Girls On Top - erotic fiction by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Airen Wolf

Violet Blue has been author and/or editor for over two dozen books including fiction and non-fiction in her repetoire. She is a sex information DIVA recognized by such notables as The Wall Street Journal, Wired and Forbes! This is a woman who knows what is hot and what is simply not. Having read several of her 'How-to' books and other anthologies I leaped at the chance to read this anthology. Like always her choices left me actually thinking about the characters and situations and more than a little turned on.

The various authors from this anthology are drawn from all walks of life, from the very experienced to the genuine newcomers. Each author showcased has written a tight, intense and short story that is thoughtful and sticks to the theme of women being in control.

This anthology is not a collection of stories about Dominatrix type women nor is it about men being used and controlled by women. It is a deeper and more personal look at real women who are approachable and as flawed as any flesh and blood woman. It is about what it means to be a sexually aware and active woman fully taking part on whatever experience comes her way.

We are treated to a science fiction encounter in 'The Hostage' by BJ Franklin, when a group of thieves find a unique and highly sexual way to keep a securities firm occupied while they make their getaway. They are taken down by a woman who has her own agenda.

In 'Quarterbacking' by SJ Frost we follow a woman who is taking control of her desire to be in charge of a sexual encounter and the avid, tender response she receives from her grateful partner. It is a gentle story that has the force of a hurricane for both the character and the reader.

In a total twist we are treated to a scandalous encounter that left this reader shaking her head wide eyed and wonderingly. 'Central Registry' by Remittance Girl leads a stunned reader through one woman's revenge on religious proselytizers who interrupt her morning after recovery time.

We are also treated to some first time experiences such as in the story aptly named 'First Time' by Amy Wadhams, and in 'High-Speed Wireless' by Miranda Logan. The central themes of these two vastly different stories being first time encounters that seem to change the participants. One other notable story along these same lines is 'Metamorphosis' by Anastasia Mavromatis wherein the protagonist finds herself locked in a freudian nightmare that she escapes in one blazingly hot sexcapade!

One of the stories that I have caught myself returning time after time to the book to re-read is 'The Morning Trade' by Angela Caperton. The twist at the end of the story left me breathless. The fact that the main character stepped up to the plate and was willing to take what she wanted out of an unusual situation made it very easy for the story to become personal to me.

This anthology has 19 searingly hot stories, not including the temperature raising introduction by Violet Blue! There is something for everyone in this set and most of the stories range from 3-7 pages in length making them perfect for a quick just before bed read. The writing is clear, concise and very high quality with amazing attention to detail. The scenes seem to come alive before the reader's eyes in intricate detail.

Girls on Top has a fairly innocuous cover design. The title is printed in red and gray and under it is a cropped picture of a woman wearing a teddy straddling a supine man. The total focus of the picture is her and her lovely smile as her head is thrown back in what looks like joyful laughter. The words 'explicit erotica for women' is fairly prominent underneath the picture but I found that when I held the book my fingers obscured the text. While I don't think you'd want to be reading this sitting at your desk at work, reading it on the bus home probably wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

This is a typical slightly oversized paperback of the rather high quality I have come to expect from Cleis Publishing. The book flows very naturally from the title page to the ending pages on which is a short blurb about each of the contributing authors and the editor.

This is yet another book that I doubt will sit on my bookshelf getting dustier and dustier. This one has already been claimed by a partner and will be read by another friend when he is through with it. Although this book is written to appeal to women we have found it to be equally appealing to guys! It's just a great read.