Review ~ Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories

The introduction of Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, opens with, "Hotel rooms are magical." They are, and so is this delightful Cleis Press anthology. 

The cover reminds me of the Niki Sanders/Nathan Petrelli hotel sex scene on Heroes. 


The stories I'd like to climb inside and inhabit include "Travelodge Tess" by Justine Elyot, "Night School" by Valerie Alexander and "Please Come Again" by Tenille Brown. 


The hero of "Please Come Again" is a homeless man. It gives me flashbacks to when I was a 19-year-old college student, doing a work-study at a homeless shelter. Working at the front desk, I had some interactions with "Tom" (not his real name), a resident who worked as a car mechanic. He had a smokin' hot body, and his tight mechanic's coveralls and grease-stained hands only made him more attractive. I got nervous around him, and he knew it. One time, Tom asked me for a bottle of hand lotion, then made quite a show of rubbing it all up and down his arms and over the back of his neck in front of me. I didn't do anything about it - except write a poem in the magnetic words on my dorm fridge. I believe it went:

"I said

I want the man

When he showers

Dry him with me."

Tom knew I wanted him, but the guy who wanted me was "Joe." A Gulf War One vet, Joe tried several times to show me his gunshot wound scars from the war. I didn't return his interest, however, and lived in moderate fear that his girlfriend would misinterpret something I did as flirting with Joe and try to kick my ass. She was skinny, though. I think I could have taken her.

Anyhoo...just in case anyone should question the sexual appeal of a guy who's lived on the streets - don't. Some homeless guys are way hot. See also: Mr. Reese from Person of Interest at the very beginning of the series, before he meets Harold Finch.

For me, a veteran of Catholic schools, the priest-prostitute role play in Ellie Vokes' "Dirty White Envelope" pushed all the right buttons. 


This collection also contains stories by some of my all-time favorites, Anna Meadows and Andrea Dale. I didn't quite love this one as much as I loved Lustfully Ever After, but I still enjoyed it very much. 

Review ~ Lustfully Ever After: Fairy Tale Erotic Romance

Stopping by from the Shameless Summer Giveaway Hop? Please visit Friday's post HERE for a chance to win free books!

Lustfully Ever After: Fairy Tale Erotic Romance by Kristina Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My introduction to fairy tales written specifically for adults was Barbara G. Walker's Feminist Fairy Tales, which I read while in college and still adore 10+ years later. From that foundation, when I discovered Mitzi Szereto's In Sleeping Beauty's Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales in September 2009 - my introduction to Cleis Press titles - I was very pleasantly surprised. Szereto is the mistress of combining the cleverness of the classic fairy tale with fun, naughty adult sensibilities. Since then, I've continually been impressed with the quality of erotic short stories in Cleis Press' anthologies.

An especially talented editor of these anthologies is Kristina Wright. See, for example, Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance and Dream Lover: Paranormal Tales of Erotic Romance. Since I really enjoyed 2010's Fairy Tale Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women, I was sure I would find something enjoyable about 'Lustfully Ever After.' I was not disappointed.

The simple fact is, there is no bad story in this anthology. I have some favorites. Anna Meadows never writes an erotic short story in which I DON'T wish I were the heroine(s), so naturally, I loved "Matches." Emerald's "The Beast Within" was a magnificent beauty-and-beast tale, one sure to be a favorite of those who enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey. Charlotte Stein's "You" is sublime and speaks directly to the witch in me. Evan Mora's "Real Boy," a transgender take on Pinocchio, has wonderful heart and soul, hot sex and a great message. Wright's contribution, "A Sea Change," is exactly the way The Awakening should have ended - less sink, more swim. Less shame, more joy.

I could go on and on, but if I were forced to choose a favorite under pain of torture, I would have to say "Steadfast" by Andrea Dale. Maybe it's just because I've got a little bit of a military fetish thing going on right now (me and Mr. James Jones - we got a thing going on), but DAMN. WOW. When I write in all caps like that, that means it was a hella powerful story, emotionally, sexually and psychologically. I tip my hat to you, Ms. Andrea Dale.

I just can't think of anything I didn't like about this book, which is why I have to give it five stars.

Disclosure: I received an uncorrected proof of this book from the publisher, unsolicited, at no cost. I was under no obligation to write this review, which represents my own honest opinion.


View all my reviews on Goodreads

Previous Cleis Press titles (fiction), reviewed on Pagan Spirits book blog:

Fairy Tale Lust
Dream Lover
Women in Lust
Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance

Carnal Machines: Steampunk Erotica

Non-fiction Cleis Press titles:
Seal It With a Kiss
The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio
The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus

Review: Steamlust ~ Steampunk Erotic Romance

Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance (Cleis Press, 2011) is the third anthology of short erotica edited by Kristina Wright that I've had the pleasure to read. I very much enjoyed Fairy Tale Lust and Dream Lover, so I eagerly anticipated Wright's latest anthology.

On the other hand, I was slightly disappointed by Cleis Press' other steampunk title this year, Carnal Machines, edited by D.L. King. I liked a few of the stories in that anthology, but others just weren't interesting enough. I believe the key to good steampunk is the same as the key to good erotic romance: the beauty is all in the details.

Fortunately, Wright's editing instincts do not fail her, and Steamlust is full of glorious details. It's the clockwork lovebirds in Sylvia Day's "Iron Hard." In Vida Bailey's time-travel adventure "Undergrounded: Hannah Hawthorne and the Stranded Time Ship," it's the giant copper bathtub with its jets and nozzles. It's Pete's "melted chocolate" eyes in "Green Cheese" by Lisabet Sarai and the contents of the secret room in Andrea Dale's spiritualist tale "Lost Souls."

My personal favorite of the collection was "Sparks" by Anna Meadows. It imagines a Victorian version of Prohibition and a young smuggler who makes illicit intoxicating spirits from delicate flower petals. She's reunited with her lost love, Ezra, possibly the anthology's most drool-worthy male: "The scent of violets and roses mixed with the soft spice of ashes and cloves. Cambric and ash: it identified him as well as a fingerprint." Even Ezra's perpetually dirty fingernails and calloused hands are endearing in this sensual tale. But then there's Ezra's violet lightning, a very neat little trick...

I don't think anyone will be disappointed by Steamlust. It's all that it claims to be. There are plenty of spinning gears, mechanical limbs, automatons, airships and parasols to delight the steampunk fan. There are erotic twosomes and threesomes steamy enough to satisfy the erotica reader.

On a sidenote, Anna Meadows and I both wrote stories published in the Cleis Press anthology Best Lesbian Romance 2010. Hers is called "Coming Out Party," and mine is called "Soaked." Andrea Dale and Sacchi Green also have stories in both anthologies. I have to admit, I've never read the entire anthology, but I think I will soon.

Disclosure: I received my copy of Steamlust from the publisher at no cost. I was not otherwise compensated for this review, which represents my honest opinion.



Photo: VaughnSaball, Creative Commons License