The thing I like about her romances (Aside from the paranormal romance) is that she actuallys gets into the relationship side of a polyamorous relationship instead of just the threesome-sex qualities (though she does have a lot of those). Jealousy, possesiveness, liking one person over the others and the dynamics of it… LKH addresses a lot of these ideas in her stories.

Well, if the relationship is a true triangle, and the woman feels that she’s does not have the sex drive of a guy, it’s actually the perfect solution. She can go and read a book and let her boyfriends have it out. =)

Polyamory is just really foreign. It’s not even recognized by the spell check. Most of us were not raised with good models in monogamous marriages, so we can barely imagine a long term poly relationship working. Those, like Minx, want to see more good examples available, so that it’s a real choice and not something that seems too ALIEN to consider. It doesn’t have to be a fantasy–just good storytelling that causes the audience to invest in the characters and see from their eyes long enough to want the same thing. It’s coming, even if I have to write it.

Natalie Acres

Comments are closed? On one of my favorite authors? This doesn’t seem like you. There must be a trick.

But theoretically, I am no longer sure why we restrict marriage to two people. Or rather, I am not sure if we still have a strong enough social interest in encouraging certain familial units to incentivize them via the institution of marriage.

As for the RWA definition, I sense that the RWA is waning in influence somewhat like the AMA. But I would think its definition is still one important indicator of what the romance community defines as “romance” novel.

But polyamory is definitely not a fantasy for me.

It comes largely from my cultural background. Polygamy was the standard practice in China up until 1949 and I’ve always thought it sucked, just absolutely sucked. Raising the Red Lantern, anyone?

I don’t see how flipping it around–i.e., one woman, more than one man–makes it any better.

I fail to see how a HEA is the standard for romance novels. Just because a love story ends, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a romance. Romeo and Juliet, Scarlett and Rhett, Tristian and Isolde, Buffy and Angel, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard – no HEA, but romances all.

The happy ending is expected for romance genre books. None of the books you named are in the genre, although they’re often talked about as romance stories (in the non-genre sense). There are many romance genre readers (myself included) who’d strongly argue that there’s nothing romantic at all about tragic endings, and mislabeling a non-HEA book as romance genre will often cause quite a ruckus.

I’ve noticed on various forums, including Amazon’s Erotic Romance forum, that there are two distinct populations – one that prefers the contemporary menage with it’s angsty storylines, and the futuristic/paranormal/urban fantasy group. A point worth pondering.