Saturday, February 27, 2010

Weekend Ponderings: Me and M/F vs M/M Romance & Reading Jambrea Jo Jones

I’m wondering for a short while now, what on earth is happening to my reading preferences!!
I find myself turning more and more toward M/M books. For example when I look at my purchases from the last month, about 8 out of the 10 books is M/M. It’s an addictive genre and I blame a few of my blogging friends for feeding the addiction ;) I won’t name them but you can check out my daily blogroll - maybe 5 of the 25 bloggers aren’t reading M/M (yet). The rest is recommending me, on a daily base, one good M/M romance after the other *sigh*. And then there’s the numerous amount of authors that write excellent M/M smut, to blame. Really, the majority of my favorite authors write M/M romance.

Not a big problem, if it were not so that I find myself more and more disliking M/F romances too. Or maybe dislike is a bit too strong, but at least enjoying it less! And I realize that it’s me, and not necessarily the books, that have changed.

Take for example the book I’ve finished yesterday: Magnus. It’s written by the lovely Jambrea Jo Jones who gave the book to me as a present, without expecting anything in return.
This is an enjoyable M/F romance in which we have a very hot alpha hero, a Marine with the name Joe ‘Magnus’ Rivers. Take a peek at the cover, that’s perfectly picturing him. His love interest is a NCIS woman, Emily, who’s undercover and investigating his team. She’s sassy, tough and well trained – not the typical soft type. I like a heroine like her who can get the alpha hero to his knees because she impresses him.

Wait, let me give you the backblurb first:


Marine Colonel Joe “Magnus” Rivers’ job is his reason for being. Protecting the United States of America from all threats is his sole purpose in life. That life is turned upside down when a woman is assigned to his team of elite Marines and his attraction to her threatens his career.

NCIS Special Agent Emily Patterson’s orders: infiltrate Colonel Rivers’ team and find the culprits behind a slate of kidnappings connected to a sex slave ring. Her mission parameters didn’t include an attraction for Colonel Rivers but nothing in Emily’s career could have prepared her for Magnus. Her job becomes more difficult as she gets to know the man behind the uniform and Emily finds herself wanting to prove herself to him, potentially exposing her identity before she clears Mag.

Mag and Emily struggle against their growing feelings for one another, both knowing the consequences of giving in to lust. Mag is Emily’s team leader and fraternizing is against the rules. Emily is investigating Mag and his team; getting involved with him could ruin her investigation and her career.

This is a romance with a lot of action which makes it a fast paced read. A lot more than what’s mentioned in the backblurb is going on (I won’t spoil). And there’s even another point of view, that of the bad guy, added to the story. I have to admit that those were not my favorite parts and were a bit farfetched at some point, but the whole investigation and action part rounds up nicely in the end. Ms. Jones kept me at the edge of my seat with that.

So far it doesn’t seem to make any difference if this is an M/F or an M/M romance, but that’s because I haven’t said anything about the interaction between hero and heroine yet. Magnus is a Marine colonel who’s used to hand out orders. He’s acting like the alpha hottie he is, which is fine. I could live with the fact that he’s cursing a lot, his favorite word being ‘f*ck’. It fits his character of a tough military guy in a way. I had a wee bit more trouble with his repeated ‘claim’ that Emily was his. I couldn’t help thinking that such a claim would not be easily made in a gay relationship, unless it’s D/s, but this wasn’t. And when ‘the bad guy’ character made the same claim, it didn’t make it any better… But okay.
Though what bothered me somehow was that Emily turned into a helpless heap at one point. Her training as a special agent and her fighting skills seemed to become non-existing and that surprised me a little bit. Again I couldn’t help thinking that this could be conveniently serving the theme (in some M/F romances) of the strong hero rescuing the damsel in distress, where the man is all manly and the woman is all weak so to speak.
The feminist in me growls when there’s only a hint of this theme present… Nothing more than a hint was present in Magnus though. When on top of that the heroine’s only wish is to have him inside her, while she’s badly hurt and falling apart, I have a hard time liking her. That doesn't mean that I didn't like Emily, I'm using her as an example to make my point about inequality between men and women.

I’m not saying that in M/M romances both heroes are always equals, but there it doesn’t seem to bother me as much when they are not. Probably because the traditional patterns of sex differences aren’t playing a role. And I don’t identify with one of the heroes as I do with the heroine in a M/F story.

I know that when Magnus would have had two heroes instead of a hero and heroine I would have liked it much more. I still enjoyed this story, but the niggles about the above M/F issues moderated my enjoyment a little. I’ve read another short story by Jambrea Jo Jones, The Runaway Man which is M/M and proved my point. Granted, sex scenes took place off page, and this was only a very short story showing a few fragments out of the life of two guys, but none of the above itches regarding inequality were presenting itself. I enjoyed this story a lot.

I’m convinced that other readers, especially those who like military, alpha heroes, will enjoy this story more than I did (3 out of 5 stars)! Don't get me wrong, I like it! The love scenes are really hot and the growing love between Mag and Emily is sweet! But M/F readers will probably really love it instead of only like it.

I’m wondering now if I should avoid reading M/F with alpha heroes completely from now on. Or am I the only reader of M/M romances who’s having this kind of troubles with issues like this?

35 comments:

  1. Ah, yes. Didn't we mention this bit? Whoops. ;)

    Same thing has happened to me. I have a lot of trouble reading and enjoying m/f romances now, because of the power dynamics. As you point out, in m/m, while both men may not be equal per se, they are both starting out from roughly the same point. Until I started reading m/m, in most cases I didn't realize/notice the inherent inequality between the hero and heroine in m/f romance, because I was so used to it.

    And now I have this huge stack of m/f TBR sitting here unread because it frustrates me to read now. *sigh*

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  2. Well, while I am still new to the m/m world... I do not have this problem right now. But I see what you are saying. In my reading, I have come across a few books that the woman just pisses me off because she reverts back to the "OH I NEED HELP" - especially if said book is set in the now. I mean come on, we are too independent these days to fall for things like that. I know there are women in real life like this... but when reading I want to be able to read about the person I wish them to be - backbone kick ass! But in m/m relationships, they are both men, both alpha to some point. In m/f... you have alpha beta... So with that said... sigh... I am going to say that I will still read anything I can get my hands on...

    I will stop rambling! Have a great weekend honey!

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  3. Last year, early last year, I started reading M/M. I started out with JL Langely. Went on to ML Rhodes, Ava March, Cameron Dane, and have tried on several others. I found myself in love with M/M. I couldn't put it down, couldn't stop reading it, couldn't talk myself into buying any M/F or even any menage unless it was M/M/F and not just M/F/M. The M/M genre is addictive. Poorly written M/M is just as bad as poorly written M/F although I find myself even more disappointed if it's M/M that's not written up to par.

    I have gone back to reading a little more M/F than I did last year, but, at least half of the books I've bought in the last month have been M/M. I even did a blog post on the joys of reading M/M and received some wonderful recommendations from readers and writers of the genre.

    Lissa

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  4. I can just say ditto what Chris said. I went from mystery to m/f paranormal romance to m/m. I have I think one or two m/f TBR but I simply don't buy them at all.

    I never noticed the inequality until you read something different either. I think though all of us have our tastes evolve over time. What I liked when I was 20 was different than 30 or 40. So it's not that those other books I like are not good or that there aren't great m/f out there, I just have different tastes now so I'll leave those for others to read.

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  5. Hey Janna,

    Wow. Now I'm getting nervous about sending you Centrefold... I hope to hell I wrote Scarlet 'tough' enough, lol.

    I do agree with you about 'weak' heroines. I like my ladies kick-ass and feisty. But I also realize that with women, you do have to ask yourself what kind of character is she? If she's a Marine, or Special Agent, then yeah, she should kick butt like the guys. But if she's your average person who gets caught up in something, would you really believe she's a closet martial arts specialist? I mean, how many of us, if suddenly faced with a stalker or kidnapped, would really be able to kick some serious butt?

    I'm not excusing the M/F genre... like I said, I try to write strong heroines who can take care of themselves, but when it comes down to it... women just aren't as strong as men, which is one of the things I love most about Men!!! And many women just don't seek that kind of training, lol.

    As for M/M. I haven't written a straight M/M yet... though Centrefold is a M/M/F. I'm just not there yet. I agree that our tastes change as we gain experience. I never would have even written a M/M/F book a few years ago, because I wasn't in that frame of mind. So may it's something you come to slowly...

    Here's hoping you aren't totally turned off the M/F genre and that you'll be able to find some ladies that don't disappoint.

    hugs,
    Kris

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  6. @Chris: You could've warned me ;)

    I didn't realize/notice the inherent inequality between the hero and heroine in m/f romance, because I was so used to it.

    I think that's exactly what's happening to me too. I start getting more intolarable to feminine weakness. I had the same issue with Hard Too Hold a few weeks ago. I almost feel sorry for the poor heroines that I accuse of being weak, lol.

    I think though that not all M/F books have the inequality between the hero and heroine. I'm not willing to give up on them yet either (if only because of my huge stack of M/F books ;))

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  7. @Cecile: Don't get me wrong: Emily is not of the 'o, I need help type' type! No than I would've probably not been able to finish the book :)

    I am going to say that I will still read anything I can get my hands on...

    I think I'll follow you in that, hon! For now :)

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  8. So I take that I could enjoy it more than you did.
    I don't mind things like that, well I do if it feels a bit too much even for me

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  9. @Lissa: Yeah, it's addictive, to say the least.
    You're right that poorly written M/M can be bad, or even worse than poorly written M/F.
    My niggles had not so much to do with the writing as with my own personal likes and dislikes! It's me, not per se the books :)
    Did you yourself write M/M as well? I loved the Saturday Snippets you posted today (even if they were M/F, lol).

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  10. @Tam: I agree!
    So it's not that those other books I like are not good or that there aren't great m/f out there, I just have different tastes now

    Precisely, that was my point. It's not that the book isn't good, it's me who has a problem enjoying it like I would before.

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  11. @Kris: No need to be nervous :) I hope I don't come across as someone who wants to bash a book or something? I did like Jambrea's book.

    I mean, how many of us, if suddenly faced with a stalker or kidnapped, would really be able to kick some serious butt?

    Of course, you're absolutely right. I know I wouldn't! LOL.
    But then again: how many of us do have orgasms simultaneously with our partner, or how many of us do have multiple orgasms like our romance heroines? :D I know I don't, lol (*ahum*at least not all the time*ahum*).

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  12. @Kris: I forgot
    Here's hoping you aren't totally turned off the M/F genre and that you'll be able to find some ladies that don't disappoint.

    Thanks, I hope so too :) I'm not turned off yet and I know that there must be some nice heroines out there to discover, lol. I might try Centrefold first thing ;)

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  13. Love your thoughts on this subject...

    I am glad to say I still read a balance amount of books - I think I read more fantasy and romance suspense stuff than anything else...

    M/M - there is definately that "I will not break if you push a little harder" feel to them - but I need a mix bag in my reading material...

    Sometimes a TSTL heroine works for me on so many levels...

    I can however see the lure of straight m/m reading...

    E.H>

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  14. @Blodeuedd: So I take that I could enjoy it more than you did.

    Yes! I liked it, so I think you would enjoy it :)

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  15. @EH: Thanks hon! I know I have started to enjoy paranormal romances and I like the romantic suspense as well. Fantasy I'm not sure yet.

    but I need a mix bag in my reading material...

    So far, I do too! But like you, I see the lure of straight M/M reading as well. I guess, I'm not willing to give up the variety yet :)

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  16. I understand! I still haven't yet read M/M books (but i'm gonna start one tomorrow *g*) but i understand the change of taste. I had a phase when I only liked soft romances, but only a few months later nothing except BDSM caught my interest. I was craving for (light, yes i'm still a vanilla girl lol) BDSM and anything else felt too soft in comparison. I needed more 'violent' sex. lol I'm not sure I explain myself very clearly. After reading so many M/F books I can only understand that you got bored, M/M is new and exciting, full of possibilities ;)
    Maybe you'll feel the need to read more M/F in the future, you should not force yourself it it doesn't sound right to you at the moment.

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  17. @Pattepoilue: I so hope you'll like your first M/M book :)
    I know what you mean with the phases, I have those too although I haven't read romances for that long yet (not even one year), lol!
    I sure like the variety!
    And you're probably right that in the future I'll get bored with M/M again and maybe want to read more M/F :)
    I guess, we seek a new thrill every time!

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  18. Ditto to what Chris and Tam said.

    I still read m/f; however, I've noticed that I'm pretty picky now with the types of m/f I buy. I tend to be attracted to blurbs/stories where the female protag is clearly a strong character and is up for the challenge of 'taming' an alpha hero. In other words I read UF and PNR. It's cliched kick arse heroines all the way for me ;) , but *shrugs* at least the relationship dynamic seems more balanced.

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  19. Well as you blame other bloggers I am blaming you for my new M/M obsession. :-) Your blog is like crack when it comes to finding what M/M I should read next.

    Ever since I read The One that Got Away based on your recommendation, it has been a slippery slope ever since for me. I just checked my Kindle and 18 out of my last 20 purchases have been M/M.

    I do still love a good M/F story from Lauren Dane or J.R. Ward - my two favorite authors, but is there anything better than Tere Michael's Faith and Fidelity? I find myself itching for the release of Duty and Devotion as much as I am for the release of J.R. Ward's Lover Mine at the end of April. I didn't think I could find something that could match my anticipation for a book from Ward - not to mention a M/M story.

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  20. The only m/f books I can stomach at the moment are the non-, of page or very light on sex, ones.
    I can't stand, wet folds, dripping (or it must be yaoi), soft cores, sheets whatever. Maybe I will get back to it but not now.

    Janna did you try yaoi yet *grin*?

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  21. I read M/F for years (ok, decades) and was bored and frankly disgusted with the overabundance of TSTL heroines. About 3 1/2 years ago I started reading more erotica than romance and discovered m/f/m books soon after.

    As soon as I read a book where the guys got it on with each other and not just with the girl I was hooked. Finally, a way to ditch the TSTL. :D

    I got on the web and discovered the wonderful world of M/M romance. Three years later I'm still reading M/M and loving it.

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  22. I agree, I've found myself reading more m/m than m/f. Heck, even writing more m/m than m/f. I think the only time I read m/f is when I'm beta reading or its a print book.

    I'll have to go back and re read Mag, to check on that part. :) I tried to make Em kick ass the whole way through. Thanks for reading it and liking it. :) I'll keep your thoughts in mind when I write my next m/f. :)

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  23. Hey Janna,

    I didn't think you were book bashing at all.. as a matter of fact, I think your reviews are great. Even if you have an issue with something, you always point out the good parts too... which in the end is all anyone can ask. We all have our tastes and we can't please everyone..

    Having said that, I don't much like the weak women either. I just hope they don't ever appear weak, lol.

    Oh, and for the record, I... ahum... finish with my partner and do have multiple orgasms, 'cause yeah, I'm that great, ( giggle giggle)

    Here's to enjoying your new genre all you can. There are lots of great M/M books out there...and if I ever get the notion to write one, I'll send it your way, lol.

    Hope you enjoy your next book.
    hugs,
    Kris

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  24. Hi Janna, I always need to alternate my genres to avoid getting bored but I do know that since I "met" you my M/M reads and buy habbits have increased *wink* I can only imagine the many recs that are coming your way! Perhaps your reading preference screams M/M now and I can only say; Let it lead your way! *grin* Perhaps over a period of time M/F gets back in to your reading habbit again.

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  25. @Kris: I see myself getting more picky as well. Although I fear the cliched kick ass heroine at the same time. I figure, such women will get boring too ;)

    At least we all want the relationship dynamic to be more balanced :)

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  26. @Samantha: LOL, I'm so proud :) I love it that you love m/m so much that you anticipate the new Tere Michaels as much as the new J.R. Ward (wow!)!
    You really made my day by calling my blog your crack ;)
    Have you tried Tigers and Devils yet? You'll love it!

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  27. @Ingrid: LOL, you've had it really with M/F! I'm not in that phase yet and hopefully will never feel that sort of repulsion either :) The way you describe the female parts I might though, lol.

    Janna did you try yaoi yet *grin*?

    Nope, are you trying to spoil me completely, hon? ;)

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  28. @Lily: I can imagine how wonderful the discovery of M/M must have been for you, if you only read books with TSTL heroines.

    To be clear, I wouldn't call Emily that! :)

    No wonder that you're one of the people who keep rec'ing great M/M books to me and I <3 you for that :D

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  29. @Jambrea: Hey hon, first let me thank you for letting me read your book :)

    I agree, I've found myself reading more m/m than m/f. Heck, even writing more m/m than m/f.

    So, secretly you're one of the almost straight m/m readers, huh? LOL. I wonder why you aren't a straight m/m writer? I'm definitely gonna read more of your m/m stories!

    I'll have to go back and re read Mag, to check on that part. :) I tried to make Em kick ass the whole way through.

    Thanks for being such a good sport! And come back to kick my, not so kick ass, ass when you disagree with me, okay? :D

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  30. Thanks so much, Kris!

    We all have our tastes and we can't please everyone...

    Yes, that's so true and it's what I tried to point out, that it was MY taste that has changed and that there are other readers out there who will just love it!

    Oh, and for the record, I... ahum... finish with my partner and do have multiple orgasms, 'cause yeah, I'm that great, ( giggle giggle)

    LOL, I'm so happy for you *running off to hubby to demand a higher percentage of that too, like 100%...* *g*

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  31. @Leontine: Oh hon, I'm so glad to have 'met' you too, cos you have the greatest book recs for me as well! You convinced me to try paranormal romance and there's a genre with kick ass heroines :)

    I can only say; Let it lead your way! *grin* Perhaps over a period of time M/F gets back in to your reading habbit again.

    I will let it lead my way ;) And in the meanwhile M/F is not out of my reading habbit yet. So, keep on recommending the great books, sweetie! :D

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  32. I would not dare try to corrupt you Janna.
    It looks like you will manage quite well on your own

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  33. @Ingrid: Hey! Thanks a lot ;) but yes you're probably right.

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  34. Janna: NEVER! lol Everyone has a right to like what they like. I was a reviewer for a while, so I know how it is. Your blog is great and I love that you're honest, it helps me as a writer make my stories better. :)

    Ahhh...yeah....lol My next two coming out are m/m. lol And, I really do find myself reading more and more m/m. It is addicting. lol And I LOVE it. :) I do think it makes you picky when you do read m/f because it really is a different feel. :)

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  35. @Jambrea: Aww, thanks, that's nice of you to say :)

    You bet I'm going to read those two new releases :) It is addicting, yes!
    And you know... joining the Ethan Day group is making it worse ;). I was overwhelmed by all the messages and excerpts yesterday, lol! And I even won an ebook in the giveaway (can you imagine my luck on my first day there) :D So, it's only going to make me read m/m more and more!

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