2008? When did that happen? I’ve spent the last year writing 2006 on my cheques. Where the hell did 2007 go? Obviously I’m losing my faculties. It was bad enough when I didn’t know what day of the week it was. Now, when I don’t know which year I’m living in, it is clearly the time for me to seek professional help. Or buy a calendar.
Best Women’s Erotica 2008 is the latest incarnation of Cleis Press’s deservedly celebrated anthology of erotic literature. The inimitable Violet Blue has been slaving laboriously over submissions (pause—enjoy that image, take a deep breath—continue) to produce a collection that deserves to be presented with the word BEST in its title.
The anthology starts off with Jacqueline Applebee’s “Penalty Fare,” a sensational story about the pleasures of enjoying a free ride on British trains. Having been on many British trains in my time I know there are very few genuine pleasures to be had on them, but the Paddington to Temple Meads journey in “Penalty Fare” comes as a marvellous introduction to a splendid anthology.
And then we’re in Hampstead, standing in a phone box as shelter from typically British weather, while Morticia Catherine’s heroine begins a deliciously explicit adventure in “Getting Sorted.”
Best Women’s Erotica 2008 is a strong collection of powerful stories. Boy meets girl. Woman meets men. Girl meet girl. Women watch men. The variations on the theme of sex and sexcitement are consistently imaginative and invariably entertaining.
A.D.R. Forte’s “Mercy” involves a wonderfully decadent threeway that leaves her heroine (and her reader) satisfied on many levels. Donna George Storey’s “Wet” takes us to Kyoto—the same Kyoto she exposed so well in Amorous Woman—where Donna now introduces her protagonist to a black-belt in cunnilingus.
These stories aren’t only erotic—they’re also enjoyable for their strong characterisation and clever narrative devices. Sex is different for each of us with every experience. This anthology is a glorious celebration of all those wonderful and warming differences.
Saskia Walker, with typical style and eloquence, makes the temperature sizzle in “Winter Heat.” Naughty Alison Tyler reveals that religion can be a truly satisfying experience when her protagonist meets Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
As always with the Best Women’s erotica series, this anthology is another collection of the finest and friskiest female fiction. Violet Blue has done an exemplary job of collecting and compiling these stories and the results are an absolute triumph. Perhaps I did miss 2007, but Best Women’s Erotica 2008 has to be the best way to start this new year.
Best Women’s Erotica 2008
(Cleis Press; November 28, 2007; ISBN-10: 1573442992)
Available at: Amazon.com / Amazon UK
© 2008 Ashley Lister. All rights reserved.
