Several of my menages are series like the "Raw Claiming" books ("Raw Craving", "Raw Need" and "Raw Want") or the "Possessive Passions" series ("Shared Possession", "Possess Me" and "Ultimate Possession".)
For each of these series I began by building a world where there was a specific reason why several men would marry and share a woman. One menage story is eminently believable, but when a whole society is living in that way, I needed there to be a reason why they'd chosen to do this. Hence the traditional beliefs in the "Possessive Passions" series, and the end-of-the-world scenario in the "Raw Claiming" series.
How do you feel about menage stories? Do you need there to be a reason for people to act this way, or is lust a good enough reason for you?
Berengaria
I'm a huge fan of threesome stories and love to both write and read them. A lot depends on author execution. I like there to be a happy ending for all three characters and hate it when two of the three pair off and the third is no longer needed. There needs to be a good plot, so yes, there needs to be a reason why the three characters end up together to keep me reading the story.
ReplyDeleteYep. I usually have a solid reason (usually related to the cultural norm) for a menage. For that reason, my menages are usually futuristic or fantasy. In the current day and age, as you said, anyone could do it. But I suspect their lives are quiet...very quiet.
ReplyDeleteI always want a reason for the menage. Always.
ReplyDeleteI write urban fantasy menages, myself, so those menages take place in our contemporary culture, and the fantasy species involves in the menages usually go through a lot of romantic and emotional conflict before the menage is settled...and then, as Anny describe it so aptly, they live their lives very quietly after that.
I haven't got around to writing a menage set in one of my romantic suspense novels -- yet. When I do, I know I'll have the characters working just as hard to justify the arrangement in those novels, too.
Lust alone ain't good enough. These are supposed to be *romance* novels with -- at the very least -- happy-for-now endings, if not happy-ever-after conclusions. A solid definition to the relationship has to be in place for any sort of romantic commitment to take place.
Tracy
Thank you for coming and commenting, Shelley, Anny, and Tracy.
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome that y'all feel as I do about the importance of a reason for the menage. World building takes a lot of time and effort, but it clearly makes the story much more powerful.
Berengaria
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ReplyDeleteIn the ones I've reviewed, I've found that frequently the stories are better if it's a simple story ... they find themselves in that situation and decide to work with it. Or they are specifically looking for one person because that's what they want and are lucky enough to find one who falls for both. Twins are easy to accept. But the ones who try to come up with a huge back story about it... **shrug** some are good, some not so good. The ones where they tie it to something dark and serious usually annoy me. It seems like they're trying to portray them as sick and twisted. Just my opinion. But again... there are exceptions to EVERY rule. :)
ReplyDelete-Riane
kinkybookreviews.com
Thank you, Riane. It's great to hear what a reviewer thinks.
ReplyDeleteBerengaria