“Irresistible” Erotic Reading Review
“Irresistible” by Cleis Press is a book of erotic stories edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and published by Cleis Press. This book of erotica follows the same style format as most Cleis Press novels, and it’s a paperback book of average size. This erotic anthology contains 16 stories in 206 pages. The front cover does show a tastefully-blocked nude couple embracing, though, so this book may not be good for reading in public.
The theme for this book is “erotic romance for couples”. This book is all about how couples in long-term relationships spice up their sex lives. Many erotic anthologies feature couples who meet for the first time and have fantastic, one-night stands. Rachel Kramer Bussel wanted this anthology to focus on couples who were already in long-term relationships spicing up their sex lives with these sex stories. For that reason, the majority of the book is a male and female for the couplings.
The book, like most Cleis Press erotic anthologies, is a pleasure to read through. I’m not very fond of the theme of long-term couples spicing things up, but all of the stories really took the theme in a different manner. In some, the workplace was involved, and in others, it was just small things they did at home to make the difference. In others, it included being in public, and in yet others, it included things like trying to win back a partner after an affair or things like that.
One of my favorite stories was “The Pact” by Elizabeth Coldwell. In it, a man and woman (best friends) make a pact to meet back together when they’re 40 if they aren’t married yet. When they meet up, they both find that they have a sexual attraction towards one another, but they attempt to deny it. The story continues like that, and I’m sure you can guess where it leads.
One story that, while I didn’t find arousing at all, and if I had been using it for that purpose, it wouldn’t have been a good one, but I did think was a good piece of literature. It was “Six Eyes, Two Ears” by Kris Adams. In this story, a tribal-like atmosphere is described with a male who is in a marriage with a woman who then takes a second woman. And then the second woman finds out that he took someone else, and the story just continues. It’s an interesting look at the interaction between the characters, but it’s a little more depressing than erotica.
The stories, in general, do a great job of having character development and letting you understand where the couple is in that point in their lives. The stories aren’t always as red-hot as I’m used to with other anthologies, but for the most part, the stories are still pretty hot, and they are enjoyable to read. For those who want something a bit more realistic than your typical one-night-stand books, this may be exactly what you’re after.
If you want your erotica to be more realistic for your point in life or just want inspiration for what you can do for your own long-term relationship, Irresistible has a good selection of erotica to read. The erotica doesn’t seem to be quite as red-hot as other erotica books, but it still has a good selection of arousing stories to read. Thanks to Cleis Press for sending Irresistible for review.
The Erotic Reading Review is a regular column written by Kayla. This column brings you reviews over erotica, instructional, and other types of sex-related books.
