Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Under Her Thumb - arousing AND enlightening!


http://www.amazon.com/Under-Her-Thumb-Stories-Domination/dp/157344927X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371091276&sr=1-1&keywords=under+her+thumb

My Amazon review:

"UHT is an eclectic mix of short stories where women dominate in relationships. The publisher, Cleis Press, labels the collection as "fiction/erotica". Some of the stories are arousing but others are less about the action in the bedroom or the whipping rack and more about the subtleties of the relationships. The characters like what they do and even profess their love for each other. Although some of the stories follow the classic femdom tropes (such as the stern mistress) the characters maintain a personal relationship as well. In Jacqueline Brocker's "Bottled and Bound" Regina gives James a thorough cropping because of a spill, bringing him to tears. But in the end they speak their love for each other.  Lawrence Westerman's Her Majesty's Plaything is a loving tribute to his wife as he renews his wedding vows of obedience and loyalty to her in a collaring ceremony. In the end she asks him: "what makes you the happiest man in the world?"  to which he replies "Belonging to you and serving you".  In DL King's "Hound and Hare"  the woman makes a suggestion to a guy she has just met that she'd "be happy to lock [his cock] up". He blushes in embarrassment but doesn't object. She introduces him to sexual submission. But unlike the usual cold, indifferent mistress of standard femdom, she tells him after an intimate session, "Call me tomorrow night...Get home safe".  
Some of the stories reveal how the combination of pain and sex expose an inner depth of the characters. In Eva Mora's "Uncharted Territory", the woman says after whipping her man, "I love how pain softens you, how it opens you up...". In Teresa Noel Roberts "Business Managing", Ms. Bridges is riding Dan and telling him to hold his ejaculation: "she wanted him to hold on...so he would let go and follow her will."  In Andrea Zanin's "Quiet", the woman defends her cross-dressing partner when she has a session with him at a club. The attendees "assume that his demurely feminine attire is a punishment...[but] she knows he is beautiful."  She comments,  "There is nothing humiliating about being beautiful or about being feminine...[or about] submission". In Giselle Renards's "Suffer", the man returns for a beating from his mistress to atone for his guilt for his extramarital affair. "He thought his pain was buried deep enough, but she always found it. She brought it to the surface [and] gave him every kind of relief".  Or in Aimee Nichols "All Eyes on Him", while her partner receives a flogging at a public club: "his brain tries to deal with the onslaught of pain signals and...pleasure...as the pain and lust and joy merge into [a] world of sensation". Or in David Wraith's "Repent!...": "There was something frenzied about the way she was spanking my ass with her bare hand...She wanted this as much as I did."
Some of the stories are about dominance. In Rachel Bussel's "Subdar", "true dommes know there are infinite ways to get what they want...". Quinn learned from experience with submissive men that "the uncertainty was part of what got them off. Following her lead, and trying to figure out her next move, were part of what kept their mind and body in sync...except she would [be]...the one in total control.". In Kathleen Bradean's "Good for thwe Goose", she says, "once he was tied up and I didn't have to worry about him moving, I was...getting wetter and wetter." 
The wide range of story lines makes this difficult to narrow my recommendation to one kind of reader (i.e. men who like femdom erotica). There are also stories of female to female relationships and a FFM (female to female to male) menage. What is common to most of these tales is that they are from the woman's point of view and often her account of the action. Male writers often dwell more on the thoughts of their mistresses than on their submissiveness.  Women who are curious about the kind of relationships where they dominate may find many of these stories enlightening. Men who like this genre of fiction will find them stimulating. On the whole the writing is a decent quality and the editor's selections will give readers an interesting view of the varieties of woman dominated relationships. 
"

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Enthralled by Jennifer August

http://amzn.to/w9Gjtp

story: 5/5
Erotica: 5/5

Imagine that you have given up men for good and are cursed to be horny as hell once a month, and two hunky guys show up willing to take care of your spell! That's the setup in this well-crafted novelette that has a strong heroine willing to do whatever it takes to rid herself of her curse. Two adonis alpha males are sent to break the spell by having 50 orgasms with Fi McGantry in one night, and this is only the first half of the book!

The cupid-like "Enhancers" are professional studs with a good heart, intent on dispelling Fi's insatiable appetite for sex, by applying their sexual techniques to her as she barely keeps up with their boundless energy. The reader will be over the edge of their bed by the time the undaunted trio reaches the final orgasm. But wait, there's more! Somehow the boys break from their professional detachment of doing their job and take a liking to Fi. The Gods send them back to take care of their affairs.  Up until then, the sex was vanilla but now the heavy stuff begins.

The trio's first menage the guys is a steamy scene of light BDSM . Sweet, innocent Fi, watches two men making love and becomes aroused. The boys then carefully test Fi's limits as they draw her into their world of SM.  The men become more attracted to Fi as she continues to play with them.  They bring  her into a rousing romantic threeway in the end.

Fi is an inadvertant victim of a spell. In a different setting, these guys would be escorts out to service an incredibly horny lady, who show her the subterranean world of m/m, menage and bdsm. Since Fi is cursed, these "angels" are here to heal her emotional wound of separation from a cheating husband and make things right! Readers who have scruples about over-the-top erotica, may at least accept it in the story's paranormal setting.


The story is told from the point of view of the heroine, whose naive character seems plausible.The men's story is paranormal fantasy but not spooky (i.e. they are "good" spirits, not vampires). The reader can learn of Fi's personality, but  only read a magazine-model description ("perfect tan, washboard abs") of Kade and Alec. Somehow Fi   enthusiastically accepts the boys proposition to join their BDSM-themed menage. The plot was simple and a little too thinly developed, but then this is an erotic novelette. The erotic sex was described well enough to give the reader a feel of what a menage with two guys would be like. The sex scenes were direct and consistent with the plot and character development

Despite the limitations due to the length of the story, this is one of the best written ones.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Pet Shop by K. D. Grace

http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Shop-KD-Grace/dp/190800679X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326221669&sr=1-3

Story: 3/5
Erotica: 5/5

The Pet Shop is a story of one woman's adventure into a private club for human pets. Stella's boss assigns her to visit the club. She becomes infatuated in Tonio, an over-the-top pet, who ravages her. She later meets Vincent, a wealthy businessman,  who is also vying for her affection. Eventually she realizes that the two are different aspects of the same person, one civilized and the other depraved.

The story is twenty odd chapters of over-the-top sex, sex, sex! Numerous themes are explored including bizarre pet-play, dubious non-consensual bdsm, M/M, F/F, menage and group sex. Each chapter is a "blow-by-blow" description of sexual encounters between the principal and support characters in a fantasy setting of an elaborate playground for the wealthy.

Throughout the story Stella is incredulous about all the manipulation of the thinly-disguised characters as she is made into a pet, pursued by Tonio and  eventually dumped by Vincent. Stella stumbles into the underworld with only a flashlight. We learn of events only from her naive perceptions and how slow she is to put the pieces of the puzzle together, as she is subjected to numerous encounters of tantalizing sexual perversity.

At times I wish Stella would get a clue but then the sexual escapade would be over. Eventually she becomes enlightened and this serves for a turning point of the story which I won't give away here.

This is a book that is either highly praised for its "inventive" hot sex or  is condemned for the tawdriness (mostly the character's "whoring" ). The story is about an innocent woman's seduction into an underworld that is run by and for the ultra-wealthy for an environmental cause. Readers will have to suspend moral judgement of the characters and enjoy the erotica for what it is. I was unable to get a picture of what the main characters were like as they are only superficially described. The plot seems to only serve as a theme to introduce increasingly varied and depraved sexual encounters. At times I had wished the author would simply state what the characters did in a particular encounter instead of a detailed description of the sex. If you can "slog" through the endless sex scenes in the beginning you will be rewarded by one of the more passionately described encounters near the end.

This book is more like a movie or television script. Although K. D. Grace articulates the sex scenes, the plot is a bit like a soap-opera with a HEA ending. Fans of erotica will appreciate the ability to "jump in" to the story from almost any chapter as they will figure out the running plot quickly.

If you have an open mind to a world of depraved sexuality, you will find Pet Shop most rewarding.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Best-Bondage-Erotica-2012 Edited by Rachel Bussel

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Bondage-Erotica-2012-Jaybee/dp/1573447544/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325289832&sr=1-1

Erotica: 4/5
Story: 4/5

Best Bondage Erotica 2012 is a collection of bondage-themed short stories by 21 authors. The majority of the stories are written from the female protagonist's point of view (POV). Readers can gain an insight into the woman's mind as she enters into bondage either by herself or with her partners (there is also one menage MMF story). Most of the bondage is light and involves ordinary rope (a few have no physical restraints). Most of the relationships in the story have casual BDSM elements. Most of the stories involve or end with sex.

There has been a criticism of the collection because the bdsm is predominantly female domination (Femdom) of mostly male partners (9 out of the 21 stories - see below), but there are only slightly fewer male domination stories (8/21). The bias, if there is any, is that the majority of the writers are women (even for a M/M story). In my opinion, the gender of the authors does not affect the quality or the themes of the stories. It just may happen that there are more women than men writers of bondage erotica. Some of the authors have made contributions to previous collections.

The other criticism of the book is that the bondage and bdsm is light and mostly rope bondage. Besides being an easily obtained bondage device, rope bondage takes time to apply. The writers have used the setup time to explore the feelings of both the dominant and submissive partners or the solitary individual in self-bondage. This is the strength of the collection: feelings about dominance and submission are explored, however briefly (because of the story length).  The stories have an insight into how the characters entice or nudge their partners into the risky but arousing acts of bondage, and how it enhances the intimacy of their relationships.

The editor, Ms. Bussel, is an advocate of bdsm and rope bondage in particular (she also includes a foreword by Midori, a rope bondage specialist ). Readers will find a sex-positive theme devoid of the murky aspects of bdsm in most of the stories.

Best Bondage Erotica 2012 gives the reader an insight into the many ways that bondage is incorporated into people's sexual activites and their relationships.

Details of my points and the ratings (combined story and erotica) are presented below. Caution: topical description of erotic activities may contain spoilers.



Best Bondage Erotica 2012 contains 21 Short stories mostly about rope bondage themes. While various aspects of the collection and some selected stories have been reviewed previously (see the above amazon link), this following paragraphs are about each of the stories.

Shoshana Evers - Melting Ice. Self Bondage by handcuffs of female character. The main character cannot reveal her interest in bondage to another person but instead relishes in risky self-bondage and the excitement from a sex toy.  F POV 3/5

Elizabeth Coldwell - Night at the Opera. A dominant woman gets off with her partner pleasuring her in bondage while she watches an opera. The story takes the reader through the drama of the operatic performance and the character's arousal from her partner as told from the perspective of an experienced Domme. It was somewhat of a fantasy (can he really pleasure her through an entire opera?)  but the pacing was exciting. FM femdom, F POV. 5/5

Andrea Dale - Darlene's Dilemma.  A story of a male Dom who directs rope bondage sex between his two female slaves. A combination of bondage, pain and sex. MFF, menage, MaleDom, F POV . 4/5

T. R. Shannon - Snow White.  Story of a female who is placed in bondage and spanked before a webcam. Public (online) humiliation. MF, Male Dom, 3rd party POV. 4/5

Lucy Felthouse - Trophy Boyfriend.  The female protagonist decides to have a last affair with her boyfriend by reversing their usual kinky play style. She places him in bondage and has an incredible experience. In one part of the story there was a little confusion about a blindfold or a gag, but overall it was easy to follow this erotic tale. FM femdom, F POV. 3/5

Salome Wilde - Spider and the Fly.  A story of a man who is goaded into volunteering for a public exhibition of rope bondage from his girlfriend. The story starts with an irrelevant scene of his female roommate suggesting that he submit to the spidery web of his recently acquainted girlfriend in a BDSM club where she is performing. FM femdom, M POV. 4/5

Elise Hepner - Tied Down .  An exciting integration of intimate bondage and sex between two women, one of the most erotic stories of the group. A lesbian genre story. FF femdom, F POV.5/5

Kay Jaybee- Cupboard under the stars.  A story of a threesome with sensory deprivation in a homemade dungeon. The wife is lead into the dungeon, blindfolded, her hearing blocked as two guys have their way with her. The plot was somewhat typical of the "I didn't know what I was getting into" type stories. MMF, MaleDom,  3rd party  POV. 4/5

Teresa Roberts - Suffer for me.  A women introduces an eager young man to the BDSM lifestyle with (for him) what will be a peak experience. After succeeding in controlling his mind over his physical desire for her, her heart becomes snared by his submission. While the bondage and erotic content was mild, this was one of the most emotionally engaging stories in the group. MF, Femdom, F POV. 5/5

Giselle Renarde - Dry Rub.  A wife gets revenge on her husband when he comes home after a night of drinking. While he's too drunk to resist, she ties him up and satisfies herself. A story of dubious consent, or consent while intoxicated, and a woman getting what she wants in the end. MF,  Femdom, F POV. 4/5

Craig Sorensen - Worthy Redemption.   An introspective look at a man's effort to redeem himself to his partner with a mixture of wax play, body oils, tickling and switching. One of the most poetic stories of the group, readers might need to re-read this story to get the hidden meanings of the religious symbolism and the edging experience of drugs.  It was not clear to me who was redeeming who and for what reason(s) and the relationship of the bondage to the redemption. The partner's switching of roles at the end was intriguing. MF, MaleDom,Switch,  male POV. 4/5

Elizabeth Silver - Laced Corset.  This is story of two guys who discover their attraction to each other when one dons a corset and has his hands bound to it by his partner. Friends and roommates for a long time, the bondage changes their relationship. One of two gay/lesbian genre stories. MM, male POV. 4/5

Bille Thorun - Pawns. A story of a man who forces his partner to expose herself to his reluctant friend. A story of obediance and "mental" bondage.  MMF, MaleDom, 3rd party  POV. 3/5

Helen Sedgewick - Cumana.  A woman's adventure into bondage and sex while attending  a wedding in a Latin American country. The story also reveals the love/hate feelings that many submissives have for their dominant partners. MF, Male dom, F POV. 3/5

Lana Fox - Good British Steel.  A woman learns the excitement of bondage and terror from abandonment while in captivity and knife play with a childhood friend she meets years later. MF, Male dom, F POV. 3/5

Tenille Brown - Parting Ways. A woman's story of searching for one of her "friends with benefits" after being rejected by her boyfriend. She expected to find her friend interested in dominating her as usual but is surprised to find he is interested in someone else in a different way. An intriguing story about relationships and the "switchy" nature of BDSM. MF, Femdom, F/3rd party POV. 4/5

Kathleen Tudor - Knot Alone.  The arousal a woman finds from rope and a vibrator. An insight to the feelings one has from rope bondage.  rope self-bondage, F POV. 3/5

Valerie Alexander - The Insurrection. A woman returns to a resort island and turns the tables on an older man who dominated her when she was young. A well-crafted story. MF, Femdom, F POV. 4/5

Lolita Lopez - Turning Point.  A story of how a man entices his partner to surrender completely to him through suspension and predicament rope bondage. A revealing insight into the gradual deepening of a relationship of a couple by bondage. MF, Male dom, F POV.5/5

Niel Gavriel - As Long as You Don't Wake Me.   A man's tale about his adventure as he is seduced by dubious consent into the world of BDSM by his kinky partner. This story appeals to guys who are wary about the mindset of kink but might enjoy it's many pleasures. MF, Femdom, M POV.4/5

Rachel Bussel - The Weight. A woman's monologue about how she makes a fetish of her partner, the difference between the fantasies she expects from him and what is possible. It is how the accumulation of experiences she has with him has made him into her fetish. MF, Male dom, F POV. 4/5


In her introduction, Ms. Bussel  describes the beauty of bondage and how the characters may not know if they are attracted to it, but their bodies often respond in these stories to the arousal that bondage brings. Consensual bondage has suffered a bad rap because of earlier taboos and religious, social or moral rejection. This collection indicates that bondage could be a component of healthy sexual activities that individuals or couples could engage in.  Even if erotic bondage is not your "cup of tea", you may find this collection an insight to the many ways people engage in it for intimacy.

For more discussion about the stories, see my other review blogs.

Reviewer has received a complimentary copy of the book but no other consideration.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Some Like It Rough by the Erotica Collective

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91522


erotica: 4/5
story: 4/5


An anthology with a central theme of "rough sex" is bound to raise some eyebrows among the fans of erotica. "Rough Sex" is often associated with Leather or hard-core BDSM stories but in this book the "roughness" is more about the character's relationships than the sex.

Sir Jaerl's story "The Deal" is about a leveraged buyout meeting between an older man and a younger woman. The main characters fight to determine who is the master and who is the slave in a scene of rough sex. The writng is a fast-paced action drama and soft-core BDSM.

Stella Kingston's "The Vacation Whore" is about a woman who spends her weekend with a man she has met for the first time at a tropical island. Carla is afraid Max will not find her attractive. He is a man of action and not many words who leads her into sexual encounters where he dominates. In one scene, they wade into the water and surreptitiously make out in the midst of other swimmers and beach-goers. Max is deliberate with his seduction of Carla while he drives her to a rousing climax.On the last day of her stay, he has a quicky and realizes that he hasn't satisfied her completely. Although compliant until then, she hints that she might leave. Max relents and finds a way to please her. Although Max is dominant throughout the story, Carla gets her way.


Surrender the Wolfe by Victoria Foxxe is a contemporary takeoff of a familiar fairy tale. The main character is telling a story of a weekend rendeous with a man who possesses her more deeply than any relationship she has had before. He devours her so completely that she becomes transformed in an intense session of dominance and submission, pain and sex. The transformation makes her into a different person in the end.

Jungle Fever by Sara Pierce is a detailed encounter of two mercenaries who have to relieve their sexual tension with a late night session of rough sex in a shower. The characters show no love as they find a release of their pentup desire. It was a little difficult to follow the highly-detailed action and the characters seemed a little too one-dimensional like action heroes. Nevertheless Pierce brings them to the hint of a romantic conclusion.


Sudden Chemistry by Delilah Fawkes is about two college students, the football quarterback and a geek, who study chemistry together one evening in the girl's bedroom . The jock is itching to go to a party and pick up another mindless "cheerleader" but he really wishes he could meet a take-charge woman. He soon discovers that his study mate fufills his femdom fantasy. Although the method that he is subjugated is a little contrived, the couple engages in an evening of intense sex that suggests a possible romantic ending. 


Comparing the differently themed stories is like comparing apples to oranges.  The rough sex they have becomes a device for establishing or reinforcing the characters'  relationships. Some readers might enjoys the erotic action with different settings and limited plot, while other readers might expect more. Either way, the anthology persents an interesting samplers of the author's writing.

Reviewer's note: I received a copy with some formatting errors that I suggested the authors correct.