January 8, 2018
In this satisfyingly sexy collection, Green (Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms) brings together 18 stories of lesbian love and lust, which range from sweet and seductive to down and dirty. There’s a predominantly playful feel to these tales. Heather Day’s “Super” finds an artist and a writer connecting in a comic book store. In A.D. Song’s “Six Dates,” a new couple, both Korean-American, attempt to postpone kissing until the sixth date. Nanisi Barrett D’Arnuk’s “The Sale of Two Titties” features witty banter, a bar, and some clever pre-sex negotiations. Former friends reconnect in PW reviewer Victoria Janssen’s “Cinema Fantastique” and longtime friends finally give in to desire in M. Birds’s “Fine Lines.” The stories are mostly set in the here and now, but a few outliers sneak in, including Amanda Rodriguez’s superheroic “Origins” and Cara Patterson’s Prohibition-era hardboiled “Prove It on Me.” The diverse protagonists have a wide range of ages, numerous kinks (including shaving and BDSM), and relationships of all kinds, from new lovers to lifelong companions. This is a delightful smorgasbord of lesbian lust and love.
November 15, 2018
Readers are taken to the highest of heights and a bevy of locales in this newest collection of steamy f/f shorts. Characters and scenarios are delightfully varied. Valerie Alexander's dark, heady "Ninjutsu" serves as a phenomenal introduction, as an unnamed narrator with aerial fantasies searches hungrily for a mile-high club companion on her flight to Hawaii. Scout Rhodes's "Morning Fog" explores a very different narrative terrain with aplomb as two older women self-described as "gold star survivors" of storied pasts share a languid, sensual morning in San Francisco. An introverted barista meets her perfect match in Sommer Marsden's plucky entry, "Husher." Xan West's "Trying Submission" examines the first taste of submission for Liliana, who has autism, to gentle powerhouse Roz and offers a lovely depiction of power play that might be an introduction for some to service-oriented submission. Other highlights include M. Birds's "Where There's Smoke," a quietly appealing tale of small-town weed dealer June, who never followed her dreams of leaving home, but all is not lost when she meets a reserved English professor in need herself of a little escape. In Mags Hayward's lyrical "Yin and Yang," a young dancer and her lighting technician show their deep appreciation for each other's complementary skills with a thrilling post-rehearsal lovemaking session. VERDICT Recommended for stalwart erotic anthology fans as well as those seeking a wonderfully naughty inauguration to the genre.
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