“Just Watch Me” Book Review
“Just Watch Me” is an erotic anthology book edited by Violet Blue and published by Cleis Press. The book’s tagline is “Arousing Bedside Reading”, and this book is pushed as “Erotica for Women” though it obviously is sexy enough for men as well. The book is softcover with black and white pages on the inside. The book has 227 pages divided into 20 different stories – that equals about 10 or 11 pages average for each story.
This book is populated with a lot of different scenarios and different types of people. There are quite a few different three-or-more-somes, and there are some lesbian stories as well as a lot of heterosexual stories as well. The partners aren’t always in a relationship, and sometimes they use protection as well. Mostly, the settings are what really vary in this book, and quite a few of the settings are actually really unique. For example, there aren’t really any “the two meet in a bar and just have basic, vanilla sex”. Instead, Violet Blue chose a lot of author’s stories who were sexy, hot, and just plain exciting and entertaining to read. In fact, I think Violet Blue is probably “my” author – you know, the one who tends to have the same taste in erotica as you, so you usually enjoy their anthologies. I’ve been reading a lot of her books lately, and like her other ones, “Just Watch Me” is a good book.
I know I read a lot of erotica, so this may be a moot point to someone who doesn’t read nearly as much erotica as I do, but about four or five of the stories in this book were reprints from other erotica books that I’ve read. Since I’ve read at least 30 different Cleis Press erotica anthologies, this makes perfect sense that a couple would be reposts. At the same time, the re-posts that this book had were all good stories that I really, really enjoyed the first time I read them, so even though they are re-posts, Violet Blue chose a lot of the good stories to repost in this anthology, so even if you re-read one or two, it’ll be a pleasant experience.
All of the erotica in this book is very well-written. The stories are all written with quality in mind, and the stories are pretty evenly split between plot and sex. The stories are entertaining to read aloud (though they might be a little too long to read aloud), but they also are amazingly sexy to read solo on your own too. I really enjoy the fact that, while it is “erotica for women”, the stories aren’t vague or non-descriptive; they are just as sexy as the “erotica for men” counterparts. The only difference is that the plots in this book seem to be a lot more well-developed than your average penthouse story (and written a lot classier as well).
“Just Watch Me, Rodin” by Cate Robertson is one of those reprinted stories that was still one of my favorite stories out of the book. It seems to be where the book got its name as well. This story features a woman who is serving as a model for a male artist’s paintings. He keeps posing her in different ways, nude, as she becomes more and more aroused by it. Of course, the posings become even more daring and sexual in nature as well as climax with an interesting proposition.
In “Deal” by Emerald, a woman absolutely loves to dance and lots of people compliment her on her sexy, alluring dancing. When a guy comes up to her in a club wanting to hire her to dance at his upcoming bachlor party, she agrees – but only if she also gets to have a foursome with the four single guys who will be attend the party in exchange for payment. This story is definitely fun, sexy, and has a very unique idea behind it.
I think Violet Blue did a great job assembling a bunch of sexy stories for “Just Watch Me”. The book includes a great amount of plot, and it also includes a lot of sexy, descriptive sex that is definitely worth reading. This isn’t the hottest erotica anthology I’ve read, but it’s definitely a lot better than most. Thanks to Cleis Press for providing “Just Watch Me” for review.
