Erotic Massage: The Touch of Love, by Dr. Kenneth Ray Stubbs, teaches the reader simple techniques for sensual massage in an engaging format. This book is for anyone with a sexual partner or partners, or who wants to have a partner or partners in the future. The instructions for massage are clearly laid out, with clear instructions and easy-to-follow explicit, tasteful, and realistic black and white drawings. This book would work well for adults of any age, size, gender and sexuality. None of the massages require athleticism or much flexibility.

I particularly appreciate the safer sex suggestions in the back of the book. Dr. Stubbs points out that, though massage is already a rather safe way to touch someone sexually, it is not perfectly safe. He gives some safety suggestions, and discusses how erotic safer sex can be. This will be extremely useful for anyone giving and receiving these massages with non-fluid-bonded partners.

This book is an outstanding way to connect with your partner's body. Whether you're forming a new relationship, or have been married for years, or want to practice some relatively safe sexuality with people you trust, Erotic Massage: The Touch of Love can guide you.

Theoretically, one could start at the beginning of this book and do every massage in order. The numbers and letters next to each stroke suggest this. I look forward to trying that when I'm mistress of the book's contents. It starts slow and gentle, with the back, then the legs, and moves on to all other areas of the body, climaxing with various escalating massages for the genital region. Its falling action takes place on the head and face, and it ends with some calming final touches. It's also very easy to pick out a few massage techniques and combine and expand on them however you wish, which is how my boyfriend and I have used the book so far.

The instructions and accompanying sketches are easy to duplicate. I appreciate the fact that the sketches include people of different ethnicities and body types. It reinforces the fact that everyone experiences pleasure, and everyone has a body which should be adored physically.

Unfortunately, the binding isn't great. I think a book of this type would be better published in a ring binder, with laminated pages. It's certainly a book to keep by the bed and use repeatedly.

My boyfriend and I have yet to try all the massages in this book. We get through a section or two, then one of us skips to the "genitals" section and, well, from there things kind of go elsewhere. My boyfriend enjoys the massages for male genitalia quite a bit. Most of them work as well, or better, with the mouth as with hands. As for the massages for female genitalia: phenomenal. For foreplay, afterplay, mixing with oral, or as the main event, if you want to be a virtuoso of giving a female-bodied partner genital pleasure using your hands, start here.

When we're able to try all the massages, I'll update. Until then... I'll be spending a lot of time in the bedroom.