After reviewing two books full of short, succulent tales, a tome with novella-length pieces was a welcomed change. A mix of literary prose and naughty adventures are just what the doctor ordered! Short and Sweet, edited by Michael Hemmingson, includes six tales, along with a pretty cheeky intro. Have you ever tried to “take a break” from the fetish world? No, that’s not a trick question — I’m serious. Well, Mr. Hemmingson tried to stop editing erotica books and… well… he changed his mind (wink); you’ll just have to read the book’s opening to find out why.

“At the Edge of Ellensburg” by Livia Llewellyn opens this collection with a steamy, backseat romp, and I’m not just saying that because it happens in the desert. At first, Telsa (the female main character) waxes and wanes on college life, but she quickly becomes obsessed with a visiting drug dealer. No matter a person’s history, some folks just have an incredible energy that is hard to resist; this is what Telsa finds when she meets Brett. Curiosity over why a guy didn’t call is common, but she takes it a bit past that. From innocently watching Brett at a party to spying on him at night from her darkened living room, Tesla crosses the line when she breaks into where Brett is staying to poke around his belongings. Other than knowing he is selling drugs on campus, Tesla knows very little about her irresistible flame.

The story quickly switches from a sexy whirlwind to a suspicious mystery in the course of a paragraph with the discovery of some unusual images. Telsa was quite sure Brett was a good person and when they went on a dreamy picnic the next day, he was in-control of all the planning. Tripping on free acid and suffering from major stab wounds, Telsa finally finds herself in a nearby town to call her roommate, only to find that she has been missing for two weeks; what exactly happened during that time can be vaguely interpreted from her nearly incoherent thoughts. Lucky to be alive, she knows she will see Brett again and that it has to end — and I don’t just mean their “relationship”. Life can throw you some uniquely dramatic curve-balls, but Tesla comes to find that she can swallow whatever is whipped her way. A dynamic and passionately driven story, Livia’s tale is just a glimpse of what this anthology offers.

Short and Sweet Editor Michael Hemmingson.

The element of mysterious magnetism is continued in the next story as well: “The Elusive Transplant” by Thomas Hudson. Good life, great friends, promising future and then BAM — something jumps into your life that flips that all around. Robbie experiences this situation to the extreme when a fellow student tells him about the Elusive Transplant. An unimaginably weird sex act, you don’t learn much about what ET actually is until the last few pages of the story. Slowly, you watch Robbie’s life fall apart as he drops out of college, goes from girlfriend to girlfriend, and gets a job working in a movie rental store; all while searching for someone, ANYone who could perform the Elusive Transplant or had more information on its origins. Each sexual encounter he has is individual in its own right, adding a very real, believable aspect to the story. Life is full of surprises and a chance meeting (and many delicious sexual romps) with an established porn star lead Robbie to a job writing B-list pornos. Not even perv pro Tracy could help him with his search for Elusive Transplant, so, as with all his other relationships, it fizzled out and he was groping blindly for help. In a pleasant twist, Robbie finds himself meeting up with the first girlfriend he has in the story, trying desperately to both get his life back on track and solve his immensely unhealthy obsession. Does he ever get to see the Elusive Transplant performed? How does jail time factor in? Hey, I’m not one to burst the author’s bubble, so read the story yourself, silly.

Eros Zine’s very own Thomas Roche wrote story number three, titled “14th Street Noise Complaint.” For the fetishes on the other side of this computer screen (which is, uh, everyone I bet), then this is the story for you. I am still waiting for day when fetish and bondage clubs are just as popular as the ones filled with strippers — a girl can dream, can’t she? Til that day, the “sinful” tools of whips, chains, dildos, and latex are sequestered to seemingly innocent domiciles … like the one on 14th Street. A house of ill repute? Oh no sir! Ladies do not have sex with their patrons; they just torture the shit out of them and get paid for it. Chasing and handcuffing criminals all day could very well lead to some tantalizing fetishes, as Rick Blake finds out just a few months into his new line of work. Of course, it doesn’t help that his partner in “crime” is a stunningly hot piece of lady who insists that, “If I’m flirting with you, you’ll know it, because you’ll be flat on your back and I’ll be riding you.” Um, hello, that sentence alone makes me randy! Officer Blake gives into his curiosity and sets up an appointment for his first session at the home on noisy 14th Street. So what’s so unique about a guy going to get whipped, cuffed, and man-handled (no pun intended)? The twist to this story is one too good to spill, but you’ve probably already figured it out by now … maybe. One of my personal favorites in this book, Thomas’s story can get anyone’s blood boiling, fetish fan or not.

A deep-rooted father complex is explored in Marilyn Jane Lewis’ “Ribbon of Darkness.” Just what does not knowing who or what your father is like do to the mind of a young girl? One version of this concept is explored through the eyes of Bobby, aging war veteran with TB, and his daughter he never knew he had, 28-year-old NYC country singer Justine. To put it openly, Justine’s mom was a slut in middle school in Nevada. Before even reaching high school, Sandy Mayhew was pregnant but had no way of knowing who the father was. Even though she has never met her father, let alone had a lick of an idea of who he is, Justine shares many characteristics with Bobby’s family. Not surprisingly, once Bobby and Justine begin to talk on the phone, they go on for hours about all the random shit the world has to offer. A bit like her mom, Justine has no real relationship — she just likes to screw around with guys who will show her some rigid discipline, because for her, that translates into love. After exchanging photos via the mail, it is clear that no paternity test is needed; the pictures tell the whole story. A trip out to Nevada is planned so Justine and Bobby can have a real chance to meet. As expected, the little time they have together flies by and Justine has some… impure thoughts. This is the point where I start to raise my eyebrow to see just how far this story is going to go. In the end, she gets the discipline she needs, but not in the way that she imagined.

The ultimate futuristic, gender-bending tale is story number five: “Thit” by Nick Mamatas. Even after the first five pages, I was still utterly lost as to what was going on. Jumping from one loosely developed character to another, I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, let alone what gender. I was determined to finish the story, and it started to make a bit more sense about halfway through. Based in the New York City area, we are at some point in the future; not so far that we have flying cars, but far enough that one machine can allow people to change from male to female in a matter of hours, going back and forth as often as they please (which seems to be needlessly frequently). Some sort of gender revolution has taken a hold of our society, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that nothing similar to this story happens in real life. Deciding to change your gender (or do away with genitalia all together) is a monstrous turning point that shouldn’t be as easy to reverse as hair color (though much more painful). In the end, I think that is just the point that the author is going for. The sex scenes are, in and of themselves, hot as fire, so the story is worth contemplating.

Embracing the concept of both short and sweet, “My Seven Lovers,” the book’s final tale by Valerie Grey, spans only eight pages. After a royal mind-fuck from the last story, this beauty is straightforward and swank. My lifetime list of lovers is a short one, but the girl in this story has more sex chauffeurs at one time then I have had in my whole life. Now, what that says about me is not the important part, but it does make for an interesting tale. Six guys, one girl, ages 18 to 70 (yeah, you read that right); this girl is brutally honest about each of her lovers and their genitalia, in specific. The subtitle of this story is “Notes Toward a Short Novel;” I’d be more interested in reading the novel when it was finished then the bits of info that have been gathered. Just when the good stuff starts to happen and we are told about the day where she had sex with all seven of her partners, the story ends and we are left to fend for ourselves. Come on — was there ever an orgy, a jealous fight, a falling out? It is clear there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Every story has a right to be told; what I may consider sensual and arousing may repulse you to the nth degree. That is the joy of variety in our world and this book embraces oodles of these aspects in just six stories. Looking for a literary treat along with your smut? Short and Sweet has the tasty morsels you are lusting for.

[First published online here]