Do you prefer tame little erotica tales about lovey-dovey married couples who decide to get "adventurous" and act out a fantasy about having gentle sex in front of their fireplace instead of the bed? Complete with page after page of sugary dialogue? No? Well neither do we, and that's why we would recommend Sweet Love to anyone whose fantasies dance more toward the kinky side of sex without entering the extreme fetish arena.

Violet Blue has compiled 19 short stories, all from different authors, that feature couples enjoying things like public sex, rope bondage, spanking, pegging, role playing, Domination, threesomes, and plenty of sex that truly arouses the reader. Not every single one was what we would consider to be above average erotica, but a fair portion of them were and there was a realism to the writing styles that was enjoyable. Some of our favorites were:

* Five Senses by N.T. Morley: A man is blindfolded on his couch while his wife brings in an unknown number of her friends to lap dance and tease him before she gives him the grand finale. Each woman does something different, and each is in a different state of dress. It's written from the man's point of view, and the author does an outstanding job with the sensory descriptions so it's easy to get into.

* A Little Push by Felix D'Angelo. An anal virgin is happy to give up her cherry to her boyfriend, but only on the condition that he give her his as well. He was apprehensive enough that he almost decided at the last minute not to fuck her in order to get out of the bargain, but once she showed him her strap-on equipment everything turned out all right in the... ends? This was a light-hearted tale that gave a very realistic idea of what might really go through a man's mind in that situation, and the sex was great.

* Clothes Make the Man by Emilie Paris. Hurrying to dress for a spanking at her Dom's command, a woman winds up grabbing a business suit from the closet instead of the normal cutesy outfit that he was expecting. Wearing it empowers her, and one playful remark confuses him to the point that the dynamic shifts and he winds up obeying *her* commands. This is a fast-paced story with virtually no plot, but it is hott.

Some of the tales take place in settings or situations that most people can only fantasize about, but others would be easy for the average couple to relate to or act out. For example, (S)pan(k)cakes by Kristina Wright is a very arousing read that shows how a little playfulness while cooking can get pleasantly out of hand.

One last thing: We try not to give away too much of any story in our reviews, but Playing Rough by Kat Black is one that some readers may find disturbing so we're breaking protocol. The story involves a woman who is raped on her way to the parking garage after work. It isn't really violent, but the author does such a good job at writing the suspense and fear factors that it seems unpleasantly real. It's not until the end that you learn it was all a pre-arranged play session between husband and wife, so if rape is a touchy subject with you then consider yourself forewarned.

Alan says:
I wanted to add that (S)pan(k)cakes was the best tale in my opinion even though I enjoyed all but one. The author really knows the way to a man's heart: give him a hot kitchen sex scene to inspire a romp, and then finish up by leaving a great pancake recipe so he can go eat. No kidding, she really did, and the recipe is legit so the pancakes taste great. Though come to think of it, if the recipe hadn't been great I probably would have scored some of that spatula action she mentioned from my wife for making such a mess. Oh well... maybe next time.

Michele says:
I'm going to pretend that he didn't just say that. Yeah, anyhoo, Violet Blue's books have always been a little hit-and-miss for me, but this turned out to be one of my favorite erotica books to date. Aside from the fact that many of the stories turned me on, one thing that impressed me was that a lot of them showed the kind of communication that people who might really indulge in these fantasies would have to have to make it work. The couples didn't just act out of the blue and have their partner actually go for some outlandish threesome or something with no questions asked. That made them more "real" in my opinion.