Forced Menage

 

Recently I was in the mood for a good ménage et trois or poly- romance. I found a couple promising ones only to be sorely disappointed. They we're both historical based... I use the term loosely, and had an "innocent" type female main character. They had two - three alpha male types who "claim" the heroine. Now I don't have a problem with this per say, but when the heroine is the passive virginal type... 

When those alpha-males begin their seduction that verges on something a little taboo, I have to stop and say what a minute. Now I get that there are some people who enjoy things a little more forced, and sure it's ok when everything consensual. Yet these books had women who were clearly being dominated and not in the good way. 

The women were written in such a way to make them naïve to what the men wanted which honest made me feel icky. Especially since the first one I tried to read was with a 18 year old as the female main character. She was bought from her step-father and basically kept as a sex slave by two alpha were-wolves. I mean she was a well kept sex slave yet still, she was being kept against her will and bedded regularly. I couldn't keep reading it made me feel unpleasant. The other was a western and while the character was older, she was still utterly inexperienced with men. I just put the book aside with no intention of ever picking it back up. 

I don't have a problem with ménage or ploy relationships in books, I actually enjoy them when they're written right. But when you have a character who is naïve about everything and the guy(s) who are supposed to be her or even his love interest is over bearing and all alpha it just rubs me the wrong way.