Book discontinued
by Cleis Press Inc.

Bondage & Desire

Looking for a classy and well written grouping of contemporary erotica? Alison Tyler has paired up some of the best pieces featuring tales of first time bondage, master/slave encounters, one time stands in the heat of the moment, and power struggles pushing bodies to the limits of their arousal and strength. This collection of short stories will enthrall you in their words of desire.
Published:
Pros
Grouping of authors, well written, plot/characters, arousing, don't have to be into BDSM to enjoy.
Cons
Certain content may be off putting to some (rape fetishes, cutting, etc.), cover.
Rating by reviewer:
4
extremely useful review

About author

This collection of short stories is edited by Alison Tyler with a foreword by Mistress Kay. The authors of the short stories and their titles are:

-Saskia Walker: Watching Lois Perform
-Shanna Germain: Pierce Me
-Thomas S. Rouche: Under My Thumb
-Marilyn Jaye Lewis: Daddy's girl
-Rachel Kramer Bussel: The Discovery
-Michelle Houston: Cowboy's Dungeon
-Cate Robertson: Sonnet
-R. Gay: Ordinary Love
-Xavier Acton: Unlike the Others
-Mia Underwood: The Real Prize
-Jean Roberta: Down Below
-Michael Hemmingson: Betty's Bottom
-Vanessa Evans: Master of Technology
-Julia Moore: Bad Doggie
-Debra Hyde: Ever on Edge
-Christopher Pierce: Five Bucks a Swat
-C.D. Formetta: Everything That You Want
-Erica Dumas: Without Mercy
-N. T. Morley: Divorce Proceedings
-Alison Tyler: Well Trained
-Sophia Valenti: Recuerdos Agridulces
-Sommer Marsden: A Secret King

The last few pages of the collection include information about select authors and their other works.
    • Multiple contributoring authors

Content / Style / Audience

This book is an excellent introduction to erotic fiction featuring bondage and desire. The stories include things like first time BDSM and dominance experiences, erotic piercings, bondage, pony play, professional dominatrix play, master and slave relationships, "rape" fantasies, and even self injury. Some of the stories do give a bit of information about BSDM relationships, but the stories are mostly for those who have at least some knowledge of the techniques used. Not all of the stories are heterosexual in nature with the male being dominant. There is a nice mix in the book with female dommes, and girl/girl relationships too.

Most of the stories are from personal experience points of view, but there are stories written in the third person as well. It is very easy to fall into the stories that are written in the first person. Many of the writers make you feel as if you are experiencing the events with them. The great thing about this book is that you don't have to be into BDSM or the like to enjoy this book. The elements of desire and pleasure are universal.

The content in these stories is very high and isn't something you would find in a trashy cheap novel. The stories are well written and contain a good amount of sex as well as plot. You will find yourself lost in the stories as well as the characters before you are immersed in the sex. The added amount of character and plot development allows the reader to "feel" these stories more. There is a great potential of arousal for the reader.
    • Bdsm
    • Fetish
    • Good mix of styles and content

Design

The book has individual chapters containing the twenty-two short stories. There are 217 pages of story which make the average chapter somewhere between 9 and 10 pages long. Most stories can be read by the average person in about 5-10 minutes, the perfect length for a work break, smoke break, or before bed time story. They are not the best for reading to a partner, but are better for solo reading. The stories are well laid out so that there are not stories that are too similar back to back. They switch off content nicely.

The book is a soft cover that is of normal size 5 1/2" wide and 8" tall, 226 pages thick in total including the forward, introduction, and author information. The binding is solid. However, the cover is not very discreet seeing that it has a woman on the front with a bare chest. The imagery is very pretty and captures a viewer to be drawn to it.
    • Not very discreet cover
    • Soft cover
    • Well made

Personal comments

This was my first book review and a descriptive review at that! I almost didn't accept this assignment because of those two things combined. I am very glad that I did accept this. While I didn't enjoy all of the stories, I was really surprised at how much I did enjoy this book as a whole. Some of the stories were not as well written as others, but most, around 4/5ths of them really held my attention. Even if I didn't find them arousing, I did find them interesting. There were quite a few that got me in the mood even though I'd never want to do the things in the stories. This is why I say you don't have to be hardcore into BDSM, or master/slave relationships to enjoy this book. There was only a little bit of content that I didn't care for: cutting one another, pony play, and "rape" fetishes. If it weren't for reviewing this as a descriptive item, I would have chosen to skip those stories. 19 out of 22 is pretty good! I was really surprised by how fast I did read this book. I haven't read many books that were not text books since high school, but this was an easy read. Some might have a few words they might need to look up here and there, but most won't have any issues with the jargon or vocabulary. I really think that the majority of people who appreciate anything erotic will enjoy at least a handful of stories in this book. It has really gotten me to want to purchase other anthologies like this, but those that are more about what I engage in sexually.
Follow-up commentary
I am so glad that I accepted this assignment when I did. From reading this book, I have added many more books from the same editor to my wishlists. I'm on my second way through this and it's just as good as the first time around.

The binding is holding up perfectly.
This product was provided free of charge to the reviewer. This review is in compliance with the FTC guidelines.

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  • Contributor: ~LaUr3n~
    4 I think
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    0_o must find
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