I was so excited to get this book about travel erotica. Foreign Affairs- Erotic Travel Tales is published by Cleis Press and is edited by Mitzi Szereto. The book is 266 and has 21 short stories.

Vietnamese Art by Christine Bellerose
So Cold the Night by Cheyenne Blue
One Day on 375 by Helena Settimana
Broken Windows by Carole Rosenthal
At the Falls by Opal Palmer Adisa
Twelve Day in a Week by Des Ariel
Peking Duck by Linda Jaivin
Odalisque by Mitzi Szereto
All in a Day's Work by Rachelle Claret
Biloxi by Gwen Masters
Mer Boy by Gerald Wozek
The Sex Critic by Diane LeBow
Sightseeing in the Holy Land by Tabitha Flythe
Through the Looking Glass by Grevel Lindop
Whitewood by A.F. Waddell
More Moments of Sheer Joy by Jai Clare
Three Days on Santorini by Sage Vivant
Ukiyo by Donna George Storey
Remembering Andrei by Debra Hyde
Continental Breakfast by Holly Farris

I personally had a hard time getting into most of the stories in this book. Most of the characters seem off-set from their locations and the erotic element seemed to be off the mark. To me this book was not passionate or steamy. As a result, it took me forever to finish reading it. The stories were so long and drawn out on most of the stories without enough to keep my attention. I forced myself to read every story, no matter where it tried to take me. Some of this book read like a travel brochure while other stories took me to seedy places I have no desire to visit. There were a few stories worth mentioning here that I did enjoy.

"Through the Looking Glass" is about a woman who stays in a local's hotel in Italy. The large mirror in her room leaves her to believe that she is being watched and that voyeurism is a normal Italian custom. This story was interesting in that it got me thinking about how "normal" can vary from place to place.

"Vows" was the story I liked the best about a couple that enjoy travel and variety. They meet a monk that they feel can fulfill both of their desires. The object of their desire might be off limits due to his vows but they pursue him anyways. I liked this story because it stayed hot from start to finish.

"Peking Duck" is the story of a girl in China who has a brief affair with a stranger. This story twists and turns as she ends up on the back of the stranger's motorcycle with her interpreter and driver following behind. Did I mention that the stranger is a snake charmer and his bag of snakes is in the car with her interpreter? I don't know how it came to that but the story does have a hot outdoor sex scene for it's climax.

To me this book just fell flat. The stories felt forced and the descriptions were just too much for erotic short stories. I would call this book more "light erotica" than anything else. It was more about the thoughts and feelings of the characters than it was about the sex scenes. Some of the characters were so brutally honest in their descriptions that it just ended up being a turn off for me.