G Is For Games - book discontinued by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Airen Wolf

Judging by the cover of this book I was not expecting the types of stories presented, I really didn't know what to expect but I knew I would probably like it simply based on the editor's previous work. Alison Tyler has excellent taste and finds the best stories to flesh out her topic ideas. This book was no different!

G Is For Games is an anthology about how games can be interwoven and intertwined with sex. We all play games and most of our adult games involve sex in some way. This book celebrates that facet of life and makes the games suddenly the focal point of the whole encounter. The anthology has 13 stories written by: Madelynne Ellis, Cheyenne Blue, Erica Dumas, Sheila Dare, Joel A. Nichols, Kristina Wright, Emerald, emily Dubberly, Bonnie Dee, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Michelle Houston, Brooke stern and Alison Tyler. They are short stories most being 3-4 pages long but the book, itself, is smaller than a regular paperback. The cover art is totally safe for work featuring only a 1940's style pin up girl in a red bikini holding a wand and some cards. The title of the book is the only other thing on the cover.


Have you ever played 'Twister' at a party and had it end up as something more than just a game? Madelynne Ellis explores this possibility in her story No Limits. Not a bad way to begin a book at all!

Role play takes on a whole new dimension in Erica Dumas's story The Big Touchdown. I was smiling the whole time I read this one as it is just so cute a story and so timeless.

I was saddened by the story Think Of Baseball by Joel A. Nichols because I wouldn't want my lover pretending when he is with me. The story explores what would happen if a guy had had an experience that made the axiom 'think of baseball to last longer' untrue. I could see where the author was going but in the end I just wanted to counsel the hero to stop pretending and be himself rather than a lie. By contrast Seven Minutes In Heaven by Kristina Wright had me chuckling and rather worked up remembering playing a similar game with a group of college friends and Sigel. I love stories that have me reminiscing good times and this was easily my favorite story in this book.

Check, Mate by Rachel Kramer Bussel had me looking at chess tournaments in a whole different light, a very favorable light. Chess is a game of intense strategy meant to mimic the emotional qualities of war which is why it seemed entirely natural that it would bring out the raving sex Goddess in our heroine!

What happens when you meet someone and they share your deepest fantasies but when you begin to act them out you suddenly find yourself scared and running away? Brooke Stern seems to know what deep and frightening emotions the simple act of spanking can induce in both the giver and receiver. Her story Unfinished Business explores the aftermath of an encounter that went wrong and adds a bit of a twisted game to help her heroine get what she needs, make amends and receive forgiveness.

The book concludes on a super high sexy note with the story The Game appropriately by Alison Tyler. This is a short teasing story about a groups of women and the wild parties they have. A definite must read!

This is a cute little book and has amazing re-read value. It's small enough to slip into a purse and the cover is so innocuous that you could read it anywhere without arousing much curiosity. Usually I pass it off as a murder mystery!