“Bound by Lust” Erotic Reading Book Review

“Bound By Lust“, a Cleis Press erotic anthology, is edited by Shanna Germain and includes a foreword by Alison Tyler. With a tagline of “Romantic Stories of Submission and Sensuality”, this book of erotic stories includes 211 pages and has different 19 stories. The front of the book clearly shows a sensual picture, so for reading in public, it’s probably best that you try to hide the cover from view.

The theme for this book is that all of the stories include both romance and aspects of BDSM. Most erotica anthology books usually focus just on the idea of BDSM, and in many cases, it may be between strangers or people who just met, and in some cases, it’s between people who are in a relationship. Well, in this erotic anthology, all of the stories are stories of people in relationships who also have a romantic aspect to their BDSM as well.

I actually found myself really enjoying this collection, but I will say that most of the stories are not quite as “hardcore” BDSM as you can usually find in most non-romance BDSM erotica anthologies. This didn’t really bother me, though. The stories were all well-constructed, and I found myself getting an attachment or going “aww” at the same time as reading the stories. They were very well written, and while definitely hot, the book also has a touch of romance to it which will appeal to any couple who is looking to experiment with kinky things but may not be all that interested in kink without romance.

In particular, I think it is similar to 50 Shades of Grey -type of kink. The kink is there, and you can definitely read about it, but at the same time, it’s something the characters are doing to try something new, feel pleasure from it, or just enjoy each other’s preferences. If you do like some romance in your erotica, though, this book will definitely appeal to hardcore kinksters as well; just don’t expect large amounts of debasement or anything like that. But it’s not all soft, fluffy scarves either, so it’s a nice mixture between the two extremes.

It’s just hard to explain the book. It’s a fantastic erotic anthology, and I would recommend it to anyone. It’s a bit softer type of kink than most of the Cleis Press erotic anthologies, but the mixture of romance and kink really helps the book stand out in a way that’s both enjoyable and captiviating to read while also being arousing and sexy.

Just to give you an idea of what the book is about, here are some of my favorite stories:

“Marcelle” by Alana Noel Voth: This is probably the most stand-out story out of the entire book. It’s just a very interesting story, but I wouldn’t call it hot by any means. However, it captured my attention, and I couldn’t put it down. I don’t even have words to describe the story itself, but it’s basically about a man, who’s down on his luck, who finds a relationship with a female, and he finds that punishment and kink makes him feel loved.

“Crossing the Line” by Dominic Santi: The main male character knows that this woman’s for him, but he still hasn’t told her that he’s a crossdresser. When he finally asks her to marry him and reveals his secret, he finds that he has secrets of her own – and he ends up loving them.

“Brushstrokes” by Kristina Wright: A couple is doing fantastically, but she finds that she’s getting a bit bored in bed. However, due to her shy upbringing, she really doesn’t know how to say it or let him know. An interesting day with her paintbrush turns things around, though, and she finds the courage to speak her desires.

If you like a touch of romance with your BDSM erotica and prefer for the two main characters to have a relationship and a deep connection in your erotica, Bound by Lust is a fantastic collection. The stories weren’t always red-hot, but there wasn’t a single one that I disliked, and the connection between the characters was always well-done and believable. In addition to just being well-written erotica, most of the stories also function as well-written fiction, too, so you get quite a bit of sexy fun in this book! Thanks to Cleis Press for providing Bound By Lust for review.