Second Coming

I'm delighted to announce the re-release of Artistically Inclined. Will & I opted to move this title to Phaze due to the exceptional promotion & wider distribution it provides.

And stay tuned for its sequel, Bound for Success!

Switch Gets Giggled

Will & I are very pleased with Mrs. Giggles' review of Switch:

Alessia Brio and Will Belegon collaborate on Switch, which is a sequel to Ms Brio's Erotique. The same characters from Erotique are back. Amanda Long and Bruce, whose last name is still a mystery, are back and this time around they are happily having some fun in bed during a thunderstorm when lightning strikes and they find themselves having switched bodies. Which is to say, Mandy is now in Bruce's body while Bruce is in Mandy's body. Under ordinary circumstances, people in this situation may say, "Wait a minute, this is creepy, change things back arou[n]nd please!" But ah, our Mandy and Bruce are no ordinary people. They are soon having fun especially by doing things to the other person and experiencing sex from the perspective of the other gender.

Switch is nothing more than that. It's all sex and more sex. Detailed sex, by the way, from the curve of the penis Mandy sort of borrowed from Bruce at that moment to Bruce's first experience of a female orgasm. A long time ago, the greek philosopher Tiresias lived both as man and woman (not at the same time, of course, because that will be really surreal) and he later insisted to Hera that women experience greater pleasure in sex compared to men. However, in this story both Bruce and Mandy realize that they really like experiencing sex in the other person's body so the fun is very democratic in how it's being distributed to all parties here.

As a very naughty and fun story of an unusual sexual situation involving two romantically-linked people, Switch is a rare story that is confident about its erotic quality that it doesn't try too hard to include orgies and vampiric anal sex in order to live up to its romantic erotica label. Naturally, it succeeds in doing so, which is why this story is pretty cool.

Rating: 80

Enchanted Ramblings Reviews "Artistically Inclined"

WHOOP! Helluva way to start the week!

Audiotalo from Enchanted Ramblings gives Artistically Inclined 5.5 (of 6) magical wands and some terrific praise:

This is easily one of the best contemporary erotic novellas I've read in a long time. What's even more impressive about it is that Cyndi and Kevin are not hot young twenty-somethings, but an attractive middle-aged couple. Both characters are sympathetically and excitingly drawn, with enough details about their workday lives to create a vivid picture in the reader's mind. With sexual tension buzzing throughout, a threesome and some m/m action, this is one hot read. Recommended!

Currently, this title is only available at Venus Press, but we hope to soon move it to Phaze for wider distribution.

Also coming soon, its sequel (entitled Bound for Success).

Enchanted Ramblings Reviews "San Diego Sunset"

Astrea from Enchanted Ramblings had this to say about our Phaze Snuggler San Diego Sunset:

This is a romantic story about what happens when two people are fated to meet. I enjoyed the way it feels as if they could be anyone, even the woman or man next door.

Sketch by the incomparable Patty.

Sensual Reads Reviews "Amichu"

Tee from Sensual Reads & Reviews gives Amichu four roses:

Amichu is an action filled, humorous and delightful story. It is very well written and well researched. The love scenes are very believable and quite steamy. Alessia Brio and Will Belegon work great as a team and each compliment the other very well. If you want to curl up with a quick read by the firelight, then this is the book for you.

An old review ...

I'm not sure what prompted me to follow up on an old review submission, but I'm glad I did. Apparently, the completed review never made it into the print edition of The MENSA Bulletin, but appeared online (where I didn't see it). Anyway, this is Tom Elliot's July 2006 review of fine flickering hungers:

FINE FLICKERING HUNGERS: An anthology of erotic short stories and poetry by Alessia Brio (2005, 147 pp., eBook; publ. Phaze, Cincinnati OH, www.Phaze,com, ISBN 1-59426-540-2). "A collection of 8 erotic short stories with accompanying poetry. Sexual scenarios vary from hetero- to mono- to homosexual to group, with the only common thread being that they seldom (if ever) take place in a bed…The fantasies swirling around in my head reached critical mass. I had to set them free to make room for more. I write to make people feel good about themselves, about their sexuality, and about their passions. Call it ‘erotic altruism’" Definitely a book for bedtime reading, offering an imaginative romp stretching from "Boiling Point" and "Surrogate Sin" to "Topping Love", "Wetter Has Never Been Better", and "Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun: Learning to Love Halloween". Something for everyone, and literately and lushly written besides. Hot, hot, hot - don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

TRS Reviews "Switch"

The Romance Studio gives Switch, our Phaze Surge HeatSheet, four hearts:

Switch provided me with a short, extremely erotic and gratifying read! Amanda and Bruce are fun, light hearted characters who find themselves in an extraordinary situation. I just loved the experience of watching Amanda learn what it means for a man to experience sexual arousal. She found out that she, in a man's body, had to control her strength. Brad (sic) learned that his new body was intensely sensitive in odd (to him) places. I did have some difficulty with the easiness with which each of them adjusted and went right back to sex. It seems that Amanda and Bruce have been in other stories together and I will enjoy looking for them.

Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Marcy Arbitman
January 16, 2007

How Did I End Up On The Cover Of This Romance Novel?

This classic from The Onion is worth reposting ...

December 13, 2006 | Issue 42•50

Last week at the supermarket, while shopping for my weekly supply of three dozen eggs and 12 pounds of mutton, I spotted a rack near the checkout lane containing several romance paperbacks. Normally, such trash wouldn't get a second glance from my coal-black eyes, but the sight of one book practically made my chiseled jaw drop. There, on the cover of Dark Passions was yours truly, Duncan Larksthrush, in the flesh.

At first I thought it must have been a coincidence. There must be thousands of men with huge, glistening pectorals and shoulder-length golden hair whose steadfast gaze betrays immeasurable fathoms of passion.

But there can be no doubt it was me. The cover artist must have followed me during a recent visit to my ancestral estate on the tempest-swept promontories of Northern Scotland. Judging from the picture, the sketch was based on the occasion in which I chanced upon Arden, the crofter's nubile young daughter, kneeling upon a rocky outcropping and picking some wildflowers from the weathered stone. Even though I had only just finished tilling seven acres of firm earth, I knew at once my broad, thewy arms could take her. "You rogue! I shall not allow this offense against my honor!" she cried out, her titian hair uncoiling in the Caledonian wind. As I dipped her low, her pounding heart betrayed her pleas for her chastity, and my turgid manhood would be denied no longer.

That bastard must have been hiding with a sketchbook in the bushes.

You can understand my smoldering rage. I certainly don't recall agreeing to have my well-hewn physique splashed across every newsstand and bookrack in town. Admittedly, my schedule has been full lately—I purchased a new leather arm cuff, reclined on an empty beach in my tattered sheepskin boots and full riding gear, waxed and re-oiled my chest—however, posing for the cover painting of Dark Passions definitely was not on my list. But apparently, a rugged, flat-stomached man's privacy means little to author Stephanie Blackmoore when it comes to the pursuit of profit.

I just hope no one I know sees it. The other blacksmiths would never let me live this down.

Nor can I imagine what would possess someone to depict such a scene. I was certainly far from respectably kempt: Having just finished reaping oats with my scythe, my white, blousy tunic was dirty and tattered. It was practically torn from my shoulders, and the striated muscles of my bronzed torso were exposed for anyone to see. And my errant tresses had slipped out of their leathern knot and clove to my cheek with the dewy sweat of a full day's labor. Blazes! Had I known I would be fronting a bestseller, I would have taken a shower and put on my nice red shirt, and maybe a tie.

I never asked for this. The life I chose to lead is one of solitude, whether I'm building log cabins in the foggy Ozarks, or tending to my vineyards in the Tuscan countryside. But those blissful days of rugged independence seem to be over. Will I ever again be able to collapse wounded into the arms of a busty field nurse during my town's annual Civil War reenactment without becoming the poster boy for the next vulgar potboiler?

Can't a brawny, brooding man ride his stallion slowly through the fresh-smelling air of a misty forest at dawn and think ruefully back to his tender childhood that seems to him now to exist in another world entirely—without having to constantly look over his perfectly sculpted shoulders?

No, this is no way for a free and unfettered man with a small fortune inherited from a distant noble relative to live. Therefore, I have decided to weigh anchor and set sail with my crew of strapping young seamen aboard my sloop, The Moonlight Arrow, toward destinations exotic and unknown. Once at sea, as the suzerain's daughter I have shanghaied from our last port-of-call clings hungrily to my abdomen, her honeyed breath playing about my breast, I will gaze stoically at the horizon from the prow of my ship, where none of those frauds at Harlequin/Silhouette would ever care to find me.


© Copyright 2006, Onion, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Onion is not intended for readers under 18 years of age.

It's That Time Again

Time for the annual Preditors & Editors Readers' Polls. Yours truly is nominated in several categories:

Author published in 2006
Poet published in 2006
Short Story (all other genre) published in 2006
Print/Electronic Book Editor
Poem published in 2006
Other nominations include my favorite forum (Literotica Authors Hangout) ...

Writers Discussion Forum
and, my publisher (Phaze) ...

Print/Electronic Books Publisher
So, what are you waiting for? GO VOTE!

TANSTAAFL

Heinlein fans will recognize the acronym for there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. There is, however, such thing as a free story!

Today my primary publisher, Phaze, unveiled its Flare promotion. Free fiction! No purchase necessary. Just visit the Phaze Flares page and add the desired titles to your shopping cart.

This week's titles include my & Will's very first collaboration: Bleep! Download it FREE today!