This is probably not original thought, however, aren't paranormal romances just superhero stories with a little rougher edge. These extra-talented beings side up good and bad. The rest of us go weak in the knees for them.
Well, what about the mutants in X-Men? How about Spider-Man or The Punisher? Is Rorschach good or bad? What about Batman and Robin? Iron Man?
A super-hero isn't necessarily a being with paranormal powers. Nor is a super-hero necessarily a 'good guy' in any sense of the word. Just look at Watchmen, or Batman: Year One. Or Spider-Man. Or The Punisher. Especially The Punisher. The only super-hero -as far as I can tell, anyway- with a purely white vest and a pure do-good attitude is Superman. But juxtaposing him with the sheer amount of heroes, and the direction the genre took after Watchmen was published, the super-hero isn't all that shiny, and has rough edges. And isn't necessarily a force for good nor for evil (exemplified, perhaps, in Spider-Man's Venom, a former villain. Or Catwoman, a former villain, too).
Of course, if you only look at the Golden Age of Comics, then you can easily come to the conclusion you did. But looking at the age Watchmen brought upon us and the super-hero, this isn't all that true anymore. It probably isn't true since Spider-Man made his debut, and gave us the famous line "With great power comes great responsibility", and we get to see a teenager and his struggles with growing up (with Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man an allegory to the process all teenagers have to struggle with, I guess). Superman, more likely than not, would sink today if he were conceived.
The X-Men are mutants. Maybe the next step in human evolution. Who knows? Some of their abilities, however, straddle the line into the paranormal (telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis etc.).
Compare that to werewolves, vampires or the fae. Creatures with intrinsic abilities from the beginning as, for want of a better term, racial abilities that are inherent to *all* specimens. All werewolves can change shape. All fae use glamour, all vampires are undead. They all have their weeknesses and strengths. But does that make them rougher around the edges? Not necessarily. How many vampires, in literature or other media, have any depth? Take a look at the Balde movie franchise: Vampires are cannon fodder, with few (if any) development of character that could make the viewer sympathize with them. On the other hand, neither does Blade. So there you go.
Or werewolves: More often than not described as animals with a thin veneer of humanity laying over primal instincts. Does that give them automatically depth? Is there an inherent struggle? No. The potential, of course, is there.
In a nutshell: Paranormal beings are. Super-heroes become.
Almost certainly. Paranormal creatures have a deep rooting in myth, folklore and the occult. Not so much super-heroes. At least, not the believable super-heroes like Batman or Spider-Man. Heck, not even Super-Man in his various incarantions. That being said, there certainly are areas of overlap. in abilities. However, super-heroes are, most of the time, unique in themselves, where as paranormal creatures aren't necessarily.
It might be a good idea for you, if you haven't already, to read Watchmen by Allan Moore. It takes the super-hero, and takes the cliches apart. Very much worth your while, I promise.
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