What do you think?
Rate this book
Imperative
Imperative: Missing You
In the future, we don't choose our mates; Nature chooses for us. Nature doesn't make mistakes. And if you don't pay attention to Nature's Imperative, you suffer. Aquamarine Davis has an exciting future. The up and coming young choreographer is leaving town for a new job when she feels the unwelcome call of the Imperative. Hounded by an intense, biological compulsion to find her mate, Marina reluctantly attends the local mating assembly. Artist Con Montgomery is thrilled that the Imperative finally called! At 32, he believed his time had passed. For years, he's been haunted by visions of blue which he knew symbolized his mate. The Imperative leads him to Duncan Sinclair, and Con immediately recognizes his future in the smiling blue eyes of this man. When Con and Duncan walk out of the Assembly together, they leave something behind: Marina. Their mate.
53 pages, ebook
First published July 11, 2008
6 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Belinda McBride
65 books403 followersBelinda is an award-winning, top selling author of erotic romance, speculative fiction and LGBTQ romance. She lives in far Northern California with her family and a pack of Siberian Huskies.
A graduate of CSU Chico, she managed to attend the notorious party school without once getting drunk, arrested or appearing in a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Her main focus of study was classical and archival history, cultural anthropology and
theatre arts.
A graduate of CSU Chico, she managed to attend the notorious party school without once getting drunk, arrested or appearing in a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Her main focus of study was classical and archival history, cultural anthropology and
theatre arts.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 17, 2011
When the Imperative calls, you answer. In this alternate reality, Nature decides your mate and sends out a mating call. This horny buzzing is supposed to help you identify your mate at a local gathering spot. However, Nature may always be right, but not always clear as signals are confused and only two of the threesome goes home together the first night. It takes almost a year before Marina, Con, and Duncan are finally together as they were intended.
This is a short and sweet story without much depth but is lovingly drawn about the twists and turns that occur when trying to create your own destiny. Marina is too focused on her career and allows herself to miss the confusing calls for the Imperative. Upset and angry to feel the call so young, she buries herself in her work at the gardens, missing Con and Duncan as they find each other but not her. She decides to bravely move on, while persevering through the pain of missing her mate yet luckily stumbles onto Duncan over a year later.
Duncan and Con accept their status as mates, even though neither man is gay and claim their undying love for each other. The author is careful to straddle the line in keeping these two somewhat happy but not fully satisfied without a woman in the picture. While Duncan and Con claim they love each other deeply and totally, their interaction was awkward and much more fitting to best friends than lovers. Additionally the author’s insistence on having both men fantasize about women during their only man on man sex scene was uncomfortable. Their protestations about deep love for each other aside, their actions seemed to contradict their words.
Marina is clearly the star of this short story, described with intricate detail and emotion. She takes little to no action in actually finding her own mate but relies on first Duncan and then Con to recognize her as their mate. Thankfully both men were desperately missing women and were only too happy to accept their forgotten third into the mix. This ultimately is a sweet, short story leaning heavily on the connection each man has with Marina and their longing when apart from her. It lacks a lot of depth to the characters, although the plot is basic and moves quickly for a fast, easy read. This story will suit those who enjoy a nicely written ménage story with a bit of a paranormal twist.
This is a short and sweet story without much depth but is lovingly drawn about the twists and turns that occur when trying to create your own destiny. Marina is too focused on her career and allows herself to miss the confusing calls for the Imperative. Upset and angry to feel the call so young, she buries herself in her work at the gardens, missing Con and Duncan as they find each other but not her. She decides to bravely move on, while persevering through the pain of missing her mate yet luckily stumbles onto Duncan over a year later.
Duncan and Con accept their status as mates, even though neither man is gay and claim their undying love for each other. The author is careful to straddle the line in keeping these two somewhat happy but not fully satisfied without a woman in the picture. While Duncan and Con claim they love each other deeply and totally, their interaction was awkward and much more fitting to best friends than lovers. Additionally the author’s insistence on having both men fantasize about women during their only man on man sex scene was uncomfortable. Their protestations about deep love for each other aside, their actions seemed to contradict their words.
Marina is clearly the star of this short story, described with intricate detail and emotion. She takes little to no action in actually finding her own mate but relies on first Duncan and then Con to recognize her as their mate. Thankfully both men were desperately missing women and were only too happy to accept their forgotten third into the mix. This ultimately is a sweet, short story leaning heavily on the connection each man has with Marina and their longing when apart from her. It lacks a lot of depth to the characters, although the plot is basic and moves quickly for a fast, easy read. This story will suit those who enjoy a nicely written ménage story with a bit of a paranormal twist.
November 25, 2015
I like the basic premise of the book, but I think that there are some inherent problems with characterization. When the two guys are together they think about what they miss about being with a woman because women do this and women are like that. But then at the end when the woman is finally with them, she doesn't behave like a woman would by my way of thinking. They feel a female is missing, but she behaves like such a male with them, how does she fill the void? If they said they just missed vagina and breasts then I could buy it, or if they said they felt like a person was missing I could buy it. But other than that it just doesn't make sense. I know that the author wanted to play with gender concepts and sexuality, but you can't let gender differences be your character motivation, and then abandon all concept of gender. It turned me off really, because I couldn't understand the attraction.
November 12, 2012
The first half of this book was really quite good, but somewhere in the middle it just fell flat, and I can't really explain why. This was a short story, and maybe the second half felt rushed or incomplete.
March 18, 2016
The premises is interesting but it lacked the emotional & psychological depth I need when it comes to menage or polyamorous situations.
December 9, 2018
I am black woman in awe.
When I first saw this novella on Amazon I saw the cover and I couldn't wait to dive in. Then I saw the author and I was intrigued. I am a black woman who's very into bwwm by black authors. I've read a few interracial novels that had white authors and I feel like they try but it's never really accurate with the culture. This author blew me away. She made the female lead very real. It was sexy and pleasantly written. It was just raunchy enough. I don't know if there's something called classy Kink but this was it. For a short story, it was complete. I'm very impressed and I can't wait to read more! Thank you, Belinda! ❤❤❤
When I first saw this novella on Amazon I saw the cover and I couldn't wait to dive in. Then I saw the author and I was intrigued. I am a black woman who's very into bwwm by black authors. I've read a few interracial novels that had white authors and I feel like they try but it's never really accurate with the culture. This author blew me away. She made the female lead very real. It was sexy and pleasantly written. It was just raunchy enough. I don't know if there's something called classy Kink but this was it. For a short story, it was complete. I'm very impressed and I can't wait to read more! Thank you, Belinda! ❤❤❤
December 29, 2014
In this future world, people are paired (or more) according to an Imperative and it can be two heterosexual people being attracted to the same sex. So two men find each other and are at first happy but then are discontent because they feel they've been missing something. Marina was there at the Imperative meeting but felt her partner leave which leads her to a deep depression. Chance (or more again) brings them back together. Sweet story. I have the other two in this series which I'm planning on reading.
Read
June 17, 2012My first published work, now out of print as a stand-alone. :) You can find it in the Imperative anthology available through Changeling Press and other outlets.
February 18, 2012
Interesting concept that nature picks our mates for us. Quick read. Three people who miss each other. The call is there but the person seems to be just out of reach.
April 6, 2012
This was an interesting take on relationships.
December 27, 2009
I didn't even realize I was a fan of hers until I looked at the list of her ebooks I own! LOL!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews