12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond Hardcore - Perfectly Kinky, and Totally Hot!, November 6, 2007
This review is from: H Is for Hardcore (Erotic Alphabet) (Paperback)
I've read a lot of erotica, both for personal and professional reasons, and Alison Tyler's H is for Hardcore not only more than lives up to its name, but is one of the hottest collections I've ever encountered. "Hardcore" here means kinky, certainly, but it also means boundary-pushing. Edgy. Squirm-worthy.
Mathilde Madden's utterly captivating domme in the scorching opener "Me, When I'm With You," gives one of the most insightful, beautiful, and totally hot portraits of a powerful woman completely controlling a man you're likely to read. She writes: "I love sucking your cock. It took me a while to find a suitably dom way of sucking your cock, but eventually I discovered that if your hands were tied behind your back and your ankles were forced apart with a spreader bar and your nipples were clamped and I had a vibrator tight against your arsehole, that worked for me." She clearly has feelings for the man she keeps naked, and they come to play in that perfect dance between dominant and submissive. It's clear he is a lucky man indeed to have a woman so utterly devoted to topping him. What's especially powerful about this story is that often, in this book and others, the inclination is to think of some form of submission as the most daring or "hardcore" we can get. And, indeed, the bottom is risking a lot more, physically and emotionally. But those who get off on being worshipped, on ordering someone around, on watching their demise and resurrection and knowing you have been the one to engineer it, are certainly just as "hardcore" as anyone else. Madden's domme knows exactly what she wants and, with the help of her partner in the pursuit of the ultimate D/s dream, goes about getting it.
The male protagonist of John A. Burks, Jr.'s "Control" gets a rude awakening when the power he so carefully wields in his life is toppled by an anonymous woman and he finds himself submitting to her, wanting his unaccustomed punishment. In "Sweet No More," Radclyffe takes us inside the aptly named Ramrod, where amidst gay men getting it on, two women battle over who will commandeer the other.
One of the best stories here is Teresa Noelle Roberts's "On a Knife Edge," where she makes the power of a sharp knife, the lure of cutting, into something not just erotic but sensual, poetic, and powerful, as she details a knife virgin looking to live out her fantasy, and getting the knife-fuck that's coming to her by a seasoned pro. These stories may tackle the most intense of kinks, but the characters aren't jaded or hardened; rather, they just need various extreme stimuli to get to that point where they are teetering on the edge, where they scream, beg, plead, and explode. Where they transgress and cross boundaries they couldn't have imagined doing. Where they let a stranger fuck them into oblivion, surrender to passions that in the light of day might seem too out-there, too wild, too crazy to even consider. This book, part of Tyler's Alphabet series, is short, and the woman on the cover is almost teasing us with her naked backside. She looks cute, you could say, but these stories aren't "cute" in the least. They're the epitome of hardcore, and they have certainly stayed with me, providing fantasy fodder and awe at the inspired, and inspirational, writing here. If you're ready to take your erotic reading up a notch, check out H is for Hardcore.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I thought..., November 7, 2008
This review is from: H Is for Hardcore (Erotic Alphabet) (Paperback)
I love Alison Tyler but I felt the title was a little misleading. Well... actually that would depend on what your definition of "hardcore" is. The definition in this book was more of a bondage type. When I think of "hardcore" I'm thinking hard, fast, deep sex, and not S&M. I bought this book and 'E is for Exotic' at the same time because I was looking for something.
There is nothing wrong with S&M but I would like to be forewarned before I spend money on a book that isn't what I want. If you are into bondage and S&M then you will LOVE this book. It has the classic super hot sex that Alison Tyler is known for and the stories are short enough to read one, share one, and then... well you know! :-) So I guess my only problem with this book was it should have been named 'D for Domination'.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better towards the end., December 29, 2008
This review is from: H Is for Hardcore (Erotic Alphabet) (Paperback)
This book got better towards the end, period. My expectations are when I'm, reading I should be able to have a clear cut picture of what is happening. Some stories invoke that, others didn't. Over all a decent book, as for labeling it Hardcore, I'd be hard pressed to do so. Me, When I'm With You - Horribly written. There were a lot of ideas the writer was trying to convey but they just were not expressed well. You sort of felt lost in the emotional cluster muck (I'd prefer another word). To Protect and Serve - A personal favorite. The story of a bodyguard and the star he's protecting. Role reversal, very well written. Sweet No More - Was a story about a girl going into a gay club with her friend and fulfilling her fantasy and a taste of D/s. Control - Another favorite. A cocky corporate CEO always in control until he gets the tables turned by an unknown woman pulling his card. Well written, more my style with D/s in mind. In The Hold - Mostly about a man out of a divorce however he still interacts with his ex-wife. She is invited in by her ex husband's girlfriend acting out a pirate sex scene. This story was fun and would be ideal however it's not ;) The Guy Your Mother Warned You About - The longest story in the book, revolves around drag. This was funny and very well written. I won't even bother spoiling it. Heading and Healing - Bull wrangler, his wife and his new header. Sort of written like the first story, to many ideas not well written out. Not a bad story if written better. Flat-Footed - Weird, quirky and a foot fetish read. On A Knife Edge - Love this story, I love knives also. Sort of puts you on edge of what could happen and her feelings are expressed well in the writing. The End of Celibacy - A good read, a girl attempting to save herself for marriage and sort of amusing when you really look at it. Ashes and Diamonds - Strap on fantasy, well written and to the point.
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