Review- Coming Together: Special Memorial Edition: Colleen Thomas by Alessia Brio

Coming Together: An Erotic Cocktail
Special Memorial Edition: Colleen Thomas
Edited by Alessia Brio
July 31, 2006
Anthology/ Lesbian/ bisexual
Novel length

Buy it Amazon, Fictionwise (ebook)

A collection of lesbian erotica by the late Colleen Thomas, edited by EPPIE Award-winning author, Alessia Brio. Each short story is introduced by one of Colleen's peers. Proceeds from the sale of this edition of Coming Together will be donated to the Kaplan Family Hospice Residence in her memory.

This volume of the Coming Together series is a nice eclectic mix of lesbian erotic stories. While a few are strictly lesbian stories, there are a few first timer or coming out stories as well, which I enjoyed. The flavor of each story is so different and unique and I found them all to be nicely written and highly erotic. I think Alessia Brio did a great job in putting together this anthology, which offers so much. I've never read anything by Colleen Thomas, so this is a nice intro to her work.

A Separate Peace- I really enjoyed this story a lot. It was very different. Sarah is working for the US gov. as a spy in Israel in search of a most wanted Palestinian terrorist known as the Jackal. She is captured during a bombing by some Palestinians and wakes up tied up in a room, with a woman, Ablaa, talking to her. To Sarah’s surprise Ablaa just happens to be the Jackal. This woman is very intense with her, talking to her about how the US gov is the real terrorist and goes on to describe the horrendous life she’s had to lead, while at the same time she seduces Sarah sexually. Sarah starts to see that all is not so black and white. The Jackal lets Sarah escape and it’s years later…

What I enjoyed about this story is that it’s a story about how people can connect on a very basic human level regardless of beliefs and ideological differences. These two women are very sweet and intense together and I really got off on that. (A)

The Run- This was a very interesting sci-fi story about a woman who is a “runner,” a person who is basically a hired body guard/ assassin. Margo is a huge, formidable woman and one of the best runners out there. She’s hired by a cosmetic company to be a body guard for the head of the company, a woman with a hit out on her. Margo brings in another woman who is a computer geek to take care of the tech side of what’s needed. This woman, Lana, is very attracted to Margo, and Margo, while having some attractions for women, has never been with a woman. As they work together, they both explore each other sexually as well. What I liked here is that both are sexually inexperienced with women and it was very hot and kind of innocent how they get together.

The sci-fi part of the story was very intricate and kind of riveting on its own as well. Many interesting concepts were introduced. (A-)

Just Like That- this is a purely erotic fantasy and not really my cuppa due to the “doing it for men” part of the story, but the sex was pretty hot. A woman is in a bar and notices three woman hanging together and dancing, one having a camera. She chats with one of them and it turns out they run a website showing real life girl-on-girl action to whoever pays to watch. What they do is try to find a regular, non pro, woman who wants to have sex on camera.

First, this woman has never had sex with a woman nor does she want to, but the girls convince her to go along and the smexing with the camera rolling starts straight away in the car. That’s all. All three women do her on film and she gets off on it. (B)

Latin I and Latin II- Oh I totally loved this story. It’s a story of revenge, but done in a way that the recipients of the revenge learn something about themselves and how horrid they were acting. Mandy is a high school student who is ridiculed on a regular basis because she’s out as a lesbian. One of her teachers routinely picks on her for no reason and the “cool” girls not only mess with her but push others to ride her as well. She gets a hold of a book of spells and goes to a well known empty, haunted house and does a spell to conjure up a malevolent spirit to help her get revenge.

This was so deliciously hot. Mandy’s nasty teacher just happens to be a preacher’s wife who thinks sex is just for procreation. Mandy puts a spell on her having her do all kinds of things, completely controlling her, making her want sex with Mandy only. Then she seduces the mean girl and does the same. What I thought was interesting in these two stories is that while Mandy is getting her revenge she’s never cruel and those women, while hating that they are having sex with Mandy, also come to really want it. Great story. (A-)

Quality of Life- This was a strange story. Another sci-fi/ futuristic story about a satellite prison in space where gays and lesbians are sent because they are an abomination to the current society. This was a total downer with a lot of social statement about how gays and lesbians are treated and the prejudice they have to deal with. Basically this prison is purposely destroyed by the powers that be locking out air, with a few survivors left, but not for long. There isn’t any sex in this story, which was OK, but the ending is just kind of rough. Like I said, downer. But it was uniquely written. (C+)

Picture Perfect- Oh yeah, this was such a hot story. And it’s a May/Dec, teacher/student story, which I get off on. Dana is a student in University who keeps taking Dr. Helen Smith’s classes because she’s attracted to her. Dana is a newbie at being with women, so she gets constant advice from her butch friend who is sleeping with everyone, including a few professors. For a paper Dana has to do for Dr. Smith’s class, she goes to get some books for her topic and one book she needs hasn’t been taken out for 20 years, so its in a special room. In this book she finds a pin-up semi nudie photo of a woman from the 40’s and becomes obsessed with finding out who it is. When she finds out that Dr. Smith was the last person to take out the book, things get interesting.

This is a very engrossing story with a bit of a mystery involved and a sweet coming together of two women sexually. I liked that Helen is 45 and has as much or little experience as Dana who is in her early 20’s. So the sex is more exploratory in nature than experienced seduction, which I enjoyed. (A-)

Football Widow- this is a story about a woman who marries her high school sweetheart, but after they had split up and she had a lesbian affair with a Haitian professor at her college. She’s been married now for 10 years and is basically ignored by her husband during the whole football season. At a kickoff party that she and her husband have, a lesbian co-worker of her husband seduces her. She realizes how much she’s missed being with women and this woman turns her on totally.

This is a typical neglected housewife story, which kind of made it OK for me that she has sex with this other woman. What I didn’t like is how aggressive the lesbian is. She’s definitely the butch one and comes on very strong and pushy with the housewife. But I think in this case lesbians who like the butch/femme dynamics will like this story.

I also didn’t like that the lesbian woman in this case is thinking about making this affair long-term not by breaking up the marriage, but having the affair on the side without the husband’s knowledge. Not my thing that kind of idea really. Still though, the sex in this story is very steamy. (B)

The Last Goodbye Fuck- This is another kind of sad story. Two lesbians are having their last goodbye sex, which is very intense and lasts for hours. This is because one works on a fishing boat and goes out to sea for months at a time. What I liked about this story is that the women are so different. The butch one is big, fleshy and hairy, while the other one is tiny and thin. They both really love each other and really only have each other as both families have cut them off for being lesbians. The little details are what made this story for me. They are poor and make do with so little and it had a good feeling for me in that, like two people working against the odds. The sex is amazing in this story, but then ending really sucks. I guess that’s what you get when it’s not romance but erotica. (B+)

As a book of lesbian erotica, I think this collection is well done and offers a lot. But what I really enjoyed is that it’s also got many different kinds of sexual scenarios, something for everyone and especially something for those of us who like to read stories that are more interesting for the bi curious reader.

Sex rating: Orgasmic- f/f, ménage, strap-ons, anal,

Grade: B+

Review- First-Timers: True Stories of Lesbian Awakening

First-Timers: True Stories of Lesbian Awakening
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
June 2006Lesbian erotica
Anthology

Buy it Amazon, B&N, Borders

Oh, that delicious, unforgettable first time. These lusty, passionate, exciting stories recount all kinds of sexy, sweaty firsts between women: first-time strap-ons, spankings, and role-playing, first loves and first affairs. This collection gathers the best true stories inspired by the most memorable firsts. They are 100 percent real and 110 percent hot!

I found this book quite by accident looking for another book in erotica on Amazon and was very attracted by the title. While it does have a few first time girl/girl experience stories as I hoped, it’s so much more than that. First-Timers is about a wide range of first time experiences within the lesbian sexual world and I found many of them to be very hot and juicy and some of them even poignant.

This is my second foray into reading lesbian erotica and like the first, Lipstick On Her Collar, I really enjoyed this one. Since reading LOHC and other erotica, I’ve become quite familiar with a few of the authors of stories in this book, some of whom are well known in the genre, and it was a good chance to taste more of their work.

First-Timers is a nice eclectic mix of stories with a variety of different writing styles and POV, which kept things interesting. The stories all having a basis in real experiences made some of them all the more titillating because of that.

While I really enjoyed and prefered those stories about first time with a girl experiences, other stories were very appealing as well. There were several stories of long distance phone or online affairs with some meeting for the first time IRL, which included all the fears and self doubt that comes with that. Something I know about. Then there were a few stories about first time trying strap-ons, fisting, spanking, light BDSM, threesomes, sex party/convention hook-ups and sex with a carrot. There’s just about something for everyone.

Particularly eye opening for me were the stories of sex parties and conventions, fisting, and spanking, which I read more with curious interest than turn-on, but which I found somewhat stimulating none the less.

And some had some very real elements in them like childhood sexual abuse, which really brought home how real some stories were and how these written experiences had a strong affect on some of the characters/ writers' lives.

While many stories really hit something very personal in me, what struck me the most about reading this book and lesbian erotica in general, is that in so many stories the characters feel kissing and cuddling to be a far more intimate experience than the actual sex itself. It’s a sentiment that I don’t pick up in het erotica, or even het romance but which I really respond to as a woman and enjoy in reading lesbian romance or erotica.

There are 31 stories in First-Timers, but these are just a few of the stories that really stood out for me:

Laren Lebran- As an author she really stood out for me. I just loved both of her stories, but more so, her prose. Absolutely beautiful. I Googled her and this is the only book she has stories in that I could find. But apparently, according to the short bio at the end of the book, she’s a well-known romance/ erotica author under an alias. Laren, if you ever read this, I would love to read your other stories. May I know your other work? I want to read more!

First Sight- a very beautiful story of a first girl with girl experience. So soft and sweet. And written with such an aesthetically and wistfully nostalgic feeling. College roommates find themselves attracted to each other.

Snow Dancing- A neighbor comes over to help shovel snow and offers herself as well. Very erotic and sweet.

What’s a Little Fisting Between Friends by Audacia Ray- Two best friends who’ve been sharing their sexual history, desires, needs, exploits for years but have never been into each other romantically, get together and do things they’ve always wanted to try.

I liked this because I think it must be nice to have sex with a friend to try things without having all the love drama and fears of rejection in the mix.

My Modern History by Devon Black—This a really sexually provocative first time experience story. A young college girl is enthralled with a much older professor who gives the student her wish and seduces her.

I loved how this is written. There was much innocence in it as the younger girl has her first experience. And I’m kind of turned on by the older experienced person giving a less experienced person a sweet time.

Radclyffe— had two really yummy stories in this book.

Runway Blues--A very hot story of a chance meeting/ one night stand. Two women stranded by bad weather end up sharing a ride and hotel room and have an intimate moment. One cuddles the other while the other masturbates. Totally hot!

Meeting FTF-- Two women who have met online meet for the first time in person. Oh this was a very delicious story. Very sexually hot as well as having all the vulnerabilities one feels in meeting someone one has strong feelings for for the first time.

Questioning Youth by Gina de Vries—This story stood out for me because it was so raw and real. That’s all I can say. It really touched me but not on a wow that was so hot, but on a wow that was just so personal and real.

Learning at Her Knee by Sacchi Green—This story really stayed with me because of the exploratory nature of it. A woman who’s been hanging out at sex parties more as a voyeur than participant wants to learn how to really spank someone with all the little nuances involved in that.

I really liked how almost matter of fact it’s written so someone like me, who doesn’t get the whole turn-on of spanking could really get inside the head and feelings of both the spankee and spanker. I could understand from this story how much trust is involved and how it could be a real turn-on.

Don’t Call Me Ma’am by Gun Brooke--- A boss seduces an employee who’s had the hots for her. Damn, but this was a really juicy, need a cold shower after, story.

Picture This by Kristina Wright—A young 19 year old has a unplanned experience with a woman who services machines at her film processing job.

I really liked this because it was very yummy first time girl/ girl experience.

As with Lipstick On Her Collar, there are short bios of each author, which I think is a nice touch.

Sex rating: Orgasmic. Lesbian f/f, spanking, minor anal, fisting, light BDSM, strap-on, toys, and a carrot.

Grade: A-

Review- Fine Flickering Hungers by Alessia Brio

Fine Flickering Hungers
By Alessia Brio
Feb. 2007
Erotica/ Straight/GBLT
Category
Anthology
E-book
194 pgs. pdf-$6.00

Buy it Phaze, Amazon, Fictionwise

A finalist in the first annual Fruity Awards, and 2007 EPPIE Finalist for Best Erotica, "fine flickering hungers" is a collection of eight erotic short stories with accompanying poetry. Sexual scenarios vary from hetero- to mono- to homosexual to group, with the only common thread being that they seldom (if ever) take place in a bed.

Fine Flickering Hungers is a nice eclectic mix of short stories that contains many juicy and highly erotic fantasies. There’s a bit of something for everyone in here. However, what I mainly loved was the fair amount of girl-on-girl content, especially of the “first time experience” nature. Outside of that, I enjoyed each story for what it was.

This book also includes very short poems between each story, which I thought was an interesting touch and liked most of them. And I say that as someone who is not really into poetry.

The only negative I felt about this book was that some of the stories ended a bit too abruptly for me. And one in particular got me all worked up with no where to go. None of the characters are fulfilled in that story, but I’ll talk about that later.

A little blurb about each story:

Wetter Has Never Been Better: This was one of the best stories in this book. It’s about a young advertising woman who goes to Costa Rica to get some inspiration for an ad campaign for the Costa Rican tourist office, which wants people to come during the rainy season. While there, she ends up in all kinds of sexual situations as when it rains, everyone becomes horny. I just loved the whole concept of it and that a natural element, especially rain, causes everyone to get hot and bothered. m/f, m/f/f, f/f.

Topping Love: This story included some of the characters from Wetter Has Never Been Better, but went off in a different direction. This is about a sex expert/therapist who has become asexual and has really intellectualized sex. He allows his wife to get her needs taken care of with others and she goes with both men and women. When his brother, wife, and her best friend get together for an evening, it’s all talk, talk. The therapist decides to make pizzas having everyone put toppings on according to meanings he has put to those toppings. It boils down to an analogy of pizza toppings with what we desire in a mate/ relationship.

This story was a bit confusing to me and it was very philosophical with lots of discussing and proselytizing about the nature of love and sex. There was no actual sex in this story though. Meh, it wasn’t my cuppa, but others might like this one.

It’s All About Customer Service: Oh, I liked this one. A woman calls a furnace repair man to fix her furnace and you can guess what happens. This one is a nice little hot erotic fantasy. Doing it with the repair guy? Yumm… m/f

Jake: This is about a woman who has to leave her lover to go on a business trip, but worries about him because he seemed ill when she left. She rushes home, all tense, worried and excited to finally have sex with him again, only to find him lying in the same position. OK, seriously, this was hilarious. Very different and creative, although there was no real sex in this story, just implied sex. f/?

Listen to Me: This is a first person story of a woman seducing another in a single night. It had the feeling of two strangers who’ve agreed to try it and there was a slight bit of BDSM feeling to it. I loved this story and thought it really steamy right up until it ended abruptly. Both characters are getting worked up; the D is leading by bringing the s to the brink many times and stopping, and then, THE END. No orgasmic finish, nothing. Just a third party male is suddenly at the door. So, this one was incredibly frustrating for me. Alessia, please, at least let the characters get off if they’ve gotten all steamed up. Other than that, this was one really hot story. f/f

Timeless: OK, this story went right over my head. It’s about a couple, in a hotel room, who aren’t supposed to be together, or they’re together illicitly? I don’t know really. Somehow they are from another time and there’s a sword involved. Seriously, this one was too poetic for my plain old brain and I just didn’t get it. Once again though, others out there might find it very intriguing. No graphic sex in this one either. m/f

The Second Person: A story written in, you guessed it, the second person. This one was really hot. A guy on a business trip jerks off all over the place in his hotel room thinking about a woman who is also at the meetings. She kind of likes him though, especially after he defends her against the office a-hole. Just by chance, ahem, they’re both going to the airport after the last meeting. So they go together stopping at her house along the way, where she shows just how much she likes him. This was very juicy and erotic and the second person writing didn’t bother me at all. m/f.

Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun: A short, cute story of a woman who hates Halloween, but gets seduced by a ghost on Halloween night. Mostly she’s ordered to masturbate by it. A very nice, very hot story. f/ghost

Hallowing Eve: Two girl friends spend a weekend in a cabin and get it on with each other for the first time. This is a very spicy, first time girl-girl experience and it was nicely and realistically written. f/f

Under Cover Angel: A female detective hired by a woman to catch her husband in the act, finds out the woman is the real cheat and she meets with the husband. This is an interesting fantasy, however, it was written a bit oddly. I was a bit distracted by how quickly the husband is into the detective, but that’s fantasy for ya. Still, it was an interesting story. m/f

It’s Just Sex: This was one very salacious and slightly humours story. A priest is tired of hearing boring confessions day in and day out and hires a company specializing in fulfilling sexual fantasies to have someone come in and confess something really hot and juicy. And he gets his money’s worth. I love the whole irreverence in this story and there’s an unexpected twist at the end. The poem- Surrogate Sin, just before this story is hilarious. Very creative and entertaining. M, f, mutual masturbation.

Memento: is a very short story that is a continuation or epilogue of It’s Just Sex. The good Father is brought a memento of his fantasy in the form of a high heel with a message written on it. Meh, it’s not really a story actually. So I can’t comment on it as such. If you have a shoe fetish though, this little ditty might get you going. m/shoe.

Boiling Point: Oh this one was hot, hot, hot. Two girl friends, both married, have been sexually fantasizing about each other for a long time but have never talked about it. It comes to a head when they disagree on the outcome of a movie. The friend who mainly does the following and not leading in the relationship, decides to take matters into her own hands and finally pushes the envelope, forcing the other friend to acknowledge her feelings. The other friend is very reluctant though and fights her desires even though they have a really hot time together and the story is left at that. Nice, graphic and highly erotic girl-on-girl sex in this story. f/f

Say it With a Strap-On: This is a continuation of Boiling Point. The girls haven’t really been speaking to each other since that one night and the one who initiated the whole thing is just wracked with pain over not being able to be with the other one. When the reluctant one calls her up for an evening together, things come further to a head in their relationship. Once again, very nicely written and there’s a satisfying HFN outcome. The angst and feelings that would come up in such a situation were very nicely and realistically written and again, there was some very steamy sex. These last two stories were my favorites. f/f- strap-on use.

While Alessia Brio’s style of writing seemed to fluctuate between very gritty and poetic, which kind of distracted me at times, I really enjoyed how she portrayed many of her characters and most of the stories/ fantasies were very creative, different and engaging.

Sex Grade: Orgasmic. toys, strap-on, f/f, m/f, m/f/f, hint of m/m, masturbation.

Grade: between B+and A-