Customer Reviews

H Is for Hardcore (Erotic Alphabet)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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'.

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.

Not for the faint of heart - and totally NOT Vanilla!

These are truly hardcore stories.

The terrific part of this anthology is the story by Radclyffe about a first time visit to a sex club. It is unlike any by this author that I have read. Intense and Raw.

This collection delivers on the promise to be Dark and Dirty,

I like the Erotic Alphabet concept of a single book for each letter of the alphabet, and its promise of 26 booklets of creative smut. I've got a few, and eventually will have the whole series, something memorable to leave to my heirs...

This is more of a booklet than a book, 119 pages in a package that is 5" x 7", conveniently pocket-sized, almost. You get 12 quick stories in that space. They set up quickly and move out even faster, with just about no backstory or character development to get in the way of the inevitable leap to shagging and a number of its more intense and uncommon variations.

Now, when I hear "hard core," especially when it comes to a smut book, I form a relatively clear picture. I don't anticipate euphemisms for items or actions. I don't expect deeply romantic interludes, nor do I expect to encounter a whole lot of talking, not unless it's issuing commands or jabbering in lust-dominated ecstatic incoherence. I anticipate directness. I don't necessarily expect really wacky, out-there sexual adventurism in the farther reaches such as adult baby fetish, plushies and things even more adventurous that just can't get published in this particular venue. The book's little intro describes hard core as "hot and fast...dark and dirty."

So where did this book land on this spectrum?

Well, the opener is most definitely hard core, an extended first-person female musing on how utterly perfect it is to torment her willing male slave. Now, this really isn't that wild, except for the final lines, when she's really letting her reverie run free, no reservations, her sexual arousal building in wanting him locked in a cage and starving, wanting to watch him dying. This is a mighty strong opener, and while I understand the depth of the fantasy, crossing sexual pleasure into the realm of mortal neglect is a turn-off. Sorry. These last lines left an ominous and unpleasant taste in my mouth that took a few stories to dissipate. Yeah, that opener was hard core. But dissipate the feeling did; it was more like steamrolled into dust with the stories that followed.

A bodyguard gets the tables turned on him, hard. A tough chick meets an even tougher one, and she can't get enough of that control. An arrogant executive bastard is drawn into a business proposition that he finds he cannot get enough of. A jilted wife's surprise visit to her soon-to-be ex-husband's apartment turns a fun but tame role-play into something much more memorable. A husband and wife express mutual interest in BDSM, and explore the territory together, just the two of them. A tough lesbian crashes a bar in drag, and gets much more than she planned for. A cowboy working the ropes gets worked himself by his wife and the new hired hand. A foot fetish pro works a couple of johns. A lady into sharpened steel finds a similarly fixated artisan, and a bit of highly charged blood flows. A guy and a gal, both so direct it's literally painful, crash into each other and enjoy any manner of unpredictable activities. And finally, a lady turns the tables on her man, and the tables turn yet again.

Bottom line: So, yeah, this little book does in fact deliver hard core. It's refreshingly unexpected and creative, and most decidedly vulgar, just what you're looking for if "hard core" is what you're after.