Three In One Blow

Reviews of Stocking Up, Skirting the Issue and Kiss My Ass
edited by Alison Tyler

Book Review by Shanna Germain

Alison Tyler's one of those women that you always want to keep your eyes on. Not only is she an accomplished writer and editor, but she's always at the forefront of the next big movement—whether that's the hot-as-hell blog scene or her Esty-artist sponsored contests. 

Tyler's newest foray (although it probably won't be her newest by the time you read this—she'll already be on her way to some other ground-breaking venture) is erotic e-books. Put out by her former print-book publishing company, Pretty Things Press, she has three new books available on the virtual shelves: Stocking Up, Skirting the Issue and Kiss My Ass. 

From the covers alone, it's easy to tell that she's put as much hard work, thought, and skill into this endeavor as she has into past ones. All three covers are sweet, sexy and—in my opinion, a rare thing in both erotica and e-books—of eye-catching, mouth-watering quality.

After reading all three books, I have to say that the interiors match and in place even exceed the high standards set by the covers. The layout is easy to read (not always true of e-books, sadly) and bears the marks of a professional. The story quality is never an issue with Alison's stuff—whether she's editing or writing—so the chances are good that whether or not you like these collections will come down to a matter of your personal erotic tastes. While each points to a specific sexual interest—stockings, skirts and asses, respectively—the topics are covered with a broad creative brush, leaving lots of room for variety.

Stocking Up features three "stocking-oriented" stories by Sommer Marsden, Sophia Valenti, and Alison herself. Each of the story features stockings, not surprisingly, but what is surprising is how each pair—from fishnets to striped thigh-highs—gets used within the stories. I don't want to give away the twists, turns and, ahem, knots that each story, and each pair of stockings, brings to the bedroom, but suffice to say that if stockings are your thing -- or one your things -- you're going to love discovering new ways to use them, touch them and get turned on by them.

Here, Marsden's narrator in "Old Fashioned" gives her husband a visual treat:

For an instant I could hear him breathing, and then I heard the distinctive sound of a zipper being lowered. The fluid rush of arousal that raced through me was staggering. I wanted so badly to yank open the door, drop to my knees, take his cock in my mouth—beg him to fuck me. Instead, I took a steadying breath and worked down the zipper of my knee-length paisley skirt. I spun the garment and undid the hook. I did it all slowly. So fucking slowly I wanted to scream. Instead, I watched my heartbeat jolt the thin skin above my breast. I dropped the skirt and stepped out of it. My panties were black, not white, but it would have to do.

I turned my back to the doorway, spread my legs a bit, raised my long blonde hair in my hands and faced the blustery, bright gold expanse of afternoon laid out below me. I moved a bit to the side so Mac could see my profile: the hard tip of one nipple, the flat of my abdomen, the small swell of a belly he claimed to love and kissed often. Then I spun, setting my face in a stern mask, and stalked to the door, yanking it open, finding him with cock in hand, lips parted.

Skirting the Issue features the same three authors, and the same turn-your-expectations-on-their-head sensibility. Marsden's story, "I've Got a New Girl Now," is a funny, raucous romp that had me laughing and aroused, while Valenti's girl-on-girl action just kept revving the story—and me—higher. The final story in the collection, Tyler's aptly titled, "Want," did just that—allowing me be as voyeuristic and as filled with desire as her narrator is.

Even the opening scene of "A Lesson in Lust," by Valenti gets us all tangled in stocking lust:

The first thing I saw were her legs: long, lean and sheathed in coal-black nylons. A yellow cab had come to an abrupt halt near where I stood at the entrance to the club, barely stopping before one of its back doors was flung open. The lady inside swiveled in her seat, extending her legs outside the car as she shoved cash into the driver’s hand. My eyes traveled from the few inches of exposed flesh between her short pleated skirt and her lacy stocking tops down the length of her seamed stockings to her patent leather high heels, and then zoomed back up again to catch a glimpse of the brunette’s face as she began to emerge from the vehicle. Her look was sensual and expressive, with smoky-gray eyes that peered from under her feathered bangs and glossy red lips that were curled into a deliciously wicked smile.

I had no idea who she was, but upon seeing the plaid skirt in which she was attired, I assumed that she was at the club for the same back-to-school themed fetish party that I was waiting in line to attend. But while I stood there looking downright demure in my white blouse, black-watch kilt, knee socks and saddle shoes, she was wearing sky-high heels and a blouse with enough buttons opened to reveal her lacy crimson bra. She exited the taxi, holding a black clutch in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other, bumping the car door shut with her hip. The cab sped off in search of its next fare as she tucked a lock of her chin-length hair behind her ear and surveyed the crowd loitering on the sidewalk.

Kiss My Ass is a slightly longer collection, featuring the aforementioned three authors, along with the addition of Jax Baynard and Kristina Lloyd, plus a bonus story. This collection, thanks to having more authors, has the widest variety of the bunch, from some really, really hot gay sex ("Strangers in the Bathhouse," by Kristina Lloyd) to a real and true rendition of anal sex between a longtime couple (the title story, by Jax Baynard) to a delightful little Dick-and-Jane type rendezvous ("Practice Makes Perfect" by Alison Tyler). 

Lloyd pulls no punches in her wonderfully dark and dirty "Strangers in the Bathhouse":

Suddenly, the two men had a common language. Paul fixed the plug and turned the tap, blood pulsing in his groin as warm water plunged into the basin's depths. Metin took a step closer then gripped Paul's face in a hot, mean hand, pinching his cheeks as he glared. Words slid from his mouth, sadistic glee twisting his lips and sparkling in those petrol-green eyes. Paul didn't understand the words but he knew what the man was saying. He was telling Paul what he was going to do with him, was telling him he was no-good scum, he was trade, filth, fucktoy, whore and he was going to get down on that floor and suck Metin's big, hard dick then beg to take it in his greedy rent-boy arse. Paul stared back into Metin's eyes, his cock pulsing with the fury of lust. Metin edged closer, still snarling his obscene incantation, and Paul's draped cock nudged his hip, and Metin's nudged back.

My one complaint with the books (and I had to work hard to find one) is that the voices (but never the stories) start to sound slightly alike after a while. This, I think, is probably based on a couple of factors. One, the fact that I read all three books back-to-back and two, the fact that the collections feature the same three authors, are mostly set in contemporary times, and have a large smattering of BDSM elements. None of those are truly an issue on my end—I'm a fan of the authors, of contemporary stories, and of BDSM in all forms. However, if you're used to the variety of larger anthologies with a huge slew of writers, you might find that you're getting the voices mixed up with each other after a while.

The easy cure for that, of course, is: 1. Read one story, get aroused, get off, take a break. 2. Come back later for a second helping. 3. Repeat steps one and two until you've savored all three sexy, sassy collections. 

And when you're done with all of that, settle your gaze back on Alison Tyler. Because you know she's got something else up her sleeve, or in her stocking, or tucked in her ... skirt... that you're not going to want to miss.

Collections are available at:

• Pretty Things Press
• Amazon

Shanna Germain
May-June 2010

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© 2010 Shanna Germain. All rights reserved.

About the reviewer:  Shanna Germain is the kind of reviewer who has to read every good erotic story twice, because the first time she always forgets she's supposed to be thinking while she reads. She would say she likes to lay and lie on paper, but she can never remember how to properly use lay and lie. Yes, this gets her into all kinds of trouble. Lie with her at www.shannagermain.com

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