Book Reviews by Ashley Lister

• Bad Girls by Brooke Stern
• The Quokka Question by Claire McNab

Given the choice between sitting down with a good book, or spending quality time with those friends and family members I’ve spent most of the year successfully avoiding, I invariably reach for my reading glasses and a paperback. Consequently, as I received a few literary surprises prior to Christmas, I was able to enjoy many solitary hours during the holiday season. And, while a lot of satisfaction came from not exchanging inanities with witless relatives, a great deal of pleasure came from reading the following titles.

Bad Girls by Brooke Stern
(Chimera Publishing; September 2005; ISBN: 1903931789)
Available at: Amazon.com / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

Why should spanking be sexually exciting?

Is it symptomatic of society’s perverted indifference to female suffering? Or the manifestation of arousal through a forbidden breach of socio-sexual boundaries? George Ryley Scott, in The History of Corporal Punishment, notes "…the specific connection between irritation and pleasure in the act of coitus…" and goes on to say "…pain, in the form of flagellation administered to certain parts of the body, may act specifically as a sexual stimulant." With less verbosity, Madonna (Hanky Panky) sang, "Treat me like I’m a bad girl, even when I’m being good to you, I don’t want you to thank me, you can just spank me."

Brooke Stern’s Bad Girls is a collection of short stories devoted to spanking. Coming from Chimera Publishing Ltd, one of the UK’s most dedicated exponents of CP oriented fiction, Bad Girls is Brooke’s second title with the publisher and follows the success of Suffering the Consequences.

For those who have already enjoyed Brooke Stern’s writing, Bad Girls is another compelling read. Intelligently written, showing an intense understanding of the subject matter, Brooke Stern tackles each story so it comes across with a fluid writing style designed to excite sexual and intellectual interest.

Plunging deep into the psyche of her characters and being as relentless as her antagonists are with their heroines’ bare buttocks Brooke Stern repeatedly tries to address that maddening question: Why should spanking be sexually exciting?

The stories are masterfully executed. Brooke Stern has no qualms about brushing against family relationships that may unsettle, while simultaneously acknowledging the forbidden excitement that lies beneath the surface of such scenes. And the author never forgets that, in any spanking scenario, there can be at least two people who get pleasure from the situation while neither of them is fully sure why.

Bad Girls is entertaining, intelligent and arousing: a spanking good read.

The Quokka Question by Claire McNab
(Alyson Publications; December 2005; ISBN: 1555839150)
Available at: Amazon.com / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

Continuing to read intelligent stories: I buried my face in Kylie Kendall earlier this month. (Sigh! I wish!)

Kylie Kendall is the lesbian protagonist of Claire McNab's The Quokka Question. This is Kylie's third mystery in an ongoing series and the heroine and her plight are exquisitely portrayed by Claire’s effortless storytelling.

Kylie was brought up in Australia but is trying to forge a career as a private investigator in Los Angeles. Claire McNab never misses a chance to exploit cultural conflict and the barrier of a common language as the pragmatic heroine struggles to deal with the shallow world of Hollywood aspirationals. Additionally, Claire McNab creates a strong supporting cast who are all rich in detail and a delight to the reader.

Claire’ McNab's portrayal of Kylie is incredibly executed. The heroine comes across as a fully rounded individual: spunky, vivacious and authentic.

The Quokka Question is not particularly erotic but it is intriguing, fun and sexy in the right places. More importantly for a detective story: The Quokka Question is an entertaining mystery. For anyone who has been following Kylie's adventures so far this third installment won’t be a disappointment.

Ashley Lister
February 2006

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© 2006 Ashley Lister. All rights reserved.

About the Author:  Ashley Lister is a UK author responsible for more than two-dozen erotic novels written under a variety of pseudonyms.  His most recent work, a non-fiction book recounting the exploits of UK swingers, is his first title published under his own name.
Ashley’s non-fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines, including Forum, Chapter & Verse and The International Journal of Erotica.  Nexus, Chimera and Silver Moon have published his full-length fiction, with shorter stories appearing in anthologies edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Rachel Kramer Bussel and Mitzi Szereto.  He is very proud to be a regular contributor to ERWA.
Email: Ashley Lister
Website: www.ashleylister.co.uk

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