To Love and To Cheirsh by Beth Wylde and Lara Zielinsky (editors)

Publisher:                  loveyoudivine Alterotica

This anthology was created to raise money for the Marriage Equality movement for gays and lesbians.  All of the profits go to that movement instead of to the authors or publisher.

The book includes submissions from a number of familiar authors: Jean Roberta, Allison Wonderland, Lara Zielinsky, Stephanie Rose, Jolene Hui, Kissa Starling, Adrianne Brennan, Moondancer Drake, Ann Cory, Jessie Taylor Quinn, Meg Leigh, Dalia Craig, Adrianna Kraft and Beth Wylde.  The stories are divided into three sections called On Bended Knee, With This Ring and Lives and Wives.  Those make up the three books of the eBook versions.

As with most anthologies, the quality of the stories varies among the selections and they cover a number of topics based around gay marriage.  There are the inevitable stories about prejudice, family conflict and wedding preparations and healthy doses of erotic fantasy and reality.  Some of the stories are real jewels.  The Art of Communication by Jean Roberta deals with that careful dance in a relationship when one partner has more wealth than the other one and the less wealthy partner is conscious of it.  It will be impossible for anyone to read Stephanie Rose's The Anti-Proposal and not collapse in laughter as her main character tries to pull off the perfect event only to have everything possible go wrong.  Just a hint, both women end up in hospital beds, but still very much in love.  Adrianne Brennan deals with combining cultures and the importance of communication in My Big Fat Greek Pagan Lesbian Wedding.  This Magic by Meg Leigh reveals the love that lasts forever and transcends death.  This story also demonstrates that it doesn't take a lot of words to express something beautiful.

Most people will probably buy this book in order to contribute to the movement.  The fact that they will receive several hours of enjoyable reading will be the bonus.

Diminuendo by Emily Reed

Publisher:             Blue Feather Books

Love and life have similar characteristics.  They can make you feel like you're soaring in the clouds and plunge you into what feels like the depths of hell.  Nothing is harder than the ride that takes you in both directions. Emily Reed has captured that trip in a series of poems that catalog the sublime and sensual feelings of love discovered, the efforts to sustain that love and then the collapse of love as a relationship fails.  Scattered within the verses are others that deal with the wonders of children, the strains of a difficult job and musings about the nature of gods and religion.  The poems comprise a very personal journey, but one that speaks quite easily to the experiences that other people have shared.

Although there are somber poems in this book, many of them focus on the electricity that sexual love can generate and what follows when that spark begins to die.  "Awakening" captures the insight that many lesbians develop when the pieces of their lives suddenly fit together and everything begins to make sense.  It's followed by many selections that sing the praises of love and the spiraling emotions  that occur when lovers cannot be together.  Eventually they are replaced by poems like "Betrayal," "Accusation," "8,000 Miles," "Learning Curve," then into "Never the Twain," "Insecurities and Doubts," and finally "Aftermath," "Perspective" and ultimately "Phoenix."  It's a trip the reader would probably rather not take because many of the landmarks are too familiar, but it's that familiarity that keeps you reading.  The verses strike chords that resonate deep in the soul with painful, yet bitterly sweet tones.

There are also the poems that draw the reader to consider other aspects of life.  "Inevitable" deals with the realization of pride accompanied by a sense of loss as a son grows into adulthood.  "Compassion" and "Where?" reflect on the frustration felt with gods and questions about their relevance to the world. "TNA" and "The Face of Death" remind the reader that, even when things seem darkest, other people are experiencing worse problems in their lives.  Then there are the humorous musings of "Anniversary Ditty" and especially "Epelation."  Any woman who has worried about what to do with the hair on her legs will find that one irresistible. 

Diminuendo in Italian means diminishing. That applies to many things in this collection, but not to the feeling that Reed has taken the chance of baring parts of her life to share a message with the reader.  Love of all kinds can be painful, but the pain is worth the experience.  So is reading this book.

Skulls & Crossbones edited by Andi Marquette and R.G. Emannuelle

Publisher:               Bedazzled Ink Publishing

Skulls & Crossbones is a collection for people who enjoy pirate stories.  It contains twenty tales by different authors, many of whom have been published in other anthologies or who have books of their own.  There is a biography of each author provided at the end of the book.  The stories are arranged in chronological order ranging from Viking raiders to space marauders in the future and they vary in length, from five to eighteen pages.  They demonstrate that the definition of a pirate is not standard as some of them feature blood-thirsty killers, some privateers and some characters who see piracy as a way to help people who are less fortunate.  Happy endings are not guaranteed in these stories, but pirates seldom have happy endings.

One of the unique aspects of this book is that the stories don't vary in quality.  Usually in an anthology, some stories are weak, some are strong and a lot fall in the category of alright.  This book doesn't have any poorly written stories, but none of them stand out as especially interesting either.  A couple of them are difficult to understand because they drop the reader into the middle of a story or make references to events that the reader has no knowledge of.  One positive for the book is that it is well edited.

This is a perfect book for sitting on the night stand.  You can read one story at a time and not have to worry about remembering plot points.

Journeys: An Anthology of Life by A.L. Hotchkin

Publisher:               L-Book

Journeys: An Anthology of Life is a collection of stories about various subjects.  Some are about regular humans and others are about fallen angels, vampires and other creatures.  The themes deal with death, dying, love and the battle for humanity.  The longest story in the collection is about a battle between the angels for the existence of mankind.

This book is perplexing.  The description on the back of the book says that it's about the author's journey through life and that each one shows a window into her world.  A couple of the stories are about normal people, but the bulk of the book is about Fallen Angels doing battle with other supernatural beings and one story is about vampires.  It's not clear how those stories relate to anyone's life.  There's no theme that seems to tie the stories together and sometimes it's not clear exactly what a story is about.  The writing is good, but some of the stories seem obtuse.

Journeys: An Anthology of Life is one of those books that has to be judged by the individual reader.  Each one may find something different to take away from it.

Day of the Dead by Victoria A. Brownworth

Publisher:                 Spinsters Ink

If you're of a persuasion to like stories about vampires, succubi and other things that go bump in the night, this is the book for you.

Day of the Dead is a collection of stories in the supernatural genre.  The book consists of five short stories and a novella that are most often set in New Orleans.  Some characters appear in more than one story, but all of the works stand alone.  Vampires are the most common topic, showing them at their most seductiveness.  Hurricane Katrina factors into more than one of the stories showing that nature can be the most horrifying character of all.

People who like their creatures really scary won't find that here.  If anything, what will terrify you is the idea of walking through the fog based on what keeps coming out of it in these stories.  A couple of the stories aren't clear about what exactly the supernatural entity is and the vampire stories are definitely more loaded in the sexuality of the situation than the blood-letting.  Certainly the most evocative selection is "Diary of a Drowning" about a woman who decides to stay in New Orleans during the hurricane.  Some of the stories drag along and the reader may get impatient to find out how they end.  The good thing about this type of book is that you can read one story, move on to something else and return to read another story.

An anthology makes it difficult for a reader to connect with characters that appear and disappear in a hurry.  If you are a fan of this genre though and are looking for some stories to read each night before bedtime, this book will meet that need and they're tame enough that you won't have to worry about nightmares.

Crave: Tales of Lust, Love and Longing by Catherine Lundoff

Publisher:                 Lethe


Crave: Tales of Lust, Love and Longing is a collection of fifteen short stories of erotic encounters. They span different periods in history and cover a variety of topics. The reader will learn about new uses for strawberries and chocolate sauce, the joys of multiple simultaneous partners or anonymous sex and the prowess of women warriors. There are also cautionary tales about the dangers of sexual addiction, imaginary lovers and straight women who want to experiment.

There are a few stories that stand out from the rest. For those who like the supernatural, "Leader of the Pack" is about werewolves and the ties that bind one of the pack to the ultimate alpha female. Suspense lovers will enjoy "The Old Spies Club," where old Cold War enemies get to test all of their skills one more time. "Medusa's Touch" takes science fiction to a place where sensory suits have given a whole new meaning to personal relationships. "Wage Slave" deals with sex in the work place and "Heart's Thief" is the story of a thief who ends up stealing more than she planned on.

This is a book dedicated to erotica. If the reader isn't interested in sex in all of its manifestations, including "kink," the book will have limited appeal. Like any anthology, the stories aren't uniform in quality. Some are well written and really don't need the sex scenes to make them interesting. Others obviously only exist to showcase various sexual activities and would have been as effective simply describing those actions and not worrying with trying to wrap stories around them. At some points the stories verge on being boring, but the well written ones are sprinkled in at appropriate intervals to counteract the effect. For readers who need a shot of adrenaline or who enjoy reading about sex, sex, and more sex, this is definitely the book. Those who are looking for more depth to their stories may want to keep looking.

Chilling Tales of Horror and the Supernatural by Patty G. Henderson (editor)

Publisher:                  P. D. Publishing


Editor's Warning: The reading and enjoyment of this anthology will greatly increase your chances of terrifying nightmares, lack of sleep and fear of your own shadow.

That warning plus one look at the cover picture will tell the reader that this is not meant to be a typical lesbian anthology. No tender scenes of romance, unless you find someone biting your neck and sucking out all of your blood charming. No thrilling adventure, unless you find a monster out of hell chasing you to your death exciting. There is humor in a macabre sort of way. Some of the resolutions of the stories are such fitting punishments or so bizarre that the reader will probably laugh. If you don't chuckle at the end of the first story, you're already taking these stories too seriously.

Patty G. Henderson has brought together some of her stories with the work of Mark Apoapsis, Victor J. Banis, Barbara L. Clanton, Moondancer Drake, Amy J. Ira, Crystal Michallet-Romero, Paul Milliken, Rick R. Reed, Hayden Thorne, Fran Walker and MJ Williamz. Some of them, like Henderson, have had books and stories in print and others are using this as their way to break into the medium. The stories are written as "flash fiction," which puts an interesting constraint on the writer. The plot and characters have to be developed in 1000 words or less, which is just slightly more than two pages. Not much room is available, so the writer is forced to condense and intensify everything.

Some of the stories are more successful than others. Several of the stories are so short they're like the authors shouting "Boo" at you, only in a few more words. There are tales of vampires, ghosts and succubi; rotting bodies, boogeymen and inhuman behavior; lost loves and vengeful love. The stories are short enough that, if you just have a few minutes, you can read a couple and put the book down until later. The book's major drawback is the problem of all anthologies. The stories are not uniform in quality. Many are extremely well written with interesting characters or viewpoints, making the reader wish that a longer format had been used so that the story had gone on. Others are flat and not very inspired. Then there are the one or two that may make the reader glad that the author doesn't live next door.
 
Does the book live up to the Editor's Warning? The stories themselves are not particularly scary, although a couple of them may make the reader shiver. The real terror in the story usually comes from the fear the character is feeling as the horror unfolds or in realizing the evil that humans can unleash on each other. Some of the stories aren't frightening as much as they are poignant. However, the cover of the book is almost guaranteed to cause you some discomfort. It's meant to be a fun read and it is.

Attractions of the Heart by Cheri Crystal

Publisher:            loveyoudivine.com

This is Cheri Crystal's first published book and it won an award for Lesbian Erotica Anthology at the Golden Crown Literary Society awards ceremony in 2010.  People who like this genre should enjoy this book.

Attractions of the Heart is a series of short stories, some of which have appeared before in other places.  Each one starts with a front page photograph that could be a book cover and that sets up the topic of that story.  Erotica is what it is.  The characters have sex while fishing, in an airplane, with friends, in trucks, using sex toys and so forth.  There isn't much character development and no plot lines that tie the stories together, but that's not what the book is intended for.

The writing is aimed at an average level, but it gets the idea across and leaves nothing to the imagination.  There is humor in many of the stories and some romance.  For those who are looking for a quick shot to the libido, this book will serve the purpose well.  If you're looking for a book that develops a plot thoroughly along with the characters, then buy a novel.

America by Anne Azel

Publisher:           P. D. Publishing

Anne Azel is an accomplished writer who has won awards in multiple categories.  In America she has chosen to highlight the spirit of American lesbians.  It may be her best work yet.

America is a collection of short stories and vignettes about different lesbian couples.  Some of them are nothing but snapshots, while others are longer stories.  Some of them barely show a relationship beginning and others take the time to fully develop a story and the characters.  Those stories show the possibilities of what could be full length books.  What the stories have in common, besides being about Americans, is to show women at their best – loving, struggling and sometimes misunderstanding each other.  There are modern pirates, corporate raiders, tangents of memories and romance on a tropical island.  Each one reveals a different aspect of love and relationships.  In the mix the reader also is given a look at a cross section of American life.

Azel shows her skill as a writer when in the shortest pieces she's able to give the reader a complete picture with the right choice of words.  She proves that it's not how much is written, but how it's written.  The nice thing about an anthology is that the book can be put down after a short reading.  The catch with this book is that the reader won't want to put it down.

This book is worth the time spent with it.

Murder in Triplicate by Ann Azel

Publisher:           P.D. Publishing

Aliki Pateas has a successful career as a forensic scientist, but something is missing from her life, so she decides to go home to the family she hasn't seen in fourteen years. There are surprises waiting for her there. The family business has grown due to her brothers' hard work and her father has taken in a young woman and her daughter who needed help to live with him. They're the relatives of an old friend, but Aliki will also discover they have a connection to the Pateas family. She can't help but feel herself drawn to Dawn Freeman, and young Mackenzie has a severe case of hero worship for the famous woman. 

Aliki hopes to spend time becoming reacquainted with her family and developing a relationship with Dawn, but she draws mystery to her like a magnet. She finds herself dealing with three cases in a row.

In the first, she has to investigate a plane crash and murder that has significant consequences for Dawn. She also discovers that the famous actress Robbie Williams, someone Aliki has clashed with in the past and who is married to Janet, the woman Aliki thinks she loves, is really her half sister. 

In the second, she goes after a serial killer called the Fire Clown only to have him come after her family. She unites with Robbie to catch the killer, who almost succeeds in killing them.

The third story has Aliki and Robbie working together to solve a murder which they're trying to hide from their wives and daughters. The problem is that all of the women in the Pateas/Williams family have an itch to be involved in solving mysteries and they end up in a comedy of errors that almost has tragic consequences. Through all of this, Aliki slowly comes to realize that Janet is not the woman of her dreams, but Dawn is.

Anne Azel is a well-known retired forensic scientist and popular with people who like to read her online stories. The Aliki Pateas stories first appeared on the Internet and are well developed. There isn't particularly a great deal of suspense to the mysteries, but they are interesting stories and provide some pleasant light reading. The characters are what make the stories worthwhile however. Aliki and Robbie can't stay out of trouble and provide some comic relief, while their partners try to keep them on an even keel, which proves to be almost an impossible job.  

Murder in Triplicate is the type of light reading that would be good on vacation or when you want to pass a few hours.

18th & Castro by Karin Kallmaker

Publisher:                      Bella Books

18th & Castro by Karin Kallmaker was written under the Bella After Dark logo, which is the imprint for Bella Books' erotica line. The book is a collection of short stories, all written by Kallmaker, who took the unusual approach of building the stories around a central theme.

It's Halloween night in San Francisco and the Castro area is rocking with celebrations. Outrageous costumes and noisy parties are the themes of the night as Suze and Amy sneak to the top of a building to observe the festivities. These two are used periodically to provide a weak story line that loosely ties the stories together as they peer into the lives of other people. The stories are set up to take place in each of the different apartments in the building at 18th & Castro Streets. Something in the story from one apartment connects to the story in another apartment. The stories vary in their intensity and quality and not all of them are classically erotic. There are stories of lost love rediscovered, old friends who realize a new relationship, and lust in place of love. In keeping with the Halloween theme, one story deals with the possibility of vampires. The most poignant story is about a woman who kissed her partner good-bye thinking she would see her in the evening, only to have the partner die during the day. What would you say if you had just a few minutes more before she goes out the door?

18th & Castro is composed of vignettes. Kallmaker doesn't have to be as concerned with character development because the reader is looking into one brief interlude in the lives of each of the characters.  Motivation also becomes less important. This is a convenient way to tell a story because you can focus just on the facts of the moment. The danger is that sometimes stories may not be quite clear because you don't have the evolution of a tale around it. The vampire story illustrates this danger. 

On the whole though, this is a pleasant collection. It's perfect for reading at night before you go to bed or when you have a short period before you need to do something, although some of the stories are steamy and you might want to be careful where you read them. You can read a story, put it down and come back later not having to worry about previous plot points. If you're looking for erotica, some of the stories are heavy in it, but not all of them and this provides a good variety. 

Because all of the stories are written by the same person and around a theme, there is a flow to the book even though each story stands alone. There is also continuity through the book that is often missing when multiple authors are involved. Short story collections are not usually as appealing to this reviewer because it is more difficult to get involved in a story, but this one doesn't fit the usual mold and therefore was better to read. 18th & Castro is recommended for those who like a good blush and some heat to a story.

Frosting on the Cake 2 by Karin Kallmaker

Publisher:                   Bella Books

Karin Kallmaker occasionally creates anthologies that are a gift to her regular readers.  She goes back to her books and writes short stories that allow the readers to visit characters again.  These stories extend the original stories, enhance the characters or satisfy the curiosity of "What happened next?"

Frosting on the Cake 2 revisits sixteen of Kallmaker's books.  Some of them go back to her earlier works like Car Pool, Touchwood and In Every Port, while others are inspired by recent books, such as Above Temptation, The Kiss That Counted and Warming Trend.  The styles range from humorous to serious to erotic and visit a number of different issues.

"Snap Judgment" (Above Temptation) shows Kip Barrett establishing her new company. "Good Morning" (Warming Trend) deals with the issue of gay marriage and "The Curve of Her" (Touchwood) addresses how age differences don't really matter when two people are in love.  In "Losing Faith" (Wild Things) the problem of trying to balance two different careers is the issue.  "Divided Highway" (Car Pool) shows that when a child's health is threatened, nothing else should matter.  The other stories are in the same manner, adding touches to tales that readers might have thought were completed.

At the end of the book, Kallmaker discusses the inspirations for some of her books, why some of them get added chapters and the reasons she's left others alone.  The reader doesn't have to have read the books the stories are based on, but some of the stories won't have their full impact if the background story isn't known.

If the reader is a Kallmaker fan and is looking for a book that can be read a little and put down without losing the continuity of a story, then Frosting on the Cake 2: Second Helpings suits the purpose.