal books/series with male leads (also paranormals with female leads but no love triangle).

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl features a male lead and is pretty popular. Same goes for White Cat by Holly Black. And those are just 2 off the top of my head.


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

Ooh....Butcher's stuff looks wicked!! 

(*heads to Amazon*)


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Are we counting M/M Paranormal Romance? I've only read the first two so far, but I quite like Joely Skye's Norther Shifter novels - I really like her werewolves.


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## yomamma (Feb 10, 2011)

Most 'guy' characters fall under urban fantasy rather than paranormal romance. Jim Butcher is a good one, also Anton Strout, Mark Del Franco, Rob Thurman, Harry Connolly, Simon Green, etc.

Paranormal romance tends to flipflop between the hero's POV and the heroine's POV, though some books are more 'hero centric' than others. JR Ward is one that comes to mind.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Since readers of romance typically want to know what both characters are thinking/feeling, the POVs do flip-flop (as someone else stated). Sometimes, it's hard to know who's supposed to be the 'main character' in a romance, but my guess is the character whose POV the reader sees first


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## Jeff Rivera (Jun 22, 2011)

Holly Black immediately came to mind, and I've seen quite a few YA paranormal titles as well that have male leads (though I'm not sure if you're categorizing YA paranormal that has romance in it as a paranormal romance).


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## mikelewis (May 31, 2011)

Rhonda Helms said:


> They're out there. I believe Jim Butcher's stuff is paranormal, with a male lead, and people love him--women included.


Actually I have just taken Fool Moon by Jim Butcher out of the library - didn't occur to me to think of it as the same style book as Twilight, say, but I guess it is a similar genre.

Mike


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## Tara Maya (Nov 4, 2010)

I don't know of any Paranormal Romances with a male lead and two female love interests, even though that's not unusual in other genres.


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

I would not qualify Butcher as Paranormal Romance. The romantic element isn't particularly strong in his books. Nothing wrong with that, but if you're looking for a romance I don't think you'll be satisfied. However, if you're not looking for Romance and just Paranormal in general, I think you'll be okay. Another Urban Fantasy with a male lead that I've heard about is Hounded (with Bonus Content): The Iron Druid Chronicles Haven't read them yet, but they are on my TBR list. Definitely a male lead, but once again, I think light on the romance aspect.


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## Rhonda Helms (Apr 8, 2011)

When I said Butcher, I was referring more to paranormal male protags, not to the romance part.


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

I know you're not supposed to talk about your own book but mine has a male POV. But, for me, I needed to write what I was familiar with and having four sons made that absolutely easier than a female lead (this book lent itself for this application, others may be better with female POV; it's a case-by-case basis). lol! 

I SO-need to read Butcher's stuff! I hear terrific things about his work!


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