Agony/Ecstasy: Original Stories of Agonizing Pleasure/Exquisite Pain [Kindle Edition]

Jane Litte (Editor)

Book Description

All new stories of punishing extremes and unbearable pleasure...

With historical, contemporary, and futuristic backdrops, this outrageously diverse collection of original stories explores every conceivable variation of BDSM erotica-from knitting circles to the Titanic to a retelling of The Little Mermaid. Featuring all-new stories by Meljean Brook, Jean Johnson, Bettie Sharpe, Jill Myles, Margaret Rowe, Sara Thorne, and more, this book has everything a reader could hope for in an erotic romance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

4 Stars from RT Magazine:  A BDSM theme runs throughout, from the playthings found in Eric's basement in Shoshanna Evers' "The Wooden Pony" to the redemption won in the post-Titanic drama "Kiss of Life" by Lily Daniels. There are various timeframes and sexual encounters between all kinds of people, some in unusual situations.

From the Author

I'm Jane Litte, a blogger, reader, and now a collector of stories.  Agony / Ecstasy is an anthology that will be published by Berkley in December 2011. The anthology is a collection of very steamy stories that explore the twin concepts of pain and pleasure.

I hope you contact me to let me know what you think of the collection, good or bad, so that if I ever have the opportunity to put another together, I will have a better idea of what you, the reader, is looking for.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 530 KB
• Print Length: 448 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (December 6, 2011)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005ERIJ5C
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,820 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Didn't Outweigh Bad December 25, 2011

By Happy Reader

Format:Kindle Edition

Really enjoyed 4 of the stories (Ann Calhoun, Del Dryden, Meljean Brooks and Cristine D'Abo), but the rest left me in various stages of "meh" (or worse). Poorly developed stories just did me in. I like reading dear author but it's a pretty big mystery to me why they hired a blogger to edit...it was pretty clear she wasn't hired for any actual editing skill. I don't want marketing gimmicks, just good stories. If i'd paid 5 bucks, I wouldn't feel so cheated on this book.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars There were some good stories started, but they needed more development. More frustrating than entertaining. December 13, 2011

By Jane TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I rarely buy anthologies because most are not as satisfying as full size novels. I took a chance on this one. Sadly I was disappointed. There are 21 stories by 20 different authors. Each story is about 20 pages long. Because they were so short, something was missing from all of them. The least satisfying were those with unfinished endings, not knowing what would happen with the couples. Some had potential but I wanted more background, character development, or relationship development. The genre is probably erotica, but some stories have the feel of erotic romance. There is at least one intense sex scene per story. A majority of the stories have pain with sex. Most of the sex scenes are one man and one woman, but one story has two women, two stories have two men. Expect rear door activity and sex toys. Most of the stories are contemporary, but others include historical, futuristic, paranormal, fantasy, and sci-fi.

11 Agony Stories:
These had a pain theme. This meant one of the characters was being physically hurt, whipped, pinched, bit, cut. The characters enjoyed feeling pain, but it didn't do anything for me. I couldn't identify with them, and there wasn't enough else to draw me in. I have liked a number of BDSM stories, so it wasn't that. It was just this didn't work for me.

The best of the Agony stories was Wicked Wedding Night by Margaret Rowe. It was similar to the Kate Pearce books about a guy who was tortured in prison and now must cause pain to his female partner in order to have sex. It had a happy ending which I liked. But the pain to his partner didn't do anything for me.

Caged by JK Coi had potential. A werewolf was imprisoned. The hanging, unfinished ending was the problem. I wanted a lot more on this.

10 Ecstasy Stories:
I was surprised that some of these also had pain. A few of these could have been good. But because they were so short, things were missing. My favorites were the following.

Into the Red by Cameron Belle. Very intriguing about two men. Tom is a gladiator type warrior who fights in a televised arena. Brendan is a doctor who examines Tom.

On My Skin by DL Galace. Girl is depressed and down on her luck. She gets a tattoo. Good. Had potential, but I wanted more background about her, and more about him as well. The ending was too abrupt.

Rescue Me by Meljean Brook. Bad guy Shaw kidnapped and tied up girl. I wanted to know what happened to Shaw. This was good, but too many unanswered questions.

Just Say Yes by Helenkay Dimon. Female boss and male assistant have hot sex. It has potential.

OTHER ANTHOLOGIES:
It's possible to have entertaining short stories with happy endings. There were five short stories in "Sauce for the Goose" which I thought were very good to excellent. So it can be done. But it wasn't done here. The average number of pages in SFTG was 12 pages per story.

DATA:
Story length: 426 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: each story has at least one. Settings: various times and places. Copyright: 2011. Genre: erotica.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Submerged into a world of sensation... February 1, 2012

By Coffee Time Romance

Format:Kindle Edition

Each one of these authors pulls you into their characters lives, and holds you captive through every kiss and caress. The link between pleasure and pain is a common theme throughout these stories, but each has its own unique voice. With the kiss of a whip and a scream of passion you are submerged into this world of sensation that I promise you will love as much as I do. There is now a whole new list of authors I want to follow, and I cannot wait to begin.

Read the full review here:
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Lototy
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More