Friday, March 16, 2012

... On Erotica: Reading + Recs (LGBT / Het / Ménage)

While posting my thoughts about Jeff Mann's Purgatory: A Novel of the Civil War I noticed that although I read plenty of erotica throughout the year, I have not been posting regularly about my erotica reads. As a matter of fact going through my blog and list of reads, it seems that sometimes I even neglect to list as read some of those books or novellas.

I think I stopped blogging regularly about erotica sometime in 2010?  I'm not sure if this happened because I tend to read this sub-genre in the form of collections or anthologies. I read anthologies slowly (short stories in between other books), and sometimes it takes me so long to finish them that by the time I'm done, I just don't post a review, or maybe it's something else altogether, but I DO read and enjoy them.

Gay Erotica:


For example, right now I'm reading Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits by Jerry L. Wheeler, his latest collection of erotic reads. Wheeler did a terrific job of editing Tented and just seems to have such a great handle on erotica that I couldn't pass up reading his collection. I don't have it up under the "Currently Reading" list of books on my sidebar, but I'm about 25% through this book already. Wheeler also edited another anthology recently (December 2011) that I want to read, Riding the Rails: Locomotive Lust and Carnal Cabooses. That book includes some of my favorite erotica writers: Jeff Mann, Gavin Atlas, Jay Neal, Dale Chase,William Holden, Rick R. Reed, 'Nathan Burgoine, Jeffrey Ricker and Erastes! A great group of writers.

And, I've read the following gay erotic anthologies or collections, but either never listed or blogged about them here.

Frat Boys: Gay Erotic Stories edited by Shane Allison (Cleis Press)
My Name is Rand by Wayne Curtois (Lethe Press)
Bearotica: Hot & Hairy Fiction edited by R. Jackson (Bear Bones Books)
The Back Passage by James Lear (Cleis Press)
The Secret Tunnel by James Lear (Cleis Press)
A History of Barbed Wire by Jeff Mann (Bear Bones Books)
Tented: Gay Erotic Tales From Under the Big Top edited by Jerry L. Wheeler (Lethe Press)


I've read more in this category, but am not going to list them all. Of the books listed above, I highly recommend  A History of Barbed Wire by Jeff Mann and Tented: Gay Erotic Tales From Under the Big Top edited by Jerry L. Wheeler. Also for those who enjoy the unusual, My Name is Rand by Wayne Curtois is a trip and a half!

I actually recommend all the stories listed above: Frat Boys: Gay Erotic Stories edited by Shane Allison is hot and sexy and it has a great mixture of stories about college boys and their sexual adventures (Lambda, Lambda, Lambda). Bearotica edited by R. Jackson has some favorite writers of erotica in there: Jay Neal, Dale Chase (love Chase!), and Thom Wolf . From the James Lear books I recommend The Back Passage over The Secret Tunnel. These are fun erotic mysteries set in England -- BUT, expect lots and lots of sex in these stories. Note that "erotic" comes before "mysteries," so don't be surprised at the amount of sexual scenes in the books.

Erotica and Ménage/Multi-Partnered Erotica:



I'm still reading Samantha Kane's Brothers in Arms series. I read the last two books in that series at the end of last year, and I also read my first book by Megan Hart:

Love's Surrender by Samantha Kane
Love's Fortress by Samantha Kane
Tempted by Megan Hart

The Brothers in Arms series is long and one that I believe tends to be repetitive because in some ways they all end up with the same or similar (M/M/F) type of happy ending. However, those first few books are so good that the whole series becomes addictive, particularly once the characters become familiar and readers connect with them, and that's something that Kane does quite well. She establishes that connection between the reader and her characters. So read on... I know I will!

Megan Hart is a writer whose works came highly recommended. Unfortunately Tempted just didn't do it for me. I didn't really find this story erotic, and although I enjoyed her writing style it felt more like a women's fiction book that attempted to be erotic but failed -- at least it did for me personally -- perhaps because I was expecting the story to be geared towards erotica. I think I gave it an average grade because Hart's prose is excellent and as something besides erotica, the story works well enough. However, I have not given up on Megan Hart. I have Dirty in my TBR and have been told that this is THE book. So I will give Ms. Hart one more shot.

TBR:

I also have quite a few books in my TBR and I'm always buying new books (old and new releases).  For example I just purchased two old releases, Between Dances by Erasmo Guerra, a gay Latino writer who has two interesting books (different genres) that I want to read -- this book is a Lambda Award winner for erotica, and Tales From The Sexual Underground by the prolific and ever-popular writer Rick R. Reed.


And I have ménage and het erotica in droves, and a few polyamorous stories too. I have books lying around the house all over the place, plus quite a lot in my Kindle -- some of them are PNR erotica which I tend not to read. I also have a couple of series to catch up on --  Lorelei James. However, I do have other types of pretty raw erotica from authors whose works are well known and others whose works I've never read and whose names I've never heard before. Maybe I'll just post about my erotica reads once in a while again, some of them are pretty wild, while others are tamer than you might expect, and depending on taste, most of them can be lots of fun to read! :D

7 comments:

  1. LOL, lots of books read and to read Hils :) Hope you enjoy them. Erotica just seem not to be for me LOL.

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  2. Glad you enjoyed "Tented" and are reading "Strawberries." Hope you'll post more on your reactions to the latter!

    JW

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  3. Nath, I know! Lots of books to read, and lots of books read that I didn't blog about, or list! No wonder my list always looks lacking to both of us, lol! I keep wondering what I'm leaving out and it seems as if it's my erotica. :)

    PS: One of these days (in the future), I know you'll enjoy erotica. Maybe. *g*

    JW. I loved "Tented," and am enjoying "Strawberries" so far. I will make a point of posting my thoughts when I'm done. Thanks for stopping by. :D

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  4. Too bad Tempted didn't do it for you. :( Dirty is very good but I loved Broken and Stranger. Those are my two favorites of Hart's.

    I fell behind on the James series too. Haven't even started her other western series. Just not enough time in a day for all the reading I want to do. :)

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  5. Leslie, I was surprised that Tempted didn't work for me. As I said above I think it's because I expected something different? Or maybe my tastes are different when it comes to this genre? I don't know the answer. I did like her prose. I've checked out both Broken and Stranger and Broken caught my eye. I am amazed at the length of the books! Quite long for erotica-based "romances" or erotica-based "fiction."

    I'm taking my time with the Lorelei James series (both of them). I tend to read those one after another when I'm in the mood, so I'll catch up with them soon enough! I'm not crazy about the Blacktop Cowboys series so far, but I'll check it out again when the next book releases. :)

    I forgot to mention Lacey Alexander and Joey Hill up there. Do you read anything by these writers? I have books by them and have enjoyed them in the past (although I've never reviewed their book either).

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  6. Happy reading :) And I see you mentioned Joey Hill in your previous comment. I have a book by her I've been dying to read! And I also have a couple of Lorelei James' books. Must. Get. On. Them. *grin*

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  7. Orannia, I can't believe I forgot Joey Hill! I just read a novella by her... and she's just so good! So is Lorelei James. If/or when you're in the mood for some M/F Erotic reads, those two authors are great.

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