I'm big on massage, it's something I do often for my husband, so I was thrilled to get to read this and learn a few new techniques. Within it's silky dust-jacket sporting covers, everything from simple therapeutic techniques to full scale eroticism is outlined in brief, simple detail. The brevity leaves you plenty of time for doing instead of reading. I was able to chew through this thing in about fifteen minutes.

Really being one for ritual, I appreciated the chapter where massage is referred to as such. Putting on soothing music, lighting incense or a candle, warming the space and laying out soft towels should also be part of the experience, the same as setting a table for an amazing meal you cooked. Massage will be received the same way, as a gift of nurturing.

Something wonderful about this book is that it really drives home the point that massage is a gift, it's an act of love, and should never be used as a means to an end. First and foremost it is a tool to bring peace and calm to your loved one, and should not be your dirty trick, so to speak, to get a piece.

On the other hand, if you and your partner are both ready and willing, there's an entire section about how to take that massage downtown and spice things up, first by relaxing and working the tension out of the genital area, and then by letting things go wherever they will. The quality of orgasms as a result of massage is mentioned throughout.

While I don't think I'll be coming back to this book often, I can certainly see where it has its place. Pair this with a massage candle as a great spur-of-the-moment romantic gift, or leave it out where you partner might find it, just to add some nurturing to your relationship.