APHRODITE IN BLOOM

An anthology of lusty stories features mostly women in varying states of desire, attachment, and affluence.

Anonymous brazenly presents 12 tales of unbridled sex and desire predominantly led by a bevy of regal, wanton female protagonists. The introductory story, “The Gift,” is an elegant affair featuring a beautiful, young, virginal debutante who is bestowed with a coming-out ball and a prearranged beau orchestrated by her oversexed aunt. A surprise present of golden egg vibrators and a hedge-maze rendezvous blissfully steal her virtue. The jilted pastor’s wife in “Stepping Out With a Stable Boy” fully indulges her carnal craving for a much younger and impressively endowed young man. More contemporary themes can be found in the gender transformation at the heart of the provocative “One Night as a Woman” and in the gay passion that erupts between a pent-up customer and a pastry chef in “The Baker’s Man.” While the tales are devilishly erotic, they each impart a sly sophistication by embedding the sex within an engaging and thoroughly immersive storyline. Also notable is the author’s thoughtful inclusion of a preemptive disclaimer about what could be considered triggering context and content for more sensitive readers (for example, verbal abuse role-play, consensual roughness, and interchangeable sex partners). This may come in handy in explicitly titillating tales like the creatively inspired “An Evening of Cards,” spotlighting a French courtesan who embellishes a poker table for a host of male gamblers. Richly seductive in the physical details of the characters, the author demonstrates a distinct talent for stoking the fantasy elements inherent in each scenario. Readers will feel the breathless forbidden desire of the virgin in the opening story and the desperation in the raunchy lengths a dutiful wife takes to mitigate her husband’s debts. Aficionados of erotic novels are certain to enjoy not only the sizzling prose and feverish sex scenes, but also that the tales are short, potently hardcore, and able to be devoured without the commitment of a full-length book. Effortlessly steamy and consistent in quality and graphic coital content, this carnal collection leaves little to the imagination but a lot to the intimate caverns of sexual fantasy.

A tantalizing, ribald, erotically enthusiastic assortment for hot and bothered libidinous readers.