Whipped Cream reviews Surrender

Surrender: Tales of Erotic Submission by Eden Bradley, Eliza Gayle, Reese Gabriel and Alessia Brio
Publisher: Phaze Books
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short/Anthology
Other: BDSM, M/F, F/F, Spanking, Voyeurism
Rating: 3.5 Cherries
Review by Lilac

In this scorching anthology, four couples find more than they are looking for as they learn to surrender.

In Eden Bradley’s “Breaking Skye,” believing that one night will help her get over her secret fantasy of sexual submission, Skye Ballard places an ad hoping to find the perfect Dominant. She’s in for a surprise when she meets Adam Dunne. Adam set out only to train Skye, but soon finds himself longing to keep her and hopes to convince her that one night of submission will not be enough.

The relationship between Skye and Adam is fascinating as two almost-complete strangers find something they didn’t know they were missing when they both learn to let go of their control. Their encounter changes them both and their passion heats up the pages in this steamy tale of learning to trust.

“Submissive Secrets,” Eliza Gayle’s steamy entry in the anthology, features a private investigator who is shocked to find her ex naked in her bed. Aidan needs Carli’s help to find her brother and is surprised by what he learns about Carli as he searches for clues to her brother’s whereabouts. Carli craves domination and Aidan is determined to provide it for her as he never quite got over her. Their hot encounters and Aidan’s reappearance bring up past feelings as the couple comes together in this quick read.

This was a very enjoyable story about two people reconnecting as they rediscovered a love that never died. I really liked the characters of Aidan and Carli and the fact that they had a past relationship. It added depth to the story and their current encounter. The storyline involving the brother was left unfinished, but other than that it was a good read.

In the third story of the anthology, “Cupid’s Captive” by Reese Gabriel, cynical John Cupid finds more than he bargained for when he is forced into taking out his partner’s little sister. Steffy has grown up and changed from the teenager that John remembers and when she asks him to teach her to submit he is stunned. John tries to resist, but the feelings Steffy stirs in him are just a bit too much for him and soon their relationship heats up.

This was a good story, but at times Steffy annoyed me and I found the relationship between she and John hard to believe. However, I really liked the premise and plot of the story, which helped save it for me--as did the sizzling sex scenes.

“Listen to Me” by Alessia Brio, the final entry of the anthology, is a quick and brief short story told in first person from the point of view of a female Domme with a female submissive. The story read like a foreplay scene and ended rather abruptly leaving me wondering what would happen next in this fiery read.

While some stories were stronger than others, overall, Surrender is a good anthology with each story providing readers with an interesting look at a Dom-Sub relationship or encounter.

Better Sex Erotic Fiction Contest

It's an oldie, but a goodie. (Or is that goody?) Anyway, my short-short story, Allure, is a contestant in this week's erotic fiction contest at Better Sex. I'd really appreciate your vote of support.

Thanks!

New review for Fantasies I

Phaze Presents Fantasies, Volume I features four stories by four different authors. The stories focus on many elements from multiple partners to the paranormal to second chances. From the steam generated by each story, who needs a pot of boiling hot water!

In Pura Vida! by Alessia Brio, traveling can lead to fun-times under the sun. Charlie, who owns a traveling agency, expects to get business done while in Costa Rica with his good friend and lover, Stormy, who owns a partnering advertisement agency. With recent hire Pietro along for the trip, the three set out to explore the island and each other, in hopes of creating a new advertising campaign. Will their secret of living a polyamorous life be kept underground forever?

In Midnight Passions by Leigh Ellwood, good things come in twos. Colleen, a divorced mother of an eight year-old, still has dreams of a fairy-tale life with her current beau, Daryl. A good deed done by her landlord, Professor John Spence, opens her eyes to a man who she never would have considered sexually. John Spence has his fair share of secrets as well, enchanted ones to be exact. Will John Spence’s secrets prove too overwhelming for Colleen’s sensibility?

In Service Recall by Bridget Midway, second chances do come true. Carla Ewell, now Carla Middleton, is a newly divorced woman ready to move on with her life. For over ten years, she was married to a man who was controlling and no good for her. But a chance meeting with her high school classmate, Duke Boscoe, who is now a plumber slash business owner, exposes Carla to a completely new outlook. Carla considered Duke as the quarterback with the sexy eyes and lips and Duke considered Carla, a beautiful African American woman. Both, had been attracted to each other all those years ago. Who ever knew a clogged kitchen sink could lead to an unclogging of another kind?

In Midnight Conversations by Ann Regentin, fixing something old can lead to new pleasures. Cassie, enjoying the freedom brought to her upon divorce, does not mind that there are ghosts in her new house who speak to her. In fact, she rather enjoys the sensual stories they share with her. When previous owner Tristan offers to help her with some badly needed remodeling and landscaping, she jumps at the assistance.

Each story offers a unique spin on sensuality and offers steamy sex scenes with interesting main and secondary characters. Also, each story is a nicely written work of fiction with realistic undertones. I recommend Phaze Presents Fantasies, Volume I to all romance and erotica lovers.

Reviewed by Chantay Wesley
APOOO BookClub

Tasting Him reviewed by Erotica Revealed

My story, Down on the Beach, appears in this collection.

Tasting Him: Oral Sex Stories
Edited By: Rachel Kramer Bussel
Cleis Press
ISBN: 1573443239
September 2008

Reviewed By: Lisabet Sarai

When I agreed to review Tasting Him: Oral Sex Stories, I had some serious reservations. How could a collection of twenty-plus stories with such a narrow theme sustain any level of interest? And wouldn’t a focus on a single, physical sex act – fellatio – tend to move the content away from the psychological and emotional explorations that I view as the essence of erotica toward more superficial presentations reminiscent of bad porn?

I am pleased to report that my concerns were largely unfounded. Rachel Kramer Bussel has succeeded in assembling a surprisingly varied collection of tales that feature cocksucking but focus less on the activity itself than on the reactions of the characters involved.

Most of the tales involve a woman going down on a man. However the volume also offers Radclyffe’s exuberant “Blessed Benediction,” in which a drop-dead-gorgeous femme demonstrates (in public) how she can make her tough butch lover cream by sucking her strap-on. This story, perhaps more than any other, illustrates my oft repeated claim that arousal begins in the mind. Simon Sheppard is uncharacteristically cheerful but sly and entertaining as usual in “It’s a Wonderful Blow Job,” about a gay man who’s especially turned on fellating a married man. The protagonist in T. Hitman’s “Long Relief” is ultra-straight, a baseball player on tour, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying a blow job from one of his team mates. Lori Selke turns the tables in “Cocksucker,” with a submissive male who begs to suck his girlfriend’s artificial dick. Shanna Germain takes the switch one step further in “Sculpted;” her heroine’s strap-on is an actual replica of her lover’s cock.

All of the stories in Tasting Him are on the light side – no deep conflicts, no secrets, no scars – but there’s a pleasing variation in tone and point of view. Tsaurah Litzky’s wonderful “Tony Tempo” is told in the wry voice of a former jazz great who is suffering through his golden years in the Crescendo Home for Aged and Indigent Musicians, treated like a child by the nurses but still dreaming of his deceased wife’s blow jobs. “This Just In” by Heidi Champa, gives us a second-person account of a woman living out her fantasy of sucking her commentator husband under the desk while he reads the news. Editors often reject second-person accounts as amateurish, but the perspective works in this story. “Getting Used to It,” by Tenille Brown, is a folksy third-person narrative featuring the very ordinary Herbert Miller, his wife Evelyn, and their next door neighbor Minnie, along with brisket, pot roast, peppermints, and of course, blow jobs.

My unquestioned favorite tale in this collection is Alison Tyler’s “Prego.” Although the protagonists are a long-established couple, it still manages to be outrageously spontaneous and intensely erotic.

Even our most vanilla activities tend to involve accoutrements such as rubber dishwashing gloves, velvet blindfolds and Wesson oil. So I suppose I shouldn’t have found it odd at all to walk through the swinging doors of our kitchen and discover Jackson fucking the jar of spaghetti sauce.
But I did.

Both find him, and find it odd.

As it turns out, the sauce in question is the last jar in the cupboard, intended for the pasta about to be served to the dinner guests currently assembled in the next room. It hardly matters; the lure of Jackson’s tomato-marinated cock is irresistible.

Craig J. Sorensen’s “Equanimity Unbound” was another stand-out, mostly because I empathized with the uptight, workaholic main character. Fortunately, the Goth beauty he meets at the Tshirt and novelty store in the mall knows how to loosen him up. Then there’s the original and intelligent “A Treatise on Human Nature”, by Robert Peregrine, where the bisexual male narrator undertakes to fulfill his recently-encountered companion’s request that he teach her “how to give head like a man”.

Overall, I found Tasting Him frequently entertaining and occasionally arousing. Against significant odds, Ms. Bussel has managed to put together a collection that is varied and satisfying enough to make the reader want to swallow the whole thing.

Preditors & Editors Readers Polls

The Preditors & Editors 2008 Readers Polls are now open. I would greatly appreciate your support in the following polls:

Print/Electronic Novels : Erotica
Squeeze Play by Alessia Brio & Will Belegon
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelerot.shtml

Short Stories : All Others
"Past Perfect" by Alessia Brio, Clean Sheets
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/shortstory.shtml

Anthologies
Coming Together: With Pride
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/antho.shtml

Poems
everybody's hero by Alessia Brio
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/poem.shtml

Book/e-book Cover Artwork published in 2008
Surrender: Tales of Erotic Submission
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/bookart.shtml

Author Published in 2008
Alessia Brio
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/author.shtml

Poet Published in 2008
Alessia Brio
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/poet.shtml

Artist Published in 2008
Alessia Brio
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/artist.shtml

Print/Electronic Book Editor
Alessia Brio, Coming Together
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/bookeditor.shtml

Print/Electronic Book Publisher
Phaze Books
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/ebookpublisher.shtml

Writers' Discussion Forum
Literotica Authors' Hangout
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/writerforum.shtml

In order for your votes to be counted, you must verify your email address -- but you only have to do it once. Thanks, y'all. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

peace & passion,

~ Alessia

Surrender a Recommended Read

What a lovely way to start the new year!

TITLE: Surrender: Tales of Erotic Submission
AUTHORS: Eden Bradley, Eliza Gayle, Reese Gabriel, Alessia Brio
PUBLISHER: Phaze Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-60659-087-4
FORMAT: ebook
RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2008
GENRE: Erotica/BDSM
RATING: RR (RECOMMENDED READ)

Breaking Skye by Eden Bradley

Fantasies of being dominated have tormented Skye since high school. Determined to get these urges out of her system, she contacts Adam, a BDSM trainer, through a bondage website. Adam is just as determined to break through Skye’s defenses and show her that she’s a true submissive. Skye struggles fiercely to let go of her tightly held control. Under Adam’s firm but caring commands, Skye learns the erotic pleasure that comes from complete submission.

BREAKING SKYE is fiery hot, a truly erotic tale of deep seated desires. The chemistry between Adam and Skye is electrifying on its own. When you add in the bondage and submission play, the story becomes a must read for anyone who likes their romance with a pair of handcuffs on the side. Pure lust and need is unashamedly palpable between the characters. Eden Bradley has written a dramatic and compelling romance that will satisfy readers love for a sound spanking.

Submissive Secrets by Eliza Gayle

Unable to face telling her teenaged fiancé that she needed pain and domination in the bedroom, Carli left him practically at the altar. Carli has regretted that decision ever since. Eight years later, she finds him sleeping, butt naked, on top of her bed. Has Aidan come back to her for love and pleasure, or something more sinister? Will Carli find the gumption to let Aidan know how she needs to be mastered by him, or will she let her second chance with the love of her life slip away?

Many people find it difficult to openly express their fantasies with their partners. SUBMISSIVE SECRETS intimately reveals the hurt and pain felt by the characters due to their unwillingness to open themselves to their lover. Eliza Gayle delivers a highly sensual romp with extremely edgy sex scenes. I found the domination scenes tremendously riveting. With SUBMISSIVE SECRETS, Eliza Gayle has guaranteed herself another fan—me!

Cupid's Captive by Reese Gabriel

Steffy has finally decided to be adventurous and do something about her long-standing crush on her older brother’s, best friend, John. Home from college, on a school break, Stephanie doesn’t resemble the gum chewing brat that John remembers from several years ago. John is not happy when his friend presses him into squiring Steffy around town on Valentines night, especially when she shows up looking like sex on wheels. How is he supposed to keep his thoughts from how he’d love to bend her over his knee, flip up her skirt, and redden that pert butt with some well placed smacks?

CUPID’S CAPTIVE is a classic cat and mouse story, but told with a lot more spicy zing than usual! I loved how Steffy played with John, setting him up, teased him left and right, and drove him wild with desire. Reese Gabriel built the characters fantastically, and made them very relatable. The sexual tension between John and Stephanie was intense and continued to build throughout the story, and was nicely intermingled with emotional elements. CUPID’S CAPTIVE will surely ensnare your attention and keep you enthralled.

Listen to Me by Alessia Brio

Two women alone in a room, drawn together by their needs and what they could give to each other, a negotiated rendezvous with its own set of rules. Almost silently, they touch, the master taking control, leading, guiding and exploring new territory with her new submissive. Softly, the sounds of zippers, moans and slaps fill the air with a palpable tension, each new noise, building the pleasant sense of anticipation.

LISTEN TO ME is absolutely filled with crazy hot images that are sure to fill the reader with desire. It’s a very short story, but so powerfully delivered that the length is not an issue. If this is a representative example of the compilation from Alessia Brio’s book, FINE FLICKERING HUNGERS, I have to recommend readers buy it. LISTEN TO ME definitely piqued my interest!

~ Manda