Jeff Mann’s A History of Barbed Wire is a Lambda Literary Award winning collection of short stories and a novella titled "The Quality of Mercy". In May, 2007, at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans, I went to a reading of Lambda Literary Award nominees. After Jeff read part of his novella, I turned to his publisher, Greg Wharton of Suspect Thoughts, and said, “I want to review that.” What I meant was, “Where can I get my hands on this right NOW.”

How does Jeff make it seem so effortless to write such longing? I want to pour over these stories again to figure out how he makes brutality beautiful. Make no mistake, many of these stories, especially "The Quality of Mercy," are brutal, absolutely dripping with masculine power, raw with scent and ferociously wild, almost beyond the point of comfort, and yet they’re too compelling to turn away from.

"Snowed in with Sam" is a shorter, kinder version of "The Quality of Mercy." Admitting it’s all fantasy, Mann enjoys the company of a captive country singer he lusts after. Is his boy comfortable bound and gagged? Of course he is. It’s fantasy. Dishes shoved off the kitchen table in a fit of passion magically disappear without leaving a mess on the floor. It’s BDSM with a wink and a nudge.

"Captive" heads for darker territory and a recurring theme of Mann’s work in this collection – a sadistic top and a remote country cabin. But not just remote geographically, the real world is pushed far away by chains, gags, rope, sex, and servitude – sometimes willingly given, sometimes forced. The captive is given a choice though, and with little to pull him back out into the real world, he opts to remain where he knows he’s wanted.

Several stories in this collection explore the problem of kink and vanilla relationships. Vanilla is the steady, loving relationship filled with the unrelenting tedium of domesticity, kink is what’s missing. How they’re reconciled varies. In "Dionysus Redux," he gives into libido and cheats with a former student who is everything he secretly wishes he’d become. Bound, bent over a motorcycle, he lets rope take responsibility for his decision. While in "Daddy Dave," his vanilla lover not only witnesses a long, bruising scene with an experienced top, but finally, maybe, hopefully, begins to understand and even enjoy giving his lover the sexual experience he desires.

"Balsam Poplar Buds" speaks directly to the shame of desire. Having been raised fundamentalist Christian, I can understand how bondage can absolve the submissive of sin – another recurring theme in these stories. Once the rope is removed, though, that’s where this story shines. The guilt is heartbreaking, and like the narrator, you want to take the boy in your arms and protect his heart.

"The Quality of Mercy" redefines the term mercy fuck. While it brought to mind "Beauty and the Beast" and "Phantom of the Opera," the monster here is more frightening because he’s so real. This isn’t an easy read. It pushes way past safe, sane, or consensual. It’s erotic horror, veering far out of many readers’ comfort zones. Mann offers the darkest fantasy of Master and slave. Few writers, or publishers, would dare go there. But don’t deny that in the darkest corner of your soul, you haven’t thought how very hot this would be if only you could get away with it.
This book features a long forward by Patrick Califia. I was tempted to say, “Yeah, what he said,” as my review, but you probably expect more from me. I wish I’d read the forward after I read Jeff’s stories though. Not because it detracted from them, but because afterwards I wanted to talk about them with someone, and reading Pat’s forward would be the closest I could come to that. A collection like this makes me feel almost evangelical – fired up to spread the good word. The highest praise I ever give to a book is two statements: It kept me thinking for days, or, The stories stayed with me. This book did both.

The first time I saw Trebor Healey, we were in a master class at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival. I’d just read his wonderful novel Through It Came Bright Colors, and I was too intimidated by his talent to talk to him. He laughed when I told him that later. While the intimidation is gone, the awe remains.

Not every story in this collection is erotic, but I have to mention “A California Death” and “A Boy and His Dog” as truly fine examples of the art of the short story. Not to be missed.

In the title story, “A Perfect Scar,” the narrator is drawn to the Vietnamese hood Tran for reasons he can’t explain other than faith.  Tran doesn’t identify as queer, but that doesn’t stop him from fucking the narrator. Melancholy and fatalistic, the narrator sees clearly that Tran burns too bright to last long, but Tran’s charisma is inescapable.

Gilberto, conceived in a desperate attempt to save a marriage, is a beautiful boy. Then puberty hits. He’s disgusted by the changes he’s going through, and worse, he’s affecting people around him. Girls erupt into spontaneous orgasms. Pregnancy rates in his high school soar. Even his patient, saintly mother gets it on with a co-worker. When horns sprout from his skull and shaving his hairy legs three times a day fails to keep the fur in check, he runs for the hills, where he finally meets another “Faun” who can explain and accept. Anyone from Los Angeles may snicker as I did at the end when it turns out that Gilberto’s fled to Arcadia.

Deftly comedic, “Housesitting” is an irresistible tale of an anarchist who tries in vain to keep his politics from infringing on his cushy stint as a house sitter. If he were to examine his sex life closely, he’d probably see that he’s as opportunistic and callous as the people he despises, but of course he’s rationalized everything. That lack of insight isn’t limited to sex. He embraces anarchy while trying to contain it to convenient moments in his life.    As events spiral out of his control, an anarchist should appreciate the beauty of the chaos, but he doesn’t. Adding insult to injury, he becomes a pop culture icon, his image emblazoned on t-shirts.

This collection was a true pleasure to read. I keep picking up the book and rereading passages, mesmerized. Thumbs up, but it deserves higher praise than that.

In Animal Attraction, editor Vincent Diamond offers stories about men brought together by animals. This is a great theme that the writers freely interpreted as best fit their talents. House pets aren’t the only animals to be found on those pages. From an elephant refuge in Thailand to a jaguar who might be a goddess to raptors, livestock, bears, and elk, there’s plenty of wildlife too.

Torquere is known for its authentic southwestern roots, and these show in many of the stories. The cowboys of BA Tortuga’s "Brahamas and Pitbulls," the Thoreau Scholor and Game and Fish warden in Elazarus Wills’ "A Hound, a Bay Horse, and a Turtledove," and the photographer and ecologist in Sarah Black’s very good "White Mountain" are all part of the modern world while still holding on to the admirable code of the historic West.

Kiernan Kelly’s "Chasing Sampson" uses the mercurial nature of house cats to great effect. Anyone who has ever had a cat knows the frustration of searching the neighborhood for a wayward cat who would never deign to come to the call of, “Here, kitty, kitty.” Luckily for Keene Gray, someone else answers the summons, and he looks so damn good in that uniform.

"Horseplay," by Sean Micheal isn’t exactly what you’d think. This isn’t randy college boys playing around. Micah owns a riding stable and Byron brings patients there for therapy. They’ve been eyeing each other for a year, neither making a move. Once they make the move though, things get hot and serious fast.

In several of these stories, dogs help owners connect. A therapy dog in J. Rocci’s "Puppy Tax" attracts a cute doctor to the owner of a doggy day care center. In Neil Plakcy’s "Canine Connection," the dogs mirror their owner’s personalities. A rather uptight Yorkie takes a while to warm up to a fun loving Golden Retriever. The dog’s pet parents get along a lot better until the dogs, and their differing styles, almost tear them apart. After a little break, they all decide that a little give and take is worth it.

I’ll admit that part of my bias for "Gerbil Falls in Love" by Dianne Fox is the title, but I also loved that the hamster’s life and the narrator’s mirrored each others. Both had been solitary for too long; both took some time to adjust to a new companion. While I’m all for a rush of passion, it was a nice change of pace to read about guys who dated a bit before getting into bed. Once they did though, things heated right up.

While several stories in this anthology touch on the emotional healing pets can bring, "What We Leave Behind" by Shanna Germain is absolutely stunning. Not only does she show the healing power of pets, but also sex. It is beautiful and sad and hopeful – a difficult combination to deliver, but Ms. Germain deftly crafted a winner.
This anthology was a pleasure to read. Vincent Diamond did a great job picking stories with a range of styles and emotions that will appeal to many readers, and overall the stories are well written. Recommended read.

Cleis Press’ annual Best Gay Erotica anthology has a unique approach. Editor Richard Labonté culls the submissions and sends the first cut on to a guest judge, insuring that there will always be a fresh perspective on the selection. This year poet and novelist Emanuel Xavier puts his stamp on this consistently outstanding anthology series.

When Emanuel first contacted Erotica Revealed about a review, the request came to my email rather than our usual submissions address. Thinking swiftly, I shouted DIBS! and snatched it out of the queue before anyone else even knew it was available. I suppose I should feel a twinge of guilt for that. Let me check. Nope.

Arden Hill’s “My Boy Tuesday” was a good choice for the first story. Yes, it’s a hot BDSM tale guaranteed to get your attention in all the right ways, but what I enjoyed the most about it was how fresh the character was. This was no stereotypical leather daddy. He wears his fingernails long and painted and has a closet full of drag clothes. Make no mistake though; this genderqueer top is in charge. This story puts you on notice that what follows won’t be predictable or part of the same old erotic routine. It also shows that despite the reputation of this genre, writers of erotica produce quality stories that can make you think as well as get you off. Be prepared for both.

Tickle torture is one of the BDSM variations I rarely see in lesbian or heterosexual erotica, but it crops up in gay erotica occasionally, so there must be an audience. My cousin once sat on me and tickled me until I got sick. (All over him. Hah! Served the bastard right.) so I know how sadistic ticklers can be and how quickly a victim can be rendered helpless. Obviously that killed any erotic potential for me, but Wayne Courtois’ “Capturing the King” will probably fascinate anyone into extreme tickling.

Horehound Stillpoint captures the essence of online cruising - the frustration with flakes and picture collectors- in “Donuts to Demons” with breathtaking precision. Yeah, I’ve heard the litany of complaints about CraigsList personals from friends, but never distilled into prose like poetry. Although I’ve seen Horehound’s name many times before, I had to flip back to his bio to verify that hunch. Ah yes, he’s a poet too – it shows in his writing- although he quotes dear friend Trebor Healey’s work instead of his own. But after this sharp, funny intro, the story takes a meditative, bittersweet turn into memories of the real man who got away, or who was too elusive to be caught. This may be the story that had Emanuel Xavier “...curling into bed with my cats.” Deftly delivered, this was one I went back to after I finished my initial reading.

One of the frustrations of reviewing an anthology is picking just a few stories to highlight even though there’s a lot to talk about in this offering. Charlie Vazquez’s “Rushing Tide of Sanity” is an incredibly hot BDSM scene. Tim Miller’s “Sex Head” has me vowing to catch one of his performances. (He’s listed a guest at the Saints and Sinners Literary Conference in New Orleans this May. Maybe I’ll get lucky and see him there.) I first read Jeff Mann’s “Snowed In With Sam” in his collection A History of Barbed Wire. If you haven’t read Jeff’s work, this is a good introduction. If you have, you’re probably a fan too. Shane Allison’s “Confession Angel” is a series of short scenes that flow together beautifully to create a larger picture in a mosaic of memory. Jason Shults’ “Minimum Damage, Minimum Pain” is about the guy who, thank god, got away, but oh, how his boy energy lingers in the mind late at night when you reach for the lube. In “Funeral Clothes” by Tom Cardamone, it’s a sad race to see who can abandon the relationship first. And if you like a story dripping with summer sweat and the heat of public sex, Andrew McCarthy’s “Underground Operator” is sure to get your pulse racing.

One of the strengths of this year’s Best Gay Erotica is the depth and breadth of characters that reflect gay lives not often featured in stories. I’m sure this is due in part to Emanuel Xavier’s guidance. These are not token tales, though. Each one had to make Richard Labonté’s first cut. As Emanuel points out in his preface, it’s difficult to prove any anthology truly contains the ‘best’ work out there, but in my opinion, this edition is pretty damn close.

James Lear, author of Palace of Varieties, The Back Passage, and The Secret Tunnel serves as the guest editor for this year’s edition of Best Gay Erotica. The guest editors are perhaps the strength of this series. While a reader can expect well-written erotica every year, the selection of stories reflects the guest editor’s interests, making each year unique.

So what do you have to look forward to this year? Desire, cross-dressing, poetry, and hot fantasies, but mostly, a lot of longing for what was or what will never be.

The anthology opens with “The Changing Room“ by Bradley Harris. Kyle is seventeen, gay, and lonely. He goes to the mall in search of a pair of sexy red underwear and finds an admirer in Joe, a store clerk. Kyle returns to the store to try on clothes and underwear in the changing room while Joe watches him. They play out a long seduction, discussing in detail what they’ll do when Kyle turns eighteen. The sex talk is just an excuse though. They both need to feel wanted, and inside the changing room, they are. It’s probably the best sex that never was.

When I read Tulsa Brown’s “Temporary,”it reminded me of a line from the movie The Sting. “I'm the same as you. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody.” An ex-con dishwasher and a pre-op MTF chanteuse are two lonely people thrown together in a moment of danger late at night in a closed restaurant. Afterward, out of relief, or maybe just because they both want company, they treat each other with tender sympathy. Beautifully done.

Jamie Freeman’s “Don’t Touch” is a wonderfully told story. The narrator sees his crush everywhere, but it’s never really the man he wants. When he hooks up with another man, it seems he’s trying to relive that one perfect, painful moment where his crush let him almost have what he wanted.

In“The Opera House” by Natty Soltesz, Britt and Cody either don’t want to admit it, or can’t come to terms with their attraction to each other. As they inch toward a sexual relationship, they reassure each other that they aren’t like the fags who live a couple blocks away. But when Britt starts to hang out with another guy, Cody is jealous, and baffled. A bit of push and shove a few nights later evolves into wrestling, and the boys finally cross the last boundary. The aftermath is more confusion and anger. This story will ring true to anyone who’s struggled with their identity.

There are other excellent stories in this anthology. Jeff Man always delivers a great tale. Xan West, Gerard Wozek, and Simon Sheppard also contribute wonderful pieces. Year after year, the Best Gay Erotica series delivers on its promise of quality erotic fiction without ever being the same as the years before.

In his forward, Richard Labonte comments that this is his fifteenth year editing The Best Gay Erotica. It’s my third year reviewing it for Erotica Revealed. He states that his goal is to present stories blending sexual intensity and literary craftsmanship. Our goal at Erotica Revealed is to review erotica as literary fiction. Every year, this makes for some of my favorite reading.

Hank Fenwick’s “Holiday from Love” is a bittersweet look back at what might have been but never could be. Beautifully executed story with so much truth to it that you’ll inevitably think back to something like it in your own life. Regret was never so sexy.

The title of “I Wish” by Richard Hennebert makes it seem like fantasy fulfillment, although it’s reality for some. The narrator breaks free of mind-numbing domesticity for a night out with the lads that ends at a sex club where his wish is fulfilled.

Simon Sheppard switches between the points of view of an older couple and the hustler they pick up in “The Suburban Boy.” People get off on all kinds of weird stuff, but resentment is a new one for me. And yet it was so skillfully done that this was one of the stories I thought about well after I’d finished the book, and re-read several times.

Sometimes, sex is all in the mind. In Jimmy Hamada’s “fifteen minutes naked,” a man poses naked for a photographer. The photographer reflects nothing back – no desire, not even hints on how to pose. He lets his mirror do that. The model tries to get a response but only manages to turn himself on.

Every reviewer has writers they look forward to reading. Jeff Mann and Trebor Healey are friendly acquaintances as well as favorite writers. “Smoke and Semen” (Mann) and “Frazzled” (Healey) made my writer’s heart pang with envy, but as a reader I was, as always, in awe.

Contributions by Natty Soltesz, David May, Robert Patrick, Shane Allison, Tommy Lee “Doc” Boggs, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Thom Wolf, David Holly, Jamie Freeman, Jonathan Kemp, Rob Wolfsham, and Jan Vander Laenen, fill out this anthology. Each is worthy of a read, or two, as you find something that speaks to you. 

Best Women’s Erotica is an annual anthology offered by Cleis Press. For the past several years, the editor has been Violet Blue. I believe this will be her last BWE. While the strength of this series may be partially due to the occasional change in editorial vision, I’ve enjoyed Violet Blue’s years at the helm. If this is indeed her last BWE, she’s chosen to go out on a high note.

In a Best Of anthology, you’d expect every story to be well written, and Best Women’s Erotica 09 delivers on that promise. So the stories that work for you are going to be the ones that speak to your desires. Lucky for you, there’s a wide range of fantasies covered here – finding joy in her body, pleasuring his, taking control or giving it up, forbidden fruit, and role playing.

“On Loan” by Lauren Wright and “Fast Car, Not For Sale” by Trixie Fontaine are at opposite ends of the forbidden fruit spectrum. In “On Loan,” the woman goes to a hotel room for a tryst set up by her husband. The man waiting for her turns out to be her father’s best friend. Wright handles the reality of the awkward situation believably, and then lets the characters use that to make the fantasy even more forbidden and tasty. In “Fast Car, Not For Sale,” the character seduces a barely legal boy with the assurance of a woman who can handle turbo-charged power.

“Switch” by Vanessa Vaughn is a sweet, hot look at gender play. At home, gender roles often reflect tradition rather than the contemporary mores of society, and Vaughn uses this to her advantage.  

Exhibitionists and voyeurs will enjoy Elizabeth Coldwell’s “Live Bed Show,” “Waiting for the River”by Kris Adams, and “Decorations” by Sommer Marsden.

If power exchange is your thing, “Lucky” by Xan West, “The Bitch In His Head” by Janne Lewis, “Good Pony” by Scarlett French, “The Girl Next Door” by Kay Jaybee, or the “Secret History of Lust” by Donna George Storey will fulfill that need.

And for those looking for just some good, hot, sweaty sex, “Snug Designs” by D.L. King, “Cardio” by Elisa Garcia, and “What If” by Cheyenne Blue are a good place to start.

Beyond Desire: A Collection of Paranormal Stories features many well known writers and a few who are new to me. The cover promises that “Ghosts, vampires, shape-shifters, succubae, demon lovers… there is no end to the mysteriously exciting ways the paranormal force of human desire defies reason – and death – by fearlessly embracing the eternal nature of love and the darkly potent power of sexual lust,” and that, “Between the covers of Beyond Desire, the paranormal is not fiction as it honors the undeniable real way desire dares to transcend all limits.” This rather verbose prose, bordering on the purple, unfortunately reflects some of the writing to be found in this anthology. Thankfully, several stories are much better than that.

Bonnie Dee’s story "Three Wishes" made me laugh. A woman discovers a genie in a bottle. Knowing how wishes can backfire, she matches wits with the genie to get exactly what she wants, and maybe a little more.

"Tropical Temptress" by Sage Vivant celebrates the goddess that lies within women. While the main character sees erotic situations, the real driving force comes from her imagination and her will. Call it magic influence or simply recognition of her own nature, it’s a refreshing change when a character seizes the power of her sexuality instead of passively waiting for someone to bring it out in her.

M. Christian’s "The Tinkling of Tiny Silver Bells" is a difficult case. As with many of his stories, it’s brilliantly written and a delight to read. But is it erotic? I didn’t find it particularly so, but on the other hand, I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t really care.

"When Aborigines Dream" by Michele Larue, translated from French by Noel Burch, is simply incredible. A dream plague robs white men of their sexual vitality. The rich, distant wife of a victim goes in search of a cure and finds instead a developing hunger for sex that she never had before. This is the kind of story I can read many times and never tire of. I’d love to read more from this writer.

The paranormal is a popular theme in erotica because it can deliver an experience rich in sensuality. Unfortunately, this anthology is hit and miss. Several stories bordered on purple prose, recycled romantic erotica clichés, or simply failed to use the sensual trope of horror and erotica to elicit even a frisson of interest. Sex isn’t sexy just because someone comes. It has to get under the reader’s skin and rev up the libido. While no one is going to like every story in an anthology, I had hoped to find more to enjoy.

It’s summer, which means I’m in the mood for some fun, naughty reading. Lucky for me, it came in the form of Sommer Marsden’s Calendar Girl. This is the perfect beach read, as long as you don’t mind getting a little wet while you sunbathe.

Merritt comes home from Christmas shopping to catch her husband Drake in bed with a man. She divorces him by New Years Eve (yeah, yeah, summer read, let it go). While discussing her state of affairs with her best friend, Jeffery the gay drag queen, they come up with a plan for her to move past her current situation. Well, Jeffrey comes up with it. He proposes a new man every month for her: a no strings attached, no expectations, no commitments celebration of her freedom. Merritt doesn’t think she can pull off the Calendar Girl plan, but next thing she knows, she’s in the spare bedroom being finger fucked into a state of bliss by another party guest.

Merritt has a lot of fun with Mr. January, but by the end of the month, she’s ready to move on. Each of the men she meets fills a need, and they treat her pretty well. Each has a kink or two that she explores. It’s sort of a Goldilocks situation though – none are just right. Not that she cares. The idea is to keep moving and have fun, not to settle down with anyone.

Then she meets Penn. Merritt is a professional organizer; Penn is need of some organization. He’s aware that she’s working her way through the calendar, and he knows that she doesn’t sleep with clients, but he can’t get her off his mind. He has to go out of the country, but they keep in touch over the phone.

Merritt’s schedule starts to wear on her. She’s grateful when Mr. May (I think) mends things with his ex-girlfriend. Besides, she has a lot of other stuff going on – her brother just came out and her mother isn’t taking it well, and her ex-husband wants to get back together. Finally, she’s had enough, and she decides to stop being the Calendar Girl and just spend some time sorting things out. But the first of August is coming soon, and Penn is penciled in as Mr. August.

After reading the stories in Dirty Girls: Erotica for Women, I had to ask myself why I expected stories about “bad” women when Rachel Kramer Bussel’s intro made it clear that these were stories about women who could be dirty and sweet at the same time. Take her words to heart. These stories are not about femmes fatale, but about women who embrace their sexuality.

Perhaps I read too much erotica. It takes a lot to get me to sit up and take notice. The well-worn conventions, unless delivered by a master story-teller, leave me yearning for the story that could have been. Strangers knock it out, but here’s the twist at the end, they’re husband and wife role-playing. It’s only a twist if I haven’t read it a hundred times before. Every time, I wonder what’s so hot about it. Then there’s the mysterious stranger who quickly humbles the confident sex-goddess by dominating her and forcing her to accept the submissive role she was always secretly yearning for. Um. Right. Next? And of course, there’s the high-fantasy BDSM scene of the slave girl kept in sexual torment all night while she services her Master and his friends. That was covered ad nauseam in the Beauty series by A. N. Roquelaure and hasn’t become any more interesting since then.

Despite my dissatisfaction with a number of the stories in this anthology, there were also some amazing treasures. The lead-off story for this anthology is “Fucking Around” by Marie Lyn Bernard. It set the bar high for what was to follow, unfortunately. Sure, as an Angeleno, I wasn’t thrilled by Marie’s representation of LA, but at least she made it clear it wasn’t somebody from here. But I’ll admit I laughed aloud at Boston’s self-absorption, so we all enjoy a well-placed tweak of another person’s hometown. Call it regional schadenfreude. The pay-off with New York was priceless. I hate to describe this story beyond these comments because you deserve the delight of discovering this one on your own. Sexy? Maybe. Erotic? Questionable. One hell of a good read? Absolutely.

Shanna Germain is a master at bittersweet stories. Sometimes, what we’ve lost can never be replaced, no matter how much we gain. The narrator in “Until It’s Gone” can only get off from being choked by a belt and longs for the lover who knew how to do it for her. Her loving husband tries, but can’t bring himself to hurt her, so she fakes sexual fulfillment and tries to convince herself that her life now is worth the sacrifice. The sex in this story passes the border from dirty into kinky without so much as a kiss blown to the customs agent, but as always, it’s the emotional resonance of Shanna’s stories that stays with me for days, even weeks, after I read her work.

I could almost feel the swelter from Rachel Kramer Bussel’s story “Icy Hot,” and wanted that damn ice as bad as her character Doris did. When the last bag of ice for sale at the local bogeda is taken by a hot guy, Doris challenges him for it. He agrees to share it, but in his apartment. The sex scene that follows is as sizzling as the city sidewalks in summer.  I know when my nipples pucker at the same time the character’s do that the story is going to have its way with me, and I’m enthusiastically along for the ride.

Some stories that also deserve mention are Catherine Lundoff’s “Just Another Girl on the Train” that appealed strongly to my voyeuristic side, and Alison Tyler’s “Like a Good Girl.” Alison’s stories always have a moment that turns me on in a big way, and this one was no exception. 

Whether a story works or not is a mystical thing. Shortly after reading Rachel’s “Icy Hot,” I read Carol Queen’s “Shocking Expose! Secrets Revealed!”  and had quite a different reaction to strangers rushing into immediate sex. Maybe it was because Rachel’s Doris seemed streetwise enough to take care of herself that I took it on faith that she’d follow a stranger to his apartment and they’d get it on. But in “Shocking Expose! Secrets Revealed!” I couldn’t make that leap that it was in character for Abby to simply go off with strangers who admittedly had been stalking her. I also couldn’t quite figure out the – to me – non-sequitur that if a person is a bibliophile, she is also into a three-way with strangers in a booth at a peep show.

It’s not the set-up, it’s not the setting, and it’s not the scenario that makes a story erotic to me. Sex is a given, so even that isn’t enough. And maybe that’s the problem here – in too many of these stories, sex portrayed in graphic detail is supposed to be enough to turn me on, except that it often isn’t. I need interesting characters to grab my libido and not let go until we’re panting together through the closing words. I wanted to like this anthology more than I did. Yes, there are a few really good stories, but in the balance, not enough.

When I was young, I read every fairy tale and folk tale I could find in the library. I loved the Chinese version of "Beauty and the Beast" where the “beast” was a stove. Is it the stories or the Russian folk art in the illustrated versions that make Russian folk tales so wonderful? My favorite movement from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky is "Hut on Fowl’s Legs" ("The Hut of Baba Yaga").  "Fox Spirits," "The Snow Queen," even "Nag and Nagina" from Rikki Tiki Tavi were favorite companions to curl up with. So you’d think I’m a natural audience for erotica fairy tales. I’m not. “Ye Old Tymey” language makes me cringe, and it’s rare that someone produces a story that strikes the right feel of a folk tale and is able to balance it with the erotic element. Right now, you’re probably expecting a negative review, but there’s a lot to like in Fairy Tale Lust. If you have the same reservations I did, you might also be pleasantly surprised.

Craig Sorenson is on his way to becoming a recognized name in erotica, with good reason. His Ugly Duckling tale, "Duckling," is a wonderful tale of a woman “of a certain age” who might not have become a swan, but she finally sees that she’s a hot duck.

I’ll admit that I have a tiny bit of a boot fetish, so Louisa Harte’s "Ellie and the Shoemaker" was bound to appeal to me. I loved how horny Elle was, and how comfortable she was with that. If you dislike the traditional wilting princess who does nothing, here’s a heroine who goes out and gets what she wants.

You’ll recognize "Sleep Tight" by Janine Ashbless as a Sleeping Beauty tale, but you won’t expect the ending. I sure didn’t see it coming. That’s all I’ll say. Nicely executed.

Shanna Germain delves into the traditional, dark side of Celtic fairy mythology in "Her Hair is a Net, Woven." Allison Wonderland’s "Mind Your Peas and Qs" was deftly funny. We all need a fairy godmother like Saskia Walker’s in "All in a Day's Work." I'm not sure that Charlotte Stein’s "The Return" is truly a fairy tale, but it’s nicely told, and has a happily ever after ending that even I liked.

So the verdict is Thumbs Up. I wasn’t prepared to like this anthology as much as I did, but I’m glad I read it. With contributions from Delilah Devlin, Andrea Dale, Justine Elyot, Alegra Verde, Kristina Wright, Jeremy Edwards, Aurelia T Evans, Carol Hassler, Alana Noel Voth, Michelle Augello-Page, and A.D.R. Forte, you’re bound to find a gem or two, and no trolls. I promise.

From the title alone, I assume that The Cross of Sins is the first in a series. Fathoms Five refers to the five gay nuggets (sexy boys) who work for the blind Professor Maximillian Fathom:  Jake Stone – Indiana Jones, Eden Santiago – Brazilian doctor and biologist, Will Hunter – Batman, Luca daRoma – Italian art expert, Shane Huston – cowboy.  The Cross of Sins refers to the artwork they’re trying to find before a rival group of Catholic fanatics called the Crimson Crown destroys it. If you’re thinking this sounds like an action adventure genre novel like  Di Vinci Code and Ocean’s Eleven, but with some explicit sex scenes, you’d be right.

The story opens with Jake Stone climbing into the guts of a volcano to retrieve a diamond idol of a wealthy French collector. Jake barely escapes with his life from the erupting volcano, only to have the idol taken from him by the French collector’s henchmen. Left for dead, he’s hauled out of the water by a local fisherman and the Brazilian nugget – sorry, Eden – who was sent to fetch Jake for the Professor. Jake doesn’t want to join the group, but he grudgingly goes along when tempted with a chance for revenge.

The team splits up to go in search of clues that will lead them to the hiding place of the historically and artistically significant or sacrilegious  - depending on your point of view -  Cross of Sins statue. Danger lurks everywhere. Since you can’t keep a good nugget down, the boys make time for some hot sex despite being pursued by the murderous Crimson Crown cronies (Knight calls them minions, but I like the alliteration).  The opposing forces meet at a masked ball in Venice as they’re both trying to steal an important artifact from the French collector. As the body count and stakes crank higher, both sides race to the Cross of Sins statue, and the big showdown.

You’re either the kind of person who can enjoy an action adventure yarn, or you’re not a fan of the genre. I like a page-turning adventure. I love it when things blow up, and a truly despicable villain is one of the great guilty pleasures in life.  I’ll suspend my disbelief pretty far for fast-paced action and stomach-clenching suspense. 

What can’t be suspended though are the rules of good writing. Some of the characters needed to be fleshed out more. The action sequences were harmed rather than helped by frequent and redundant sentence fragments. In the big action scene near the end, overuse of the word minion pulled me out of the story. What this book needs, and deserves, is a great editor. The pieces are there for a really good genre read. They simply need to be put together better. For those reasons, regretfully, I can only give Cross of Sins a sideways review.

The difference between porn and erotica is all in your head, and mine. But since I’m the one writing this review, I’m going to go with my definition. Don’t think for a second that I sniff disdainfully at porn. Writing good porn is an art. Yes, porn often lacks character development. Yes, it often lacks plot. No one ever praises its strength though. Well-written porn can grab your libido in a couple sentences, have its way with you, and leave you panting. So where do I draw the line between the two? At telling everything instead of showing it and most important, a scene rather than a story.

We review literary erotica  - erotica written in the style of literary fiction – at Erotica Revealed.  Freedom is Slavery doesn’t meet that criteria. It is, by my definition, porn. However, I believe in looking at a book for what it is, not what it isn’t, which leaves me in a bit of a quandary.

This book is self-published, but generally well edited. I like the idea of including photographs with each entry, but the photos did nothing for me and the quality was probably hurt by the printing process. If the scenes get you off, you’re going to have a difficult time balancing the over-sized tome with one hand while you use the other.

Helen Madden is one of the most energetic writers I’ve ever met. She sets incredible goals, and reaches them. She produces a weekly comic on her hugely popular Cynical Woman website, produces cover art and websites for publishers and writers, and produces a weekly webcast that demands a fresh story every week. Not only is her output amazing, but the quality of her work is enviable. With a strong base of stories to choose from, it came as no surprise that she was releasing a collection.

As the title of the collection suggests, Helen’s stories are speculative fiction. The collection begins with a flash fiction (ultra short) piece “Circus Circus” that serves as an introduction as well as a story. It sets the tone for what will come.

“Event Horizon” reminds me of the restaurant at the end of the universe in the HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. A man is in a bar with a view of a star nursery nebula that is about to implode. There, he meets Shiva, who promises to show him how to go out with a bang.

If voting were ever like “The Voting Booth,” we’d have 100% citizen participation. Heck, I’d vote early, and vote often, if the candidates worked that hard to get my vote.

“To Birdman with Love” is set in the superhero universe. Ever wonder if those villains and superheroes running around in latex catsuits are a bit kinky? The line between bad and good was never so hard to draw, especially when they’re all writhing on the floor in a huge spandex orgy. You’ll be cheering for the sidekick who finally comes into his own.

“Husbands and Wives” is a melancholy tale set in an alternate universe that will linger with you for days. Lovely execution.

“Future Perfect” is the longest story in the collection. In this contemporary science fiction novelette, a researcher perfecting a line of sex toys begins to have visions while she and her submissive boy test her products. To her boy’s dismay, she immediately runs off to prevent her visions from coming true. That leads to a rift in their relationship. But the visions of danger don’t stop, and despite being apart, they are drawn back to the scene until the future finally plays out.

Hand and Glove: The Path is high fantasy gay BDSM. It follows the story of a smartass Mr. Leather title holder as he transforms from David Greenberg into ‘it’.

As David Greenberg, his life is a mess. He’s an undisciplined pretender to the role of a top, who harms submissives and is unpopular in the Leather community that he supposedly presides over. At a party, he meets a true Master who can see through his pretenses. Thinking that he’s hustling yet another trick, and that he can serve Master Hunter under his own terms, he soon learns that Master Hunter is the real deal.

Told to sell all his possessions except that which can fit into a tiny suitcase, and ordered to arrive at Master Hunter’s compound via bus, David fails his first test horribly. Instead of taking the bus, he drives his prized Red Corvette, and attracts the attention of the town’s sadistic Sheriff. Knowing that he’s probably blown his one chance with Master Hunter, David uses his one phone call to make a desperate plea for help.

Help does arrive, in the form of a lawyer, who has the trumped-up charges against David dropped. The next day, David is taken to the gates of the huge rural farm where Master Hunter reigns.

The farm is the original of a series of estates closely held by a group of Vietnam War veterans. It is self-sustaining, generating its own power, growing its own food, harvesting lumber from the woodlands, and quarrying limestone from a huge series of caverns it sits over. All of this is covered in great detail in the first chapter and again later on.

Rather than being taken to Master Hunter, David is collared, fitted with a harness, and brought down into the labyrinth underneath the complex where he begins his slave training. Over the period of several years, he moves through different slave tasks as a mule – one who performs physical labor – both underground, as a miner and a kitchen slave, to the outside world, where he is a pony boy and a lumberjack. Through that time, each rare glimpse of Master Hunter brings him hope, and a reminder of what he’s working towards.

To his dismay, he is sold at the slave auction to another master. He tries his best to serve, but kept confined in a small room in a filthy apartment, he falls into despair and attempts suicide. His new owner angrily returns him as defective merchandise.

As he is retrained by Handler Dan, who resembles Master Hunter in many ways, David begins the mental shift from I to it. Finally deemed worthy after over three years of reconditioning, ‘it’ is presented to Master Hunter as a birthday gift, to both men’s joy.

This is where the story ends. I understand that it is to be the first in a series of three.

There are several problems with this novel. The prolog and introductory chapters serve only as information dumps. They were probably tacked on with an eye to the entire series, but little of it was necessary to this novel and should have been cut. The writing does improve some after the introduction, but the habit of telling instead of showing continues throughout the novel.

What would have been the interesting parts of this story are relayed as mere anecdotal asides. Every moment of emotional connection between the men is hastily swept aside or happens at a distance. It says he fell in love with Master Hunter, and apparently Master Hunter loves it, but that’s never shown.

The jailhouse rape scenes add nothing to the story except to serve as a morality tale of what happens when a slave fails to obey his master. That point could have been made without being graphic to the point of tedium. That is, unfortunately, one of the weak points of this novel. Punishments are lingered over to the point of reader fatigue and they go beyond Safe, Sane, or Consensual. Yes, it is a slave, but it is also human and there are limits to what the human body or mind can endure.

This novel desperately needed firm editorial guidance. Hand and Glove does not compare favorably to other high-fantasy series such as The Marketplace and the "Sleeping Beauty trilogy."

After reading Hurts So Good, I’m thrilled to report that it’s still possible to find an erotica anthology with more than one or two good stories. Lately, I’ve begun to wonder.

It used to be anthologies were strictly segregated by sexuality. Not anymore. The pansexual offerings may partially explain why this anthology was so appealing to me. But what made Hurts So Good stand out was the consistent literary quality of the contributions.

Before I finished reading the second paragraph of the lead story, I turned down the corner of the page, indicating that I planned to reread it. In “The Sound of One Hand Clapping” by Nikki Magennis, a woman finds clarity in bondage and a spanking. Exquisitely crafted, this is easily one of the best short stories I’ve read this year.

“Turnaround” by A.D.R. Forte did something few short erotic stories has ever done, and that’s truly surprise me. A schoolteacher is accidentally rung by another woman’s cell phone. She knows she shouldn’t listen in, but the D/s scene between her idol and her idol’s husband is too compelling to hang up on, especially when she hears her name. She fills in the scene from what she’s hearing. Hot? Oh, yes. As I was reading, I was gritting my teeth for a cliché twist ending, but A.D.R. Forte took it in a different direction that made me grin.

Xan West is a name I’m seeing more often and always with a story that speaks to me. According to his bio – yes, someone does read those – he’s a BDSM and sex educator with a love for boots. It shows. In “First Time Since,” a Sir pushes himself back out into the world after his boy has left him. This story is rough leathersex served up with a bittersweet tang. That’s probably why I liked it so much. Too many Sirs are portrayed as automatons, or worse, jerks that have conned someone into bowing down to them. The emotional vulnerability of this Sir gave “First Time Since” depth that’s missing from far too many BDSM stories.  

“Toying With Lily” is one of Mike Kimera’s signature pieces. A Rauxa Prize winner for erotic fiction, he unfortunately announced recently that he was withdrawing from writing. When you read this story of a man stealing time away from his overly scheduled life to be with a married woman, you’ll understand what a shame it would be if this were the last of his stories to be published. Mike’s characters are always flawed, but almost beyond judgment, as they are so very human.

There are a few other stories in Hurts So Good that I feel I must mention briefly. Stephen Elliot’s “My Mainstream Girlfriend” is, I believe, a chapter from his novel My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up. It was the first book I reviewed for Erotica Revealed back in May 2007. This chapter reminded me why I loved that novel so much. “Provocation” by Jay Lawrence is a delightful discipline and humiliation piece. “Flick Chicks” by Allison Wonderland was a fun spanking piece.

The contributors to Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica will probably be familiar to fans of lesbian erotica. Fiona Zedde, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Jean Roberta, Jolie du Pre, and many others are known for their sensuous, hot, delightful, and thought-provoking work. This wonderful collection of stories shows why.

Like many of these stories, Tenille Brown’s "Waiting" highlighted the problems of a cross-cultural relationship, but it’s the personal distance that gives this story its edge. Lucinda has her life set in neat, distinct categories that suit her needs, and she makes it clear that Gabriela isn’t invited to step outside that boundary. When Gabriela does, Lucinda is unwilling, or unable, to give her some-time lover any emotional respect. Gabriela’s longing for more than her defined role is heartbreaking.

Nan Andrew’s "The Portrait" touches on skin color more than any other story, but not in terms of race. An artist, inspired by Freda Kahlo’s work, tries to paint a portrait of a woman she’s attracted to, but can’t make it work. Every time she looks at her soon-to-be lover, the complexity of skin color, with all the underlying tones, frustrates her. She can’t seem to capture it. Only after the artist experiences her model beyond the surface can she paint the person. This story encapsulates the theme of this anthology – race and culture influence perspective, but it’s what lies beneath that ultimately matters.

Fiona Zedde’s "Night Music" is lush, but playful. Likewise, Rachel Kramer Bussel’s "Two Strippers in Love" is upbeat and oh-my-is-it-getting-hot-in-here sexy. Jean Roberta’s "For All My Relations," and Jolie Du Pre’s "Monisha" are about loves that can never be again, and how the bittersweet knowledge of that can only be held outside for so long before reality creeps in. Lisa Figueroa’s "Enchanting Evalina" and Cheyenne Blue’s "Glory B" show that sometimes finding the prefect lover takes a touch of the mystical.

The stories in Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica feature women of Caribbean, Native American, Brazilian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, African-American, Mexican, and interracial backgrounds. They are photographers, mechanics, musicians, barkeeps, strippers and sex workers. Refreshingly, none of these women are fetishized. They are real, smart, sexy, and a pleasure to read about.

Just Say What’s On Your Mind by E.M. Hillwood is a self-published erotica novella. Don’t let that put you off. It’s as well written, maybe even more so, than some novels I’ve read, and the editing is quality too.

Mike and Angie are a married couple with three kids. Still crazy about each other, they find that their sex life as gotten a little stale. Then on a gals night out, Angie meets a man named Bennett who challenges her to talk honestly about sex. She’s intrigued and turned on by him, a confession that she shares with Mike.

Later, Mike and Angie go to Bennett’s home where they continue to talk frankly about sex. That talk leads to the bedroom, where Mike watches Bennett fuck Angie. Mike is turned on by the scene. He and Angie continue to explore this new side of their sex life with the help of Bennett. Since there’s no story without conflict, and all involved are okay with the situation, an old girlfriend of Mike’s shows up to play the heavy. Her scheming brings out jealousies. But with the help of Bennett, Mike and Angie work through the problem and set up a little revenge scheme against the old girlfriend.

On the downside: The sex scenes in Just Say What’s on Your Mind are fairly hot, despite their repetitive nature. If you think a cervix is sexy then the constant use of clinical terms might not bother you. Several snide asides about women just using sex to trick men into marriage and a white picket fence life, and the stereotypical eroticization of a man of color were unfortunate, as was the constant assertion that Mike wasn’t gay. (No one should EVER have to apologize for being gay, and if you’re straight, well then, that’s all right too.) None of the characters seemed to believe in an unexamined life and spent far too much time self-analyzing.

On the upside:  This is a nice portrayal of a loving couple exploring their sexual fantasies together. Despite a bit too much talking, it was good to see them checking with each other through every step that they were both okay with what was happening – until the one time they didn’t as a dramatic device, which made no sense. All of the main characters were distinctive and well-rounded. While the story had no real climax or resolution, it leaves you with a feeling that this couple will continue to explore their fantasies happily together.

L is for Leather is the latest offering by Alison Tyler is her successful line of alphabet anthologies. From the quotes before the table of contents to the editor’s bio, this book is packed with more leather than a vendor booth at the Folsom Street Fair. Thirteen writers explore the smell, taste, look, and versatility of leather.

Radclyffe’s “Skin-Flick Sex” offers up a hot, tasty tale of sex in the dark with a stranger – the holy grail of we girls who fantasize of women only sex clubs and the dark labyrinths of anonymous sex within. Add to it a touch of voyeurism, the threat of discovery, almost public sex, and a woman packing a cock she knows how to use, and this story hit a lot of my hot buttons.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of reading one of Thomas Roche’s stories. While doing the FedEx delivery guy/girl is a staple of office sex fantasies, he brings so much humor to this tale in “Venus in Uniform” that it charms instantly. His observation of how women can nice each other into sexual catatonia is sharply delivered. Then he deftly swerves into a bit of boot worship and what happens when girls stop playing nice, and that’s when things get really interesting.

Through the Erotica Readers and Writer’s Association, I’ve had the pleasure of reading Mike Kimera’s stories for years. “Other Bonds Than Leather” is unusual in this collection in that leather doesn’t figure in the character’s arousal or in the sex, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong in this anthology. Mike’s strength has always been his characters. In this story, a middle-aged woman meets with a man who may become her Dom and he shows her his dungeon. Her reactions are so spot-on that I can imagine saying those same things myself. Even though this is a dungeon scene and about power play, the sex is gently passionate.

For the title alone, Lisette Ashton’s “Truman Capote Was Wrong” had me wondering what it was all about. About leather, of course! How it feels against the skin, how it smells, and how turned on this young woman gets by her movie inspired wardrobe. She’s over her Matrix coat and is moving on to Underworld wear. She enjoys good tailoring, and her tailor enjoys watching her enjoy his work. I’m not much for fashion, but I’ll admit that there is something about those kick-ass femmes in head-to-toe leather that makes even me sit up and take notice of what they’re wearing, so this story hit a few guilty-pleasure chords with me.

Kate Pearce’s “Sunday Service” is a bit of historical erotica. If you like cowboys, and especially if you’ve ever looked at a saddle horn with less than honorable intentions, this BDSM story of a widow and a ranch hand is for you. Sommer Marsden’s “How He Likes Me” is another power-play story with a pair of black leather gloves. In “Cleanup On Aisle Ten” by Sheri Gilmore, leather takes the form of a dog collar and leash. Madeline Moore explores the power of the legendary “Little Black Dress,” a wardrobe basic, but this one is leather. In Shane Allison’s “Dangerous Comfort,” a black leather jacket provides cover for some public indiscretion.  For Michelle Houston in “Tempted,” it’s a pair of black leather pants over a fine ass that leads the narrator astray. I’m a bit of a boot junkie, so I could sympathize with Jude Mason’s Max in “Those Boots” as he stands transfixed at a shop window by a pair of especially arousing boots. In Tsaurah Litzky’s “Love Is Long,” the narrator is out for an ego-boosting quicky, and comes away with a newfound appreciation for leather in the form of masks. Rounding out the anthology, editor Alison Tyler adds her take on the joy of leather in “Hide.”  The owner of a leather clothing shop in LA keeps the cheap junk up front for the Melrose crowd, but the good stuff is in the back, waiting for just the right customer who can appreciate it. Leather pants, leather jackets, leather boots, leather gloves, they all come into play here as a connoisseur of fine leather clothing meets up with a connoisseur of fine women.

Leather is a surprisingly versatile material. It can be warm; it can be cool. Touch it, and the texture can arouse a wide variety of feelings. Wearing it can make you feel powerful, or protected. It can be soft and comforting, or it can de harsh and unrelenting. A leather jacket can make the wearer look both hot and cool at the same time. It has an animal scent that makes your nostrils widen as you draw in a deeper breath. It’s one of the few materials that we associate with power.

These stories delve into all of those associations, and more.  Not every story in this anthology is BDSM, although many are. That’s not surprising given how leather and kink are closely linked in our psyches. I was pleasantly surprised by how many lesbian stories there were. If you’re not into power play or lesbian tales, I’d still recommend you give this anthology a chance simply for the level of writing. 

Steampunk. If the word conjures up nothing in your imagination, then you probably don’t read many graphic novels or follow trends in science fiction. The definition is a bit hard to pin down, although editors J Blackmore and C. Tan do a fine job in their intros to this anthology. Rather than restate what they’ve said, I can give examples: Wild Wild West, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the flashback scenes in Torchwood. Generally set in the Victorian Age, steampunk often includes anachronisitc (out of its time) scientific devices.

What’s so hot about that? We think of the Victorian Age as being a time of great sexual repression, and it was, but Queen Victoria was a randy old gal (guess who a Prince Albert cock piercing is named after?) and her subjects followed suit – using extreme public prudery to mask rather deviant private lives. In direct contrast to that, Victorian Age machinery (usually steam driven, thus the term steampunk) didn’t cover up its inner workings. All the power and thrust of the cogs and pistons were on display, the porn of raw industrial might.  

Peter Tupper’s “The Innocent’s Progress” is set in the theatrical world of the Commedia, where roles are strictly defined and stories never change. A woman auditions for the part of the innocent, a role that calls for a cute young thing. Despite her acting ability, she’s too old, too tall, and too big to play the part of the innocent. Refusing to accept that, she leaves the company in search of a role that fits her. While this story is well written and interesting, the sex scenes have nothing to do with the main story. They are asides, populated by characters that only existed for those scenes. I suppose they were tacked on to fulfill the erotica prerequisite, but they detracted from the story rather than enhancing it. That’s a shame, because the rest of the story was wonderful.

“An Extempore Romance” by Jason Rubis reminded me of the Cottingley Fairies photographs. Only in this story, the fairies are real, sort of. In this alternate history line, science has produced chimeras – something we would call a highly advanced robot – that can resemble a human, or a fairy, or any other creature. During a photo shoot with chimera characters from her novels, a writer is worked up into a sexual lather by a swarm of fairies. Following the shoot, she, and her chimera maid, go to a brothel that caters to women. Did I mention that the chimeras could be in any form? How about a lovely model called a Raphael, “a dark-skinned boy of nineteen with an obscene mouth and obsidian eyes?”

“Hysterical Friction” by Thomas S. Roche may read like science fiction, but there’s more truth to his tale than not. In Hysterical Friction, a woman is diagnosed with hysteria. It was a common diagnosis for unhappy women at the time, with an odd array of symptoms. No doubt much of it was untreated depression. Rather than ask the woman about her problems, the doctor discusses her with the husband while she waits in another room. What the wife needs, really, is sex, but her husband has no interest in touching her. The doctor figures that out and explains to the husband that he has a new device that’s just the sort of thing she needs. The device turns out to be a vibrator. This is historically accurate, although in Roche’s deft hands, it’s a rather funny scene. You see, they didn’t have batteries, so they had to generate the power somehow. The doctor’s buxom assistant is more than willing to help out. I can’t explain any more than that without ruining it for you. Let’s just say that the woman is quite calm at the end of the treatment, but she’s willing to come in for appointments three times a week, as her doctor suggests.

“In the Flask” by Vanessa Vaughn is in the vein of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Aubrey and his lab assistant, Nicholas, are trying to develop a compound that will repress sexual urges. No doubt the urges they’re trying hardest to repress are the type they feel for each other. Nicholas is left in charge of the experiment late one night. He falls asleep, and when he wakes and realizes he’s missed the last addition of a chemical, quickly pours in the contents of the nearest flask. Unfortunately, it turns out to be the wrong one. The resulting mixture has an interesting effect on the lab rats that Dr. Aubrey discovers when he returns. By no accident, the doctor releases the mixture in the lab, giving the men an excuse to give in to their desires.   

Kaysee Renee Robichaud’s “Steam and Iron, Musk and Flesh” is set in the American West. The story begins with a great scene in a skyship, when Trista is caught with the Dean’s daughter. That leads to Trista working as an engineer in a traveling show where she maintains one of the star attractions, a clockwork man. The other star attraction, Maggie, a trick shooter, becomes Trista’s lover. While the show is in Arizona, the local bandit holds the troupe hostage while he forces Trista to use the clockwork man to break into the local bank. That’s a plot right out of Wild, Wild West.

S. Adrian of Fearless Reviews says that “Literotica.com is one of the most popular and diverse sites presenting fiction by thousands of different authors.” In her introduction, Marilyn Jaye Lewis states that there are imaginative stories written by new voices and without predictable plotlines. That sounded promising.

In “The Thingy” by Cockatoo, the narrator finds an object stashed away with his Grandfather’s old possessions. Intrigued by the weird device, he keeps it. As he carries it around, he realizes that it reacts to some women, and in a different way for each one. When it starts ringing for a woman on his bus, she hears it. They end up in her apartment, where they explore a lot more than the device.

In Molly Devlin’s “Troll Bridge”, a woman has been cursed with the name Briar Rose (AKA Sleeping Beauty). While she lives in a modern city, she encounters fantastic creatures. While crossing a bridge in the park one day, she’s grabbed by a troll. Briar Rose is a lot smarter than he is, and being a savvy lady, finds it easy to convince him that he means to eat her out instead of eating her.

In “Rent” by Parris, Kate is waiting for her soon to be ex-husband to show up with divorce papers. Hours later, she’s still waiting. Frustrated, she fantasizes about Marlon, the boy she’s renting out a spare room to. Marlon walks in on her as she’s playing with herself. She seduces him, and they spend the next few hours working off her pent up sexual frustrations. That’s when the ex-husband shows up. A hot, fun story.

Fans of f/f BDSM will probably enjoy “Famous Blue Raincoat” by Natalie Nessus. It’s more vignettes from a relationship than a traditional short story, but it’s well done. It flirts with snippets of humiliation and hardcore scenes without getting deep enough into them to push buttons for the squeamish.   

 Alas, “The Thingy” and “Troll Bridge” were the only two stories that came even close to MJL’s promise of unpredictable plotlines. I suppose you could add Killer Muffin’s “Absolution for Gretta MacClain” to the short list. This story was probably picked for the anthology because it was “edgy” - edgy meaning that it shows rape in a positive light as a healing experience . . .

Sven Davisson and his Rebel Satori Press are my MySpace friends, which means we are not friends at all, but share affinities through several degrees of separation. I saw the call for submissions for this anthology and was intrigued by it, but decided that while I’ve written a few surreal stories I could never sit down and write one on purpose. So I skipped the call and let it slide from my mind. If I had not had my tenuous links to Rebel Satori via MySpace, I probably wouldn’t have been reminded that Madder Love had been released. That would have been a shame.

I knew this anthology wasn’t erotica in the traditional sense when I asked to review it. That’s a confession, not an apology. Even the editor seemed a bit surprised that I wanted to review his anthology of surrealistic queer literature for an erotica site. He probably wondered if I got what he was aiming for. Queer doesn’t equal erotic, but when a group is defined by sexuality, sex is always part of the landscape.
 
Erotica is a slippery slope of definitions. “I know it when I see it” sums up my view, but since you won’t be reading these stories through my eyes, I’ll add that any story that uses sex or sexuality to explore a character is erotic to me. If you’re going to read Madder Love, you’re going to have to get past the idea of a quick payoff. These are words to be savored slowly. Wait for the complete visual to form in your mind before moving on. It’s a different kind of reading, absorbing words instead of consuming them, as with poetry.

Shaun Levin’s “The Yorkshire Adonis”and Sven Davisson’s “Dim Star Descried” are the closest to traditional erotica in this anthology. Tom Cardamone’s “Yolk” moved from sex at its most emotionally sterile moment to the point where it has meaning. The story I enjoyed most, though, was Peter Dubé’s “Echo.” It crept under my skin and gave me an uneasy feeling, as if I couldn’t quite see enough, but couldn’t get a better look no matter how hard I tried. Even after a third reading, the story seemed to hang in my peripheral vision and disappear when I tried to focus. Absolutely stunning, and unsettling.

Madder Love isn’t for everyone. Want some pat story that takes you by the hand and leads you through the familiar plot structure like a docent at the kid’s museum? Then don’t even try. Want a quick wank? Not going to happen here. This anthology may be just too far out there for you. But if you’re willing to try something different and stretch your brain, you may find the erotic possibilities of surrealism.

Clare London’s short story collection, Masquerade, is m/m erotic fantasy. Oh I know, what erotica isn’t fantasy? In this case, I mean science fiction/fantasy genre, so maybe speculative fiction is a better description, but other than geek girls like me, who uses that term? I was torn over classifying this collection as romantic erotica, but only two of the stories fit that description. So I’ll stick with m/m erotic fantasy.

Have you ever wondered what’s up with the m/m? The term ‘M slash M,’ or slash, comes from the world of fanfic. I’ve heard that the first slash stories were Star Trek universe with intimate pairings between Kirk and Spock, for example. I suspect that young Victorian ladies dreamed of Van Helsing and Dracula necking though. Heck, while Bathsheba was putting on a bathing beauty show for King David, she might have been indulging in Cain and Able slash. (Trust me – women don’t soak in a tub for an hour because they’re trying to get clean.) Like the term Yaoi, slash refers to stories generally written by women for women that feature male lovers. As in any genre, there’s a wide range of work out there. Some of it is hardcore erotica; some of it is sweet romance. Some of it’s even written by gay men. No longer confined to fanfic, the term slash now can apply to original characters and stories. It is the fastest growing corner of the erotica/romance world. Yes, straight women like reading sexually explicit stories featuring gay men. The secret is out.

Now that you know, back to discussing Clare’s collection for four short stories:

“Bonded” is the most romantic story in this collection. The narrator, Chariz, is full of his own importance and bored. So very bored. He will tell you this many times as he recounts his tale. A strange servant named Oriel is brought into Chariz one morning as Chiraz is recuperating from a night of debauchery, which is his usual custom. He quickly dismisses the servant as unimportant, but on close inspection, the man Oriel fascinates him. They end up in bed.  Chariz, who is used to having many bed companions every day, and never the same ones for long, disdains all others and learns to love Oriel, who seems to soothe Chariz’s long buried angst. Oreil, however, has unusual powers and people who are jealous of him want him dead. They almost succeed, but Chariz, having now grown a heart, sacrifices his beauty and fortune to save the slave he loves. While the language in this one started off stilted, it eventually smoothed. I found myself wanting to see more of the world, but that’s more of a testament to Clare’s world-building ability than a complaint.

In “Trickery,” two young squires are trying to find the Prince they were supposed to follow on a quest. Everyone got separated during an attack by bear-cats, and at some point dragons too, but it was never clear if those were separate attacks or if the dragons and bear-cats were inter-species allies against questing Princes. The Prince hired a magician with a rather questionable reputation to help with the quest, but along with the Prince and the guards, the Magician has disappeared. The squires know that the Prince is looking for a tower, and they stumble upon a tower in the middle of the forest, so they climb it in hopes of finding their Prince. Near the top, they find many guards who have obviously been indulging in wild sex asleep as if deeply enchanted. In the room at the top of the tower, a person who appears to be their Prince is having his way with a servant boy. The older squire realizes it’s the magician in the guise of their Prince and slays the magician. This didn’t make a lot of sense to me. If the magician could cast an enchantment that made everyone want to bend over for him, why did he need to look like the Prince? And why did the magician have to die? But that wasn’t by far my biggest problem with this story. I’m not a fan of nonconsensual sex. Call it an enchantment or roofies, rendering a person incapable of saying no to sex does not mean they said yes. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have enjoyed this story a lot more. The language was much more relaxed than in the first story and the banter between the squires hinted at a growing relationship between them. I wished it would have focused more on that relationship and skipped the scene in the tower.

“Possession” is the Godfather meets Dracula. Lucas is about to lose the family business when a mysterious stranger named Mr. Arnaud makes him an offer he can’t refuse. As if he has a choice. Mr. Arnaud will allow Lucas to sell a priceless collection of rubies in exchange for Lucas’s body. Lucas has the hots for his assistant Valentine though. Ah, but Valentine wants to marry Lucas’s sister. What to do? Give in to one desire or another. That’s all Lucas can do. While Possession doesn’t add anything new to the vampire genre, it’s as lush as velvet.

The last story in this collection is “Threadbare.” The owner of a textile mill is drawn to a young man who works in his factory after the gruesome death of the young man’s friend on the factory floor. All the workers in the young man’s group are of the same clan/family/background, and during their spare time they work on a tapestry that captures the mill owner’s attention. I wanted the sex to be more explicit than it was, but if you like your erotica on the softer side, you might not mind. This story bordered on science fiction, but don’t let that scare you away.

Stephen Elliot’s My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up is a bold confession. From his introduction, This Could Have Been a Memoir, he says, “It is in everyone’s best interest for more people to be open about their sexual desires.” He puts his need on display and offers an explanation, but doesn’t apologize for it – nor should he.

My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up isn’t exactly a novel. It’s a collection of short stories that are linked together so that there is a broader picture.

In First Things First, he tells of an encounter with an S&M domme. His inexperience is the frightening thing here. He’s not sure what he wants, and doesn’t know how to admit that the scene is too much. He addresses the danger of that situation in his introduction, and talks about how the US Government’s drive to censor the internet has driven websites with crucial information on Safe, Sane, and Consensual practices to shut down.

My Stripper Year is about his heroine addiction and touches on his work in bisexual porn. “I got robbed. I got beat up. Things weren’t going well. Nothing made sense. I was having the best time of my life,” right up until an overdose left him paralyzed for eight days. He was lucky to survive, and knows it.

Beginning with What It’s Like in San Francisco, the stories in this collection take on the feel of chapters in a novel. My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up, Other Desires, and Tears are about relationships that don’t work and the search for a domme that’s compatible with his needs. Through those stories, although he never says, it seems that he began to understand what he wanted, and learned to communicate his needs.

In Three Men and a Woman, he finds Eden. She offers a relationship beyond sexual encounters, but it’s a polyamorous relationship with her husband and another man. Elliot says, “That I love her and that I think this could maybe work sometimes and then other times I see nothing but a bunch of potholes, a couple, landmines, and a train wreck.” It’s obvious that he has doubts. The relationship continues, but not easily. He has an awkward meeting with the husband and tries to work around the jealousy and scheduling problems of sharing her with the two other men in her life. “She’s with me all the time, or I’m longing for her. She leaves a velvet bag of rope next to my bed. Sometimes I think it’s unfair. She’s with me when she isn’t.” That has got to be one of the most honest descriptions of love I’ve ever read.

In My Friend Petey, he tries to explain his relationship with Eden to someone who can’t or won’t understand. It’s as much a declaration of ‘This is Who I Am’ as it is an explanation, and it is unapologetic, as it should be. Just Always Be Good is self-acceptance. “This is a happy story,” Elliot says, and he means it.

Epilogue: My Mainstream Girlfriend is an admission of being kinky, but also the realization that maybe he isn’t that far out of the norm. He says, “I spend much more time with my face between her legs than I do getting cut. You have to look at the percentages. More and more I feel like I’m joining mainstream America.” Looking at the huge amount of BDSM literature and porn available, as well as the images slipping into mainstream media nowadays, he may be on to something there.

This book isn’t easy reading. It’s about sex, but not sexual. It’s graphic but not titillating, not a one-handed read. What it is is an honest account of someone finding balance and peace in his sexuality.

Peggy Munson’s Origami Striptease is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and Project: QueerLit contest-winning novel.

The narrator says she was semi-famous once for her sex columns in several underground magazines. She’d take boys home (don’t get hung up on pronouns and gender - in this story people are their mental genders, not their physical ones. Cocks are detachable.), fuck them, and then write about it for her articles. She laughs off warnings that one day she’ll be forced to eat her words, to eat crow. Then she meets The Sludge, singer in a punk band who gets her down on her knees in an alleyway, breaks off the tips of pens, and makes her suck down the ink.

The poison from the ink destroys her body. She is fragile and chronically exhausted. She still desires her boys, but can’t get out to meet them, and is left trapped with herself. On a rare day when she feels good enough to venture out, she goes to a store that sells unclaimed airline baggage. “I had a sense that everything I owned was lost. I had an impulse – spawned from feverish delusion – that my life could be restored if I just found my bag and reconstructed what was in it, even though there never was a bag,” she says.

In the store, she meets Jack, a cautious boy who won’t share his secrets. They buy a bag together and split the contents. He gives her a pen they find in it, one of those old fluid-filled ones where a girl strips when it’s tilted down. A week later, Jack calls her and says he needs to see the pen. It’s the beginning of a frustrating affair. Jack holds back everything – the truth about his illness, his past, his cock. They can share delirium dreams brought on by their respective illnesses, fantasies, sex, and the frailties of their bodies, but Jack is elusive and finally slips away.

The Sludge comes back into her life. Repentant about what the ink did to her, he tries to make amends. He moves in and cares for her. They are joined by her illness, she the victim; he the villain. But it isn’t an easy truce. The Sludge wants her to be grateful. He resents her, and resents that she still loves Jack. When she tries to leave the Sludge, he slams a frying pan into her skull and flees.

When she returns from several weeks in the hospital, The Sludge is gone. He’s taken everything but the bed and the frying pan. She’s left alone in the empty house. Then she receives a letter from Jack. He’s coming to see her.

Jack finally tells her about his illness. He had a bad heart, but got a transplant while he was away. He takes her to the cemetery and puts a gun to his head. She’s furious that he’d throw away his recovery. He just wants it all to end. She takes the gun from him and he begs her to shoot him.

“Why am I here?” Jack asked.

“You are my bodyguard,” I said. “You need to let me out and hold me in.” I thought that it was something he could handle, just the canopy of one small duty keeping out the rest.

“That’s something, isn’t it?” asked Jack. “I have a use?”

She convinces him that he does. They leave the cemetery, reunited, but the gun is still there, and it’s not a happily ever after ending.

I met Greg Wharton, the publisher of Suspect Thoughts Press, at the Saints and Sinners Literary festival. I’d just finished reading Origami Striptease, and we talked about it. He told me that Peggy had lost the ability to write and had to relearn it. I don’t know what she lost, but it’s evident what she’s gained – an incredible mastery of words. This book reads like poetry and left me stunned with writer’s envy.

Beyond the incredible language, this story has so much going for it. The genderqueer characters finally liberate the reader from attachment to pronouns. It reclaims sexuality for the non-ableist population that society deems asexual and neutered. It’s about love and hate and jealousy, and need and want and sex and life, and it will speak to anyone, queer or not. I highly recommend it.

In 1870, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch released his novel, Venus In Furs, in which the narrator admits his desire to submit to a woman. It’s a story within a story. The interior story is “Memoirs of a Supersensual Man” by Severin Von Kusiemski, which doesn’t end well. Severin finally decides that until women are educated and given equal rights, it’s best if women remain subservient to men. Now, theoretically, women have obtained equality. I wonder what his conclusion would be in the modern age, because equality isn’t what submissive men are looking for. Far from it, as the stories in Please Ma’am show.

In “I Live To Serve” by Teresa Noelle Roberts, Milady asks Leo to play butler for an evening. He envisions fun serving her and her other dominatrix friends, only to find out he’s to play the part for a formal business dinner. She keeps it interesting for him though, ad he is well rewarded for his services.

Charlotte Stein’s “It’s Not Me, It’s You” has an usual twist. The man has no idea who sends him cards at work with instructions. As he follows his secret mistress’s instructions, the demands escalate. At the end, he’s just about to meet her. Delicious workplace naughtiness.  

Andrew can’t stand that his sister’s friend Irina is immune to his charms, so he sets out to seduce her in Isabelle Gray’s “A Charmed Life.” She finally agrees to meet him, but he quickly finds out that everything will be on her terms, not his.

For those of you who enjoy high fantasy BDSM, “A Maze, and Grace” by Elizabeth Coldwell will strike the right note. A sub is left blindfolded and bound in the center of a hedge maze as a party prize. The first woman to find him gets to use him as she pleases. The Mistress of the estate, Lady Grace, isn’t above cheating a bit.
 
Remittance Girl’s “Inside the Pride” has a different take on domination. Professor Gordon is at the center of a group of male post-graduate students, but she encourages cooperative intellectual growth rather than competition. It is a thoroughly feminine story, even though the narrator is male.

When you read a lot of erotica, some names start looking familiar. Craig Sorensen is one of those writers I’ve seen more often lately and hope to see more of in the future. In his “Modern Major General,” Mason is unhappy that he has to report to a perky, much younger woman when they’re thrown together on a new project. He tries to assert himself, but finds out that she’s not having any of it.

In “Mr. February” by Madeline Elayne, Mark has finally admitted to his wife that he wants her to dominate him. It’s their twentieth wedding anniversary, the kids are gone away to university, he’s a buff, tough firefighter, but he’s scared to death to go home to her because he’s sure she’ll throw him out of the house. When he finally decides to face her, he finds out there’s a penalty for keeping his Mistress waiting.

There are a number of workplace dominatrix tales in this anthology. Considering the amount of time we spend at work, and the power dynamics inherent in corporate structure, it’s a powerful combination for fantasy. In A.D.R. Forte’s “Frozen,” a man wants the attention of the woman down the hall, but doesn’t know how to approach her. As they work late on a Friday night, she invites him into her office. She’s a beginner at domination, but he’s willing to guide her through the steps.

Sommer Marsden taps into two kinks in “Thrift Store Whore” – public sex, and forced feminization. For those of you not in the know, forced feminization is when a man is ordered to dress in women’s panties and a frilly dress. Coupled with public sex, this is a taut tale of humiliation. He loves every second of it. If this is your kink, you will too.

Speaking of familiar names, it’s good to see Dominc Santi’s name again after a long break from erotic writing. “Porch Swing” also features public sex. A couple on their front porch put on a show for appreciative neighbors and a horny pizza delivery girl.

There are a million kinks out there, but I’m always discovering new ones. In “Paypig” by Michael Hemmingson, a man finds a woman online who is willing to take his money. He’s not rich, but he can afford a little. She meets him in a public place, walks up to him, and demands money. All he seems to get out of it is a thrilling moment of humiliation, until she ups the stakes.

“The Crack of the Bat” by Heidi Champa is a good, old fashioned spanking story. Brian is an athlete with lucrative endorsement deals, but his public behavior is about to ruin that. His agent sends him to a client to charm his way out of trouble, but Ms Thomas feels punishment is in order.

“Dressing for Dinner” by Giselle Renarde dones’t feature forced feminization, since he loves cross-dressing. This couple has a Wednesday night ritual of dinner delivered in. He dresses for the occasion. After diner, she uses her strap-on to fuck him. This story is going to push all the right buttons for some readers.

“Living Rough” by Ariel Graham shows the downside of admitting the need to be dominated to a wife. Mitch’s wife divorces him. After losing his job too, he heads out on the open road. In Salt Lake City, he meets a woman who recognizes his need and takes him in on a trial basis.

Kinks abound in this anthology. It shows how multifaceted the desire to submit to a woman can be. In DL King’s “Pick a Color,” a man with a foot fetish gets a job in one of New York’s ubiquitous nail salons. The owner is suspicious of him, but his attention to detail earns rare praise, and an offer to provide a private pedicure, from the salon’s most demanding customer.  

It’s a bold boy who suggests that his Mistress is flawed, but after seeing the messy room surrounding his goddess during a webcast, Rachel Kramer Bussel’s “Houseboy” simply has to clean the place. After carefully planning how to approach his goddess, he gets a chance to tidy her place. It’s not just her approval he has to win, though.

Lee Ash’s “The Unhappy Table” was one of my favorite stories in this anthology. A submissive serves as his Mistress’s table while she and another dominatrix fool around on the couch. He’s turned on, but since he’s a table, he can’t move or take care of his hard-on. A truly funny story for the voyeur in you.

In Graydancer’s “I’ll Do It. For Her.,” a well-known Master submits to his wife. Deeply moving and personal, this is simply a wonderfully written tale of a couple in love.

Let’s just toss this down right from the start – Random Acts of Lust is a spectacular erotica collection. Primula Bond knows how to tell a rousing tale.

One of the things I enjoyed about this collection was the way many of the stories interwove. Secondary characters in one story took the spotlight in another. That added depth to the later stories. But in a way, it makes it harder to pick favorites, because the stories support each other and maybe wouldn’t mean as much as standalones. This is (oh, how I hate this word) synergistic storytelling, where the sum is more than the parts.

In “Mademoiselle,” Mary is chastised by her sister Poppy for living celibately. She pretends not to listen, but when the boy next door she once gave French lesson to shows up at her door looking like a rock star – clad in leather and smelling of his motorcycle – she heats up pretty quickly. But in “Second Honeymoon,” it’s Poppy that’s trapped in a cycle of sexual frustration. That is, until she watches the unusual innkeeper, Stella, seduce her husband. Stella’s quite the protagonist. In “Cougar,” she dares photographer friend Sophie to seduce a cute young worker at the gallery where Sophie is showing her work. Sophie’s not above talking women into playing naughty either. In “Good as Gold,” she talks her soon-to-be daughter-in-law into spying on her husband. Caught, Sophie pays the price, and gets a spanking and more from her prospective father-in-law.

The sex scenes are delicious and long enough to warm you up. Unfortunately, I was on a tight schedule and had to zip through in two nights, which wasn’t enough time to linger or enjoy these stories the way I would have liked to. This book and you deserve to spend some quality time together, so pace yourself.

It was such a pleasure to read these original, interesting stories. I do have two small nits. While I liked the recurring characters, in the first few stories, the size of the cast made it hard to track the players and I had to keep flipping back to remind myself who they were. The other charge is a bit more serious. I had an overwhelming desire to smack the writer’s knuckles with a ruler every time I read an incomplete sentence. It’s a good thing that I couldn’t, because by the end of the first story s/he wouldn’t have been able to write anymore, and that would have been a pity. Those, as I said, are small concerns, and barely detract from this work. Random Acts of Lust gets my strongest recommendation. Thumbs way up.

This book is a re-release. It was originally published by Black Lace in 2000, then again by Blue Moon in 2003.

Kate O’Neill impetuously takes a job in Bangkok, leaving behind her quiet life in Boston and her boyfriend, David. The trip from the United States to Thailand is just the beginning of the adventure. At her new job as a software developer, she’s introduced to the firm’s financial backer, Somtow Rajchitraprasong. Somtow is gorgeous, attentive, and utterly irresistible. He introduces Kate to the Thai view of sexuality, and shows her life on the spicy side with a taste of Thai cuisine you won’t soon forget.

Through her work, Kate also meets a demanding client, Gregory Marshall, owner of the sex club The Grotto. Marshall’s commanding demeanor alternately irritates and fascinates Kate. He’s a Master, accustomed to being obeyed. Kate isn’t quite sure why she follows his orders, but she does. He claims to know her better than she knows herself, and after a BDSM scene in a private room in his club, she begins to believe him. At each of their encounters, he brings out more of her submissive side. She flees to Singapore for a few days to think over the drastic changes in her life, but finally realizes that she can’t escape her true self.

Kate returns to Bangkok and continues her affairs with both of her new lovers. Each offers her something different. Somtow is a committed sensualist who delights in pleasing Kate’s sexual and intellectual hungers. Marshall shows her the truth about herself. Then David comes to visit, and Kate feels the need to choose between her three lovers. The men agree to let her decide, but not before each tries his best to prove he’s the best lover for her.

Do you remember when erotica was just good, wicked fun? Lisabet Sarai does. This story is a skillfully delivered romp through increasingly hot sexual scenarios. Maybe I’ve been reading too many stories full of angst and ennui, but it was such a pleasure to immerse myself in guilt-free, full-throttle, joyous sex. I don’t want to give away any of the plot, but there’s an embezzler and industrial spy, a salacious chauffer, a katoey (lady-man) go-go dancer, and one very wicked Domme, all of whom keep the story rolling along at a good pace.

There are same-sex pairings and some explicit BDSM scenes. As a warning, there is also coerced consent in one scene. You could argue that he did consent, and that he had it coming to him, but given the sex-positive tone of the rest of this story, it did make me a bit uncomfortable. However, that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. The Bangkok setting is fascinating and adds to the overall feeling of opulent sensuality. Lisabet Sarai deftly shows the country without ever letting the descriptions take over the story. Good BDSM novels are voyages of self-discovery, and Raw Silk is a journey you’ll enjoy taking.

James Buchanan knows men in uniform. From smoke jumpers to beat cops, the characters have that touch of authenticity that few writers working in erotica can match. Added to that is the ability to portray unromanticized border towns and the grittier side of Los Angeles County.  The combination brings to life a unique world.

Ready To Serve: Arresting Gay Erotica contains six short stories. “Pat Down,” “Speed Trap,” “Risk,” “Burn Zone,” “Coyote Crossing,” and “Fairground.” As I’ve read James’ work before, I was a little disappointed in “Pat Down” as a simple, but hot, erotic piece. It must be an earlier work. “Speed Trap,” however, was more like it. With sly humor, the owner of a highway-side bait shop taunts the local law. The lone lawman may think he’s been discreet, but in a town where everyone knows everyone’s business, and the dating pool for gay men is small, secrets have a way of getting out.

“Risk” is somewhat fascinating as the characters are from a team that specializes in cleaning crime scenes or places where people have died alone and forgotten, their bodies sometimes lying undisturbed for weeks. That doesn’t lend itself to hot sex, and the story was a bit muddy, but if angst-filled love touches you, then you’re probably a better audience for this one than I was.

Speaking of angst, “Burn Zone” features a fire captain who lost several men in a hot spot during one of Southern California’s Santa Ana fueled fire seasons. He’s gone to a fire lookout to spare his lovers his mood, but they won’t let him hide. While he’s convinced that he’s the third wheel in their relationship, they finally convince him that their relationship is a triad that can’t exist without him.  I think these characters appear in another novella. I’m sure James will send me a note clarifying that. If so, I’d like to read it. These characters deserve further exploration. 

In “Coyote Crossing,” Buchanan’s storytelling hits its stride. A border patrol agent catches the younger brother of his high school best friend working as a coyote who helps bring illegal immigrants over the border. While he tries to turn the younger brother’s life around, he finds out that all is not as it seems. The setting is pitch perfect, as is the attraction between the men. 

The final story is “Fairground.” It has some redundant parts, and the characters have overly long conversations, which makes me believe Buchanan was trying to hit a minimum word count on the original publishing. That’s too bad as it detracts from the well-written sex scenes. I truly wish the current editor would have ruthlessly honed this down to a lean, hot tale. 

In his introduction to Rough Trade, editor Todd Gregory mentions that most people aren’t exactly sure what the term means. The easiest definition of rough trade is sex for hire, but it also evokes danger, violence, and the seedier side of the tracks. The contributors to this anthology have different takes on the theme, which keeps it interesting.

“The Fratboy and the Faggot” by Aaron Travis is one of two stories Gregory says he asked for. A sophomore has been watching his graduate student neighbor through the blinds. When he’s caught, the neighbor invites him over for a discussion about frathouse hazing. The tale of sexual sadism doesn’t scare him away, so the former fratboy invites a couple brothers over to act it out. Rough? Oh yes. Deliciously so.

“Daddy’s Boys” by Nic P. Ramsies, “Close to Home” by Adam McCabe, and “Under the Table” by Dale Chase are different twists on how guys got into the sex for hire game. Chase’s construction worker moonlighting as a sex worker identifies as straight, while the young guys in “Daddy’s Boys” and “Close to Home” aren’t as complicated.

In “Hiring David” by Jonathan Asche, a couple hires a hooker to help celebrate their anniversary. David ends up being more of a therapist for the couple than a hooker, but in the real world, most sex workers probably do. If your fantasies run to hookers who like their clients too much to charge, try “Giovanni” by Logan Zachary and “Wrestler for Hire” by Greg Herren. “Josh in Frisco” by Greg Wharton wins the proverbial heart of gold award.

If you prefer something a bit grittier and realistic, “Tricked” by Jonathan Asche has one of the best anger fucks I’ve read. If that doesn’t sound hot to you, well… read it.

Can guilt be as redemptive as love? In “Blueboy” by Kelly McQuain, Michael is slowly succumbing to AIDS. A new boy on the streets propositions him, but he admits he has no money. All he has to offer are donuts and orange juice. The kid, who he calls Blueboy, takes him up on the offer. From then on, every time Blueboy is kicked out of his brother’s house, he turns to Michael for shelter. When Michael turns the boy away, Blueboy commits suicide. Michael tries to die, but Blueboy’s spirit is either haunting him or trying to save him and won’t let him go.

Although the theme is rough trade, the stories in this anthology are varied enough that you’re bound to find something that works for you. Some keep the mood light and everyone has fun. Other tales are darker. A few cover kinks from wrestling to Master/slave dynamics. Anchored by outstanding stories contributed by talented writers, this anthology gets a strong recommendation.

I had the great pleasure of chatting with Rachel Kramer Bussel at the opening night of the In The Flesh reading series here in Los Angeles last month. (The New York series has been running for several years. I read at it last May) Among the things we talked about was her latest anthology, Rubber Sex. We agreed that the cover looked much better on the book than it did online. If I would have read it by then, I would have told her what I will tell you – that this anthology has appeal beyond the rubber and latex aficionados. So even if this isn’t your thing, don’t be so quick to pass up this book.

I’m not a visual person. While I enjoy the sight of a dangerous looking woman in vinyl, leather, latex or rubber, it isn’t one of those short-cut cues to erotic arousal for me. Last autumn, D.L. King (Our fearless leader here at Erotica Revealed.) came out for a visit and brought her brand new rubber skirt to show to me. The moment I felt it, I understood part of the attraction of wearing it. The thin material immediately warmed in my hands. It felt like petting a dolphin. (She wasn’t in it at the time. Sorry to ruin that little fantasy for you.)  As soon as she saw how fascinated I was, D.L. said, “By the way, one of the books we have in the queue is a rubber sex book. Interested?” Of course I jumped at the chance.

A good editor knows to close an anthology with a strong story, and Rachel Kramer Bussel has edited enough anthologies to know what she’s doing. Tenille Brown’s “Breathing” was a great choice for the final selection. Last definitely doesn’t mean least. This story is so funny, sexy, and sweet that it’s impossible to not like it. Humor in erotica can be an iffy thing, but Brown delivers in style. From the opening words I was hooked, and it just kept getting better. Since I hate it when people tell me all the good lines before I have a chance to see them, I won’t even tell you the plot. Just trust me on this one. First your eyes will widen, and then you’ll giggle, and before you know it, you’ll be enchanted.

I read “The Balloonatics” by Gregory Norris a couple times as I tried to understand what he was aiming for. Then I realized it didn’t matter. Do Helmut and Vanessa get into role-play that deep? Are they a little bonkers? Or are they serious industrial agents in an alternate universe? Norris never winks and tells. Surreal, campy, or madcap? You decide, or don’t. “Balloonatics” is a glorious balls-to-the-wall, over the top, rubber clad, non-stop fuckfest of a caper. Like any fetish, don’t try to apply logic. Just dive in and enjoy it.

The opposite end of the caper spectrum is noir. Thomas Roche may have supplied a “spacey New Age shit,” soundtrack to his story “Butterfly’s Kiss,” but I heard a lone wailing sax and a voiceover right out of a gumshoe flick. The narrator heads into a special room in the rubber club he seems resigned, though unhappy, to be at. The scene he walks into is a Domme playing with her sub on a little slice of S&M hell called a vac bed. Completely encased in latex, the submissive breathes through a tube while the air is vacuumed out of the bed. Sealed in, unable to see, the submissive is completely at the mercy of her Domme. As the latex binds the submissive to the point where she can’t move, her sweat turns the latex translucent, and the narrator realizes he knows the sub. Fascinated, he doesn’t stand far enough out of the scene and is ordered by the Domme to use a dildo on the sub. While the bit about the tattoos wasn’t exactly clear to me, I gather the narrator and the sub ended their relationship when he didn’t give the sub the intense scene she craved, but with the controls of the vac bed in his hands, he finally does. Roche has the skill to write a story that will leave you gulping for air even while it turns you on. If you can endure being uncomfortable, enjoy the challenge this edgy story provides.

If you’re into the visual aspect of vinyl, “Lick of Pain” by Crystal Barela is the story for you. I hate to rob you of the pleasure of discovery by quoting from it, but it’s tempting because Barela provides so many wonderful lines. It’s a simple premise. A submissive is trying to peel off her Domme’s red vinyl dress without using her hands. But it’s not really all that simple, and you’ll relish the way this story is told.  It’s a very oral story, which leads me to this thought:  I should read this aloud to a special someone in bed, because I’ll bet those words sound just as luscious rolling off the tongue as they are in my head.

With stories by Shanna Germain, Alison Tyler, Radclyffe, Jean Roberta (one of our reviewers here at ER), Teresa Noelle Roberts, Rakelle Valencia, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Tenille Brown, and Thomas Roche, this anthology features many well-known erotica writers. The names I recognized weren’t the only strong contributors though. I look forward to seeing more stories in the future from some of these new names (new to me).

Palmprint Publications specializes in, appropriately enough, stories of corporal punishment. Sixteen of the Best is an anthology of sixteen prize-winning stories from their adult discipline competitions 2003 through 2006. As Sarah Veitch points out in her afterward, these stories won because the punishment was the focus of the story. No little smack on the bottom qualifies.

There’s something undeniably alluring about the ritual of punishment. The miscreant, the punisher, and the reader all focused on what is about to happen as the erotic tension builds. The young lady is pulled over a lap. Her sins are calmly recounted and the inevitability of her punishment is discussed while she is in this vulnerable position that only heightens her humiliation. Her skirt goes up and her knickers go down, exposing the bottom. Maybe she squirms and begs. Maybe she tries to maintain her dignity. Composure and dignity are the first things to go when the hand, paddle, or crop is applied firmly to the backside.

Not all of the stories in Sixteen of the Best are about women being punished. Nor are they all set in Headmaster’s office. Two are set in the Lucky Seven Saloon somewhere in the wild American west, one in a women’s jail, one in a police station, and many are domestic discipline.

I remember reading Tulsa Brown’s incredible “Goddess” when it was first posted to the Erotica Readers and Writer’s Association’s story time workshop. Then, as now, there was nothing to critique about this femme domme story. I hadn’t thought about it in years, but within a few sentences, it all came back, and I was overjoyed at the chance to read it again. This tale of a homicide detective reaching out to his pro-domme for help finding a killer still mesmerizes.

“Rubios – The Colour of Rubies” by Mark Ramsden was written with such sharp humor that I may have to search out his other work. His editor allowed him too many incomplete sentences, but how irresistible is this?

“She came into my life when I was looking for someone to kill my ex-husband. Too much information? Well, it was only a passing phase. I’d rather have him alive these days. That way he’ll suffer much longer.”

The narrator quickly decides that Svetlana isn’t Russian Mafia as she claims to be and that she should be punished for the lie. Svetlana’s backside is inured to harsh punishment however, and it just about defeats the narrator.

Anyone who belongs to the Kinky Teacher’s Club should know better than to steal from them. But the pressing need for a small loan to tide her over to her next paycheck proves to be too much temptation in Jean Roberta’s “How Not to Manage Debt.” Here we have the familiar idea of teachers meting out punishment, but not in a school setting, and on the bottom of one of their own. For someone who grew up in a time when teachers could still drag us into the coat room and take out their frustrations on us with a cricket bat, the idea of a teacher tasting a bit of the whip is a satisfying bit of fantasy revenge.

Several of the stories featured miscreants who obviously did not learn a lesson. In Kit’s “Disobedience a la Carte,” a woman carefully calculates each bit of willful disobedience against the punishment she craves.

“I calculate every stroke of my disobedience. It’s a little like counting calories, though more dangerous, more of a gamble and far more fun: place, time, means and method are all up to him, and hand action isn’t counted so I never know entirely what I’ll get.”

Similarly, in James Baron’s “Beloved Birch,” he deliberately commits an act of vandalism in front of a policeman to earn the birching he desires. The anticipation and planning is as much a part of his sexual fantasy as the punishment, and the only lesson he seems to have learned at the end was that it was worth it to have his fantasy fulfilled.

If you’re a fan of corporal punishment, this anthology is the perfect book for you. Every story centers on a bared bottom and the abuse it receives. The rituals are lingered over with lavish attention. No matter how much pleading and crying goes on, the punishment is carried out to its inevitable end.

When I first read this book, I assumed it was a memoir, but the interview with Mattilda that the publisher enclosed with my review copy states that it’s a novel. Hmm. It reads like a memoir and shuns the conventions of a novel, such as character development and a linear progression of an idea, but it’s experimental prose, so it’s going to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it books for many readers. I’ll admit right off that I’m not a huge fan of stream-of-consciousness writing. However, my standing rule is to judge a book by what it is, not what it isn’t. So what is So Many Ways to Sleep Badly?

On one hand, you could say it’s a trip to the other side of the tracks, unless you live on the brink of poverty in San Francisco, are an anti-assimilationist queer activist, an incest survivor, and suffer from a chronic illness that makes you so fragile that you can’t even sleep. These identities give Mattilda a far different perspective on San Francisco and queer culture than you’ll read in mainstream queer media. That jolt of fresh insight is a good reminder that even within a community, not everyone has the same agenda, ambitions, or beliefs.

Ah – but we review erotica at Erotica Revealed, so what does this book have to do with erotica? Mattilda is a whore. She doesn’t mince words about it, so I won’t either. She writes honestly about her tricks, and there are a lot of them.

“… because I’m a sucker for any ridiculous song about hookers. What’s the line? Something about giving up their bodies for a thousand other men. Rue says a thousand – I think I’m up around five thousand. And five of them were fun.”

Her tricks range from the pathetic: “My cellphone rings, this guy wants to know if I have a discount for married guys with kids.” “Another trick that wants to know if I have any diseases, he doesn’t want to bring anything home to his wife.”

To the absurd: “Andrew’s from Seattle, he gives me a ride home and tries to shake my hand goodbye. Sorry honey – you just sucked my cock – I think we can kiss.”

To the rare times he enjoys it: “This trick shows up and he’s so hot, preppy boy with a shaved head and lots of freckles – and he’s grinning at me. Right away, we’re making out and it’s totally sex, soft and hard and warm and connected.”

Beyond sex for pay, Mattilda also writes about cruising for sex on Craigslist, in the park, and at Power Exchange, even though she rarely finds what she’s looking for and often vows never to return.

“I go to the Power Exchange. I know what you’re thinking: why does she break her own rules - it’ll only lead to disaster, and it does honey, it does. I can’t even describe how boring and awful it is, but I’m a writer – that’s my job.”

That passage made me laugh, and reminded me of the e-mail conversation Mattilda and I had several years ago about sex at venues such as Nob Hill Theater and Power Exchange being a form of  performance art. If only it had that much creativity. She seems to seek temporary transcendence in sex. Occasionally, it happens. Usually, it doesn’t.

At the beginning of the novel, there’s hope for a relationship. Those very honest moments with Jeremy are the most erotic in the novel, probably because of the emotional vulnerability. The romantic in me wanted to see it work out, but this story is about real life, so of course it doesn’t end that way. Mattilda writes: “I thought this novel was turning into a love story, but now Jeremy’s fucking that up.” It isn’t what you’d think – Mattilda’s sex work isn’t what drives them apart. Mattilda wants someone to cuddle with. Jeremy doesn’t want to be bothered with a boyfriend because it’s too much work to put another person first.

Considering the amount of books I read, it’s unusual when a friend recommends a book I haven’t read that was a Lambda Literary Awards finalist. Somehow, SoMa escaped my attention until friend John praised it. So thank you, John. I owe you a Stoli with lemon, on the rocks.

This is GLBT month at Erotica Revealed. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered – the order of those letters in the acronym also reflects how often those sexualities and gender identifications occur in books. So it was a surprise that the main character in SoMa was bisexual, and a pleasure to see him portrayed as truly bisexual instead of being in denial. Confused, however, is another matter.

Raphe is a dot.com bust, a former programmer who lives off unemployment and under the table payments for babysitting P.O. boxes in San Francisco. He has a crush on the redhead woman, Julie, who lives above the P.O. Box place, but never works up the nerve to talk to her. Other than sorting the daily mail, there isn’t much to do at his job, so Raphe tries to write. The only break in his day is when people come in search of Dr. Kaplan, Suite One. Suite One is really box 1, and there’s no Dr. Kaplan. Bored, Raphe lets his curiosity get the better of him and he opens one of Dr. Kaplan’s letters to find it’s a penis enlargement scam. With so much time on his hands, he starts musing about his size, and starts trying to guess how big other guys are. His curiosity is interpreted as interest, and although he keeps telling himself that he isn’t gay, he finally begins to notice sexual signals from other men.

Friends who live in San Francisco tell me that it’s a small town in a way, where they run into the same people everywhere they go. So it wasn’t that much of a stretch to believe that Raphe keeps running into a hot Latino guy, Baptiste. He first sees Baptiste when he’s on the last car of the BART train, where exhibitionists and guys into quick circle jerks congregate. Raphe convinces himself that he’s doing research for his book, and that maybe it’s about his curiosity about comparative cock size, but you can understand why later on Baptiste’s friends dub him Raphe the Retard. He seems to be the last person to catch on to his sexuality, probably because he’s hung up on the word gay. Later, he literally runs into Baptiste at the bank. They go out for dinner, and Baptiste skillfully talks Raphe into bed.

Raphe and Baptiste have an open relationship, but two things endanger it. Raphe goes home with online RPG game guru and sexual hedonist Mark, who barebacks Raphe. That leads to a month where Baptiste withdraws from him emotionally and sexually as thy wait for the results of an AIDS test. Raphe is hurt and misses the closeness between them. While job hunting, Raphe runs into Julie. Raphe enjoys sex with Baptiste, and he likes their relationship, but he can’t seem to get past the idea that he isn’t gay, so when he has a chance to sleep with Julie, he goes for it. Julie is into holistic health. She talks Raphe into getting a colonic. He gets addicted to them. It’s Baptiste who helps him with that, and Baptiste whom he turns to more often for support. Still, Raphe also likes women, and he is, as Baptiste’s friends pointed out, a bit of a retard, so he manages to destroy his relationship with Baptiste by sleeping with another woman after he promised he wouldn’t continue to seek other sex partners.

Hurt, broke, and quickly becoming addicted to meth, Raphe decides he wants revenge against the people he feels have ruined him. The only skill he has that people will pay for is his tolerance for pain and medical fetish. He becomes a sexual freak show. Mark, the guy who barebacked him, is celebrating his birthday by indulging in an all day sex fest. Raphe, now an underground sex star, comes to Mark’s party, fists him, and webcasts the scene. Raphe plans to leave a trail of ruin in his wake. Mark was the first on his list, but not the last.

In her introduction to Sometime She Lets Me: Best Butch/Femme Erotica, editor Tristan Taormino states:

Butch/femme is a perfect centerpiece for erotica since it is recognizable and meaningful to many people. It’s also incredibly multilayered – creating opportunities for characters to play with gender in a sexual context, do unexpected things, challenge conventional wisdom and assumptions, and explore taboo desires.

A theme that comes up often in this anthology is that Butches are supposed to be stone, meaning that they don’t accept reciprocal sex, and that to do so is shameful. Alison L. Smith’s “Sometimes She Lets Me” explores this with such precision of craft that she’s able to deliver a deeply touching portrait in only two pages. When an anthology opens with a story that fine, expectations move up a notch.

If you fear that your fantasies make you a freak, reading about them in erotica can be comforting and liberating. In her story “Anonymous,” I felt as if Amie M. Evans peeked into my storehouse of frustrated desires. While I’m long beyond caring if I’m freak, it’s still good to know that other women long for, “No exchange of numbers or first-date sex; but rough, hard, no-name sex: the stuff of gay boy novels and urban myths.” Her femme narrator boldly sashays into a bar in search of just that, but not before a ‘laugh-out-loud and nod your head in recognition’ observation of how difficult it is for women to break past the real and imagined barriers to NSA (no strings attached) sex. Once the narrator shoves all that aside, she finds a butch with the same fantasy. From there on, things get hot and dirty, the way every good sexual fantasy should.

Lynne Jamneck’s “Voodoo and Tattoos” hit a few of my buttons – voyeurism, and two hot butches. The narrator works the bar at a conference as a favor for a friend. A power femme hits on her, but the scene that follows isn’t exactly what she expects. This story got me worked up in all the right ways.

In “Look But Don’t Touch” by Sparky, a boi watches a peep show. If the girls dancing for him know he’s passing, they either don’t care or like showing off for him. The glass that separates the girls from the boi works on a metaphorical level for the bittersweet envy of gender diaspora. Hot, and well crafted.

Elaine Miller’s “Fee Fie Foe Femme” hits the right balance between a great BDSM teasing scene and sexual frustration. The femme doesn’t want to kiss because their lipstick colors clash. You know at some point that glittery raspberry pink is going to get smeared, but like the femme in this story, you have to wait for it.

While it might seem that gruff butches have the power, femmes aren’t sitting around waiting for rescue, or sex. They’re boldly going after what they want. In “Gravity Sucks” by Skian McGuire, a butch is trapped under a car she’s working on as someone – she hopes it’s her lover -  yanks down her pants and uses them as a budget bondage device to good effect. The power dynamics are turned, or maybe that’s the truth behind this relationship.

Toni Amato’s words are so powerful that it’s difficult to discuss “Grand Jete” without quoting long passages from it. On the surface, it seems so simple. A genderqueer narrator is talking about his lover. But there’s nothing simple about this story. The vulnerability of Toni’s character is breathtaking, and the longing palpable.

There are many other wonderful stories in this anthology. Peggy Munson, S. Bear Bergman, Kristin Porter, Tara-Michelle Ziniuk, D. Alexandria, Joy Parks, Samiya A. Bashir, Rosalind Christine Lloyd, Anna Watson, Shannon Cummings, A. Lizabeth Babcock, Isa Coffey, Jera Star, Sandra Lee Golvin, and Sinclair Sexsmith contribute to one of the most consistently strong anthologies I’ve had the pleasure to read in a long time. Two thumbs way up.

This is GLBT month for Erotica Revealed. After reading the first chapter of Beth Wylde’s novella, The Big 4-Oh!, I was worried that I’d I miscommunicated with her and she’d sent me a heterosexual story instead. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” to quote Jerry Seinfeld. The mistake would have been mine, however, so I kept reading, and found that the story included one of the oft-overlooked letters of GLBT: B, for bisexual. So it turned out happily after all.

Turning out happily is a good place to begin the discussion of this novella. The Big 4-Oh! fits under my definition of romantic erotica rather than literary erotica. One frustration I often have with reviews is when they dwell on what a story isn’t instead of appreciating a story for what it is, so I’m going to review this novella with the standards of romantic erotica in mind. (If you want to get into a long discussion about the difference between literary erotica and romantic erotica, email me.)

Abigail is a high-powered divorce attorney on the brink of turning 40. She’s not too happy about that. In fact, she’s in a rather pissy mood as this story begins, and her ire is directed at women who dare to be younger than she is. After the requisite long soak in the tub, she hops into the shower, only to be caught by her husband Dave in flagrante delicto with the showerhead. Lucky for Abigail, Dave is an understanding kind of guy. Rather than being upset about what she’s doing, he gets turned on. This trait is going to come in handy later.

Dave gives Abigail a piece of sexy lingerie that is described in minute detail, as is every other outfit worn in this story. While that may come off as a snarky statement, there are many readers who cherish lingering over the details of clothing in an erotic story. The rituals of donning stockings, garter belts, and high heels are a big turn-on. If you are among the legions of people who enjoy reading about sexy clothing, I promise that this story won’t disappoint.

Before Abigail can try on her new outfit though, she and Dave start talking about his friend Craig, his friend’s psycho ex-girlfriend Veronica, Abigail’s ex-girlfriend (now best friend) Candice and two other people. If that sounds like a lot of characters, you’re right. Too many are thrown in that don’t really belong in the story, and each is given almost a full background story. This story would have benefited from concentrating on the four major players. Another problem with this scene is that Dave and Abigail are discussing all these other characters during foreplay. If my partner got that chatty during sex, I’d be reaching for a ball gag. But that’s just me. Anyway, it turns out that Craig’s psycho ex-girlfriend Veronica is having a sex party at his house that night, and Craig wants Abigail and Dave to drop by to make sure things stay friendly, which is why Dave bought the sexy outfit for Abigail. Dave is turned on by the idea of watching Abigail get it on with one of the female party guests, which is why he wants to go. Plus, he’s a super pal for Craig – something that will also come in handy later. Abigail thinks it’s a bad idea, but she’s a sport, so she agrees to go.

It turns out that Abigail is right about it being a bad idea to go to the party. A cat-fight with psycho-ex Veronica (Craig’s ex, not Abigail’s ex) ensues. Craig, Abigail, and Dave flee the scene. Abigail feels bad about what happened (not the fight, but denying Dave the chance to watch her have sex with another woman) so she calls her ex Candice and sets up a three-way with Candice and Dave on her birthday.

On the day of Abigail’s birthday, she and Candice prepare a scene for Dave to walk into. Dave walks in, but with Craig along. Seems he was planning a little m/m/f action for her birthday. They work out a four-way solution - the guys watching the women together and then the women servicing the men – in a long sex scene. Eventually, the heterosexual couples pair off for a happy ending. (In both senses)

A little over a year ago, Ravenous Romance popped up on the eBook scene with some rather bold boasts about its future. That riled a number of romance bloggers who attacked before the first book was released, and turned even more vicious after. It was (and remains) ugly, and reflected poorly on the romance community. The only part of the attack that interested me was the charge that Ravenous Romance had no right (?) to claim they published romance, as the eBooks they published were all clearly erotica.

I’m not part of the romance community. I write erotica. The fine line between the two is a personal definition, although my rule is: If it’s written in the genre style of romance but has sex scenes, it’s erotic romance. If it’s written in the genre style of literary fiction, and it uses sex and sexuality to explore the characters, then it’s erotica.

Which brings me to my book this month: The Darkness and the Night 3: Twins of Darkness.  It’s written in the genre style of romance, which seems to support Ravenous Romance’s claim that they publish erotic romance. But is this story erotic?

Sex scenes, even if they occur frequently, involving multiple partners, and gymnastic contortions, aren’t always erotic. Eroticism draws in the reader through the use of sensual imagery. It had the power to physically affect the reader. Well-written erotic passages might not include orgasm or penetration, and yet, the reader is left feeling that something deeply sexual occurred. The Darkness and the Night 3 has sex scenes, but nothing about them is erotic. Take most of them out of the story, and it wouldn’t affect anything. That’s not erotica.

By now, if you regularly read my reviews, you know that I hate to judge a book by what it isn’t. If it’s not erotica, what is it? It’s not particularly romantic in that it doesn’t focus on a core romantic relationship and how it grows. It’s sort of paranormal, sort of fantasy, but the world building isn’t there to support it. But what I found most disappointing was the level of storytelling. Nothing was shown. Everything was told. There was no depth to any scene, nothing to grab onto.

I had hoped that Ravenous Romance would put out a book that really wowed to balance out the critics. This is the third book in a series, so the first two were much better, or the readers like this style of writing. You might too. But the best rating I can give this is sideways.

The state of the world being as it is, the fabled Mile High Club seems a reminder of the past, the swinging 60s and whatever the 70s were about. While the new paranoia brought scrutiny that seemed likely to end airborne frolics, Rachel Kramer Bussel’s anthology The Mile High Club is a ray of hope for the altitudenaly inspired.

Most of the stories in Mile High Club are contemporary, but Craig Sorensen’s “Top Banana” goes back to the days when stewardesses were hired for their looks and portrayed in media as bimbos. Those were the years when traveling salesmen got out of their cars and took to the skies. Subject of countless bawdy jokes, meet career gal in a mini skirt. No wonder the public imagination flew with that combination. But in Craig’s story, the stewardess is tired of her male passengers’ sense of entitlement, and on her last flight, she teaches a horny salesman a lesson he never forgets.

Donna George Storey creates consistently wonderful stories. “Her Nasty Little Habit” is my favorite of the sex in the seat stories in this anthology, although Rachel Kramer Bussel’s “Urgent Message” and Ryan Field’s “Bert and Betty” are damn hot reads too.

If you like a bit of domination, try Bill Kte’pi’s “34B,” Matt Conklin’s “Wild Child,” or “Obedient” by Teresa Noelle Roberts.

Thomas Roche’s “When Your Girlfriend Wears a Very Short Skirt” deserves special mention. Thomas is an incredible writer, so I tend to have higher expectations for his stories than for writers I don’t know. Much lighter in tone than most of his work, this one delivers.

Speaking of writers I’ve come to expect a lot from, Alison Tyler also contributed to this anthology. She may not know me, but she definitely has her fingers on several of my hot buttons, and I can’t recall a story of hers that didn’t push at least one. Her “Planes, Trains and Banana-Seat Bicycles” doesn’t take to the skies, but there are planes involved. In her skillful hands, that’s all you’ll need to fly.

“Wing Walker” by Cheyenne Blue is the most original story in the anthology. The biplane pilot from an aerial show tells his wing walker that he’s going to find her a lover. She laughs off the offer, and as months pass, he doesn’t follow through—until he does. On a practice flight meant to test the newcomer’s skills out on the wing, he shows her that he has moves she’d never imagined. This may be a flight of fancy, but it’s a good one.

The Shadows Beneath is a gothic haunted house story set in the south.

This novel is a paranormal romance, probably listed as m/m erotica. My quibble with that is that the character of Tristan was obviously a male overlay on a female character, and an annoyingly passive female ala professional-victim fairy tale princess at that. Nothing about him was believable as a man. The fainting thing got tiresome quickly.  The few uneven sex scenes did nothing to define the characters or move the plot forward, making this more a story with explicit sex, rather than erotica.

There were many problems with the writing in this story. The characters were indistinguishable from each other, something that could have been fixed by cutting the cast by at least half and by getting into the character’s heads. Despite using many paranormal romance props:  creepy old house, a four-poster bed with heavy curtains, secret passages, and a raging storm, there were no spine-tingling chills or eerie moments.

The title of Kemble Scott’s The Sower is from the parable in the Book of Mark in the New Testament. If you got kicked out of Sunday School classes as often as I did (I swear the teachers started it) you might not be up on your gospels. Basically, things thrive in a hospitable environment. Or if you spill your seed in enough places, with luck something good will come of it.

Last year, I reviewed Scott’s book SoMa (recommended), so I was already familiar with the character Mark Hazodo. Is he a villain? I guess you could make the case if you have an extreme black and white view of the world. By the end of SoMa, I decided he was the kind of guy who got away with things most of us wouldn’t dare try, and a self-centered ass with no concern for anyone, which made him enviable and vile, but not evil. Now I think he may be Loki, or Brother Coyote. He’s not a main character in SoMa or The Sower, but he’s always an important protagonist.

As The Sower begins, Mark has a bareback (no condoms) orgy planned. Everyone coming knows that there will be one HIV+ man there. Despicable? They’re going into this with full knowledge of the risks. But put that aside for a moment. The HIV+ participant is Bill Soileau, a petroleum engineer. (Soileau is pronounced Swallow, but I’m sure the Soil part of his name was chosen with great care. This is, after all, a parable.)

After the orgy, Bill goes to Armenia to look at an abandoned Soviet Era oil refinery to assess what it will take to get it running again. While he’s there, he meets a French doctor working for the UN, and she shows him a laboratory on the grounds of the refinery that obviously was used for advanced research. As he helps her gather evidence from the lab, he’s pricked by a needle that contains a viral phage that somehow miraculously cures everything, even HIV.

The French doctor’s blood samples of the villagers living near the refinery show that they have the same immunity as Bill. Before she can take an investigative team from the Pasteur Institute back, the lab is blown up and the villagers killed. The only other person who saw the lab was Bill, so she begs him to come to France to verify her story. He tells her he’s cured of HIV.  She runs tests and verifies the existence of the phage, but it’s fragile and can only be transmitted through his ejaculate directly into another person. Word of this miracle cure gets out. Soon, the Catholic Church, a fading popstar, the CIA, and even more sinister folks are after him. I can’t say too much more about the plot without spoiling it for you.

What I found interesting was that the phage seems to cure emotional maladies too. Bill was raised in a home without love, and he’s never looked for a relationship. Within days of contact with the phage, he falls in love. The doctor’s sister is in the last stages of AIDS, and she asks Bill to pass the cure to her sister. When the sister recovers, she and Bill are bound by platonic love. Since a high-ranking enforcer from the Vatican demands Bill share the cure with him, it’s nice to dream that this altruistic ability to care also spreads quickly through the church hierarchy. Evangelical Christians in the CIA proclaim they’d rather die than receive the cure, but as with the bareback orgy, everyone is an informed adult. No one is forcing them to take part. They enjoy their hatred too much to risk being cured of it.

Where the Boys Are promises stories of newcomers to the queer-friendly neighborhoods of the Castro, West Hollywood, and Chelsea who have fled presumably hostile smaller towns. With that premise on the cover, I was disappointed that the cities weren’t more prominent in the stories. It’s difficult to make a city a character in a story, especially in a short story, but with the exception of Rachel Kramer Bussel’s “Live From New York,” there was nothing about the settings that seemed to influence the characters. Simon Sheppard’s “Wild Night” is a historical tour through the Castro that used to be – which is sort of interesting, but it’s a memoir, not a story.

There are some fine stories in this anthology. Many are bittersweet memories of love lost. “Taming the Trees” by Jeff Mann, is about a man who has not been able to let go of the love of his life. His longing for the man he lost to the city is intense. Years have passed, the man has changed and moved on, but the narrator is stuck in a mourning phase that will probably never end. Jeff is becoming one of my favorite erotica writers because of his ability to deliver a solid emotional punch along with raw sexual imagery.

Alpha Martial’s “The Birds and the Bees”, like “Taming the Trees,” is about a man choosing to return to country life after venturing into the city. It means losing a lover who won’t, or can’t, fit into a rural setting. Not everyone thrives in a city though, and after giving it a go, some people simply have to move on.

“Drug Colors” by Erastes is one of the better stories in this anthology. It cuts close to truth of some messed up relationships. I enjoyed the scene of the punk rockers performing ‘like they’re expected to,’ on the train so that the other commuters can leave adequately outraged by their behavior.

Dale Chase’s “Half-Life” is set in San Francisco, but moves between worlds. One is the suburban middle-class heterosexual married life, where the main character has been marking time. The other world is the Castro. After the main character suffers a heart attack, he begins an affair with a man at work who introduces him to a part of the city he’s never dared visit. He rethinks his life and decides not to waste the years he has left following the wrong path.

I’m torn on the rating for this anthology. Few of the stories engaged me. However, different stories appeal to different readers, and you might find more that you like. Most of these stories are well written but not many were erotic except in a peripheral sense. While I don’t like to judge a book by what it’s not rather than what it is, I have to give this one a sideways rating.