Heat wave - book discontinued by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Teagan Shepard

There are many different contributing authors for this book. As far as I recall, I haven't read any of their works prior to this book. Alison Tyler contributes a story, as well as editing the collection and writing an introduction. Violet Blue contributes the foreword. Contributing authors are: Shanna Germain, Matthew I. Jackson, Sage Vivant, Stephen Albrow, Savannah Stephens Smith, Helena Settimana, Lynne Jamneck, Debra Hyde, M. Christian, Simone Harlow, Tom Piccirilli, Michele Zipp, Michelle Houston, Thomas S. Roche, Mark Williams, JT Langdon, Maxim Jakubowski, Tawny Brown, Alison Tyler, Sophia Valenti, and Sommer Marsden.

This collection of erotic short stories is varied in styles just as it's varied in authors. The scenarios range from straight, lesbian, committed, married, casual, break-up recovery and many others. I'm not going to give it all away, as that's what I love about collections such as these: not knowing what I'm going to read. I love the fact that it's all based in summertime, and that makes it perfect for summer reading. It could also be great to read on chilly days (like today) that make one long for bright, warm days.

The books is quite simple. The cover of this well-constructed paperback book has a black and white picture of a naked, sweaty heterosexual couple along with the title, editor, and foreword author in simple white, orange, red, and yellow text. The paper cover is thick, glossy cardstock type paper, with a thin glue strip holding the unsewn book in the cover. The book will not endure a long life of being bent backwards. Y'know, when you bend the book backwards to hold the pages open, cracking some glue and putting a crease in the spine. If you treat the book well, it'll last.