Red Velvet and Absinthe

BDSM Book Reviews sent me another book to review, this one an anthology called Red Velvet and Absinthe. This is a collection of ‘paranormal erotic romance’ edited by Mitzi Szereto. What are ‘paranormal erotic’ stories, you ask? Well, simply put, they’re stories where one or more of the main characters are some type of paranormal creature (i.e. vampire, werewolf, ghost, etc.) and they have a romantic erotic encounter with another character.  With the whole vampire/werewolf craze these days, its no surprise to see it represented in erotica as well.

All together, this book contains fifteen stories by different authors.  The stories vary in length with the shortest being twelve pages and the longest being twenty pages.  There are also sections about the authors and the editor which bring the book to a total of 225 pages.  As always, here are a few of my favorite stories:

Snowlight, Moonlight by Rose de Fer: This story is about a woman who wakes up disoriented in a strangers home.  She remembers snow and blood and the sounds of wolves howling in the night, but that’s it.  She thinks she’s alone at first and then a man comes into the room.  When she wakes next she feels as though she is burning with fever and she has two hungers.  Food and sex.  She wants her host so badly but he doesn’t take advantage of her.  She sleeps again to wake to him waiting for her and to discover that she has been attacked by werewolves and that is why she has been feeling so strangely.  They talk about what this means to her life now and he offers to let her stay and during this talk they finally break and have intense and dangerous sex.  She attempts to turn him with a bite and he springs into dominant action.  He ties her tightly down to the bed to allow her to calm down and tells her to come find him when she does.  She finds him in his lab where another hot scene ensues and then he does as he says he will.  He takes care of her from then on.

 

Cover Him with Darkness by Janine Ashbless- This story is about a young girl, Milja, who lives in a remote mountain town in Europe with her father.  Since she was seven years old she has been visiting a man that is kept chained inside a cavern in the mountain to bring him food and water.  Her father brought her to see him and tell her that this is her family’s legacy: to watch over and keep this man chained to his rock.  Over time, she becomes fascinated and enamored with the man.  He never changes over the years, even as she gets older.  One day, when she was eighteen, she went to him and couldn’t help herself anymore.  She climbed atop him, bound as he was, and took him into her hands until he came across her belly.  She was immediately sent away to the United States to live with a cousin.  Years pass and no other man is good enough.  Finally, she has to return because her father is not well.  She returns to the cave and releases the man and then finally gets what she has been longing for all these years.  He takes her roughly on the cold stone, his strength still good even after all those years bound.  When they finally both come, he asks how to get out and she fears he will leave her or be destroyed as the bad man her father claimed he was.  You’ll have to read the story to find out how it ends though!

La Belle Morte by Zander Vyne- Elizabeth is in jail.  She’s been accused of being a thief by her former employer because she refused to sleep with him.  He has gotten word to her that if she will just agree to be his mistress he will withdraw the claim and she can come home.  Elizabeth refuses.  She is dirty and tired and cold but she won’t give in.  The one luxury she gets is paper and pencil so she writes letters to her former employer  and notes for herself and flies them down into the courtyard.  One day a man visits her and tells her to have faith.  He brings her a ribbon for her hair and soap and water.  He tells her he wants to help her but she must have faith.  He reveals that he has found some of her notes.  He visits her several more times, once bringing a rope and showing her how fear and pleasure can be linked as he teases her with the rope around her neck.  The next visit he finally gives her his name, William, but not before they have rough and heady sex full of gripping and tearing at each other in need.  She is taken to the gallows soon after and is ready and accepting of her fate.  As she is about to go up, the hangman whispers ‘Have faith’.

These were my favorite stories from the book.  There were definitely some runners-up such as ‘Milady’s Bath’ and ‘The Queen’ which both have sexy and unique stories.  Some of the other stories were a little too sad or just a little odd.   But for the most part, an enjoyable read.  Thanks to BDSM Book Reviews for providing this free for an honest review!

Books

2 comments


  1. Pingback: Bzzingbee reviews Red Velvet and Absinthe | Red Velvet and Absinthe

  2. Pingback: Bzzingbee reviews Red Velvet and Absinthe | Red Velvet and Absinthe

Leave a Reply