Book discontinued
by Cleis Press Inc.

Hits and Misses

This is an extremely varied collection. If you're new to erotica and want to get an idea of what you like, this would be a good choice. It is not great if you're looking for a specific type of erotica. Whatever your tastes, you're practically guaranteed to not like a couple of the stories.
Published:
Pros
lot of variety in types of sex, characters, situation, and writing
Cons
some weird stories I didn't like, variety means you probably won't like all of them
Rating by reviewer:
4
extremely useful review
There is a lot of variety in how graphic and erotic or plot-based the stories are. Some stories, like "Tag!", are based around describing a particular sexy experience in delicious detail. Others, like "French Handwriting" are more focused on plot and character. In other words, there are sexy times, but they're not the story's focus. There's a bit of bondage in "Public Pet" and "Last Ten Bucks". Though there is a decent amount of variation in the types of sex in this collection, this definitely isn't a book you should get if you prefer more hardcore erotica. This isn't a very consistent collection, but the variety means most people should be able to find something that they like.

There are twenty one stories in this collection. They're listed below, with a short description of each. There are spoilers, but the stories are so short that they're difficult to describe otherwise.

Sweet Thing by Joy Parks: a femme seduces a butch baker. It's a very sweet story, with a rather poetically described sex scene.

Tag! by D. Alexandria: a couple play (sexy!) tag while camping. I really like this one. It's got very realistic dialogue and the characters really enjoy themselves.

Voodoo and Tattoos by Lynne Jamneck: a girl agrees to bartend a conference for a friend and ends up in a voyeuristic situation.

Bright Angel by Sacchi Green: a rising Hollywood star meets an old friend for a vacation and semi-public sexytimes. If you enjoy being watched, you'll probably enjoy this story.

Public Pet by Cynthia Rayne: a light bondage story with semi-public oral sex. The writing in this story seemed a bit forced and overwrought, which I didn't really enjoy. If you've never read any bondage erotica before and would like to, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, it's not the greatest.

Homecoming Queen by Anna Watson: the head cheerleader has sex with a butch girl who plays soccer. Guess what? The cheerleader's a BAD girl! Surprise! This one felt like a giant cliche to me, but the sex part was okay.

Sweet Desires by Tara Alton: a coworker keeps giving the main character candy until they end up having sex in a car. This story get bonus points for using candy as a plot device and having a vibrating rubber duck.

French Handwriting by Zoe Alexandra: this story is the longest in the book, with the most plot. It's about a bike messenger trying to get over a high school romance. This story really didn't feel like erotica to me. It was more like a short story that just happened to have some sex in it. The story is about 15 pages long, with about a page of sex. Most of the plot wasn't too cheerful either. I didn't like this one.

Rosemary and Eucalyptus by Kyle Walker: a woman develops a relationship with her masseuse. This story is another longish one with a bit of sex at the end, most of it is the characters talking about their lives. I thought there was too much character development for a story this short.

Rupture by Suki Bishop: this story starts with sexytimes in a car between two women and a man. There's a slight stream-of-consciousness feel to this story.

Fruit of Another by Anette Bishop: a married woman meets someone online and they develop a deep personal connection, which awkwardly develops when they meet for the first time. The author seems a bit caught up in writing sentences that sound like this one: "With every free moment, I would run to my computer, to see if a musing from Beatrice had graced my inbox." The writing just annoyed me.

On Fire by Rachel Kramer Bussel: the main character has been lusting over her friend Brenda for years and Brenda finally agrees to be with her - if she learns to eat fire. I really like this story, mostly because I really like the premise, but the writing is pretty good too. Appropriately, the sex scene involves candle play.

One Solid Yellow Aster by Zaedryn Meade: a flower delivery woman ends up at an old crush's door with a bouquet. I enjoyed this story, the pacing of the plot was very well done, and I enjoyed the way the sex was written. It's very visceral.

A Taste of Sin by Fiona Zedde: two women pick up a girl at a bar. This was a great story. The scene in the bar is really entertaining and the sex is not only well described, but safe sex! This is the only story in the book that uses dental dams and latex gloves, and it does it well. Win!

(Continued in the next section)
Experience
Bingo, Baby by Radclyffe: a couple switches roles for the night after a bit of protest and have a great time.

Kiki by Jolie Du Pre: a homeless girl and a crackhead live together under a bridge and hook up. This story is really short, which is good because if it were any longer I think it would be really depressing.

Last Ten Bucks by A. Lizbeth Babcock: a bondage story without much plot, but great sex. This story is written in first and second person at the same time. There's a main character, "I", who describes everything the secondary character, "you", does. This takes a bit of getting used to, but makes for a very visceral read. I really enjoyed this one!

The World Turned Upside Down by Jean Roberta: this is the only story in the book told from the perspective of a man. I'm not entirely sure this fits in a book of lesbian erotica. It starts off with a hetero sex scene (nothing against hetero sex, but it's an odd choice here). The story is set in Victorian (ish) England, and the man discovers his wife is having an affair with her maid. It...doesn't end well.

Heavenly Bodies by Andrea Miller: a woman has an erotic encounter with a woman from each star sign. This is probably a very clever story, with each women matching the characteristics of her astrological sign, but since I know nothing about astrology, I can't say for sure. The stories are well written, flow together well, and there's a lot of variety.

Subtexts by Peggy Munson: several erotic retellings of classic stories, including Red Riding Hood and Lolita. I liked these. They capture enough of the original story to make it recognizable, but completely redo the story.

Sweet Hunger by Skian McGuire: a mystical woman runs a bed & breakfast in the woods for lesbians, occasionally seducing them for equally mystic purposes.
This product was provided free of charge to the reviewer. This review is in compliance with the FTC guidelines.

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This review was edited by
  • lexical Contributor: lexical
  • Rank:
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  • Contributor: The Curious Couple
    Great review, thanks!
  • Contributor: tinadice
    thanks for the review
  • Contributor: faust
    nice review
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