Ceres Press’ Fourth volume of erotica explores tales spanning from a post-photoshoot encounter between a younger man and an older woman to the coming together of a protestor and the owner of the construction company she hates. There are moments of desperation and moments of lazy, comfortable, loving sex – much variety, some very romantic, some very not and some leaning heavier on certain fetishes (bondage mostly, though there is ddlg (Daddy Dom/Little Girl) play involved in one of the stories). The series is impeccably woven together by Rachel Kramer Bussel, who edits the varying tales together with a judicious eye.  There is a wonderfully high number of contemporary romance novelists in the mix this time.

The acts and types of stories are highly varied, and there really isn’t a bad one in the bunch. Highlights include:

Mark by RosieBeth Randall, in which a dom’s demonstration of ownership turns into a lesson in self-worth for the heroine.

Essential Qualities, Alyssa Cole’s cozy, brainy tale of an intimate moment between husband and wife.

Protests of Passion, the aforementioned story by Eliza David, of protestor meeting executive.

Words with Benefits by Tamara Lush, about two Words With Friends playing friends who become so much more to one another.

Seven Sweets and Seven Sours by Megan Hart is the story of two Amish women in love and lust having one final encounter before one of them leaves their world forever.

The overall quality of the volume is quite high, the sense of eroticism beautifully enacted.  Best Women’s Erotica of the Year is just that, and will please many a reader on the long, cold winter nights ahead.

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I enjoyed this book but I did not love all of it. That's the problem with anthologies. I did love Alyssa Cole's short story though but I'm bias because I love Cole's writing in general!

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book. It was a little too strange for my liking. Only "OK."

FEMALE FRIENDLY EROTICA. I liked some stories more than others but all of them were good. My favourites were SULEIKHA SNYDER,
Alyssa Cole and Megan Hart. They were so good, I would love to read a book about their characters.

There's a lot of diversity here, you have stories about older women, bi women, queer women, black women. And I liked that the authors talk about consent.

Good erotica, sexy times but most of the characters are complex and have personalities and that made me enjoy their stories more.

There's only one story where the Male lead speaks Spanish and there were some spelling mistakes. "Cariña mía" he said and that doesn't exist, he should have said "Cariño mío". This is an ARC so I hope this get fixed before the release date.

So if you want to read good erotica with a diverse cast you should read this.

Not a horrible book but not the greatest either. Skipped some of the stories. It was ok. Seemed like a weird assortment of stories.

This is a scrumptious taster buffet filled with hot short stories - each one getting right into the action! I'd say there's something here for everyone's tastes and hotness levels. You can easily read several stories in one go or simply read one in between tasks or before bedtime.
I usually read romance or erotic romance, so I knew these stories would be hot - which I enjoyed - but lack the guaranteed happy ending. This is a great book for when you want all the action and not much more around it! :)

This compilation covers a very broad spectrum of genres so there’s something for everyone and gives you a chance to find new authors.

A great steamy romance collection that will leave you breathless. Great characters and a great storyline.

I received an arc from Netgalley. Lots of Great short stories with a lot of variety. If something is not to your taste it is easy to skip right to the next one.

4 <b> Quickie </b>

this is a collection of very quick 1-2 chapters and the dirty bits. Think of this like little naughty scenes by a ton of authors so you can see if you want to pick up a full length novel from one of them. I walked into this knowing one author and left with a ton to look into. The scenes are all types of scenes from voyeur to BDSM to normal coupling and more. there is a naughty story for everyone in this . yummm

I was in the mood for something different and have not read this genre in awhile... I got through about a 1/3 of the book and couldn't finish it... If this is the best, not sure what the worst would be.. Sorry, just very disappointing and not "finighable"

Whew! Something for everyone;-) I really enjoyed the variety of erotica in this book, some of which you could consider very risqué. A couple I was less keen on but overall excellent and I would highly recommend. I’ll be checking out some of the other work from these authors.

This was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I made myself a bubble bath and poured a glass of wine. It was a great way to enjoy this kind of anthology.

I don't always pick these kind of novels up, I will admit that it can feel naughty to purchase a novel with Erotica in the title, but I am a grown up and damn it, it sure can be fun! also, I usually don't like my stories to be so short, because to is difficult to get a feel for the characters that quickly. However, with erotica, you aren't really in it for character development.

My favorite was Take the Shot by Mica Kennedy. it was a thrill and I like the characters even in such a short story. It gave me some tingly feelings and I just flew threw it.

I am so glad I was willing to give this a read and I think you will be too if you give it a go.

*This was a free copy provided by NetGalley. all opinions are my own.*

This is an excellent anthology. I enjoyed the wide variety of stories. There were several new to me authors, and I will definitely be looking up their other titles after reading their work here. Very sexy and fun to read. I could read just a story or two when I had the time, or dive in and spend longer. A great book to have for the Kindle. I even read one story while standing in line!

This was the first of these volumes that I have read, and I found it to be very interesting. I appreciated the themes of ‘outsiders’ and ‘risk.’ I thought that some of the short stories were more successful in highlighting this than others. “Words with Benefits” by Tamara Lush was one of my favorites. I did not care for “Aftershock” by Jo Henny Wolf. In addition, some of the erotica scenes were much hotter than others. All of that is to be expected in an anthology, and this is one is mostly successful. I will definitely be looking for the next volume. Thank you to NetGalley, Cleis Press, and the editor for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stories collected in this book ain't exactly "D.H. Lawrence of the 21st century", but most of them serves their purpose, i.e. - they are well written, bold and pretty damn hot; which means they can be, for example, a nice introduction to a feisty evening with your lover/spouse. If that's what you're looking for, you sure won't be disappointed.

A fantastic collection of erotic shorts by authors familiar and new to me. The stories offer a wealth of of different types of kinks, partnerings, and characters, and is incredibly diverse.

This is a great collection of stories. They’re all sexy in their own right and there’s definitely something for everyone. There are even stories that you wouldn’t think could be sot hot, but the authors knocked it out of the park.

Kind of like reading the "good parts" of a dozen romance novels, all in a row. Interesting and varied takes on the theme of outsiders. Some are better than others, but several made me wish there was a whole novel to read because the characters introduced were so interesting. Others not so much.

A good selection of easy reading short stories. Easy to pick up and put down. The stories were not outstanding but pleasant enough to read as a bit of entertainment before bed. Thank You