From: Kris ‘n’ Good Books ~ Encounters With My Baby Brother 5
*The following post was brought about by Kris’ TMI conversation with her brother which we shall try to refrain from commenting about*
In Ménage Romance with two guys there is always the question in my mind of the exact orientation of the men involved. I like great character writing so my inquiring mind wants to know what is in it for the other man so to speak Bi/Gay? Bi/Bi? He likes the blow jobs? The problem for me is not to read Gay into everything but on the other hand we are talking guys committing to a relationship here that involves another naked man in bed with them on an long term basis.
Let’s review what is out there in eBook land though shall we…
You could have the one extreme of M/F/M such as with the deliciously taboo Lora Leigh ~ Men Of August where the men are Straight and brothers (Oh yeah this is Lora Leigh at her best.) and so they stay strictly on their respective sides of the bed. This as far as a Romance is concerned frankly always seemed a bit clunky to me. Lora Leigh I must admit does somewhat address this with her “terrible secret trauma” approach to the story she weaves here. I still find it clunky because if these guys are involved over a long term period as indicated by a Ménage Romance does that not point out to the fact they like being sexual around each other and are attracted in some way to repeated watching over and over? Maybe for the guys it’s like live porn to them but then I am thinking they must be sneaking a grope here and there out of camera range. *sigh* Maybe that’s just over thinking all this.
Then there is the opposite extreme M/M/F as found in Samantha Kane ~ Brothers In Arms where the guys are secretly hiding this crush on each other and it is through their participation with the Ménage Romance they feel comfortable in exploring this Gay aspect of their mutual attraction. Which leaves me to sorta wonder since I tend to think men are very binary with their feelings but capable of evolving so could these characters one day wake up to each other and dump the chick if you know what I mean. Another HFN thought there but I lean more towards thinking for men bisexuality tends to be more an emotional transitional deal once they try out the sexual part.
I should note that there are even more interesting looks at this underlying dynamic such as with Lauren Dane ~ Cascadia Wolves (Why is Tri Mates not in print yet?) Lauren in Tri Mates brilliantly setups up the typical Straight guys in bed M/F/M aspect at first but then has a scene later on showing that there is an interest developing between the men being hinted at. Now that was just fun because I was not expecting much in that area since these stories tend to stay strictly one way or the other. Sort of a nice parting gift for the reader.
What type of Ménage is your favorite.
Tags: eBook Commentary, Ménage Romance
Chris wrote,
What? You aren’t going to comment on Kris’ conversation with her brother?! Darn. ;)
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 10:09 am
katiebabs wrote,
Sam Kane writes some of the best menage romances I ever read. I for one love the ones where the 2 men are in love with each other, as well as the woman that they share.
Lauren Dane’s awesome sci-fi Undercover shows a perfect menage where the two men are more in love with the woman but don’t mind giving each other love also.
Wouldn’t mind reading a F/M/F romance for a change. Nice to shake it up.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am
TeddyPig wrote,
Now that’s a good question you never see a couple of bad girl mercenaries fighting a secret South American war treating some Rambo wanna be like a sex toy.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 10:53 am
katiebabs wrote,
I can see it now, jungle mercenaries, find an army GI Joe type general and nurse him back to health in their tent. Afterwards, they have hot sex many times together and he must decide to go back to civilization or live with his two jungle women in the dangerous jungle where a drug lord wants to kill them. *jots idea down*
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 10:56 am
TeddyPig wrote,
Oh and don’t forget the Samantha Kane gold formula “secret longings revealed between the sisters in combat”!
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Amber wrote,
BSP alert! My new Loose Id release, Steal Away, has a m/m/f menage, with the bi male firmly in the center.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 11:09 am
AnneD wrote,
Can I take them all – though I do prefer bi guys rather than their ultra straight counterparts.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Bree wrote,
Whatever configuration they end up in, I like it best if everyone likes & wants everyone else, especially if it’s a romance. It’s never as satisfying for me otherwise.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Emilie wrote,
My favorite dynamic in a menage story is when the guys are unrelated, and as interested in each other as they are in the woman.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Kris wrote,
I appreciate your restraint. :)
Like Emilie, I prefer menage where all parties are openly interested in each other. Having said that, I also enjoy those where the woman is the catalyst for the men acknowledging their attraction – sexual and emotional – in each other. The result being, for me at least, a more balanced relationship.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Being the eldest of three brothers by seven years I understand the intense need to torture your siblings.
Link | February 27th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
BevQB wrote,
Oh, TP, you used the wrong Lora Leigh series as an example. Her Bound Hearts series takes homophobia to new heights. The EC books are short, blazing hot reads, but once she went to book length, the whole concept fell apart, IMO. We’re talking about a secret club of men who share their women in menages. But oh no, they are NOT turned on by the men, they just want to give their woman the ultimate pleasure. So just ignore the fact that, no matter how much one-on-one boinking they do with the little woman (and all LL’s woman are sweet, delicate, little creatures to their men), the men always feel like something is missing and they aren’t truly satisfied until they bestow that ultimate pleasure on her by sharing her with another man.
So just Ignore the fact that, in the series first MMP, the couple are married for a couple of years and basically do the missionary the whole time despite the guy’s history with the club. As soon as he hears that his previous sharing partner will be visiting, he suddenly decides it is time for teh buttfuck because he can’t control himself when thinking about the upcoming good times. And when the old friend arrives, he starts busting his zipper at the sight of him all the time he is saying/thinking that he is not teh gay. Good grief, those boys let us know more than once that it was all about HER pleasure (never mind that she wasn’t even interested at first) and that they had no sexual feelings for each other. Uh, yeah, right- me thinks they doth protest too much.
As for Sam Kane, I think the main reason her menages seem so believable is because of the historical setting. Remember that back then, men were expected to produce heirs and homosexuality could mean a death sentence. So, for me, it seems quite plausible that a man would marry despite his sexuality and also that a friendship could develop between the wife, the husband, and the “special friend” that would lead into love and a sexual relationship between them.
Do I know for a fact that these types of relationships existed back then? Well, no. But I can’t believe they didn’t either. I would even go so far as to say that they were far more common back then than they are today when there is less of a stigma attached to sexual preference.
Link | February 28th, 2010 at 10:59 am
TeddyPig wrote,
Oh, TP, you used the wrong Lora Leigh series as an example.
Well Bev, I really have not read that many of her Bound Hearts because like you say the setup is too “lecherous” in some ways. I love me Lora Leigh pushing all the taboo buttons at the same time while not really showing any taboo stuff going on which is why Men Of August gets right up there on my top ten.
The EC books are short, blazing hot reads, but once she went to book length, the whole concept fell apart, IMO.
You are just begging me for another Lora Leigh Breed review where I state all that and provide examples of dropped story lines showing how Lora Leigh was way much more betterer when doing the Ellora’s Cave eBooks than she ever got doing the Berkley Bombs.
The problem is she is not the only one who suffered that same fate. Just the most noticeable damn it. I wish she would at least come back for a book or two for old times sake.
Lora, if you are out there please girl give us some more of that crazy badass ePub no taboo too far romance writing you did so well.
Link | February 28th, 2010 at 11:37 am
BevQB wrote,
You are just begging me for another Lora Leigh Breed review where I state all that
Oh gawd, I hated Dawn’s Awakening so much that I haven’t been able to read a Breed story since then. Hell, I hated it so much that it was one of the books that turned me off of reading and blogging for much of last year. But Jonah’s story is coming out and I’ve waited forever for it, which means I’m somehow going to have to dredge up the courage to open the books in between those two. Makes no sense since I read all the others, but I’m afraid that if the newer ones are just as awful, my illusions will be shattered.
But yeah, I do agree that the EC Breeds were the best. Gimme more barb and knot pr0n, dammit!
Link | February 28th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
K. Z. Snow wrote,
I used to like menages in which the guys were openly attracted to one another — no shame or hesitation. (Those were the kinds I wrote for EC.) Then my tastes changed, and I liked menages in which the two men very nearly forgot about the woman. Then my tastes changed again, and now I like menages in which there are no women. ;-)
(I once spent the night in the same bed with two gay coworkers after we’d been out drinking, and let me tell ya, I felt like a fence between two dogs in heat. I got a kick out of the way they were reaching over me. But, then, there was nothing “bi” about those boys!)
Link | February 28th, 2010 at 1:34 pm