UPDATE APRIL 2021: The Merry XXXMas Book of Erotica is no longer available in a printed copy by Cleis Press. This erotica book review remains as a reference for those who want information about the book. You can check out all of my erotica book reviews for more information about other options. While you’re here, why don’t you also check out my BDSM advice articles and femdom advice?
The Merry XXXMas Book of Erotica is a book of erotic stories edited by Alison Tyler. The book is published by Cleis Press. The book is 186 pages long, and it contains 21 different erotic holiday stories. The book follows the traditional Cleis Press format with black and white pages on the inside, and it features a woman in Christmas lights with fishnet stockings on the front. As the title is really large on the cover, I’d say that this book doesn’t really work for public reading like some of the other Cleis Press titles can.
The theme of this book, as you can guess, is the Holiday season. Some specifically seem towards Christmas, but a lot of them just seem to be taking place in the general “holiday” season. All of the stories, in one way or another, relate to the Holiday season and the characters that go along with the holiday season (Santa, etc.).
I was really, really impressed by how all of the contributing authors took this theme. It wasn’t all just “Oh, it’s the holidays. I’m going to have sex by this Christmas tree”. No, it really was very varied! There were stories about Santa fantasies, stories about what happens when you go home to your hometown for the Holidays, stories about visits to a sex toy store on the day after Christmas, stories about Holiday travel, and so many other stories. That’s the neat part about this book. You don’t seem to be stuck in the “stereotypical” Holiday erotica mold, and Alison Tyler did a fantastic job of selecting stories that broke out of the mold and really took the theme to new levels.
As always, like in all Cleis Press erotica, you can expect well-written erotica that is going to arouse you. Not all the pieces in this book are arousing, but the majority certainly are, and with the large variety included in the book, most people will be able to find the vast majority of the stories to their taste. There are some bondage stories, some homosexual stories, and other types of stories as well. Again, the book did a great job of including a huge variety of stories to please everyone.
In “O Naughty Night” by Simone Harlow, a woman receives mysterious gifts on her work desk every day – and they aren’t work-appropriate. Her surprise 12 Days of Christmas culminates when the gift-giver asks her to wear and bring all of her new items to the company work event. This one includes a fun, surprise ending, and it’s very hot.
In “Rapt” by Saskia Walker, a busy businesswoman finds herself having to share a Taxi with another man in order to make it back in time for Christmas. When she finds that one of her friends snuck a surprise “adult” toy into her purse that tumbles into her lap, things turn naughty.
There was one story that really made me scratch my head, and surprisingly, Alison chose it as the headlining story to start off the book. It is “Gifts from Santa” written by Tsaurah Litzky. In the story, the main female character is dreaming that Santa came down the chimney with naughty things in mind. This story wouldn’t have been so bad except half-way through the fantasy, Santa’s penis becomes a “paddle-cock” and he paddles her with his new-found paddle. It’s honestly a bit odd, but I’m sure, somewhere, it’s definitely what someone was looking for in their erotica.
Overall, if you want to take the holiday spirit of the holiday season even further, The Merry XXXMas Book of Erotica does just that. Not only do you get a good selection of stories and creative interpretations of the Holiday theme, but you also get some hot stories to read! Thanks to Cleis Press for providing these holiday erotic stories for my The Merry XXXMas Book of Erotica review.
