Tasting Her: Oral Sex Stories

Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Book Review by Kathleen Bradean

Tasting Her is the companion book to Tasting Him. Shanna Germain, Thomas Roche, Donna George Storey, Alison Tyler, Craig J. Sorensen, Kristina Wright and Rachel Kramer Bussel contributed to both. But from the interesting differences in the covers – Tasting Him shows a happy hetero couple in a close embrace, Tasting Her shows a close up of a woman seemingly in orgasmic bliss while the other person is blurry, distant, and easily overlooked - to the tone of the stories, these anthologies aren’t mirror images.

It’s disheartening, but probably an accurate reflection of the world, how many women in these stories don’t like to have oral sex performed on them. In Jeremy Edwards’ “Cavanaugh’s Ridge,” he has to work a long time just to get her relaxed enough that she can stand to be touched. In Julia Moore’s bright and funny “Down There,” all she needs is a lover willing to ask for direction. Given space to figure out what she wants, she discovers a whole new world.

It was a relief to see Shanna Germain’s “All About the Girls,” where not only does the character want her clit serviced, she carries dental dams with her. I’ll admit I shared the narrator’s brief disappointment about the lack of tongue on skin, but also like the narrator, I got over it quickly. What made this story stand out though was how Shanna took time to build the desire and seduction. Too many writers ignore the foreplay with the reader. By the time her characters got together, I was ready to go along with them.

While Tasting Him is full of how-to instructions for the giver, most of the stories in Tasting Her are about learning to enjoy receiving head. One notable exception is Stan Kent’s wonderful “Read Her Lips.” I wish every lover I’ve ever had read it. Heck, I wish I’d read this twenty-something years ago. But don’t let the instructional side put you off reading this. It’s hot and sweet at the same time to worship a woman’s body through his point of view.

Kathleen Bradean
November 2008

Tasting Her: Oral Sex Stories
(Cleis Press; September 1, 2008; ISBN-10: 1573443247)
Available at Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

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© 2008 Kathleen Bradean. All rights reserved.


About the Author: Who is Kathleen Bradean? Read her bio on the Erotica Readers & Writers Association website.

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