Steamlust - erotic fiction by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Airen Wolf

After being introduced to SteamPunk erotica in Carnal Machines I knew I had found another genre that captures my imagination and fuels my fantasies.
SteamLust edited by Kristina Wright is another book in this genre that is well worth reading. It is a collection of 14 stories written by a variety of authors. The theme tying the stories together is, of course, steam punk. Now, steam punk is an imaginative amalgamation of Victoriana/American Wild West, and steam powered technology as envisioned by H.G. Wells, or even Jules Verne. Typically the setting is rife with rigid gender roles and fanciful clothing. The machines are fantastic and the world is just slightly, or even wildly, different than our own timeline.

SteamLust has a foreword by MelJean Brook who is the author of The Iron Duke. She has high praise for the works in the book and gives a great explanation of steampunk erotica.
The editor, Ms. Wright, also gives us an explanation of how she got interested in steampunk as a genre. From there it was only a hop to the side to steampunk erotica.

The authors in this anthology are all well accomplished and the stories flow easily. They are just what the automated doctor ordered! The authors included in this anthology are: Sylvia Day, Saskia Walker, Sacchi Green, Christine D'Abo, Charlotte Stein, Elizabeth Coldwell, Vida Bailey, Anna Meadows, Lisabet Sarai, Andrea Dale, Lynn Townsend, Mary Borsellino, Nikki Magennis, and Anya Richards. Most of them are old friends to me, but there were one or two new names in the group! I was a bit disappointed that there were no male authors in the book as I have found that men write some incredible steampunk erotica!

Iron Hard by Sylvia Day introduces us to a heart broken young inventor. Annabella lost her fiance to the war and threw herself into her inventing to hide from her pain. She has started to recover and when she meets Raphael nothing is quite the same.

What would you do if you have invented a machine that would revolutionize the way people travel but couldn't get backing to build the machine simply because you were a woman? Nina Ashford knows and in Heart of the Daedalus she confronts the man who "stole" her idea and built it with his own money.

Imagine a world where your orders sent the man you loved to his death. Now imagine that his death came as he stepped in front of the bullet meant for you. Continue to imagine what it would be like to have the technology to "rebirth" someone with the addition of a mechanical heart. Would that society demand that people who were augmented in this fashion not resume their previous life? In The Undeciphered Heart by Christine D'Abo we catch a glimpse of what it would be like to have to live in such a world.

A quiet and proper young lady with little to offer an intelligent and learned man seems to be how Miss Havers views herself. It would seem the gentleman in question has a different opinion in Mr. Hartley's Infernal Device by Charlotte Stein.

For time travel buffs Vida Bailey weaves a tale sure to intrigue and spark some fantasies. She calls her tale Undergrounded: Hannah Hawthorne and the Stranded Time Ship. In this fanciful and just plain old fancy tale two couples are stranded in the past and need to find the one person who can fix their airship. How and where they find their savior is an intricate little tale!

Sparks by Anna Meadows begins with a reminiscence that will strike a cord with almost every reader. It seems that our heroine has parents who want her to have the sort of life they find acceptable but our Lady is a steam punk Lady. She has her own ideas and leaves the comfort of her parent's world to live out those ideas.

There is something for everyone here in this book. The stories are as intricate as the machines featured, they are the perfect length to be read just before bed. Reading them out loud is a special treat!
The book includes a short biography of each author and in most cases there is a web address where the interested reader can get more information about a favorite author. There is a longer biography for Kristina Wright as is befitting for the editor.

The cover art is understated and probably safe for most situations. The words "SteamLust" are in bright red but the book could easily pass for an over sized romance novel.