[Eros Zine] Erotica Book Review: Aqua Erotica 2
A perv’s library is not complete without some classically arousing erotica. If you aren’t a pro in this area yet, then buying an anthology of stories is the easiest way to go. This gives you a chance to dip your fingers into a number of different authors and styles. The Aqua Erotica series helps us do just that like no other collection out there. The first Aqua Erotica
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As mentioned, the book has 12 stories, all of them quite different in writing style, experience, and dare I say it, sensations delivered. The first story is by Eros Zine’s own Thomas S. Roche, titled “Too Nice a Person.” This is a damn good way to start off an erotica book — on a big high note! I don’t know anyone that couldn’t get off to this story, let alone get some good ideas from it. Thomas reveals just enough details for you to feel like you are a fly on the wall, yet he leaves enough to the imagination to make the story your own. I will say that I have not read any of Roche’s work until this piece. With that said, I am now a fan for life. His lengthy experience in the fetish/BDSM culture has given him the ability to set the scene very well, even if you have never experienced it.
The next story takes the reader into a whole other world, and smoothly so. “Taking It All” by Rachel Kramer Bussel brings us into the world of lesbianism with wonderful flair. Even if you have no interest in woman-on-woman sex (though I know few who don’t), this story is so rough, straightforward, and hot that you can’t resist sweating. Thanks to Bussel’s wonderful writing style, you don’t even know that the first scene takes place in a dyke bar until a few pages into the story. From there, the tale only gets steamier, but you’ll have to check out the book to get all the juicy details. So far, the book is two for two, so let’s keep reading.
Sliding in as the third story in the book is Mike Kimera’s “Postcards”. Anyone who has ever been in a long-distance or frequently-traveling relationship will relate to this story right away. The two similar relationships that I had weren’t even as hot as this story! This is a classic example of easier said than done; two lovers exchanging explicit, fantasy-driven e-mail postcards while one is away on various business trips. Thankfully, actions speak louder than words, and as the reader, we get a chance to experience that with them together. Yet another steamy tale that did it for me.
 Contributor Rachel Kramer Bussel. Photo byPaul Sarkis. |
“How We Play” by Debra Hyde is the most carnally-sensual pseudo-gangbang I’ve ever read. What starts out as an untimely morning fetish session between a couple turns into a mock-kidnapping and sexual adventure that you will wish you were there to experience. The descriptions are what make this story go from good to great: smells of cinnamon, a butch woman, and more moist cunts than one could imagine. I only wish there was a second part to the story where we get to find out what happens between Carl and his wife after this vivid adventure.
Penile and vaginal contact need not always be present in an erotica story to make it an “effective” one. Our next story, “Just Tell Me the Rules” by Cecilia Tan, is a perfect example of this. A 24-year-old virgin is rare, but not impossible even in our rampantly sexually active day-n-age. Though I don’t ever advocate cheating on a loved one, I respect Lila for following her gut instinct. That aspect of the story made me both like and dislike it — I frown on the practice, but it adds another dimension that drives up the erotic factor when they do actually get skin-to-skin.
After reading the short but pulse-racing lesbian action earlier in the book, I was eager to see what wonders would be present in the first gay male romp, Simon Sheppard’s “The New World,” where Jewish boy discovers his gay attractions aboard a ship headed for the States. The point where characters Jakov and Simcha first have sex is powerfully evil (according to their religion) and the pain that is felt, both emotionally and physically, makes the event all the more realistic. Something tells me that more heart-pumping events happen after the story is over; those events are the ones that I’d like to read about.
“Entry Point” is the most realistic romp in the book. A married couple, vacationing with their lesbian daughter and her partner, ravage each other. The mother’s ability to accept her daughter’s choice is a beautiful side-note to this story. Thanks to Susan’s openly-affectionate actions with her lover, her mother gains the confidence to be dominating with her normally-passive husband Harry. Sensational sex ensues in their tent, nestled in a sleeping bag for two on the hard ground. The next day, mom’s newfound confidence is quite noticeable — part of what an amazing sexual encounter will do.
Even though this tale includes lying to the one that you love, the pure emotions that Sarah and Liam feel for each other are comforting. Is the love they feel only physical? We can’t be too sure, but they do enjoy each other’s company, in every sense. Who wouldn’t want to ravage a horribly gorgeous person on a grassy cliff in Ireland next to the ocean? Sign me up for a tour of that country! Near the end of our tale, Liam wants Sarah to be his, which would involve Sarah leaving her husband, Liam abandoning his wife, and the two of them escaping to the States. The way in which this event unfolds leads me to believe that their relationship is mostly, if not completely, physical in nature. Though a bit tamer than the previous stories, this is still an arousing tale.
 Contributor Cecilia Tan. Photo by Efrain Gonzalez. |
Would you like a little scandal and murder with your raunchy sex? Then “The Yacht People” by Michael Hemmingson is for you! My first thought on this story is that it would make a wonderful Saturday-evening movie. Boy sleeps with girl; boy meets girl’s husband; boy sleeps with teenager, same girl, and girl’s husband; boy gets blackmailed… and it only gets more tangled from there. The sex scenes themselves are very exciting, and for some, the twisted tale of lies and deceit will only make their loins burn hotter than the desert. As expected, in the end, it all works out in the lead character’s favor, and he goes back to living on his yacht, alone. This is a spinning tale that is exciting in all aspects. The amount of unexpected, random details in all scenes is refreshing and stingingly vivid.
There are two kinds of surprises in this world: pleasant and scary. Bill Noble’s “Out of the Closet” combines both feelings seamlessly. A young man is invited by a former girlfriend of his to “spy” on them. After blindfolding and teasing her new girlfriend, Dan’s former girlfriend invites him out of the closet to join them. As the three bodies tangle together, one can’t help but be driven into a sexual rage, making this quite an engaging erotic story. The end of the story provides a decadent twist that I was not expecting.
The last two stories in this collection are just as much erotica as they are emotional explorations. “See You down There” by Steve Almond begins as a vivacious romp between two weightlifters and two Myrtle Beach tourists. With all the pheromones flying around, our two muscle-bound main characters recognize their own sexual connection. After this night, everything changes between the two of them and they go their separate ways. Years later, completely by chance, the two meet up again in LA. This event is quite uncomfortable, especially since we know that one will be dead by the end of the night.
Mary Anne Mohanraj’s “The Marrying Kind” is our final, erotic and emotional tale. A black man and an Indian woman have trouble dating each other because of their families. Add in the fact that he is far too gentle with her in bed, and it seems that this month-long relationship is already over. A quick romp outside in the rain revives her feelings for him, but how long it will last is anyone’s guess.
As wet as ever, Aqua Erotica 2 is definitely worth a read if you like boundary-pushing, literary erotica.
[First published online here]
