Smexy Books

Romance and Urban Fantasy Reviews

  • Review Request
  • Contact
    • Smexy Reviewers Profiles
    • New Reviewer Application
    • Contact
  • Advertising
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • By Genre
      • BDSM
      • Contemporary
      • Erotic
      • Fantasy
      • F/F
      • Historical Romance
      • Historical PNR
      • LGBTQ+
      • M/M Romance
      • New Adult
      • Urban Fantasy
      • Paranormal Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Romantic Suspense
      • Young Adult
    • By Letter Grade Rating
      • A Reviews
      • B Reviews
      • C Reviews
      • D Reviews
      • DNF Reviews
  • Features
    • New Releases
    • Smexy Deals!
    • Retro Review
    • Weekly Wrap-Up
    • Blog Tour
    • Scenic Sunday
    • To Be Read
    • Guest Post
    • Top Ten/Happy Friday
    • Smex Scene Sunday
  • The Psy/Changeling Channel
You are here: Home / Guest Post / Guest Post: Iranian Girls in Romance by Negeen Papehn

Guest Post: Iranian Girls in Romance by Negeen Papehn

September 13, 2019 by Kini 3 Comments

Friends before we get to this amazing post by Negeen, let’s flashback to RWA when I met her. It was Friday morning. I was on my first wave of tiredness, had the worst blisters on my feet and was all bandaged up. I was in the line at the hotel for a ridiculously overpriced egg panini, iced tea and a $6 bottle of water. Anyway as I was standing in line, I saw Tif Marcelo, who if you don’t already know this is one of the kindest, sweetest humans in the whole entire world. She was accompanied by another author. As I like to do, I latched on to them and we ended up sitting in the lobby and chatting while I ate my overpriced and overcooked egg panini. Negeen was telling me about herself and her books and I really, really wanted her to write a guest post for us at Smexy. Fast forward to now, here is fantastic and touching post about representation and why Negeen writes the stories she does.


When you think Contemporary Romance, Persian girls don’t come to mind. That’s because, other than my Forbidden Love series, I’m not sure how many other romances have Iranian women main characters. Not ones set here in the states, living average, every day, American lives. Or at least as average as it gets for a middle-easterner. And when you think of a Contemporary Romance author, I’m not what you’d imagine. That’s because, just like my stories, Iranian authors aren’t that common either.

I’m a first generation Iranian Muslim woman, born and raised here in Los Angeles. I’m a dentist by day (glamorous, I know), wife to an Iranian Jewish lawyer (it’s okay, you can gasp), and the proud mother of two amazing boys. Life around here is exactly what you’d expect: loud, busy, stressful, exhausting, and thoroughly amazing.

But growing up, I wished I were more like my friends. Blonde, blue-eyed porcelain dolls, a vivid contrast to my dark, frizzy hair, and olive-toned skin. It was tough navigating in a world I didn’t look like. And even more confusing, dealing with being Iranian, a culture that felt half embedded in a county I’d never seen, while struggling to become “Americanized.” Suddenly, all the sharp black borders my parents raised me with blurred into various shades of gray, leaving me clueless on how to proceed. But as I grew, I evolved, and with time, found my place.

It wasn’t until just a few years ago, that an unfathomable public incident pushed me back into the category of “other.” Suddenly, I was painted as an imposter. It was here, in the murky, biased waters, that I found the inspiration to write my stories. I’d gone from feeling like I belonged, back to the outcast of my childhood. And I refused to let the only images of my people be those painted in the news.

My main characters are modeled after my Iranian heritage. The cultural expectations I grew up surrounded by, the family I still struggle with, and the small idiosyncrasies that are only understandable to a Persian girl like myself, are all very much influencers of the novels I write. They provide the foundation for my storylines, helping me weave together words that give my readers glimpses into a culture they know very little about. 

Family. Community. Rules. Expectations.

This is what it means to be Iranian-American. And this is what I want to show the world. That we too, are much like everyone else. Human, raw, flawed and ever-changing. This is at the core of each family that lives within the pages of Forbidden by Faith, Forbidden by Destiny, and Forbidden by Time. The struggles they face, the limits they’re all forced to consider, the ways they must all change, mimic that of any other family in the United States, just with different details. 

Sara, Leyla, and Bita are similar to the other heroines you read about in romance novels in that they struggle to find true love. They just do it under different circumstances than what you’re used to. Despite being adults, they still have to fight for their independence, push against their families’ expectations, and figure out who they really are. They question themselves, falter under the disapproval of their mothers, and burst into their own by the time the story is done. 

Maybe the world isn’t ready for Persian girls to be splashed across the pages of their romance novels, and maybe I’ll never become a best-seller. But young Iranian women deserve to be reflected in the stories they read. And despite how popular my books may or may not become, if even one reader walks away able to erase their preconceived notions and identify with my characters in a way they hadn’t imagined possible, then I’m doing my job as an Iranian author ––to shed light on what truly is a beautiful culture.


Where to find Negeen and her books:

Amazon – all three books are available via Kindle Unlimited

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • More
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Guest Post, Negeen Papehn, representation matters

Comments

  1. Kim Stamm says

    September 13, 2019 at 12:50 pm

    Wonderful to hear of your work. My sister-law married into an Iranian family, and she will share your titles with others,.

    Loading...
    Reply
  2. Jennifer Wilck says

    September 13, 2019 at 10:12 pm

    This post really resonates with me. I have similar feelings as a Jewish author writing romance with Jewish characters, and growing up in a town where I was often the only Jew in the school. I wish you much success with your books and I can’t wait to read them!

    Loading...
    Reply
  3. Kareni says

    September 14, 2019 at 12:22 am

    Thank you for your thoughtful post, Negeen. Wishing you much joy in your writing and in life.

    Loading...
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to Smexy! If you are reader feel free to use our search feature to find a specific book or browse through our features to find Smexy Deals, New Releases, and book news!

As an Amazon Associate, we do earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn a small commission on affiliate links to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords,  Booksamillion, and Bookshop,org.

 

Shop our Affiliates!

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Smashwords

Booksamillion

Angela

Melanie

Jen

Kate

Iby

Kate H.

Sign Up for Daily Emails


Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on Instagram

Top Posts & Pages

  • Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Opal Wei, Hannah Bonam-Young, Maisey Yates, and more!
    Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Opal Wei, Hannah Bonam-Young, Maisey Yates, and more!
  • Steamy Excerpt from Everything's Better With Lisa by Lucy Eden
    Steamy Excerpt from Everything's Better With Lisa by Lucy Eden
  • Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
    Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
  • Smexy’s Top Ten Favorite Sex Scenes of 2012
    Smexy’s Top Ten Favorite Sex Scenes of 2012
  • New Releases- Week of May 12-16, 2025
    New Releases- Week of May 12-16, 2025
  • Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Olivia Hayle, Hayley Dennings, Laura Greenwood, and more!
    Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Olivia Hayle, Hayley Dennings, Laura Greenwood, and more!
  • Review: Manacled by SenLinYu
    Review: Manacled by SenLinYu
  • Review: The Finish Line by Kate Stewart
    Review: The Finish Line by Kate Stewart
  • Review: Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
    Review: Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
  • Smex Scene Sunday....Where Mandi Is Still Obsessed with A Court of Mist and Fury
    Smex Scene Sunday....Where Mandi Is Still Obsessed with A Court of Mist and Fury

Disclosure

The majority of the books reviewed at this site have been provided for free by publishers, authors, or other third parties like NetGalley or Edelweiss. Acceptance of a free copy does not guarantee a review or a positive review.

As an Amazon Associate, we do earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn a small commission on affiliate links to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Booksamillion.

Shop our Affiliates!

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Smashwords

Booksamillion

 

Find Our Reviewers

Angela @fv-angela.bsky.social l Goodreads

Melanie @melonreads.bsky.social l  Goodreads

Jen .@thebooknista l Goodreads

Kate  @kateminasian l Goodreads

Iby Instagram l Goodreads

Kate H. @Naranjadia l Goodreads

Copyright © 2025 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d