'Cover Him With Darkness' by Janine Ashbless Is Beautifully Written

Cover Him With Darkness by Janine Ashbless

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has received praise from a number of erotica authors and editors whose work I enjoy and respect: Kate Douglas, Violet Blue, D.L. King, Saskia Walker, Shanna Germain, and Portia da Costa:

"Janine Ashbless has long been a master at conjuring the erotic in myths and legends. Now she's taking on religion and all I can say is wow. Just wow! What is evil? What is good? Can the faithful have completely missed the point? Sexy food for thought: Cover Him With Darkness is an intensely wild ride."
—D.L. King, editor of Seductress and The Sweetest Kiss

"One of the hands-down masters; Janine Ashbless showed me that erotica can be literature."
— Violet Blue, editor of Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women and Girls on Top: Explicit Erotica for Women

"One of the most talented, original and brave authors in the erotica field"
—Shanna Germain

"The best erotic fairytale writer around."
—Saskia Walker

"Vivid and tempestuous and dangerous, and bursting with sacrifice, death and love."
—Portia Da Costa

How could I resist giving it a chance? I couldn't, and my will to resist its charms was annihilated utterly by Janine Ashbless's spellbinding prose. This book is simply magical, proving once again that good erotic writing is good writing, period.

The heroine is Milja. The daughter of a village priest in rural Montenegro, Milja has grown up with her family's momentous secret: they are the guardians of an ancient, immortal prisoner. He is Azazel, a fallen angel. When Milja impulsively releases him from his bonds, she unknowingly puts her life and lives of her family in terrible danger. The Church will go to any length to see that Azazel is once again bound.

You may remember the angel/demon Azazel from Can't Teach an Old Demon New Tricks by Cara Lockwood. In that book, Azazel is a very dangerous demon feared by Satan because of his determination to take over Hell, as well as the father of several monstrous, giant children by innocent human women. The Jewish Encyclopedia mentions that the name is used three times in the Hebrew Bible, although its meaning is unclear. It seems to come from the ancient Hebrew words for "a strong mountain," perhaps referring to the cliff from which the scapegoat was sacrificed in the ancient, pre-Temple Day of Atonement ritual. In later Jewish folklore, the name seems to have become associated with a demon or evil spirit of the wilderness, like a jinn, an ifrit, or a fearsome desert creature like Pazuzu. Only the Book of Enoch uses Azazel as the name of a rebellious angel who taught forbidden knowledge to humankind.

If one reads the King James Bible, then Leviticus 16:26 says, "And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp." In some translations, however, the same passage reads, "The one who sets the goat free for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp" (New Revised Standard Version, used in the Roman Catholic Church).

If the word is so old that even the rabbis don't quite understand what it means, then it is a very old word indeed, possibly left over from before Jews and Arabs were separate cultures from our ancient Mesopotamian forebears. Ashbless - an artist, of course, and thus completely free to take all the artistic license she wants - seems to be drawing primarily on the Book of Enoch for her version of Azazel.

Ashbless's tale is darkly romantic, a dizzying balancing act between heavenly pleasures and depths of pain. Milja finds herself in a love triangle of cosmic proportions. Can she ever truly love a creature as inhuman and powerful as a fallen angel? Or will she find love with Egan Kansky, an American transplant originally from Ireland, even though Egan seems to be hiding a secret of his own?

"Cover Him With Darkness" began as a short story published in Red Velvet and Absinthe. I never read that anthology, but I'm glad the novel developed from it. Both the beautifully written prose and the compelling narrative make the novel a real page-turner.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my review, which represents my own honest opinion.

'Leather Ever After' - BDSM Fairy Tale Retellings, Edited by Sassafras Lowrey

Erin O'Riordan here - yesterday I received an e-mail from queer author and editor Sassafras Lowrey about her latest release, Leather Ever After. I'm sharing her info because I love so many things about this anthology: the fairy tale theme, the witches, the playful erotic kinks. 

Would that I had time to review it - but that wouldn't be fair, since I already have so many unread e-books in my review queue. So check it out, and let me know what you think about it!

Sassafras Lowrey writes: 

Leather Ever After brings together 17 incredible kinky storytellers with a foreword by Laura Antoniou to pervert and delight beloved fairy tales - classics, and some of the more obscure alike.

Leather Ever After anthology:

Edited by Sassafras Lowrey, Published by Ravenous Romance
Forward by Laura Antoniou

Once upon a time, in a dungeon far, far away the kinkiest writers in the land were summoned to pervert beloved fairy tales with tales of dominance, submission, bondage and surrender. In these stories twisted
princesses take control of submissive princes, witches play with power and fairy tales come to life in our homes and dungeons…

In Leather Ever After, celebrated queer author Sassafras Lowrey brings together some of the most beloved leather writers in an enchanting collection published by Ravenous Romance. 

Table of Contents:

Foreword- Laura Antoniou
Introduction – Sassafras Lowrey

Each Step For Him – Lee Harrington
Blue Beards Ghost - Ariel Dalziel
House of Sweets – Miss Lola Sunshine
The Suitor – Miel Rose
Hair Like Gold – Nalu Kalani
The Mistress and the Pea – Cynthia Hamilton
The Red Shoes - Hosha
The Seven Swan Princes-- DL King
The Good Witch – Ali Oh
Snow Fight – Rob Rosen
Down Under – Raven Kaldera
Golden Twink and the Three Bears – Elizabeth “Jake” Hart
Iron Henry - Karen Taylor
The Wolf and little red – Alysia Angel
Not Enough Storms - Goldie Dartmouth
Cinderfella – Sossity Chiricuzio
Lady Leporine – Mollena Williams
The Little Boot Black – Sassafras Lowrey

Review: 'Seductress: Erotic Tales of Immortal Desire,' Edited by D.L. King

Dropping by from Evernight's Valentine Snippets Blog Hop? Please see this post and leave a comment for a chance to win your choice of book from Evernight Publishing. 

Last week I had the pleasure of reading Seductress: Erotic Tales of Immortal Desire, a Cleis Press anthology of tales of that most erotic of mythological creatures, the succubus. I'm not unfamiliar with the lore of the daughter of Lilith who seduces men (and sometimes women) in their sleep, stealing their essence through pleasure. In fact, I already have a favorite succubus book: Hell's Belles by Jackie Kessler (and its sequel The Road to Hell - I have yet to read the third book, Hotter Than Hell, about Daun the incubus). It's fun to get a new book on a topic I already enjoy. Wherever folklore and erotica meet, there you will find me.



Honestly, I loved just about every story in this collection, and even the ones I didn't love, I liked. I really love a "bad girl," a lady of the night with claws and fangs (literally, in some cases) who might seduce her lover into the illusion that he's in control, but dominates him stealthily, or the vixen who takes control outright. Her lover might be a momentary amusement, a means to an end or her truest love, but there's always an edge of danger to her affections. It's not that I don't love an alpha male, but sometimes femdom is exquisitely satisfying.

The anthology begins on a high note; Aurelia T. Evans' "Harvest" is scorching hot. It's your classic "boy summons succubus into a pentagram drawn on his bedroom floor" tale, expertly told. "In the Service of Hell" by Michael M. Jones is the anthology's first "succubus meets girl" tale, and it has a nice twisty ending. I enjoyed the setup of Kannan Feng's "Before a Fall:" a spirit of lust vs. a spirit of pride.

I was highly looking forward to "Star-Crossed" by Canadian author Evan Mora, because she really impressed me with "Real Boy" in the Cleis Press anthology Lustfully Ever After. I wasn't disappointed.  "Star-Crossed" turns Romeo into a vampire and Juliet, through a last-minute deal with the devil, into a succubus. The result is much sexier (and surprisingly romantic) than Shakespeare's "everybody dies" ending. (No offense, Will.) It was like a more adult take on Juliet Immortal.

Jay Lawrence's "Deliverance" has a nicely haunted, old-fashioned feeling to it, like a really good ghost story with an erotic twist. Anya Richards' "Minions Have Needs Too" is one of those power-play stories I enjoy so very much. Nan Andrews' "Sweet Tooth" features some nice food/sex writing that would've worked well in Hunger. It's basically about an enchanted recipe box, in a really fun and sensual way. Giselle Renarde, whose food/sex writing does appear in Hunger, contributed "Neither Love Nor Money," a guide to how to care for your succubus when she cares for you too much to suck out your essence and her health suffers as a result.

NJ Streitberger's "The Girl on the Egyptian Escalator" has an interesting perspective, in that the succubus is a manifestation of one of my favorite goddesses of destruction, ancient Egypt's lion-headed Sekhmet.

Everything that comes afterward is pretty good stuff, too. Really, there is no bad story in this anthology.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this review, which represents my own honest opinion. I did not receive any other compensation.

Favorites from 'Hunger: A Feast of Sensual Tales of Sex and Gastronomy'

Some of my favorite stories from HUNGER A Feast of Sensual Tales about Sex and Gastronomy, edited by M. Christian and Alyn Rossellini (other than "Hungry Things," the one I wrote, of course):

I mentioned the other day that Susan St. Aubin's "A Meal" is a nice opener featuring brave writing and Dominic Santi's "Jeb's Wife" is some very sexy writing.

I also enjoyed "A is for Apple" by Jessica Lennox. It's about a playful sexual encounter between two women who've just met, involving a little light bondage. At first I thought the ending was a little abrupt, but when I got to the very last line and it suggested the lovers would play together again, I decided I liked the ending.

"Happy Birthday to Me" by Heidi Champa starts off on a melancholy note, at the unwelcome birthday party of a man who's lost his girlfriend. Marcus is sad, but the cake and the caterer who baked it make him start to feel a little better. She runs out of cake, but the lack can be made up for in other ways.

Billierosie's "Fruits de Mer" is gorgeous, gorgeous writing. Not a single word is out of place.

This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the other tales in the anthology, but everyone has their own preferences, and these are the ones that particularly catered to mine. I do happen to have a favorite, though. It's "Un Apetito Robusto" by Cesar Sanchez Zapata. Set at a family-owned small vineyard in Italy, the tale is romantic, evocative and just plain delizioso.

Next I'll be reading an anthology to which I did not contribute: Seductress: Erotic Tales of Immortal Desire, edited by D.L. King. The theme is "succubi." Good stuff, lots of femme dom. Giselle Renarde has stories in both.