Pleasure Bound - book discontinued by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Waterfall

Pleasure Bound is edited by Alison Tyler and also includes a story written by her. Alison Tyler is a well known editor and writer, and I have a few books in my collection that she has also edited. When I see her name I know it will be an enjoyable read and I was right (again) in this case.

The cover has the title in large letters, and an image of a person sitting with their legs slightly spread and their arms in front of them handcuffed. It isn't the most discreet cover ever, but I think you can get away with reading it on the subway or bus, I know I did. This one is a typical paperback and is 185 pages long. The end has an "About the Authors" section with something on each person who has a story in this collection.

This collection of erotic stories is for those of us that like to be restrained by the words we read. The book is comprised of 23 stories, based on real experiences, that are based on various forms of bondage. I enjoyed the fact that not all the stories are about physical bondage, but also involve some people being bound by words or commands of their partners. There is some variety in the types of settings and degree of intensity, which was a plus. However, this one focuses on heterosexual relationships and most of the stories involve a female who is submissive to a dominant man.

Even though I liked all of the stories, I have some favorites.

"Won't You Be My Neighbor" by Rita Winchester was an interesting story involving a couple and their "strange" neighbor who they would often talk about and sometimes laugh at when they had sex, only for the woman to find out that he had been paying extra attention and had some ideas of his own.

"A Lesson About Gender" by Xan West stands out in this collection because it involved a main character that was remembering what it was like to be a "bottom" as a male and a female. I really liked this one because it was different than the others in the book by discussing gender switching and didn't focus on simply being tied up.

"Do I Look Like I'm Joking?" by Annette Miller is up there on my favorite list because I have a "thing" for sex acts in movie theaters, add being tied up in to the mix and it sounds even more fun to me. This is one of the stories that I really got into because I could see myself trying this out.

"King of the Road" by Bella Dean was about a woman whose male partner had a thing for her riding a motorcycle with very little clothing. As he continuously makes her take off more and more clothes and then go for a ride, he saves the best for last and joins in for the ride.

I am very happy that I finally purchased this book, it was on my wish list for a while and kept going out of stock when I went to place an order. It is one that I can see myself returning to so that I can read my favorite stories over again.

I usually read a collection of erotica and like some of the stories, but it is rare that enjoy more than 3/4 of the stories. With Pleasure Bound, I was pleasantly surprised. As I read, I definitely was getting turned on and I thought how fun some of these scenarios sounded to me. It made me think I need to give bondage more serious consideration in the future. Reading this one also got me interested in purchasing more erotica that focuses on bondage.

The stories in this book are still very fun to read when I want a change from some of the more "vanilla" erotica in my collection. It also keeps making me really want to find someone who enjoys a little bondage every now and then. I highly recommend this collection to anyone who has even the slightest interest in being controlled (whether physically or by words). I am so glad that I added this book to my collection!