Cleis Press, November 2010; ISBN-10: 1573444154

Review by Kristina Wright: Prolific editor Rachel Kramer Bussel explores the romantic side of erotica in her collection Passion: Erotic Romance for Women.  The anthology includes stories from some of erotic romance’s most popular authors, including Portia Da Costa, Delilah Devlin, Teresa Noelle Roberts and Saskia Walker, as well as some familiar names in erotic fiction and a couple of newcomers.  It is an exciting collection of stories that combine love and sex in the most enticing ways, with several notable mentions among a collection of gems.

The cover of Passion provides a delicious illustration to go along with Donna George Storey’s “Big-Bed Sex,” which opens the collection. An enormous bed in a luxurious hotel inspires a writer and her husband to enjoy the most decadent of sexual role-playing.  It’s a story that is as sweet as it is sexy for the interplay between the characters.

The connections between characters, whether long-married or newly made, are what make the stories in this collection so intriguing. In “The Silver Belt” by Lana Fox, a fashion accessory binds as well as releases a woman’s pent-up sexual desire. An encounter with a stranger who knows her better than she knows herself leads Maya down the path of marital infidelity, but into the arms of the sensual release she craves.

Charlene Teglia’s reunion story “Third Time’s the Charm” puts a different twist on the sex in an elevator fantasy.  When a couple in the midst of a breakup accidentally get trapped in an elevator, it doesn’t take long for their issues to bubble to the surface. What could have been a trite cliché is a charming story of second (or third) chances between a man and woman who are meant to be together.

One of the most complex stories in the collection is Emerald’s story, “If.” Like many of the women in Passion, Emerald’s protagonist Valerie is caught at a crossroads in her romantic relationship. Choosing hot sex with a stranger over committed intimacy with her long-term boyfriend seems the easiest way out, but finding a way to combine the two might just be worth fighting for.

All of the stories in the collection are enjoyable reads, deftly balancing the erotic and romantic elements successfully. Rachel Kramer Bussel has done a beautiful job of compiling an anthology that appeals to both the emotions and the libido. Passion proves to be a terrific addition to the erotic romance genre.

Available at: Amazon | Amazon UK

Cleis Press, October 2010; ISBN-10: 1573444081

“These are not stories about body image or learning to love your curves,” says editor Rachel Kramer Bussel in describing her new erotica collection Smooth: Erotic Stories for Women.  “These are sensual tales in which women and men celebrate the joy of being carnal, lusty, hungry and animalistic; stories in which the urge to get naked, in the literal and figurative senses, drives women to boldly go where they haven’t before.”

Thus we have the premise for a collection of luscious erotic tales focusing on naked vulnerability of the body and mind.  Body image does come into play in several of the stories, but in unique ways that create conflict and resolution for the characters.  The stories in Smooth are a pleasurable blend of thought provoking erotica and sensual escapism, with several standouts among the collection.

In the opening story, “Löyly” Angela Caperton creates an intimate setting in a sauna where heat and steam provide the catalyst for an erotically charged interlude between strangers.  The connection between Andie and the visiting professor from Finland is a sensual feast.

Elizabeth Coldwell tackles the subject of a woman who has had a series of skin grafts following a horrible accident in “Her Brand-New Skin.”  This is an exceptionally well-written piece as it not only combines the emotional and physical scars of healing, it handles body image within the context of a group sex encounter that is loving and empowering.

Empowerment is also the name of the game in “Adornment is Power” by Teresa Noelle Roberts.  In this sweet and kinky reunion story, Roberts demonstrates there are different ways to be comfortable in your own skin.  For Mara, tattoos and piercings give her confidence and power, enough to seduce and dominate the ex she never forgot.

Bussel’s own offering for the collection is the shiveringly erotic “Chilly Girl.”  In an attempt to please her lover’s unusual kink, the protagonist finds herself naked in a bathtub of ice cubes. Erotic heat in the midst of so much cold makes for an interesting and unusual contrast.

The stories in Smooth are loosely connected by theme of physical and emotional exposure and the end result is a lovely erotic feast of flesh and fantasy. —Review by Kristina Wright

Available at: Amazon | Amazon UK