| Delilah Night: Sweet and Spicy Stories

The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Delilah Night

When I was saw that Rose Caraway was looking for people to review The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica, I was happy to volunteer. I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Imagine a library—a very special one run by a librarian whose only concern is pleasing her patrons. In fact, this librarian will stop at nothing to service her readers. To that end, she has carefully collected a fantastic and fantasy-filled set of stories guaranteed to satisfy literary lusts in The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica. This voracious volume is simply bursting at the binding with amorous archives and bibliophilic bliss; it is a veritable dictionary of desires with stories by top eroticists Rachel Kramer Bussel, Tamsin Flowers, and Salome Wilde, as well as Rose Caraway, the sexy librarian herself.

The strength and weakness of The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica is that it encompasses so many styles of writing and genres. Contemporary. Sci-Fi. Horror. Steampunk. Speculative Fiction. It’s all here.

Will you like this anthology? To answer that, I’m going to give micro reviews to my favorite nine stories. (Yes, nine. I had so much trouble trying to pick three–my usual review style–that I decided to highlight all nine).

Sensate Silicone by Lilian Douglas

If you’re a woman who has ever used a strap-on, you’ve probably wondered what it would feel like if the toy were a real cock. Or maybe you’ve just wondered what it feels like for a man when he’s fucking a woman? In this story, tech savvy sex toy inventors have created just that—a strap on that feels like a real cock to the wearer. The descriptions had me squirming in my seat in the best possible way. My biggest complaint is that I can’t go out and buy one now!

Three Legs in the Evening by Janine Ashbless

One of my daughters has a middle name from Greek Mythology. A story premised upon an interview with Oedipus, with the focus on his encounter with the Sphinx instead of Queen Jocasta had me sitting up and paying attention. It’s a really imaginative premise, and the twist at the end had me going back through the story to see if there were any hints I’d missed. Kudos for creativity.

The Secret Game by Chase Morgan

In the author’s section, it’s noted that this is Morgan’s first published story. With well paced sex and a twist ending that gave me a good chuckle, it won’t be his last. Solid contemporary erotica.

POW! It’s Shibari Girl by Tamsin Flowers

I always enjoy Tamsin’s stories. A superhero named Shibari Girl and her encounter with the new villain in town, complete with snappy dialogue made my day.

The Perfect Massage by Olivia Archer

Getting a massage from two men and having things take a sexual turn is a fantasy I’ve entertained more than once while on the table. Archer does a fantastic job of turning fantasy into a sensual story.

Full Frontal Neighbor by Lynn Townsend

I applaud Lynn for submitting and Rose for accepting a story with a plus sized heroine. I’m plus sized, and I don’t often see women who look like me in anthologies that aren’t specifically centered around BBW’s, so it made for an unexpected and welcome suprise. I liked the main character, the voyeurism, and deft way that the encounter between our heroine and the object of her lust is handled. I’d read a full length novel with these characters, Lynn.

The Whole of Me by Katya Harris

I had never read speculative fiction erotica before this story…and now I know I’m missing out. A husband downloads his wife’s memories into his own brain as she lays dying…and a year later finds out he got more than he ever expected. The sex was well written, but for me the real pull of the story came from the idea that you never fully know your partner. Getting access to every last secret corner of someone’s brain is going to be more than you bargained for.

Appetizer by Sommer Marsden

Sommer fulfills a fantasy I never knew I had with this contemporary story. Best. Anniversary. Gift. Ever.

From Greek Myths to Super Heroes to Contemporary Erotica to BDSM and beyond, Rose has pulled together an impressive collection. I’m linking to the goodreads page for the book for you find the full range of purchase options.

Filed under: BDSM, book reviews, LGBT | Tagged: Chase Morgan, delilah night, Janine Ashbless, Katya Harris, Lilian Douglas, Lynn Townsend, Olivia Archer, Rose Caraway, sommer marsden, Tamsin Flowers, The Sexy Librarian's Big Book of Erotica | 4 Comments »

Summer Loving is now available in e-book form and paperback

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Delilah Night

When Sommer’s husband was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago, writers from around the world came together to send support. Bronwyn Green was the pioneer in charge of a fundraising event. Tamsin Flowers came up with the plan to do a charity book. —Alison Tyler, here.

Summer Loving is now available!

I enjoyed reading the full collection, but several stories really stood out for me.

Fireworks Display by Emerald—She had decided to watch some fireworks from the comfort of her car. Then the truck with six gorgeous men pulls up.

Next week is National Day here in Singapore. There is a huge display of fireworks as part of the festivities, and when I see them, I know this story will be on my mind. The build up and tension are great. The juxtaposition against and description of the fireworks really did it for me. Emerald is a new author to me, and I’ll be checking out more of her work.

Tell me by May Deva–A pin-up photography session is the cost of losing a poker bet.

Any story that starts with “Oh, hell no!” is going to grab my attention. This story hit all my sweet spots. I love pin-up photography, I love banter, and I really really love twists at the end of a story.

Arizona, Ireland, New England by Cheyenne Blue—You never quite know where home is until you find it.

Two friends come up with the idea of switching homes for the summer. But it doesn’t quite turn out how they expected. As an expat who thought I knew what I was getting into when I moved to the other side of the planet, only to find out that fantasy and reality are two different things, I related to both the women in the story. The way that Cheyenne uses sensory descriptions–the way one of them “will fearlessly sweep a scorpion from the kitchen bench with a swift flick of a tea towel” makes for a story I’ll revisit.

And of course, you can read my story, “Baby it’s Hot Outside.”

I’ve given you an excerpt before. Here’s another one….

“I never liked Josh,” Erik remarked.

“Why?” My high school boyfriend had always been a sweetie.

“Why do you think? I was crazy about you. You only noticed I was alive when you kicked Jake and me out of the living room.”

“That’s not true. I noticed you were alive whenever you ate the last slice of pizza, too.” Sarcasm was my crumbling wall of defense against desire.

Down girl. CANNOT.

“Three days with you, and I feel like a lovesick idiot all over again.” Erik gave a bitter laugh. “I sound like a fucking idiot, too.”

Our eyes locked. As one, we turned and began the walk back toward my apartment.

Fingers traced the thin line of skin between the top of my shorts and the bottom of my tank top as we walked. Erik’s arms wrapped around me, pulling me against his chest at each red light. Arousal grew with each passing intersection. Did the colorful illumination highlight or hide that my nipples were erect?

One more second was too long to wait. I grabbed Erik’s hand and pulled him into the Botanical Gardens; my apartment was still five minutes away. Silently, I led him away from the well-lit path. Once hidden in shadows, we stopped. The moisture between my thighs couldn’t be blamed on humidity.

It was one thing to burn my way through every battery in my house trying to cool my libido. It was entirely another to deliberately jump into the fire.

Anyone who chooses to live in a land of eternal summer shouldn’t be scared of heat.

“Caroline,” he murmured.

I twined my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to Erik’s.

Can. CAN.

Remember, all proceeds go to help Sommer Marsden’s family.

NOW AVAILABLE AT

Filed under: book reviews, Published, Writing | Tagged: Alison Tyler, baby it's hot outside, charity erotica anthology, delilah night, erotica, published books, sommer marsden, summer loving | 2 Comments »

Linga

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Delilah Night

Ever since I first heard about Angkor Wat, I’ve wanted to visit it. This past Mother’s Day my husband and kids gave me a weekend solo trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

During the period when the temples around Angkor Wat were built, Cambodia was still a Hindu country, although it shifted to Buddhism over time. There’s a lot of sexual and sensual imagery in Hinduism, and I found myself contemplating the following…

I had ambitions to go visit the River of a Thousand Lingas, but due to a knee injury the hike was beyond my ability at the time. However, just because I couldn’t go visit the lingas didn’t mean I couldn’t buy one. So when I stopped in at Artisans of Angkor, I was very happy to see this among other sculptures

Symbolizing the role of Shiva in creation, the Linga is the phallus of the god and it expresses the idea of fertility and prosperity. This shape is the emblem which mostly represent god Shiva in the temples which are dedicated to him. It is here completed by the Yoni, representing a stylized female sex, and thus evokes the mystery of the Two becoming One.

In Cambodia’s culture, the Linga is made of three completely different branches which symbolize the Brahmanic trinity: the cubic base represents Brahma, the creator and ancestor; the octagonal middle branch represents Vishnu, the curator, and the top part epitomizes Shiva, who is the ultimate power that can create and destroy.

This piece, which displays contemporary straight lines, is still widely used in the decoration of some places in Cambodia.

(Description from the Artisans of Angkor page)

I was debating between two sizes when my guide came over to me. He was maybe ten to fifteen years older than me, and I could tell that he was embarrassed. The poor guy had no idea that I’m an erotica author and knew exactly what I was looking at.

“Do you know what that is?” he asked me. I could tell how much he didn’t want to explain sexual imagery to the naive stay at home mommy tourist.

“Yes,” I said and turned back to the display, allowing him to make his escape.

I could almost feel him exhale when I finally picked a Linga and moved on to less scandalous merchandise.

Filed under: Random | Tagged: cambodia, delilah night, linga | Leave a comment »

Those (sexy) Boys

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Delilah Night

It’s no secret that I’ve always had a special place in my heart for fictional men and women. Jareth from Labyrinth was practically responsible for my sexual awakening–“Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.” Alanna from the Lioness Quartet. Wesley Crusher from Trek Next Gen. Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Daemon from the Jewels series.

And Sandy….

I loved the novella “Those Girls” by Alison Tyler, and I fell especially hard for Sandy–bisexual, dominant, and sexy as hell. When Alison said that there was a sequel coming out, I volunteered to be an advanced reader for “Those Boys.”

Why does Sandy do it for me so well?

There’s something about that word. Hurt. I could have said, “punish.” I could have said, “spank.” Nice, light-hearted BDSM terms. But I didn’t want those, and neither did Rem.

Rem is such a pretty little peacock. Sandy needs to muss him, to hurt him. And for one night, he does. Then Rem doesn’t come back…

You don’t walk away from that type of honest. Not when it’s everything you’ve ever wanted.

…..

There had not been a word. Not a phone call. Was I losing my touch?

Seeing Sandy question himself is almost as erotic as when he exudes enough confidence to drown you.

I won’t spoil the ending–for that you need to read the book.

You guys know that Alison’s writing is some of my favorite erotica. But even among her many books and characters, Sandy demands I sit up and pay attention. Or bend over and beg for it.

What I really loved about “Those Boys” was getting a peek behind the Dom’s Dom exterior. We learn that Sandy has submitted–to learn what it’s like to be the submissive…and that peek is so tantalizing. I really hope that the next book in the series will give us even more of a peek under the skin. And that it will be longer—Alison, can we please get a full length novel with Sandy?

“Those Boys” by Alison Tyler is published by Go Deeper Press.

Filed under: BDSM, book reviews, LGBT | Tagged: Alison Tyler, BDSM, bisexual men, delilah night, dominant, erotica, Go Deeper Press, Those Boys, Those Girls | 2 Comments »

On the subject of banning books

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Delilah Night

I would not normally share a post from my expat blog. But the issue of banning and destroying books in the name of “family values” affects me as an expat, a parent, a reader and a writer. But Singapore–where I currently live–has decided to not just ban books from its libraries but to also destroy them, and I could not keep silent.

Libraries should be neutral repositories of information that trust their patrons to decide what is appropriate reading material for themselves and their families. They should not take a side, and begin the slippery descent that ends in Fahrenheit 451.

Go here to read my blog post “And Tango makes a Banned Book.”

Filed under: books (non-review posts), LGBT, Parenting, Writing | Tagged: book banning, delilah night, kids books, LGBT books | Leave a comment »

#OutWriters Why I write LGBT characters

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Delilah Night

As a publisher of queer books for over two decades, Cleis Press is committed to encouraging LGBTQ people to be visible, free, and well-pleasured. The presence of LGBTQ voices in literature is dear to our hearts.

In celebration of Pride month, we’re kicking off a brand new project we’re calling Out Writers. Join us—and a tide of queer voices—in celebrating the importance of LGBTQ writing. Want to get involved? Please take a moment to share a sentence or two about why queer writers are important, and/or what it means to you to write as LGBTQ author, and use the hashtag #OutWriters.

I suppose that I write LGBT characters for the most obvious reason possible–I’m also a member of the LGBT community. More to the point, I write bisexual women because I am a bisexual woman.

Too frequently I see bisexual women portrayed as bisexual as part of a threesome for the benefit of their male lover, or that a scene with another woman is painted as a “lesbian” scene. I write bisexual women because I’m writing a story right now which has a bisexual female protagonist, and had it referred to as a lesbian story.

Bi invisibility is an issue in the real world and in the literary world, and anything I can do to help mitigate that is a worthy thing.

Filed under: In Progress, process, Writing | Tagged: #outwriters, delilah night, LGBT characters | Leave a comment »

Baby it’s Hot Outside

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Delilah Night

When Alison Tyler put out the call for a charity anthology to benefit Sommer Marsden (whose husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2013) with the theme of summer, I really wanted to submit a story.

I’m deeply grateful that Alison has the kind of twisted sense of humor that let her see how a story like “Baby it’s Hot Outside”–set at Christmastime in Singapore–could fit into that theme, and I’m proud to be part of “Summer Loving.”

Here’s an excerpt.

Several days passed, during which I played tour guide. In daylight hours I wore the familiar sensible shoes of Jake’s pedantic big sister. Exploring Little India inspired a lecture on the multi-ethnic culture of Singapore. I bullied Erik into posing for a photo by the Merlion fountain while holding forth on how it became a symbol of the city.

As daylight shifted into night, though, things changed. My undernourished sex drive was surely why I’d thought Erik was flirting with me at dinner. Accepting a bite of food from his fork didn’t mean anything.

The sight of Erik asleep on my couch had me reaching for the aircon remote. Had he always had those abs under his stupid Nirvana t-shirts? A love trail disappeared into frayed cotton pajama bottoms. The urge to step into stripper heels and mount him was almost overwhelming.

There is a Singlish word—cannot—which means “‘No, not in a million years. Don’t even think about it.’”

My little brother’s best friend stirring my libido? Cannot, Caroline. Cannot.

NOW AVAILABLE AT

Filed under: acceptance, Published, Writing | Tagged: Alison Tyler, baby it's hot outside, delilah night, sommer marsden, summer loving | 2 Comments »

Nine-to-Five Fantasies

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Delilah Night

I’m so excited to share the cover of “Nine-to-Five Fantasies” with you guys. My story “O for Effort” (read an excerpt here) is one of the stories included.

Alison Tyler really knows how to mix business with pleasure, and she proves it in her adventurous Nine-to-Five Fantasies.

We’ve all heard the saying “all work and no play” makes life pretty darn dull. Alison Tyler is to the rescue with a high performance collection that offers steamy stories on the art of getting it on at work. Even the most mundane 9-to-5 job can lead to a rowdy romp that leaves people talking by the water cooler. From special offices where naughty secretaries are firmly spanked to customer service callers who hook up with pros and temps finding the boss man of their dreams, the restrictions on employee dating are wantonly and willfully broken here. Editrix Tyler and her top notch contributors are a highly creative bunch — who knew that office supplies are so sexy? Rulers are made for a good spanking, shipping tape is handy for bondage, and corner offices are custom-made for a good snog! Let’s get kinky in the cubicles!

You can pre-order it at Amazon (release date Nov 11, 2014).

Filed under: Published, Writing | Tagged: Alison Tyler, anal sex, delilah night, erotica, o for effort, published stories, sex with a professor | Leave a comment »

I also write a book blog

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Delilah Night

One of the reasons I post so rarely here is that I have a lot of other hats I wear. I try to keep this blog specific to those things that might interest people interested in the erotica author side of my personality.

I write Expat Bostonians, which is about my day to day life as an expat and larger discussions around identity, assimilation into a culture not my own, and raising third culture kids. This has been my biggest writing project of the past four years–had I not focused on this, I’d probably be on my third or fourth novel by now. But I love it, and it also serves my friends back home (and others) as a window into my life here.

A month or so ago I began Be Quiet! Mommy’s Reading… because I have spent so much effort on reviewing books on goodreads that it felt like a valuable use of my time. It’s since turned into a really good stress reliever, especially my snarking nostalgia feature (every Monday) where I rip apart books I read as a kid, like The Baby-Sitters Club. I’m also talking about other book related stuff (Divergent book v movie, When is a spoiler is a spoiler), doing book reviews, and my kids and I are teaming up for children’s book reviews.

If either of these sound interesting to you, please go and follow them. Expat Bostonians also has a facebook page where I post not only links to the blog, but articles of interest and random posts about what have you. (Worth noting, so does Delilah Night--which sees far more action than this blog).

Filed under: Writing | Tagged: be quiet mommy's reading, delilah night, expat bostonians | Leave a comment »

Twisted by Alison Tyler

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Delilah Night

**I received a free pdf copy of Twisted in exchange for a review**

We all know I’m a sucker for Alison’s anthologies, and Twisted is no different.

Today I’m doing a review of Bondage Blogging by Meadow Parker from that antho.

I was inspired to review this particular story because long ago and far away I was a sex blogger. (My former blog was deactivated and locked.) As a former blogger, I approached Bondage Blogging assuming the blogger(s) would be narrating the story. Instead, our narrator is a fan of a former couple who had a brief but popular blog highlighting their bondage exploits. (The brief but popular sex blogger is an all too true detail of the sex bloggersphere.) A slightly adorkable novice, she is soon fast in over her head when the couple begins a seduction, and then eagerly hands herself over to them. The way Parker describes the sensation of hot wax landing on your skin, particularly skin that has been recently punished had me wondering if I still had any bondage friendly candles sitting around. Any story that inspires me like that gets a thumbs up.

If you pick up Twisted, be sure to let me (and alison @msalisontyler on twitter) know which one you liked best!

Filed under: BDSM, book reviews | Tagged: Alison Tyler, Bondage Blogger, erotica review, Meadow Parker, Twisted | 1 Comment »

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