Review – Naughty Bits 3 by Multiple Authors

I have never read an anthology where every story left me wanting for more. EVER.

Until this week.

This week I started and finished Naughty Bits 3 and I loved every moment. I traversed the period pieces and was sucked in by the contemporary counterparts. There was a whorehouse and a chef, a tale of want and a pirate's tale, a closed movie set and a locked library door, a mirror revealing its secrets and a wife reasoning out her future and finally a convenient feminist arrangement (take that trite piece of Jezebel tat).

Even though this was comprised of novellas you could tell that if there were a larger story to be told it would be worth rereading the small portion included in the anthology just to get to it. Each story was the perfect catapult to introduce the reader to each author and showed off all of their best writing assets. I met new to me authors Letty James, Eva Cassel (she doesn't have an author website???), Alison Richardson, and others, and visited with an old friend in Megan Hart. By the time I was done, I had a new list of authors and a continued respect for Spice Books.

Even though the copyright dates on the stories were older, the anthology was very well put together. The characters were diverse and even in the case of the historical piece where you could see similarities there were vast differences. Appropriately enough, this Naughty Bits will be out on the day after Valentine's Day. Give your naughty bit a treat and pick up a copy.

It’s not always about the sex

Yes, I do read erotica...problem?

I typically don't get offended when someone raises and eyebrow at what I'm reading. This begs the question, then why am I blogging about it? And the short answer is because I'm going to put out there for anyone who cares to know that it's not always about the sex.

I'm used to people finding problems with the cover (too much nudity), the subject matter (too much sex) or the author (who's that, what literary prize have they won?). I've built up a callous to the remarks that I get and I even have a few zingers that I will happily trade for those who overstep the boundaries in providing an opinion on what I'm reading. The easy answer is that I like a happy ending, but a better answer comes from Alison's Wonderland:

        "…we all love a happy ending (traditional or otherwise), especially when the characters turn out to be kinky."

And now I take off on a tangent.

I love it when the web universe coincides with what I'm blogging on. As I was writing this I ran across the recent SmartBitches post on Porn vs. Romance and I realized that in some cases when people in my life voice their concerns with what I read, I feel the need to explain to deaf ears why romance or erotica is not always about the sex. That's not to say I don't enjoy reading the sex scenes, because I do, but I also enjoy the interaction between the characters and the plot. Any of the authors in my must read pile: Shelley Laurenston/G.A. Aiken, Larissa Ione, Megan Hart, Lauren Dane, Jaci Burton. Lora Leigh, Lisa Lawrence, and Zane, all provide this. They build the relationship between their characters and create a universe for them to play in that offers a slice of life that I'm looking for at that time. I've even witnessed cases where the SEX itself is its own character, with idiosyncrasies of its own that must be navigated just as carefully as matters of the heart. 

And now to reign it in.

 

People read what they do because they like it. The reasons behind it don't matter. I'm done with explaining myself, but I'm pretty sure I'll never be done with people giving me the side eye. For that I'll take the more childish route and hope that their face doesn't stick that way.

BV

 

Is that porn on your ereader or are you happy to see me?

I was all set to do a montage of 'reclaiming the cunt' a la Eve Ensler style when @SmartBitches tweeted a current Slate article about ereaders and porn. Since I'm about reading all things pervy I decided to give this a spin. Only to discover that maybe there needs to be some sort of dictionary definition for porn vs. erotica vs. romance, rather than the gender line that this article dances between. Are they going to whip out ye ole tar and feather with the porn label again?

Let's start with this: I've never thought of the books I've read as porn. However, that doesn't mean that in describing them to friends, family and coworkers I haven't called them porn or romance (depending on how racy it was) at some time or another, because I have, but, my understanding of porn differs greatly from theirs and in order to hold off on a long list of questions that they would ask, I give an answer that can be easily digested and filed away.

Porn brings to mind images of Ron Jeremy, Jenna James, et al in a tangle of limbs, oily bits and cheesy 80s muzak. Erotica and romance instead bring none of these to mind, since its medium is book, either digital or dead tree, I don't have any visual other than the cover to work from. Which begs the question does the visual representation define its genre?

Or since this revolves around the Kindle, does the device determine the genre? Considering stacks of books with (sometimes, though not often) non-descript or easily stacked covers over magazines with bright images of men and women with their assets on display it's hard not to believe that's the case. Or at least that's the status quo that the Slate seems to be reporting.

I think the shift to digital has opened up the accessibility of what we can read and where. Want to sit on the train and can't wait to get to the next chapter of Compromising Positions, or Slave Women of the Czar – Book 2, pull out your ereader of choice and go for it, likewise if you want to catch up on your Penthouse letters. Hopefully, Amazon and other ebook retailers will see this is as plus, besides who cares if what you're reading is considered porn, erotica or romance at least you are reading and given some of the adult literacy statistics that's something for the plus column any day.