Jan 302014
 

Best Lesbian Erotica 2014

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Title: Best Lesbian Erotica 2014
Author: Various – Edited by Kathleen Warnock
Publishing Company: Cleis Press
Trade Paper
ISBN 978-1-62778-002-5
5 1/2 x 8, 264 pages

Taken from Cleis Press:

Hailed as “mesmerizing,” Best Lesbian Erotica 2014 is as smart as it is sensual. Goldie-nominated editor Kathleen Warnock has collected stories from around the globe, giving this year’s edition many refreshing points of view. Sabina dives into bed with just the wrong person for an encounter that feels so right in Diana Cage’s story, “Hey, Stranger.” The red-hot romance in “Stitch and Bitch,” by A. L. Simonds, starts with a meet-cute at a crochet basics class. A femme offers sweet treats and a private after-party to the “Birthday Butch” in Teresa Noelle Roberts’s tease. The women in this volume are so realistic you can almost feel the warmth of their bodies in your hands. Evocative and erotic, this commanding collection will hold you right to the very last page.

With stories by: Anamika, Amal Arabi, Cheyenne Blue, Diana Cage, Cheryl Dunye, Nairne Holtz, Cheryl Jimmerson, D. L. King, Catherine Lundoff, Teresa Noelle Roberts, Sarah Schulman, Sinclair Sexsmith, A. L. Simonds, Sam Tweed, Dolar Vasani, Sharon Wachsler, Lucien C. West, Xan West

Nairne Holtz, excerpt from “Call for Submission” in Best Lesbian Erotica 2014

At home, I emailed Cyn, but she didn’t reply. A month later, she invited me to be her Facebook friend, and I checked out her profile. I discovered she was “in a relationship” and had about four hundred friends. I wasn’t going to be some cheap Facebook conquest—I ignored her invitation. Then the email came, asking me to submit a sexual fantasy to her anthology, and I reconsidered the Facebook invite. Did I want to miss future calls for submission? As I clicked on accept, I told myself I was joining her network for what were strictly professional reasons. But when I saw her relationship status had changed to “in an open relationship,” I felt an unbidden thrill.

I began writing a sexual fantasy for her. Writing and rewriting it put me into a sexual fever, my thoughts a non-stop erotic cabaret, blinking lights, on, on, on. Cyn was my muse, even though a chubby black stud hardly fit the traditional image of a Grecian goddess. Sometimes, after writing for an hour I would lie down and finger myself to a climax, a wisp of an orgasm because I was so excited.

I sent my story to Cyn, who sent me a reply the next day: I want this story!

But did she want me? And if so, how available was she? I emailed her to say the story was hers if she sent me a contract, and got a response with an attachment. I expected it to be a contract, but instead she had sent me a story. Since I was a freelance editor, she wondered, would I be kind enough to give her some constructive criticism?

I printed her story and settled onto my couch to read it. Bombs detonate, superpowers fall, the human genome is nothing but a toy for scientists now, but Vegas is still the place to gamble and get laid. The government hasn’t really cleaned up Nevada since the last nuclear attack. To go to the desert you have to be genetically modified to withstand cancer (who would have thought nuclear war would be what taught us to cure cancer?), but for a cyborg like me whose body is part machine, it’s not a problem.

I read on. The cyborg had been hired to track down a stripper in Las Vegas. To get close to her, the cyborg paid for a lap dance, and then handcuffed her quarry. Ostensibly, the cyborg was in charge, but the dancer’s resistance made their roles jump like summer lightning—moving, glowing electrons. It was obvious to me that Cyn, like me, enjoyed a good power struggle.

It felt like Cyn was talking to me through her story, using it as a way to flirt, but I wasn’t sure if we were compatible. In both the story she sent and her story in Dyke Dimensions, her butch protagonists were tops who didn’t come. Did Cyn always have to be in control? Was she a stone butch? When I sent her my editing suggestions, I couldn’t resist adding a postscript: “Do your butch characters ever get done?”

Cyn thanked me for my comments on her story and ignored the postscript. I had to have an answer, if only to improve my fantasy life, so I went to a gay bookstore and pawed through Cyn’s work, looking for a scene where a femme makes love to a butch…but couldn’t find one.

Instead, I spotted Cyn on the cover of a lesbian magazine holding hands with a woman I recognized, Vixen Swift, the illustrious lesbian romance author. Vixen’s red hair had been tucked into a classic chignon, and she was wearing one of her signature corsets with her large breasts on full display. The article described Cyn and Vixen as a “celesbian” couple. Appar- ently, they had been hand-fasted for a number of years. With a shudder, I dropped the magazine onto the rack. Vixen and I had been introduced on at least three occasions, and each time she had to be reminded of who I was.

I went over to another section and picked up Vixen’s latest release, and brought it to the counter along with Chrome Stud, the first book in Cyn’s cyberpunk series.

At home, I began to read Vixen’s novel, Soul Mate, which featured a “playa” who meets “a titian-haired queen with piercing blue eyes.” (Nouns in Vixen’s novel were always accompanied by a convoy of adjectives.) When I finished the book, I felt like throwing it across the room. The story was so formulaic: a bad boi, who is afraid of intimacy because she was once fucked over by a heartless bitch, is saved by the love of a good femme.

Since when were lesbians afraid of intimacy anyway? I wished there were women my age—midthirties—who didn’t carry any more baggage than one bad relationship, whose only reason for not having a partner was fear of being hurt and not fear of responsibility.

I also wondered why Vixen, if she was in an open relation- ship, wrote such sappy, moralistic books. I had to give her some credit: the sex scenes, with which her novel brimmed, were spicy and accomplished. Especially the ones where the queen made love to her boi by going down on her while fucking her with three fingers, a scenario that sounded vaguely familiar.

I plucked Dyke Dimensions from my bookshelf and reread Vixen’s sex scene between a vampire and a werewolf. The vampire licked the werewolf and penetrated her with three fingers.

Was this how Cyn liked to be done? Reality often squirms beneath the stories writers choose to tell, and we give it away when we repeat ourselves.

Nairne Holtz is the author of This One’s Going to Last Forever (Insomniac, 2009), a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and The Skin Beneath (Insomniac, 2007), which was shortlisted for Quebec’s McAuslan Prize. Currently, she lives in Toronto with her lover, works as a librarian and is writing another novel.

Best Lesbian Erotica is available now from Cleis Press in paperback for $15.95 (if you spend $25 or more you get free shipping!) and in Kindle edition on Amazon for $9.99 (on sale now).
cleispress
Jan 162014
 

Congrats to Camryn Jones and AnotherRandomPervert for winning my giveaway!

Thank you to all who have entered and to OhMiBod for sponsoring!

***

And here I am to present you with another giveaway!

Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to celebrate love.  Whether you and your partner have big plans, or you’ll be spending the day loving on yourself, there’s always a reason to celebrate!  OhMiBod and I have teamed up to help you celebrate with something new!

ohmibod

By entering this giveaway, you’ll have the chance to win either the Lovelife Share or the Lovelife Discover from OhMiBod!  So whether you’re flying solo this year, or will be spending the day with your lover, at least one of these prizes will work for you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • Two winners will be chosen – one for each prize
  • Giveaway is open from Jan 16 through Feb 6th @ 12 am (EST)
  • Open to US and CA
  • Products are supplied by OhMiBod
  • OhMiBod is responsible for shipping the items
  • The winner will be chosen once the giveaway has ended and will have one week to respond before another is chosen

A huge thank you to OhMiBod for sponsoring this giveaway!

lovelife

Jan 112014
 

Well, allow me to help you with that!  Revel Body and I have teamed up to present you with my first giveaway of 2014!  By entering this giveaway, you’re getting the chance to not only receive the Revel Body, but all the attachments and the travel kit!  Umm, yes please!

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revel

If you haven’t heard of the Revel Body before, that’s okay!  My review contains all kinds of information that will help you understand the product before you receive it, and I also have a review that goes over each of the attachments and travel kit.  If that isn’t enough for you, you can also check out the video below.

Meet the Revel Body Sonic Vibrator from Revel Body on Vimeo.

Enter here for your chance to win this innovative product!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • One winner will receive the Revel Body, all four attachments, and the travel kit
  • Giveaway is open from Jan. 11th through Feb. 1st @ 12 am
  • Open Worldwide
  • Products are supplied by Revel Body
  • Revel Body is responsible for shipping the prize
  • The winner will be emailed once the giveaway has ended and will have one week to respond before another is chosen

Huge thank you to Revel Body for sponsoring this giveaway! 

Dec 272013
 

This past month has been beyond busy in the POP household.  The holidays have really wiped me out and have taken away 99% of my free time.  Thanksgiving was full of good food and good company, my middle daughter turned 5 years old, and Christmas has been full of crafting with the kids and enjoying each other’s company.  My oldest daughter has been on school vacation and we’ve been spending lots of time together, making gifts for family and friends, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Here’s a little taste of what we’ve made over the past month:

craftsI also made three blankets, have a hat to knit, and a scarf currently on the needles.  This is all on top of the typical craziness of buying, wrapping, decorating, baking, etc. that the holidays bring.  I’ve been staying up into the early hours of the morning, and waking up only a few hours later with the kids.  I’m exhausted, but it’s all been worth it!

I have so many awesome products to review, and I want to first apologize to my affiliates and sponsors for taking longer than normal to write my reviews.  I’ll be working hard over the new month to catch up on everything and truly appreciate your patience!

To my readers, I’m so sorry I haven’t been posting as much.  As you can tell I’ve been super busy with the family and have been doing my best just to get through the holidays without passing out from exhaustion.  I’ll get back into the swing of things, I’m not going anywhere!

My giveaway recently ended, and @Nikismithwin was the winner!  I’ll have your package sent out in a few days!  I have other giveaways already planned, so come back soon to see what else you could win.

I’m going to work hard at reworking my review style, giving you the most important information without boring you in the process.  I’ll still be just as thorough, but will be changing things to appeal to a wider audience.  I want everyone to enjoy and benefit from what my blog has to offer.

If you have any suggestions for ways I can improve my blog and/or my reviews, I would love to hear them!  I want this to be a place you each enjoy visiting and reading!

With that, I hope you all were able to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends and made beautiful memories together!

 

Dec 022013
 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this time of the year is extremely busy in the Property Of Potter household.  It’s easy to get caught up in the stress of everything going on.  Family visiting, special dinners to cook, gifts to make, and all that goes along with the holiday season.  Pile the added stress on top of your daily life and it’s difficult to remain connected with your partner.

I put together this little kit with hopes it will help YOU reconnect with YOUR partner during this busy time.  So what does it contain?

  • Bedded Bliss: A Couple’s Guide to Lust Ever After By Kristina Wright*
  • 2 oz bottle of SpunkLube Pure Silicone*
  • Hearts Desire Warming Massager from Classic Erotica
  • Pheromone Soy Massage Candle (Vanilla Sugar) from Classic Erotica
  • Pleasure Feather from Sportsheets
  • Silky Ties
  • Record Bowl

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* Bedded Bliss: A Couple’s Guide to Lust Ever After By Kristina Wright is sponsored by Cleis Press
* 2 oz bottle of SpunkLube Pure Silicone is sponsored by SpunkLube
The record bowl was formed by me, and all other items were provided by me.  The Warming Massager was opened to make sure nothing was wrong with it, and tags have been removed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • There is one prize for one winner
  • Giveaway is open from Dec 2 through Dec 23 @ 12 am
  • Open Worldwide, but outside the US pays shipping
  • I’m responsible for shipping the prize to the winner
  • The winner will be emailed once the giveaway has ended and will have one week to respond before another winner is chosen.

cleispress

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Nov 162013
 

The fabulous people at SheVibe and I have teamed up to bring you yet another awesome giveaway!  Christmas is getting closer and closer and there’s no better time to win a $50 gift card to spend on yourself or someone you love!

SheVibe is full of high end toys, the newest of new releases, and awesome sales!  Trust me when I say you’re not going to want to miss out on this one!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • There is one prize for one winner
  • Giveaway is open from Nov 16 through Nov 30 @ 12 am
  • Open Worldwide (but will have special instructions if outside of US)
  • SheVibe is responsible for providing the gift card to the winner
  • The winner will be emailed once the giveaway has ended and will have one week to respond before another winner is chosen.

Nov 162013
 

I had so much fun with this giveaway, and loved the fact that it allowed YOU to choose just what you wanted to win!  I always want to to my best to appeal to as many as possible, and a gift card certainly helps with that!

Another huge thank you to TabuToys for sponsoring this giveaway.  If you haven’t checked out their online shop, make sure you stop and have a look around!

Without further ado, the winner of the $50 Shopping Spree to TabuToys is….

Camryn Jones!

Congrats and enjoy your shopping spree!  I do hope you’ll check back and let us know what you’ve decided to purchase!

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Nov 052013
 

Recently I had the pleasure of receiving and reviewing Alison Tyler’s latest book, Dark Secret Love: A Story of Submission.  From page one I was hooked, learning about Alison Tyler through her memoir inspired novel, and traveling with Samantha on her journey of self discovery and acceptance.

lh-usa_botm_oct13-340x340pxv2It comes as no surprise to me that Lovehoney has chosen this as their Book of the Month.  I’m far from being the only reader raving about this well written novel, and now is the best time to purchase it (if you haven’t already!).

By you purchasing Dark Secret Love: A Story of Submission from Lovehoney, you’ll receive a Silver Collection Silky Bondage Restraint absolutely free!

When you add the book to your cart the restraint will automatically be added, and as always, you get totally free shipping!

Don’t miss your chance to read the book everyone is raving about, AND receive a fun new bedroom accessory!

Nov 022013
 
Who doesn't love shopping?

The wonderful people at TabuToys have been generous enough to offer a $50 shopping spree to one lucky winner!!  Christmas is fast approaching, what better time to treat your lover (or yourself) to some sexy goodies? a Rafflecopter giveaway Giveaway is open Nov. 2 through Nov. 16 @ 12 am Open to Continental US only  [...]

Nov 012013
 
My Dark Secret Love giveaway has ended!

I love hosting giveaways, it brings me so much happiness to offer something for free to one lucky winner!  I wish I could give everyone who enters a little something, but I at least have the pleasure of making one person’s day! Thank you all for taking the time to enter my Dark Secret Love [...]