This request was sent in by Maggie. Thanks, Maggie!
Hey ladies, I’ve looked through past reader recs but haven’t seen this topic so I thought I’d ask for it. Do you have any recs for books where couples from different countries/cultures meet?
I recently read The Mother-in-Law Cure by Katherine Wilson (a memoir, not a novel) about how she met her Italian husband while studying in Naples and now I’m on the look out for more cross-cultural romances.
Catherine: Trade Me by Courtney Milan, has a Chinese American heroine and a white American hero, and there is a lot he doesn’t get. (He does learn, though, and it is funny and sweet and delightful).
Also, The Chai Factor, which I just finished reading last night and is marvellous! Heroine is Muslim and first generation Indian-Canadian, hero is white. It’s from the heroine’s viewpoint, and very embedded in her community. (Note, there are characters who are having to put up with a lot of homophobia, there is also racism and islamophobia. It is dealt with in the book, but might be triggery for some.)
And, I mean, all of the Amour et Chocolat books by Laura Florand have American heroines and French heroes, so if you want very sensual stories with lots and lots of chocolate and Paris in them, you’ll have fun with these.
Tara: Lorelei Brown’s Far From Home is an f/f green card romance between an American woman and a woman from India. CW for anorexia, in case anyone needs it.
Aarya: I can think of hundreds of recs. Here are three that aren’t as well-known and that I haven’t discussed on the site before.
1) Bucket List to Love by C. P. Santi ( A ). Filipino heroine moves to Tokyo to study in architecture program. She falls in love with an annoying Japanese student that she teams up with for a design project. Absolutely adorable and the heroine experiences culture shock.
2) The Write Escape by Charish Reid (I think Shana reviewed this for the site). Black heroine escapes to Ireland after ending her engagement.
3) Pas de Deux by Lynn Turner. Black French ballerina goes to NYC to work with choreographer hero. It’s beautifully written and emotional, but difficult to read at times. CW for abuse and food disorder.
I don’t want to take up too much space, but also check out authors like Ruby Lang (Open House), Adriana Herrera (American Dreamer), Jeannie Lin (Butterfly Swords), and Priscilla Oliveras (Her Perfect Affair). I also enthusiastically second Catherine’s rec for Farah Heron’s The Chai Factor. Okay, I’m shutting up now.
Catherine: Never shut up! I, for one, was waiting eagerly to see what you would come up with because I knew you would be on this!
Shana: Seconding many of these recs, especially Far from Home and The Write Escape. Some of my other cross-cultural contemporary faves:
Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon has an African-American heroine who ends up in a marriage of convenience, after her aunt mandates she marry a Scottish bagpiper as a condition of the will.
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory. American Vivian tags along on her daughter’s work trip to the UK, and meets the Queen’s private secretary. Lots of cultural confusion and delightful discoveries.
Dancing on the Edge of the Roof by Sheila Williams ( A | BN | K | AB ) has a Black working class heroine who heads to Montana for a midlife adventure, and falls for the Native American owner of a small town restaurant.
Not Another Family Wedding by Jackie Lau ( A | BN | K | AB ). Natalie is a mixed-race professor who who brings her white Canadian friend to a big family wedding, and sparks fly. Natalie’s rambunctious Chinese-Canadian family have some show-stealing scenes.
A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole. The whole Reluctant Royals series has cross-cultural relationships, but I think this is the book that arguably focuses the most on the challenges (and surprises) of its North American/African romance.
Sneezy: Hard second on Trade Me, The Chai Factor, and A Princess in Theory.
I also want to rec:
A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau. The hero is half Chinese and the heroine is white. The story serves up awesome feel-good times while also touching on things like looking white despite being Chinese-Canadian, Chinese food in North America being its own thing that also varies from region to region.
Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai. It’s the second in the Forbidden Hearts series, and dives in to lots of things. Across the series, the Japanese interment camps and mental health is explored in various ways. This book in particular features a hero with Japanese-American and Hawaiian heritage and a Pakistani-American heroine.
Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole teams up a Black woman and Indian Muslim man in 1917 Harlem, NYC. The heroine used to travel with her father as performers, pretending to be Indian so they could avoid racism and by-pass segregation. Although she no longer pretends to be Indian, she still performs in her night club, Cashmere. The two of them has experienced many hurts because of who they are, and when they meet, they constantly butt heads. Eventually, they two stop butting heads long enough for the hero to offer and the heroine to agree to have him teach her how to dance the Indian dances she’s been performing. Further fireworks ensue from there.
Wanna Bet by Talia Hibbert, the second book in Dirty British Romance, is another good one. The heroine is Black, and the hero is Hindu-Muslim.
Which books would you recommend?
Seconding Pas de Deux and Laura Florand (my personal favourite is not from her Amour et Chocolat series but Chase Me – American hero, French chef heroine).
One of my favourites is Alice Clayton and Nina Bocci’s Roman Crazy – second chance romance of an Italian architect hero and an art restoriator heroine based in Italy.
Also, I recommend Elizabeth Harmon’s Pairing Off – second chance romance of pair skaters, the heroine is American and the hero is Russian, set in Moscow (wow we have a theme here).
I think Suleikha Snyder’s Tikka Chance on Me also counts – Indian-American heroine and biker hero, it’s a short one but I think it actually outlines some cultural differences.
Seconding Butterfly Swords, and yeah, literally the entire Reluctant Royals series (I think Let It Shine, her novella about a young black woman and a Jewish boxer during the Civil rRghts Movement could also be argued for). I would also add both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon on the YA side (they’re both American, but the boy is Korean-American and the girl is an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica that’s about to be deported), and the Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (half-Spanish American boy from Texas meets Spanish girl during the Franco regime, which was a highly sketchy time, it was literally dangerous for her to be involved with him),
I love this rec so much! Thank you for all the marvelous suggestions.
I will add a book I read years ago. I don’t think it is classified as a Romance but it is at heart. The Translator by Leila Aboulela. I’ll include the description since I’m rubbish at describing plots: “Sammar is a Sudanese widow working as an Arabic translator at a Scottish university. Since the sudden death of her husband, her young son has gone to live with family in Khartoum, leaving Sammar alone in cold, gray Aberdeen, grieving and isolated. But when she begins to translate for Rae, a Scottish Islamic scholar, the two develop a deep friendship that awakens in Sammar all the longing for life she has repressed. As Rae and Sammar fall in love, she knows they will have to address his lack of faith in all that Sammar holds sacred. An exquisitely crafted meditation on love, both human and divine, The Translator is ultimately the story of one woman’s courage to stay true to her beliefs, herself, and her newfound love.”
A number of Jill Sorenson’s books involve the confluence of Anglo, Hispanic, and Native American cultures in the Southwest. The one that first jumped into my head was SET THE DARK ON FIRE. The heroine is Anglo, the hero is Native American, the heroine’s brother is involved with the oldest daughter of the Mexican family who live next store.
This may be reductive, but isn’t this Harlequin’s raison d’etre? It seemed every book I read back in the day revolved around the swarthy, foreign hero. Admittedly, this is more Triple D’s field of expertise, as she is a devourer of category romances.
That being said, I love, love LOVE Christina Lauren’s Sweet Filthy Boy. She follows him back to France after a one night stand in Vegas. If that counts as cross cultural?
And now that I’ve read TripleD’s comment, I’m reminded of my favorite I-Team book from Pamela Clare, Naked Edge. Navaho journalist and park ranger who saves her bacon after a climbing accident and later is forced to participate in a police action to break up a sacred ceremony.
@Donna: the key element of Harlequin Presents (which I love) is that whatever culture the hero is from (Italian, Spanish, French, Middle Eastern sheikh) he’s RICH, RICH, RICH. Unimaginable wealth seems to smooth over many cultural differences. So, as much as I love HPs, I can’t really recommend them for someone looking for romances featuring cultural differences. If you’re looking for angsty and dramatic, however….
Alfre Woodard made and stars in a movie version of Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, recommended above by Shana. It’s called Juanita and co-stars Adam Beach, with some very special appearances by Blair Underwood as well. Just what being able to watch a book should be. I think it’s still on Netflix.
@Shana and @Aarya – Somehow I missed Shana’s initial review for the Write Escape, so glad you mentioned it. That was an instant one-click for me. And I’m bookmarking this thread for future reference!
So many good recs here!
The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye. India in the midth of the 19th century. A British officer and an indian princess. 1000 pages. And there is a tv mini series.
Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik. The heroine is a Pakistani-Brit who is also a hijabi and is writing a book about the world of Muslim dating. She recently broke up with her boyfriend and she ends up falling for her Irish neighbor.
Tif Marcelo’s Journey to the Heart series (North to You, East in Paradise, West Coast Love); each book features a member of a Filipino-American family in the Bay Area and a love interest who is not Filipino. All of them highlight food, so prepare to be ravenous when reading!
@3D, I thought the rich part could go without saying. We are taking about Harlequin Presents so foriegn or not, they’re ALWAYS rich.
@jan thank you for the Leila Aboulela rec! My library has her short stories collection “Elsewhere, Home”, downloading it via hoopla right now.
I’m an expat, not from that particular region but culture shock is a universal experience. Hoping this is that elusive unicorn, a story that is both a mirror and a window.
So many multi-cultural romances out there. Thank you for this list!
I just realized the book I’m currently reading, Michaela Grey’s BROKEN RULES, might qualify: its an m/m bdsm romance set in Vancouver. One hero is an Indian immigrant who works as a dom in a bdsm club. The other hero is a wealthy young Canadian (he seems to be Anglo, although his last name is a French one). He’s not completely out to his family and still has trouble accepting that he might be a sub. I know a lot of readers don’t care for bdsm romances, but not much of BROKEN RULES takes place in the club or involves “scenes.” It’s not just cultural differences these TW men have to overcome—both of them have encountered homophobia and the Indian hero has also faced racism (including from potential clients).
“…these two men have to overcome…”
Edit is your friend, DDD.
I can recommend a lot actually, but they are more literary than romance 🙁
Would The Bride Test count? Since we have the clash of cultures between Esme leaving her impoverished home in Vietnam to be plunged into a completely different Vietnamese-American culture of affluence and plenty? It was pretty fish out of water, and I loved it, although we may be talking socioeconomic variation primarily, although the upbringing of the American Khai is wildly different from Esme’s.
“Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston features a biracial (Mexican/white) American (who is the son of the President) and a white British Royal.
I also second the rec for “Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged”, but warn you to avoid the sequel like the plague.
Ruthie Knox’s Completely. The hero is Nepalese and the heroine is white/British.
Can we go off planet? If yes, I’ll recommend Lyn Gala’s Claimings series. It’s a male/alien male romance that deals with many cultural differences.
Le Divorce. It’s not a romance although it does have elements of it but it gives an interesting look at French life (no idea as to the accuracy.)
Also on the French theme – Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod – she meets her husband in Paris
Almost French by Sarah Turnball is non-fiction but does include the romance of her meeting her boyfriend (might become her husband – been a while since I read it) and has a lot of insight into cross cultural experience.
Okay, this is a memoir and definitely not a romance (the husband dies and that’s not a spoiler b/c the book opens with it).But “From Scratch” by Tembi Locke is a really, really beautiful love story about a Black American woman who falls in love with a Sicilian man and how they make it work. Obviously, it can’t be read for a traditional happily ever after, but the thing about the book that stuck with me and made it so moving is how the author and her mother-in-law kept at their relationship even after her husband passed away. They were navigating this huge cultural divide (like the Grand Canyon of divides), but they both reached across it with a lot of patience and understanding. I finished the book not feeling sad at all, but really just amazed at the love and strength of these two women. One of my favorites of 2019 and I think it’s being made into a show or movie.
Another vote for From Scratch! Not a traditional romance, but so much love and emotional growth in the story. (It was in my top 10 for 2019.)
Zen Cho! I think someone recently reviewed her alt Regency fantasy Sorcerer to the Crown (m/f) here – I’m forgetting the details but that pairing is definitely mult-cultural. The sequel The True Queen is even better – f/f pairing between a Malaysian woman and British woman set mostly in Britain.
And her short story The Short Perilous Life of Jade Yeo is a m/f historical set in 1920s London between two immigrants from different parts of the empire (iirc).
Talia Hibbert writes mult-cultural contemporary romances set in England. I’ve read her only mm – Work for It and it fits this category in multiple ways. And I think some of her mf also fits but I haven’t read them.
If we’re going off-world … LAST HOUR OF GANN. Alien and human who crash lands on his planet. Although how the original developed culture of Gann ended up in the feudal stage that the human survivors encounter might be emotionally hard to process now in 2020… but I do think I’ll reread this soon. (TW: there’s some bullying of the heroine for being overweight near the beginning of the book, from the bad guy, and rape of secondary characters off stage.)
I’d like to second/third/fourth/fifth the recommends for books by Jackie Lau (she was EXACTLY what I needed really often in 2019), Zen Cho (so good), Suleikha Synder (but be careful of Dil or No Dil if you need HEA always (that’s me these days)), Alyssa Cole, Courtney Milan and Alisha Rai. I won’t lie, these authors got me through 2019. I’m really excited to check out some new to me recommendations from this post.
I’d also like to gently say that I found some of the recs in the comments to be really problematic. The Far Pavilions is really not at all the kind of voice we need to be hearing from if we’re looking to decolonize our reading list, you know? I’m also a hard no to books that contain bullshittery about non white characters eyes or skin being described at best as food, at worst as something historically derogatory. My loved ones can experience that just living their lives, I don’t need it to pop up in a book that I’m reading. The way I’m able to avoid a lot of that is to search out #ownvoices authors where these things are in general handled more deftly.
Billy London’s Italian Knights series is set in London Italian men who fall in love with Ghanaian women.
Helen Simonson’s Major Pettigrew’s last stand features a very mature proper English hero (he’s 68, I think) and a 10 years younger Pakistani heroine. The younger generation in this book is annoying and I’m not sure if it’s racism-free (I’ve read it a long time ago, I don’t remember). But the main couple is charming.