Captivated: Ecstasy/ Bound and Determined/ Dark Desires/ A Lady's Preference

This is the first erotic anthology Kensington put out and It's pretty than lot of other anthologies (criteria: have to like 50 percent or more of the novellas) out there.The first novella is "Ecstacy by Bertrice Small, which was hysterically funny. mmm I don't think that was the reaction the author was going for. Me. Hysterically. Laughing. With. Tears. Running. Yup this happened especially each time I encountered phrases or words like "on you back now, slave! I wanna to sheath you", "Now, my queen! Mount me", "her orifice", or "her hot humid love sheath", "love juices" and "rosy aperture" - these are only the ones I remember, there are probably more hilarious ones but my stomach hurts too much from mass laughter for me to go at it a second round by looking for more euphemisms. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't get stroke purple prose induced overload in these short 89 pages. Did i mention the 13 inch errr... endowment that the hero Dagon has? or that the Queen Kelida "fell in love" solely because of his ability to give her multiple orgasms? Oh well maybe the author is trying her hand from being a romance writer to a comedian? or perhaps she's trying to win a contest/bet on how much purple prose studded sex scenes she could cram into a few pages? I guess I could maybe excuse her if that is the case. "Bound and Determinded" was ok, wasn't too impressed but way better than the first one. I got through this one, without laughing but still unfulfilled because the ending didn't explain much in the way of what political conflict Princess Marko was in, what happened to her cruel gay husband etc. I guess he just went away to frolick with his gay pals? who knows. I have to give Mrs. Johnson some credit though- there is some element of romance... "Dark Desire" by Thea Devine is about a woman, Drue, who absolutely hates her new husband Courtland because of some financial issue/triangle with him, her father, and her (complicated). He is determined to seduce her into loving him and making her forget her old flame, Gerald. True, the bondage and domination parts was a bit on the dark side to say the least but hey look at the title, it is called "DARK desires" as opposed to "Normal Conventional Desires". If the desires were so normal and conventional I would be bored to tears, the whole bondage/dominatrix fantasy is a FANTASY only (isn't that what books are about-fantasy?) and appealed to me in a strange way. As I'm sure everyone agrees, the gem of the anthology has to be "A Lady's Pleasure" by Robin Schone. Sex was great/excellent/marvelous and superbly done in a erotic way that leaves the readers feeling satisfied instead of disgusted. The emotional connection with the characters and between the characters were real too. Wow, Mrs. Schone, I'm impressed...bring it on!

While the other tales in this anthology are rather standard, and in the case of Beatrice Small, woefully sub-standard, it is Robin Schone's highly emotional 'A Lady's Pleasure' which stands out as true erotic romance.Abigail and Robert, the main characters of 'A Lady's Pleasure' are so well-drawn and full of depth that your heart breaks when they both speak of their lives outside of the storm-lashed cottage they find themselves together in. Abigail was a soon-to-be-married ex-spinster who seeks the one thing denied to many women in Victorian England--passion. Robert was a wounded soldier just returned from war to a country that seems to have no place for him. They are two people bound by the need to be loved and to be accepted.The sexual scenes were hot and full of emotional intensity, and I was delighted to see that Ms. Schone dealt with all forms of intimacy, not just ones that are accepted. She doesn't write lurid prose with silly metaphors for male and female genitalia.This is the story that I can read over and over again and still feel the same emotional connection. I can't say this enough, that Robin Schone is the new queen of erotic romance.

Do yourself a favor. Buy this book, but save Robin Schone's "A Lady's Pleasure" for last. If only it were a full-length novel! "Captivated" by Beatrice Small seems to suggest that erotica is best served in a fantasy setting. It didn't take long before the incessant focus on the Prince's manhood became laughable. The "hero" of Susan Johnson's "Bound and Determined" was so vulgar at the beginning of the story that I never came to care for him. If you like lots of bondage and what amounts to mental abuse, you may enjoy Thea Devine's "Dark Desires." Too bad the "hero" couldn't figure out a more romantic way than keeping his unwilling wife naked and in a thrall collar to make her love him. I won't deny that the first three stories lack in plenty of sex. They're just completely devoid of heart. Robin Schone proves time and again that erotic tales can have emotional depth, that the two people involved can truly care for each other and increase the depth of that caring even as they satisfy each other sexually. In "A Lady's Pleasure," Robert Coally is a true hero and Abigail a true heroine. Their happy ending was the only one that brought me a sense of joy. Thank you, Robin.

While the cover of this book announces it as "Tales of Erotic Romance" I found "romance" in only one of the four stories, "A Lady's Pleasure" by Robin Schone. While the other three stories were erotic and titillating there was no feeling of romance or real emotional connection between the characters where love or relationships are concerned - bondage and degredation to be sure - but not romance."A Lady's Pleasure" is the true definition of "Erotic Romance". It combines tenderness between two people, emotion, the bonding of two souls and beautifully written erotic sex, as well as some great subtle humor and dialogue. I do not think I have ever seen the act of sex (in all it's forms) described so graphically and in such a beautiful way. This story truly touched my soul. The first time I read this story I loved it, the second time I savored it and felt it. It will satisfy your erotic pleasures, make you laugh and make you cry too. Robin Schone is an exquisite writer as witnessed in "Awaken My Love" and her latest, "The Lady's Tutor", but to just describe her writing as erotic would be to do her an injustice for she is truly the reigning queen of ROMANTIC erotica. I believe that even women who love romance reading but do not particularly like erotica would adore this story as well as Ms. Schone's other work. It is tender, loving, and the sex, while EXTREMELY HOT and erotic is written in a way as to be appropriate to a loving and sexual relationship.The hardest thing about describing Ms. Schone's writing is that it is INdescribable! Her honesty, uninhibited, and loving views on romance and sex are truly a breath of fresh air in the romance genra. Do yourself a favor, buy this book and get to know ROBIN SCHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Readers DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!!! I bought this book because i have been following the work of great new author ROBIN SCHONE and once again i wasn't disappointed. I have not even had a chance to read the other 3 stories yet, but even if you don't follow their works,,buy it for Ms. Schones contribution. Ladies,,this is what we have been missing in our historical romances lately. i've already read "The Lady's Pleasure" three times.In "The Lady's Pleasure" Ms. Schone introduces us to 2 characters. Abagail, a virgin spinster, has dreams of finding a man that she can share all her secret fantasies. She secretly collects "erotic" writing, which is considered completely taboo for a lady of her time. Approaching her 30th birthday, Abagail faces the fact that she may have to settle and marry a well to do,staid, upstanding friend of the family or die a virgin spinster. Abagail decides to retreat to a cottage in the countryside for a week and spend time saying goodbye to her favorite pasttime, knowing that once married to that type of man, she will have to give up her dreams. She brings with her a trunk filled with her treasures, "journal upon journals of erotic writings. Bitterly facing the change she is going to have to make in her life, she takes her journals out one by one and begins reading them for the last time.Colonel Robert Coally, a man that has spent his whole life in the british military, war after war, is convalesing nearby. Robert, tired of war, pain, and bitterly cynical about how he has spent his life, decides to take a ride on his horse about the countryside in search of whore to lose himself in. To take away the pain of thought even for a while. He is thrown from his horse and suddenly is caught in a violent night storm, forcing him to seek immediate shelter. he stumbles upon Abagails cottage just as she is reading her journals and forces himself into her cottage for shelter. Without giving too much of the storyline away, what follows is a wonderfully erotic meeting of two people who, even facing the bitter regret of the current turn of their lives, see in each other, abet even for one night, a chance to reach out and take and share for once something they both have always desired in life. Robert becomes the man for abagail who will introduce her first hand to the type of erotic love she has only read about. Abagail becomes for Robert, the woman, a lady untouched by type of life he has lived so far, someone he can share and give pleasure to, instead of death and pain. Until the storm ends, they live out their most secret desires and share their souls.Ms. Schone gives us once again, not just your typical erotic read. She shares with us a wonderfully steamy story that combines our erotic fantasies with the romance of falling in love. And ultimately, how two very lost and bitter souls can come together and heal each other by sharing their bodies and minds. For a "short" story, this one pac