Books and Authors of the Why Choose/Poly Category Across Genre & Time

 

So, I've been ruminating on this particular topic off and on.  Let me back up, the first book I ever read that tastefully hinted at such a relationship possibility very subtly (almost unnoticeable) was a YA Fantasy novel by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon by the title of "Knights of Ghost & Shadows," originally released June 1, 1990.  Toward the very end of the novel was a hint that Korendil (Kory Elf), Eric Banyon (Bard and Muscian), and Beth Kentarine (Witch and Musician) were at the beginning of being in a relationship altogether.  There was one brief kissing scene between Eric and Kory after Eric used his bardic magic to heal Kory and his brethren elves, and a very intense scene where Kory and Eric stare into each other's eyes.  There were also the different parts of the book where each of them had also slept with Beth separately, which caused some initial friction between the two males that eventually got worked out.

And it's a follow-up novel by the same writing pair by the name of "Summoned to Tourney," originally released May 1, 1992, and follows the three protagonists from Knights of Ghosts & Shadows, and starts with them all living in the same house in San Francisco under false identities.  You want to find out why, read both books.  

I search my memories, and I do believe that was my first introduction to the idea of what has become known today as either "Why Choose" or Polyamory Romance.  There were actually quite a few authors towards the 2000s I read via Ellora's Cave, Loose ID, and Total Ebound.  Those companies excelled at romance with a category for LGBTQ romances.  The authors who currently come to mind, that really made a more lasting impression, were:

Mechele Armstrong - Her sci-fi romance series Settler's Mine

Samantha Kane - Brothers-in-Arms, my first read of a poly romance story set in an historical period, in this case, the Regency, just after the Napoleonic War

Carol Lynne -  Her first series I discovered via Ellora's Cave was her Men In Love series, which was mostly gay with some poly in it, but two of them were a mixed gender poly; the first book, "Branded by Gold," which had a female character with two males, and "Completing the Circle," which expanded the throuple into a quintet.  Sadly, those are no longer available, though I'm lucky to have bought mine in e-format, so I still have my copies on file.

Later on, I came across SirenStrand Publishing and found more authors there, such as Tymber Dalton (Leslie Richardson), who has multiple series ranging from Science Fiction poly romances to contemporary ones that have various levels of BDSM to them.

Then there was another, more fantasy-oriented series with poly elements to it by Gail Dayton, by the series title of  "The One Rose" (actually it was a trilogy) done under Harlequin's now-defunct LUNA Imprint

Now, you can go on Amazon and find a variety of stories with poly/why choose thems to them.

Charlie Nottingham has a wonderful ongoing interconnected fantasy story world, with some of the books having poly/why choose them to them.

Mari Carr & Lila Dubois did a wonderful dual series that takes place in the same story universe - Trinity Masters & Masters Admiralty.

Jayne Rylon's Powertools and the other interconnecting series with it are also another link in my poly reading interests.

Now, not too long ago, I found another author by the name of Emily Rath who has a Regency Series called Second Sons and her Pucking Ever After Hockey series.  Which are both fantastic.

As time goes by, we are seeing more of this type of romance and mixed-genre stories being published.  I can't wait to see what new ones come to light.