I enjoy contemporary romance, and I enjoyed this anthology. I didn't love every vignette, but I liked almost all of them and I think there's something here for everyone. The stories are great as something to pick up for a short read, anytime.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. While the concept is interesting--a bunch of lauded, successful authors submitting anonymous contributions on the topic of sex--the execution is uneven. Like any anthology, some stories will appeal and some won't. What I appreciated most was the breadth of topics covered. There are stories about thrilling one-time encounters and long-married love. Some are hardcore. Others are sweet. Some are gritty. Some are fanciful. Some authors managed to achieve an impressive amount of world-building in their short stories and the glimpse into those worlds was at least as interesting as the salacious bits.

The overall theme seems to be frustration; the tension between what we want and what we actually have. I don't regret reading this and I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking it up, but I'm not sure how long it's going to stay with me.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Like all anthologies, there is likely something for everyone, but you won't like everything. There is a good mix of stories that are more nonconventional and more standard/tame erotic encounters. The stories were all well-written (even the ones that I didn't personally enjoy). I think this collection manages to bring in a variety of different stories within the genre to keep things fresh throughout th book.

The premise of this book was fascinating and I felt that some of the stories were super well written and steamy, but others fell flat for me. I also think that after several stories, the titillation and steaminess started to become rote and repetitive, I found myself reading several stories but then needing a break as all of them started to blend together since the plots were always so similar in vocabulary and story, I definitely think it's worth a read but not all in one sitting.

Holy cow. I don't know how I can review this for the retail sites- which have all sorts of rules about words and subjects. That said, it's not all salacious (well, some of the stories are). It's an interesting and entertaining read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Some of these are decent. Some are terrible. The rest are just underwhelming. I’m not sure all the authors understood the assignment. There’s such an elitist snobbery in a bunch of literary authors deciding to titillate the world with this collection. Do they think this is erotica? Have any of them read good contemporary erotica (or a steamy scene in a romance novel)? It doesn’t seem like most have, and as a result their stories are not remotely sexy.

Also, why do they have to be anonymous? Are they embarrassed? Do they think it will sully their reputations in the pretentious world of literary fiction? I was honestly bored by most of their efforts. Do yourself a favor and read a real collection of erotica instead.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

nothing is more freeing than reading about sex-positive stories. i really enjoyed this. it’s such a great thing to finally come across stories where sex is talk in its reality and not in some fantasy-way!

First off, in concept, this book is great. However, the execution ... well, the execution was terrible! This book is touted as a collection of short stories that are "erotic" and that the concept was to allow the authors the freedom to write anything their heart desired, under the guise of anonymity. I'm not certain that the authors understood the assignment. I didn't find any of the short stories to be particularly "erotic". The first one was interesting ... then they all went downhill fast from there. Such a shame because this could have been SUCH a great book had the authors actually completed the task!

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

So the premise is actually really cool. It’s a collection of short stories from 27 authors (winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, PEN Awards, etc.). All of the authors are listed in alphabetical order at the beginning so that you do not know the particular author of the story that follows. Exciting, right? It kinda vibes with the title of book, which was intended.
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That being said, I really struggled to stay engaged with this book. Although some of the stories were very interesting(🔥), there were far too many in between that missed the mark. I just couldn’t recover my interest after those ones.
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*I want to thank NetGalley and Scribner for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

As someone who loves to read about "taboo" subjects such as sex, I found this anthology quite interesting. The concept: authors anonymously write stories about sex, in any form, without any judgement due to their usually attached name. The genres span from fantasy to sci-fi to retold fairy tales, and it shows how different sex can be in every situation. The anthology started out strong with the first few stories, but I was skimming some of the stories by the time I was about 75% of the way through. I feel like I'll give this anthology another try when I'm not so overwhelmed with reading, and I know that I will get something new out of each read.

I love the idea behind Anonymous Sex--that we know which authors contributed to the anthology but don't know which story belongs to which writer. I've enjoyed reading other work by some of these contributors in the past, particularly Jason Reynolds, Louise Erdrich, and Téa Obreht, so I was excited to read something new from both familiar and unfamiliar authors. One drawback to the collection is that the theme of "erotic stories" is so broad there is very little flow or cohesion. That's not always unexpected in a short story collection, but the stories were often so different as to be jarring and confusing when moving from one to the next. I think the best way to have read this would have been very slowly, with just one story at a time and breaks in between.
I also felt that my interest in the stories varied wildly. Some were excellent and some disappointing. Some were strange, occasionally in a good way but also often in a bad way. Some were just plain boring. A few contributions were good enough to have made it worth the read for me, but overall I didn't find myself that interested and probably wouldn't recommend it.

This was a great collection of short stories from start to finish. It was such an interesting and unique premise - but beyond that it actually followed through on the stated goal. I enjoyed every single story in this collection and I’m only sad that it’s over.

his is such a clever concept as the authors are not attributed. The stories did leave me guessing about who wrote what! The book offers short essays & presents a wide variety- definitely something for everyone. Enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley & Scribner for the ARC.

The concept of this book was interesting. There was a variety of stories, which overall is a good thing, but some were poorly written. I found myself skimming in some sections. 2.5/5 stars

I was super looking forward to this one with Jordan as an editor along with the concept of authors submitting their super sexy stories but without attribution within the short story collection. There were some heavy-hitters in the lineup. However I got the feeling when I had just started it that I was going to be disappointed as a whole with the anthology. And it didn't get better as I moved through a few more, unfortunately. The book had the overall vibe that I didn't feel.

Now again, title, cover, concept-- 100%, execution-- 25%.

A bold anthology of short stories, each written anonymously so we don't know which author penned what.

The cover of anonymity allowed each writer to let their creativity and imagination run free, with a fantastic end result. This collection covered everything --- from first times to married couples to escorts to futuristic encounters. Some of the stories really nailed it (no pun intended) and the book as a whole was a quick and interesting read.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley. So thanks!
   The concept of this book was pretty great. I find myself struggling to read two books at once, feeling like I am going to confuse myself and not give the adequate attention that they all deserve. Having short stories really appealed to me in that aspect. The different writing styles also were phenomenal to ready, did I like every story? No, but I found several that I cannot get out of my brain. Rapunzel Rapunzel? Loved it, probably my favorite along with Asphodel, Find Me and Ode etc Amo to just name the prominent ones that got stuck in my brain. I would say the biggest downfall is that it's SO anonymous that I can't follow up with the authors whose work I loved BUT it's also a huge reason why I loved this work as well. Should the collaborators who put this work together publish another, I would get it.

A really good collection for people looking to give erotica a try!

I occasionally read erotica, but often find that it's too fetishy or too crude to be enjoyable, or, on the flip side, that it's more like a romance novel and it's too tame to actually be erotica. This one is perfect! It's intriguing without being crazy crude or vulgar, there's a story line but it's not a lengthy romance, it's just all around a really good choice for the occasional reader or someone new to the genre!

I agree with other reviewers that some of these stories are meh. But wow, some of them are great. I wish I knew who wrote which chapter, because I'd love to follow up with other stories/books by the same authors.

The first story, History Lesson, had me hooked. The main character gives herself permission to have kinky sex once a year with a certain someone at an annual conference. Love it. One Day in the Life of Josephine Bellanote Munro is now possibly one of my favorite short stories of all time. Funny, honest, lustful but sweet. I adored it.

There are some duds in between, maybe even more duds than not. Truthfully, I wish more of the authors had chosen to talk about sex with levity, lightness, humor. No need to be so serious about it all, you know? But the stories that I liked I LOVED, and I would encourage anyone to flip through this collection to find something that moves them.

This was a series or semi-erotic/erotic short stories written by authors listed. All authors of the short stories are listed, but the short stories themselves are anonymous in terms that you are left guessing which of the authors wrote each story. The stories varied in their eroticism levels. I also liked how the anonymity allowed for a safe space for creative sexual ideas and writing to flow. Some stories were different with very abstract/almost paranormal premises while others focused heavily on the religion comparison. There were some with relationships and some with beginning fantasies. There are stories to fit everyone and plenty of ideas to really get one thinking in almost a sexual awakening. Maybe so people do not feel alone in their thoughts.