Book Review: Crave
Crave by Catherine Lundoff
Lesbian Book Reviews/Anthology,
Lesbian Book Reviews/Erotica
TITLE: Crave: Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing AUTHOR: Catherine Lundoff
ISBN: 1-59021-033-6 PUBLISHER: Lethe Press
Crave is a lesbian erotica collection. It includes 15 stories, which span genres from science fiction to contemporary.
Lundoff's science fiction and fantasy stories delve into more story development beyond the erotic element, than her contemporary fiction. Her contemporary erotica reads more like she followed a formula, but inserted quirky characters that were interesting, but not always fully developed. I think if the stories were longer, they would've developed more plot beyond the erotic. Her genre erotica is a great example of this.
In "Heart's Thief," the erotic element is a small portion of the story. The story has a symbolic quality, which takes the reader beyond the sexual, leaving the reader wondering what the heart gem symbolizes in the world Lundoff has created.
Her story, "Leader of the Pack," reads like a combination of stories, Patrick Califia's Little "Red Riding Hood" and Lawrence Schimel's "Take Back the Night." The idea of women/lesbian being wolves has been used in the above mentioned stories, but Lundoff expands upon the idea in a touching love story of two women in a small town.
All of her stories have a dominance and submission undercurrent, but very few of them indulge in bdsm sex. They mainly stay within the vanilla flavor of erotica. Despite the title, "Kink," the story was an erotic story about a women who enjoys wearing leather, especially boots. The first story to really deal with BDSM was "The Party," which is a hot story about a women's first play party. It is light as far as her description of BDSM compared to stories by Laura Antoniou, Patrick Califia, and various other authors known for their kinky erotica, but it an excellent read.
"Blind Faith" was my favorite story. Even though it followed Lundoff's contemporary erotica formula, the narrating character was intriguing and honest in a way that I could relate to. I could imagine myself feeling the same selfish thoughts she had under those circumstances.
A couple of times, I felt a little cheated that the story ended so soon after the sex. In "The Party," I felt bumped out of the story for a moment because the transition from her masturbating to leaving for the party seemed rushed. "She collapsed and lay still for a moment, gently grinding her hips against the patchwork coverlet." The next paragraph jumps away from the intimacy and leaves the reader feeling awkward. "After that, of course, there were cats to be fed and bills to pay and all the other little errands that fill up Saturday afternoons."
Lundoff has written women of many colors, which is a nice switch from most story collections. This collection shows the beauty of erotica, love, romance and so much more between different types of women. I would recommend this.
Review by Ellen Tevault
Reprinted from Rainbow Reviews
Lesbian Book Reviews/Anthology,
Lesbian Book Reviews/Erotica
TITLE: Crave: Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing AUTHOR: Catherine Lundoff
ISBN: 1-59021-033-6 PUBLISHER: Lethe Press
Crave is a lesbian erotica collection. It includes 15 stories, which span genres from science fiction to contemporary.
Lundoff's science fiction and fantasy stories delve into more story development beyond the erotic element, than her contemporary fiction. Her contemporary erotica reads more like she followed a formula, but inserted quirky characters that were interesting, but not always fully developed. I think if the stories were longer, they would've developed more plot beyond the erotic. Her genre erotica is a great example of this.
In "Heart's Thief," the erotic element is a small portion of the story. The story has a symbolic quality, which takes the reader beyond the sexual, leaving the reader wondering what the heart gem symbolizes in the world Lundoff has created.
Her story, "Leader of the Pack," reads like a combination of stories, Patrick Califia's Little "Red Riding Hood" and Lawrence Schimel's "Take Back the Night." The idea of women/lesbian being wolves has been used in the above mentioned stories, but Lundoff expands upon the idea in a touching love story of two women in a small town.
All of her stories have a dominance and submission undercurrent, but very few of them indulge in bdsm sex. They mainly stay within the vanilla flavor of erotica. Despite the title, "Kink," the story was an erotic story about a women who enjoys wearing leather, especially boots. The first story to really deal with BDSM was "The Party," which is a hot story about a women's first play party. It is light as far as her description of BDSM compared to stories by Laura Antoniou, Patrick Califia, and various other authors known for their kinky erotica, but it an excellent read.
"Blind Faith" was my favorite story. Even though it followed Lundoff's contemporary erotica formula, the narrating character was intriguing and honest in a way that I could relate to. I could imagine myself feeling the same selfish thoughts she had under those circumstances.
A couple of times, I felt a little cheated that the story ended so soon after the sex. In "The Party," I felt bumped out of the story for a moment because the transition from her masturbating to leaving for the party seemed rushed. "She collapsed and lay still for a moment, gently grinding her hips against the patchwork coverlet." The next paragraph jumps away from the intimacy and leaves the reader feeling awkward. "After that, of course, there were cats to be fed and bills to pay and all the other little errands that fill up Saturday afternoons."
Lundoff has written women of many colors, which is a nice switch from most story collections. This collection shows the beauty of erotica, love, romance and so much more between different types of women. I would recommend this.
Review by Ellen Tevault
Reprinted from Rainbow Reviews
posted by Erotically Ellen at 10:52 PM
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