Sweetest Kiss - erotic fiction by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Airen Wolf

I will freely admit I love a good Vampire story, add in some erotic content and it's perfect. Sweetest Kiss edited by D.L. King doesn't offer the reader an insight into the editor's reasons for choosing these particular stories, instead we are invited to just jump in with both feet.

Midnight At Sheremetyevo by Remittance Girl introduces us to a very strict authoritarian who runs his "family" with an iron fist in order to keep them safe. Marta is allowed to go and deal with the outside world because she is usually sensible and obedient. This time, however, she meets a young man who not only tests her obedience he pushes her over the edge into very dangerous territory.

Thomas S. Roche delivers a steamy, dreamy vision of what it means to court a vampiress in his Wait Until Dark, Montresor.

I, personally, loved The Temptation of Mlle. Marielle Doucette by Anna Black. Set during the upheaval of the French revolution it is a story of a young girls plight when she is caught up in the machinations of cruel men and how one monster offers her revenge in a most unpleasantly pleasant way.

Lisette Ashton introduces us to a kinky side of Dracula in her story Kiss And Make Up.

Have you ever wondered how a submissive vampire would release those feelings caught in a world of men and women inferior to his own strength and pain resistance? Read Red By Any Other Name by Kathleen Bradean and find out!

In Blood And Bootleg, Teresa Noelle Roberts spins the tale of a young and wealthy woman during the prohibition era who has lost her twin brother in the war. Her pain calls to a handsome stranger who also happens to be an ex-pat German! He seduces her with practiced ease and then eases her pain in a truly remarkable way.

Some of the stories in this anthology left me thoughtful rather than excited, like Fair play by G.B. Kensington. In this story our resident Vampire picks up a half starved woman. He feeds her, fucks her and then takes what he needs only to find her gone in the morning with his stash of petty cash. It was his decision about what to do that had me in a thoughtful mood after reading the story.

Devouring Heart by Andrea Dale had me near tears at the end. In this tale we share in the problems faced by so many couples who have communication issues. Swap out the vampirism for drug abuse and this could be the story of so many friends of mine.

What could be more perfect than a creature than can heal your wounds by licking them? If your world is defined by emotional pain so great that it causes you to seek physical wounds to let the pain escape; the answer would be nothing. In Cutter by Kristina Wright this subject is throughly investigated and the result left me aroused and breathless.

There are 19 stories in this anthology written by: Remittance Girl, Thoman S. Roche, Anna Black, Lisette Ashton, Sommer Marsden, Kathleen Bradean, Amber Hipple, Teresa Noelle Roberts, G.B. Kensington, Ciara Finn, Maxim Jakubowski, Madeline Oh, Evan Mora, Andrea Dale, Michelle Belanger, Lisabet Sarai, Nikki Magennis, Kristina Wright, and A.D.R. Forte. At the end of the book is a short biography of each artist as well as the editor, D.L. King.

This is still a great read and hasd managed to make it back to my bookshelf only to be borrowed again!