Obsessed Erotic Romance for Women - erotic fiction by Cleis Press Inc. - review by NuclearTeapot

This anthology promises to deliver "erotic romance for women", formed around the delicious idea of obsession. As the introduction and many dictionaries explain, obsession occurs when thoughts and/or feelings become fixated on a certain object, person or experience. To put it simply, I expected some very hot moments of all consuming, single minded, lust.

However, to put it bluntly, few of the stories deal with any form of obsession, and even those that do, the obsession felt rather weak. I would personally call it infatuation.

Two of the stories deal with falling in love with your boss, "One Night in Paris" and "Love and Demotion". While the female characters in both stories find themselves longing and lusting after their bosses, neither seemed obsessed. It seems the sex drive of the story comes not from obsession, but from the taboo of wanting to establish a relationship with a boss.

Several stories like "It's Gotta be Fate", "Secret Places", and "Aftershocks" deal with the discovery that one or both parties in the relationship desire to be dominating or submissive. However, no one seems particularly obsessed with these desires, and the stories really come down to simple communication issues between the couples. If you never tell or show your partner you want to be whipped, or you want to tie him/her up, then how are they to know?! The stories thankfully resolve these issues, and that leads to hot sex. So sadly again, little to do with obsession and more to do with people not articulating "kinky" desires.

I could continue analyzing each of the stories like this, but I think my point is made. Few of the stories deal with obsession. Despite this let down, I can say without any reservations, that all of the stories are written extremely well. Every story has just enough set up, story line, and wonderful descriptions of sex. While every story may not get you hot and bothered, there is enough variety that I am sure you will find at least one story that gets your juices flowing.

Unfortunately, I do have to note another draw back. The cover of the book proudly exclaims that the stories are for women, but that should probably say stories for women that only like reading about straight sex. None of these stories deal with women loving women, and only one story deals with the idea of a relationship of more than two, that story being "Then". Of the stories that deal with the "classic" one man and one female, these couplings lack any real "kink". A few deal with some rather basic domination/submission, and one story deals with a one night stand that leads to a first time use of anal beads. All in all, I would call the sex in this book vanilla.

This book is a rather standard, trade back soft cover. The cover features a black and white photo of a lovely lady from bare shoulders up. So unless you live in a place that has an issue with bare shoulders, you're good to go in public. However, the cover does say the book is full of erotic fiction, so if you are worried about very curious eyes or people wanting to take a look at your book, you might think twice about bringing it out in public.

This book contains a collection of very well written erotica, but I am a stickler on delivering on what is promised. Because this book promised obsession and delivered everything but, it made me a bit cranky. The two stories I feel really deal with the concept of obsession left me cold. One story, "Topiary" deals with a male gardener quite obsessed with muff trimming. Sadly this story involves a rather sad end, and for me a bit troubling bath scene. The other obsessed story, "Hooked", deals with a woman's fantasies concerning a large hook in the ceiling of her bedroom. However, when she finally decided to act, the story ends. I really wanted some sexy suspension scenes, even basic ones, but no.

I don't think I will be re-reading this one any time soon. I might lend it to friends after explaining that it has nothing to do with obsession.