“Slave to Love”, an erotica book published by Cleis Press and edited by Alison Tyler, is a book that includes sexy tales of erotic restraint. It’s longer than most average Cleis Press novels at 224 pages in which 20 different stories are contained. This means that the average story is a little over 11 pages long – which is a lot longer than most other erotic anthologies. The front cover shows a woman in metal restraints while the backcover is plain with text describing the book. As long as you keep the cover hidden while you read, you shouldn’t have any problems reading this book out in public.
Along with the erotic restraint, I have to say that this book probably touched on quite a few other themes as well. There was a lot of power exchange elements thrown into the book as well as some impact play and lots and lots of dirty talking. I like that the book really expanded upon “erotic restraint” where you won’t just be reading about couples with fluffy scarves – there’s lots of variation in the restraint as well as the entire plot of each one of the sexy stories.
Something else I enjoyed was the length of the stories. Unlike some other anthologies where the average story is about four pages long, this book has quite a few longer stories. Not only do the longer stories include more action, but they also end up including more of a plot and backstory as well. Something neat about this book is that, while the topic is erotic restraint, it doesn’t just include that. It also includes lots of information on how the characters feel – both as a submissive and as a Dominant. For example, in one of the stories, the Master reflects upon whether he’s really the Master when all he does is find himself longing for her submission. Basically, the average-11 page stories allow you to get into the backstory and find yourself really wanting to know what happens to the characters. At some points, I was disappointed the story was over without continuing to follow the character.
Not all of the stories in this collection are “hard-core” either. Some of them included the rougher “Master/Slave” dynamic, but some of them are just a couple exploring their first bondage experience together. For example, in one of the stories, a wife comes across her husband’s secret porn stash and finds it is all about women submitting. She sits down on the couch to watch the movies, finds out she’s becoming turned on, and her husband comes home from work. Some of the stories have the dedicated Master/slave dynamic while others don’t – some of the women are actively seeking a Master while others are just looking for someone who is in charge of himself while still others find themselves being seduced by a dominant man.
While I reference men as the Dominants a lot, it’s not the case in all of the book. While the majority of the book is heterosexual couples with the male as the Dominant, that’s not all of the cases. There are two homosexual/mixed stories included and there’s also a couple of stories where we get to see the female as the Dominant including one about a professional Dominatrix. As is always the case, the majority of the book portrays the “common” while some the stories include the uncommon like homosexual or female-led relationships.
All of the included stories are well-written. I actually found myself enjoying this BDSM anthology more than I enjoy most BDSM anthologies. While none of it is “explicit” like you’d find in badly written erotica (“he put his large meat stick in my hole” ew.), it’s all very erotic and written tastefully. It still has descriptive sex, but it isn’t crass. This collection definitely has some hot stories in it as well.
In “Under my Thumb” by Thomas S. Roche, a rock star comes back to his hotel room to find a naked woman bound and gagged – of her own pleasing. She snuck in to offer him her body. While he’s running a bit late for a date, he still questions her about his motives, and when she’s clear on the fact that he’s just going to use her then leave, she still agrees and they get into some kinky sex. It’s well-written, and the fact that he’s so blunt while she still enjoys it is hot. (There’s also a surprise at the end that makes this better.)
In “The Real Prize” by Mia Underwood, a submissive girl finds herself recently released from her relationship with her Dominant. She finds herself struggling to submit and to find some rules she has to follow. When a local car dealership runs a contest to “win this car if you can be the last one still touching it!”, she signs up – and of course, meets another hot Dominant there to fall for during it.
In “Unlike the Others” by Xavier Acton, a professional female Dominatrix usually finds herself just going through the actions for the money. However, when a sculpted young male comes in seeking a spanking, she finds herself doing it for more than just the money.
Overall, I can’t really say that I was bored by a single one of the stories in this anthology. All of them were a good read. While there were a couple that weren’t as arousing as the others, I still wasn’t tempted to skip over them or anything. The entire anthology kept me gripped in its pages, and I didn’t put it down until I was completely done with it. It’s now one of my favorite BDSM-themed erotica collections, and I actually can say I’ll probably be re-reading it. I’d definitely recommend this.
