Steamlust - erotic book by Cleis Press Inc. - review by jedent

"Steamlust" is a collection of erotic Victorian era stories with a twist. Imagine the Victorian era filled with steam engines and clockwork technology. In the foreward, Meljean Brook describes Steampunk as "historical fiction with a spectulative twist; it's silk and steel, corsets and gears, parasols and airships."

The stories, though written by different authors, have beautifully written prose and that ultra erotic bubblebath romance novel sexiness to them. This book is very adult, and written not only for fans of the Stempunk genere, but for anyone who can appreciate a good fucking in a big steam-powered mantis/spider machine. But it goes further than that.

The characters in these stories are willing to take risks and make sacrifices in the name of freedom, invention and love, with a touch of rebellion thrown in for good measure.

Fantastically, many of the inventors are women. Though there are still big handsome men that they fall for, as is classic Victorian romance rule of thumb, the women could be independent with their own full storylines about their inventions and accomplishments. If you're pro strong women, this is a fantastic read to take in.

I am not a total fan of the genre of Steampunk, but I fell in love with the stories in this book. Granted, some of it was kind of amusing to me in the humorous sense, such as in "Iron Hard" where our heroine is titillated by the baron's copper mechanical prosthetic arm which he then fucks her with. (Surprise, it vibrates!) And in another story, the heroine's patent is stolen by an ex who builds her glorious machine. The heroine is faced with the harsh truth that women cannot own patents, and so she must decide whether she could possibly allow him to take credit for the machine, even though he hastily offers up marriage to her so that they may "share" credit with their shared name.

Here are a few excerpts that I highlighted from the book that I feel give a decent taste of the style you will find in these pages.

"Effortlessly, he lifted her, balancing her with one hand as he pushed two unyeilding copper fingers inside her. Fingers that vibrated."

"For the first time since Fredrick's rebirth, Miranda reached out and pressed her hand to the metal plate that comprised half of his chest, barely concealed by the the thin fabric of his shirt. He covered her hand with his, pressing down so she could not escape."

"It could be that the very purpose of his machine is to fit strange images and fantasies into a young woman's mind, then have his wicked way with her."

"Oh what an invention he has made here. What a delight! I kiss him and kiss him until he is quite wild with it, until, even better, he taken my hand in a kind of frantic clutch, and pushes it down between his own legs."

"I wanted nothing more than the touch of the boy who had first led me away from the safety of my parents' walled gardens."

To be completely honest, I felt like the prose gave the stories a touch of prestige and I felt very much like I was involved with a book that only few would know to appreciate. The Steampunk genre may not be the first kind of fiction I reach for, but I was certainly enthralled with this collection of erotic stories.