I might have blogged on the topic of menage before but I couldn't resist doing it again since I have a new shifter menage out today at Ellora's Cave. So thanks to Kelley for switching days with me so I could blab about it.Menage is a super hot genre these days. I was talking with a writer friend a few weeks ago and she'd been talking with one of her editors about menage. The word was that menage is hotter than a smokin' pistol and readers liked more than two...more like four or more in a bed with one woman. Hmmm. My reaction was one of wide-eyed wonder. REALLY? More than two guys? Most of us know that menage is a common fantasy for women. The idea of being 'loved up' by two guys who only want to cater to your every sexual whim is rather appealing, isn't it?
Most of you know I write a lot of shifter stories. The High Plains Shifter series features m/f action. No menage (except for one scene in Lone Star Lycan and it didn't involve the h/h). My first menage was Feral Moon and includes action between the heroine and three men (including the hero) but it was primarily a ceremonial thing when the other two guys were involved.
Am I making a lick of sense? Damn, I have a nasty head cold so bear with me.
Back to menage in all it's forms. I love a good menage story but I'm also one who likes a lot of emotion. I like layering my characters like an onion, peeling off those layers to get down to the bare bones of what the hero and heroine are thinking, feeling, and experiencing. How can you do that in a menage? It's definitely more tasking for a writer to do that. I mean a book shouldn't be all about how to insert part A into part B and then part C. It gets tricky. I take my menage stories, at least so far, into the paranormal realm where all things are possible and even accepted as the norm. It's my opinion that it's much harder to do if you have, let's say, five guys in the bed with your heroine. Really. That's just next to impossible to achieve. Now, if you are going strictly for titillation and to hell with emotion....OKAY. That's not how I roll however.
What are your thoughts about menage? Do you enjoy a no-holds-barred experience with a bakers dozen men? Or something else? I know the trend is to get down and dirty but I just don't know if my style of writing lends itself well to more than the standard two men in a menage.
BIG CONTEST!
And while you are pondering the importance of this topic, I'd also like to mention that I'm a featured author at Two Lips Reviews. That crazy crew asked me some pretty tough questions and some embarrassing ones, too. But then, I knew to expect that with this bunch! I'll be up for inspection through the month and they are sponsoring a contest. I'm giving away a big box full of signed books, a beautiful Tarot card set, playing cards and other promotional goodies. But you have to head over there to enter. Click HERE and sign up.
Here's my smokin' hot cover and a blurb and link to buy Jaguar Hunger. I'm hoping to make this a series but I'll want to see what readers think before I dive into another so, please, if you pick this up, feel free to share your thoughts. Are you hungry for the Big Cats? Tell Mama Regina all about it.
Buy it HERE!
Blurb:
Death comes for Violet Carson like a speeding train. She knows the shift from woman to beast will rip her apart without the help of jaguar mates. As heat and lust overwhelm her, two men step from the shadows to claim her body and soothe the fire that consumes her. But a human predator waits and he won’t rest until he possesses her, body and soul.
20 comments:
I love a good menage tale but I'm partial to just three people being involved. I can do a scene or so with more, but too many and I just get overwhelmed. LOL.
Congrats on the release. Sounds great!
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. More just strips the emotion right out of things.
I hate to say this but I'm a M/F kind of gal. I read menages occasionally if one of my favorite authors puts one out there (Yes, I'm so buying your book Regina...LOL) but personally... my tastes run in the monogamy books. I like possesive men! I like the guy who is going to kick male ass if a guy even thinks about touching his woman. LOL.
My first love will always be a hot and steamy romance between a woman and a man. But, I do like to read and write a menage from time to time. When I DO read a menage, I want a m/f/m, hopefully one where the extra male is only there temporarily.
However, having said that, I admit BODY RUSH has a rather lengthy scene that involves the hero and two of his friends pleasuring the heroine. It felt daring to write it, but it also felt right. Gonna have to wait and see what readers think though. :)
Congrats on the release!
My views on menage. Well, personally I'm not into menage stories and they don't do anything for me. I'm usually reading it and appreciating it for the hotness that it is, but underneath it all I'm waiting for some one on one action between the heroine and one of her guys. That's just my personal preference, not knocking anyone who loves a little sandwich action. I'm just not a menage fan.
I just think it depends. In the world I built with this one, there are very few females in the species and as a matter of necessity, two males mate with one female. It's like a marriage and it's forever. So that's how I get around my own personal preferrence for ONE alpha male and one female.
Another thing. I think in contemporaries, I don't mind an occassional menage thing involving the hero and a temporary guy IF the woman has sexual issues she wants to explore. But it has to be tasteful, I guess
I have read scenes with more than three participates. Like three guys and one female and it can be damn hot. My favorite is just m/f/m though.
Yeah, I did that in Feral Moon. It was a one time only ceremonial thing to bring on her shift.
I can read a good menage but would rather read a Hot Alpha male and a strong woman to match the male's personality (M/F). When I do read menages I prefer the m/f/m. Too many people getting together at one time in my opinion is just nasty:). With that being said--I love your work Regina and will be pickinng up the book.
Congrats on the release!
Heh. We've discussed this so much... as you know I have a menage in the works and I'm very pleased with my trio. That's pretty much how I think of them, too. They're a trio that balance each other.
As for whether that's successful, we'll see. On the whole I think that love is what makes the world go round. And it find it difficult to envision four or five people loving EVERYONE in the group in a way that would make it work.
Thanks Letricia! That's what I prefer too. Sometimes with the m/f stuff even in the paranormal world, I find myself getting a little stale. That's when I'll usually write a menage but it's always m/f/m.
As Anny said, too many and where is the love, emotion, etc that we readers want? How do you achieve that with men crawling all over the place. I just don't get that. Without emotion, knowing, caring it crosses the boundaries into porn IMO
Having been a participant in a menage I can say that... in reality, it's okay. Men tend not to share well (even best friends) so all that attention you think you're gonna get? Well, it ain't what it's cracked up to be.
In a book, I need it to be believable, which I find more easily in a paranormal like your shifters. In a contemporary, it's a rare hand that can it off to satisfy me.
Once, Jennifer Leeland and I had a discussion about menage and I told her I was disgusted by one I'd read because it wasn't very believable. When I told her who the author was, she was shocked because Author X sells s buttload of books. I bought Jen a copy just to prove my point and she agreed I was right. It was not believable. I even wrote a blog post about it afterward - Menage a Meh. LOL
I'm much more likely to pick up a paranormal menage, but all those contemporary ones with 2 or more guys, like the ones Siren puts out? No way. I already know it's w waste of my money.
Regina, Your cover is hawt. I love menages too, as well as shifters (as you know). A lot of interesting dynamics and emotions can be created in those love scenes. Congrats on your release.
Personally, I just think they work better in the paranormal realm, Lex. What modern day man worth his salt and who really cares about the woman wants to share? If he wants to share you, he's probably not work your time.
Well, damn, Kathy...I must say your new cover is HAWT too. Happy release day. Look forward to chatting with you tomorrow when you guest blog with us.
I think they are a great break from the regular scene. I didn't give much thought to menage until I read Emma Holly's book Menage. Believe me, after that, most menage scenes were like, huh, they can do that? LOL. ANd she always pulls off a happy ending where two are solidified as a couple and the third is like a welcome addition from time to time. I don't think I can personally share in real life or would want to be shared for that matter, but in fiction- I say go for it.
Congrats on the release!
I've read menages and they were really sweet; there was a lot of emotion involved. I've read one "five-some" (is that a word?) involving one woman and 4 men. It was different....
I look forward in reading Jaguar Hunger.
Thanks,
Tracey D
Congrats on the new release! Ok now on to menage, I love a good menage scene but some books I've read can just completely kill the mood! LOL But yeah I think more than three guys is a little too much. But I should add that I read a book where there were four guys or five, can't remember, but they all had sex with the female bc she was being initiated or something, but the scene worked. And never again did the hero share his woman.
It's something I've thought about writing but taking my tame bc I don't want to ruin it.
Oh and I do love big cats! LOL So much so that one of my WIPs is about a story about a jaguar too.
BTW - Hot cover and congrats!
Call me prudish but I don't like menages. I just want hot steamy sex between 2, only 2 people. No man really would have sex with a woman who was having sex with their friend, brother, father, lawyer, etc. Men won't even date a friend's ex.
I appreciate the fact that it's only fantasy but I want REALISTIC fantasy. Besides, it's just plain gross!
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