EBook Review: The Pleasure Dial by Jeremy Edwards

Jeremy Edwards has, in two novels and countless shorter pieces, managed to earn himself a spot as a master of erotocomedic fiction.  The light, carefree but deeply affectionate way in which his characters interact with each other has become his trademark, and I'm hooked on it.

See, here's the thing:  Jeremy can write sex.  Delectable, naughty, and unbelievably arousing sex. He does it often. The Pleasure Dial is full of it. Despite how lust-inspiring his sex scenes are, though, I found myself rushing through (but never skipping, heavens no!) the sex scenes to find out what wacky, hilarious, delightful thing his characters were going to do next.

He writes clever, intelligent, highly sexual characters who are turned on by other clever and intelligent characters.  There is this one lovely scene in which the protagonists go to visit a friend's home and have a hard time manoeuvring because of all the overstuffed bookshelves that line every wall. Most gratifyingly, good old Artie gets as turned on by seeing this as I do reading the description!

This is shorter than most of my reviews, and partly that's because I don't want to ruin a single thing for you, just go out and get a copy for yourself!

5/5 sexy cloche hats (and an extra feather for luck.)

EBook Review: Daron's Guitar Chronicles Volume 1

Daron's Guitar Chronicles Volume 1 is the first 40 chapters of an enormous body of work by the same name that has been released regularly now as a web serial at http://daron.ceciliatan.com. I confess to being a less than religious reader of the serial there. Daron was just the right age on 1986 to have been an older sibling or cousin of mine, the kind whose room I would sneak into at night to steal his cassettes and dub them so that I could listen to whatever he thought was cool and be just like him.

I love getting the whole immersive experience, so I will occasionally take a break from my regular reading or writing and take in a whole chunk of chapters at once, being sure to click on all the youtube links so that I can be musically transported back to the 80s of my tweendom while I read. When I saw that they first 40 were available in ebook format (and for FREE too!) I just HAD to have a copy, but found myself missing the accompaniment. (Each chapter is the title of the song, and in the web serial there is a Youtube link to them. This is obviously not the case for the ebook!)

I found a way to fix that problem, though. See, I put all those chapter titles in a playlist, so that I could timetravel back to the 80s while I watch it unfold in the story. You can't honestly tell me you're surprised at this.

Ebook Review: Daron's Guitar Chronicles Volume 1

The strength of Cecilia Tan's fiction has always been her characters. She can write delightfully wicked villains that you can't help but love to hate. She can pen a cad with the best of them. But in my opinion, she shines the brightest when her she writes a character who is simply heartwrenchingly sweet, especially when that character seems to hope beyond hope that this wasn't true of them.

The protagonist of this story is one of those characters. Rock guitarists are supposed to be thick-skinned and effortlessly charming cads. Daron isn't this at all: Daron is...well, he's real. It's 1986 and Daron isn't even 20 yet and he's already well on his way to being a future rock god. Unfortunately instead of being a womanizing sweet-talker he's an averagely awkward 19-year old who just happens to be gay (even though he can't even bring himself to say the word.) He doesn't know anything yet about who he really is, or what he needs in a partner, or even if he wants a partner at all. All he knows is that in his business “faggy,” “queer,” and “gay” are the most viciously insulting words there are.

There is a fantastic scene early on the in the book in which Daron is walking around the East Village in NYC with Carynne, a girl his age who is desperately trying to sleep with him while he is desperately trying to come up with excuses not to without confessing that he's gay:

***I kept my own eyes ahead, trying not to stare at the graffiti splashed across the steps ("Queer By Choice") trying not to hear the conversation of the two men coming the other way, trying to shut it all out. My hands felt damp as they brushed against my jeans. Everything here was a signal, a secret handshake, a subliminal image, and I wondered how long it would take Carynne to see right through me. What would I do that would give myself away? Even I had no way of knowing.***

The author does a fantastic job throughout the book of generating empathy for her lead character without provoking pity. We as readers can feel his hurt and his confusion, and share his victories and regrets. Being gay is an integral part of who Daron is, but Ms Tan doesn't fall into the trap of allowing his sexuality to become his identity entire. He is a well-rounded sympathetic and delightful character in a charming, at times poignantly sad but always engaging book. Rock on, Daron, rock on!

Rating: 5/5 Happy Rainbow Flags!

Book Review: Bad Ass

I must begin by planting my tongue firmly in my cheek and saying that someone made a giant grammatical error in the book's title by placing a space between 'Bad' and 'Ass.' This book may be all about asses but they are beautiful, hot, sexy, wonderful to play with and fuck asses, but there's nothing bad about them. If, however, the authors in the anthology meant to name their collection "Badass," well, I'd have no qualms about that one. The authors—and their sexy stories of anal play—definitely fit that bill.

When reading a collection of anal sex short stories, you go in with certain expectations. You expect something sexy, a little bit dirty, and probably expect to find something a little rawer, maybe more aggressive and naughtier than your standard “straight sex” or even oral sex anthology. What you don't tend to expect (or at least, I didn't) is a set of stories that are sharp, smart, sensitive, sometimes silly, that explore the power that people can and do have over one another when they begin any kind of sexual relationship, and that challenges societal gender norms. Whew! It must be that beautiful rolling Ssss at the end of “Bad Ass..ss” that has got me in such a sibilant mood.

Perhaps if I were feeling sssmarter this morning, looking at the list of contributing authors might have given me a hint that I was in for more than just your average plotless whackoff book. There are five beautiful, intelligently written stories in this collection, and since I loved each one of them for different reasons, I just have to give each one its due.

I don't know why, but I have a soft spot for melancholy in my smut. Maybe because it allows for such dramatic contrast when the sexual energy comes into full swing. That's certainly the case for Kristina Lloyd's bittersweet piece, Dark Side of the Moon. This is the first story of Lloyd's that I've had the pleasure of reading ,and she's definitely now on my “to read” list. Dark Side of the Moon takes the concept of a lifelong partnership drifted apart and treats it with sensitivity, intelligence, and lots and lots of heart. Fans of hot sex scenes don't fret, though because where sweet and melancholy reign early on in the tale, the lack of steamy anally inspired sexiness is made up for by the end, I promise!

DISCLAIMER: Do not read Alison Tyler's Pegged while in your office, or your kitchen, study, sewing room, or garage. You might want to consider steering clear of doorknobs, rounded handles, pegboards, large utensils and small bottles, too. Trust me on this, you'll end up perverting half your hardware and being distractedly horny in those rooms for a long while afterward. Pegged maintains a frantically lustful pace throughout the whole story, and by the end of it, you might just be asking your copy of this story “was it good for you, too?” My book answered 'yes' to me, and the last line, which I will not repeat here so as not to give anything away, had me grinning like a hyena. Pegged is definitely making it to my 'I need to get turned on in a hurry' re-reading list.

Didn't every bi and straight woman at one point in her life dream of snagging herself a hot, macho yet sensitive at the same time cowboy? The girl who's got Jax Baynard's Night at the Rodeo star in her sights has certainly decided that she wants one right this second, for hot n dirty out in the back alley butt sex right this minute! She's not exactly the type of arm candy that big macho guys tend to want to be seen with though, and our hero certainly proves his sensitive side by being able to say 'fuck it' to what other people might say about her, and 'yes, yes, hell yes!' to what their mutual lust tells them they want to do to each other instead. Lucky readers, because that means we get to voyeuristically enjoy the whole sexy, sexy show. And boy is it hot. One thumb up, but only because the other hand is um.... busy right now. A second, exhausted thumb up will come later, I promise.

Power play and lots of delicious, well-written and hot as hell anal sex. Win-win, in my book. Sophia Valenti's Power Plays had me purring from beginning to end (and possibly drooling a bit, too.) It also reminded me how much fun it can be to have two equally strong and naturally dominant characters rolling in the hay together, so to speak. Hot, hot, hot!

Sommer Marsden is a woman after my own heart. I don't know who let her in on my fetish for storytelling as a sex toy, but it still wasn't fair for her to use it so openly, thus guaranteeing that I would be incapable of disliking her story. Not that I think I would anyway, since like I said, a hint of melancholy for some reason makes porn attractive to me. I generally don't associate 'anal sex smut' with sweet, sensitive, gentle and loving, but Sommer pulls it off beautifully. I fell in love for her characters in this story, and found myself cheering them on the whole way through. Admittedly, this story turned my heart on more than it did my naughty bits, but that was okay too, because my hand was pretty tired by the time I got to story five.

Eeee! A REVIEW!

Okay, I admit it. I'm vain. In an effort to find something that I'd lost into the vast unknown of cyberspace, I googled myself, and then I found I just couldn't stop looking. During this moment of extreme narcissism, I stumbled upon this snippet of review by Tori Rebel for my story in Please, Ma`am:

"Mr. February" by Madeline Elayne is by far the most endearing and romantic story in the book, which is a nice change in an erotica compilation, especially that in the D/s genre. It tells the story of the All-American guy-next-door husband who discovers his submissive self and though afraid, presents his desires to his loving wife, expecting the worst, but he is pleasantly surprised.

It seems I enjoy hearing nice words said about what I write even more than nice words about me!

 I'm all grinny now, hee. The rest of the review is here

And of course the book (which really does rock, by the way. The stories in it are delicious!) is available here:

Please, Ma`am

Ebook Review: The Lord of Misrule, by Kannan Feng

Ebook Review: The Lord of Misrule by Kannan Feng

I feel I must start with a disclaimer. I began reading this book with a very strong bias toward liking it before I even cracked its virtual cover. Not because I already knew that I liked Kannan's writing style (though this is true), or because I had already read and enjoyed the short story that became the basis for the novella (also true.) I was biased toward this book because it's my kink on the pages. Despite obvious anatomical incongruities between me and the protagonists, I'm most deeply attracted to pairings (or multiplings) on the queerer end of the spectrum, and a blend of sadomasochism and power play blended with a nice, sharp edge of pushing and seeking for intangible limits pushes ALL my buttons. So needless to say, this novella turned me on, and isn't that the holy grail of erotica? Honestly, though, I really couldn't say how someone whose tastes were more contrary might view it.

I found Lord of Misrule delightful. Rich, privileged and brilliant scholar Verity is the type of character that you can cheer to see taken down a notch or seven with no misgivings, and the choice of his servant—cool, unreadable and ever-so-proper Iskander—as the one to bring on the taking down brings about many opportunities (well taken, I might add) to play with the more interesting aspects of power exchange as a sexual mechanism.

The relationship between the two of them is in a constant state of flux that appeals to me greatly. Verity struggles with the fact that his wants and needs when it comes to Iskander are contrary to his normal role in a relationship, and the intensity of his feelings for him are often on the edge of becoming just too overwhelming to handle. I'm happy to say that he does manage to eventually crack that implacable shell of Iskander's. Once or twice, a little bit, at least. The emotional honesty with which the characters are written, especially Verity's struggles, allow the reader to identify with, and even like, a character who has more than a few flaws.

I found the writing style flowing, easy to follow, and paced at such a rate that I wanted to keep turning e-reader-pages until I'd run out. As is the case with many e-books, especially in the erotica genre, there seems to be a slightly higher concentration of copyediting errors than their paper counterparts, but it passes the litmus test that I use to measure such errors with ease: never did I find myself being wrenched out of the book, or otherwise unpleasantly distracted by their occasional blips.

A solid 4.5 stars (or erect nipples, if you prefer.)

Highly recommended to anyone whose idea of good smut involves a bit of the queer and kinky.

Book Review: Random Acts of Lust by Primula Bond

Have you ever had one of those days when the whole of the universe seems to be telling you “why not?” When you notice the cute boy at the front desk checking out your legs and flashing you a smile that's just a little bit too long, and you know that he would be yours for the asking? Or you think back on your school girl days and that moment when your best friend's hand accidentally brushed against yours and you wondered what it would be like to explore each other further, but couldn't bring yourself to even consider it?

Primula Bond's Random Acts of Lust is all about visiting the fantasy of those “what if moments.” The women in these short works of literary escapism all decide to throw caution to the wind and indulge in those naughty sexual adventures that all women fantasize about but most of us never do anything about.

Shadows, the book's opening story, is a somewhat sad one of a woman who sees an echo of her dying husband's youth in her stepson, and the two of them find love and solace in each other's arms. The mood of the book takes a decidedly upward turn from then on in. Each new woman introduced brings the reader further into a fantasy of sexual inhibition and desire. Who hasn't at some point wanted to pull the bitchy queen of the PTA off her high horse, tie her up and punish her until she repented her stuck-up ways, or take that sexy, innocent new university student home to teach him all the ways of the world that he's been missing out on?

The book is well structured, with the stories arranged in a delicious crescendo of sexiness ending in an amazing orgy scene that would leave anyone hot under the collar. Taken individually, each story definitely had points that drew me in, and a healthy allotment of steamy sex scenes, but there were also several points where awkward changes of points of view or scene changes jarred me out of the immersion that makes erotica most pleasurable. The dialogue was also a place where it was difficult to remain in the fantasy, since I often had to spend a lot of time trying to puzzle out exactly who was speaking and to whom. After most of those moments, though, the sheer steaminess of the sex scenes was quite enough to bring me right back into the action.

Random Acts of Lust seems tailor made for any woman who has ever had something (or someone!) turn them on, but decided against trying it, for whatever reason, only to wonder later “What if I'd just gone for it?” If you happen to be one of those women (and honestly, how many of us women aren't?) then chances are there is something, possibly many somethings, in this book that will appeal.

Random Acts of Lust @Xcite

kindle version