Bedding Down: A Collection of Winter Erotica

While I've been a fan of RKB for a while, I really have to say that she outdid herself with this collection. The stories were more evolved, the characters more fleshed out, and I found myself longing to read more about them. The stories drew me in and kept me reading, wondering where each couple would end up. While all the stories were well written, three had me completely unable to put the book down until the very last page. "Six Weeks on Sunrise Mountain, Colorado" by Gwen Masters "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Marilyn Jaye Lewis "Sweet Season" by Shanna Germain I think that the stories were outstanding, but a little light on the hot sex we've come to expect from RKB anthologies. If you're looking for something hardcore, fast and furious, then this might not be the book for you. While the sex is there, the writing seems to be centered around the couples and their relationship, not the sex itself. For a girl like me who loves to read about real couples and real sex, this was the perfect balance of both. If I'd share one book from my collection with my friends this winter, this book would be it.

I just finished reading Bedding Down in my bath tub this morning. I enjoyed all of the stories. My favorite two stories in the book were Sophie Mouette's and Alison Tyler's. Sophie's story is set in a Victorian era house turned museum. She and her lover find a set of steamy love letters in a desk and use them as inspiration. The Victorian costumes they wore and the description of the removing of those costumes was very sensual. In Alison Tyler's story, the heroine, Michele, is doing all the right things for the wrong man. This story is both funny and sexy, and in the end, she ends up with someone who understands her and is right for her. I identified with this character a lot. The more work I read by this author, the more impressed I am at her range. Her writing is not only very arousing and vivid, it can be funny or bittersweet or dark as well. All the stories in this collection were romantic and had happy endings, which I personally prefer to the darker tone of some of the kinkier erotic. The stories in the book were heartwarming as well as being arousing. I very much enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to friends who enjoy romance as well as erotica. Kudos to Rachel Kramer Bussell for putting together a great collection, and kudos to the authors for their great work.

Ms. Bussel has taken the traditional erotica compilation and allowed it to breathe with her latest anthology, Bedding Down. I'm never one to turn down smut, mind you, and often use erotic literature for mental foreplay, but Bedding Down was not (if you'll pardon the expression) your run of the mill bodice-ripper. Bedding Down calls on a host of excellent erotica writers, most of whom I've had the pleasure of reading in other anthologies. These stories are not afraid to explore the darker side of winter twined in alongside sensual heat, like the embers of a fire on a snowy night. Death is lightly touched upon in two stories, and the struggle to balance between everyday life, decisions and time together is very eloquently displayed. I enjoyed the book as a whole, with the only story I wasn't overly fond of being the first (One Night in Winter by Kristina Wright), but only then because it took me awhile to decipher which character was which; the premise and the sex were still lovely to read. Alison Tyler adds a bit of levity with the exasperated and ever-hopeful heroine of "It's Not The Weather", and Sophie Mouette's "Hidden Treasure" plunges you into a spirited romp in a dark mansion. The struggle against the cold is engagingly laid out in Gwen Masters' "Six Weeks on Sunrise Mountain, Colorado", and Marilyn Jaye Lewis' "Baby, It's Cold Outside" echoed some of my own experiences of being engaged with all the drawn out discussions on the future that entails. My favorite story (which surprised me a bit because I'm normally more amiable towards lighthearted offerings) was definitely Isabelle Grey's "Northern Exposure". It made the heart ache in both sadness and happiness and actually made me tear up, which is for me the sign of excellent writing. A close second is Shanna Germain's "Sweet Season", which makes perfect use of setting to draw the reader into sights, sounds, and scents; I'm also partial to Vermont culture, so that didn't hurt! All in all, a book that I'm very pleased to own, and an absolutely stunning read in the subtle beginnings of December. Best enjoyed with a mug of hot cocoa, a box of tissues, and maybe a bit of time with a handsome leading man.

It's cold outside, but this book offers seven, well written, and hot short stories that will surely warm you up, lickety-split. One for each day of the week! Each story, like each talented writer offers something for everyone. You'll find romance blooming in the dead of winter as well as bonfires burning with passion and lust in this book. p.s. I've folded down more pages to share with a friend the next time the snow starts to fall - let's just say it's a little something extra special to help keep the high price of heating costs down...while insuring my body temperature is running hot, hot, hot....

This may be my pick of RKB's editions. The stories are a bit longer, the characters a bit more vivid and passion takes center stage over sex. If you're looking for a romantic collection appropriate to the season, pour some hot chocolate and enjoy Bedding Down.