The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica [Paperback]

D. L. King (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Vampires have a timeless allure, mesmerizing us in every medium from books and graphic novels to movies and television shows. Immortal, eternally beautiful, strong, and sexy, these creatures take what they need, stealing the life force from those unlucky enough to cross their paths — or from those whose luck leads them to the most thrilling experience of their lives. Edited by noted erotica writer D. L. King, The Sweetest Kiss takes readers into shadowy alleys, dark bedrooms, and more mysterious spaces to experience the frisson of terror and delight that only a vampire can produce. Mostly straight, these stories also feature bi and queer vampires satisfying their lust in contemporary and period settings. These blood-drenched tales give new meaning to the term "dead sexy" and feature beautiful bloodsuckers whose desires go far beyond blood.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573443719
• ISBN-13: 978-1573443715
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm in love with vampires again thanks to this fabulous collection, September 26, 2010

By 

Mrs. Baumann - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica (Paperback)

Plot Summary: This collection of short stories pays homage to sexy vampires, savage vampires, and even lonely, melancholy vampires. There is a full range of tempting scenarios to feast upon, from airport encounters to sacrificial fantasies; from 1920's flapper girls to squalid Craigslist sexscapades; from dominance to submission, it's all here.

I had a few doubts before I started The Sweetest Kiss, but it quickly put my fears to rest. My first worry was that I would find it boring to read nothing but vampire stories back-to-back, but the variety and breadth of the vampires here made it a treat. My second fear was that the quality of the stories would be lacking, but this is a spicy collection full of heat and hunger. I think the cover threw my expectations, because it doesn't do anything for me, but this is one of those cases where I can totally ignore the outside now that I know what's on the inside.

Every single one of the 19 stories inside is good, but there were a few that were downright amazing. The very first offering by Remittance Girl called "Midnight at Sheremetyevo" was such a complete package that it blew me away, and I loved the older woman, younger man mix. "Fair Play" by G. B. Kensington had one of those pounding, mind-melting sex scenes that scorched the back of my eyeballs, and then it made me smile with a surprise ending. "Fourth World" by Lisabet Sarai featured a ménage à trois between a female vampire and her two male victims that was so hot that it almost convinced me that it was a screw worth dying for.

Ironically, my favorite story of the collection isn't even a typical piece of erotica. It's closer to erotic noir, and it's by Thomas S. Roche (that's right, there's equal opportunity in erotica, unlike romance... dudes can play). The story is called "Wait Until Dark, Montresor," and it was simply brilliant. It's a five-star story, all the way, but I can't divulge any details because the way it unfolds is critical to the experience. Perhaps it's because it's written in the second-person point of view (the narrator is speaking directly to "you" throughout the story) that it sucked me in completely, but it was dirty, and sad, and tender all at the same time. That's quite a hat trick to pull off.

I highly recommend this anthology if you're interested in some shiver-inducing vampire stories. It is a truly high quality collection.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone who loves vampires maybe a bit too much!, December 14, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica (Paperback)

Vampires are sexy, and there's no mincing words about it. "The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica" is a collection of short fiction focusing on the sexiest undead creature. The combination of horror, fear, taboo, eternal beauty, and other elements have attracted many to vampires, and those people will love this collection and its erotic focus on the sharp teethed seductresses. "The Sweetest Kiss" is a must for anyone who loves vampires maybe a bit too much!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare Quality for a Vampire Anthology, September 29, 2011

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica (Paperback)

Vampires are hot. If you looked at recent incarnations of them in movies or on television you might think this was a new craze. Not true. Vampires have been capturing the imaginations of people for centuries. What you need to get noticed nowadays in publishing or by readers is some new twist or play into the tried and true that has always kept the living undead on our minds.

The Sweetest Kiss: ravishing vampire erotica collects nineteen stories that do both. Some retell the tried and true romantic vampire who sweeps women off their feet with a smothering look and makes men do their bidding with a few corrupting words. The twist with these stories is that the vampire may not always be male and their victim may not always be female even if the majority of the stories are heterosexual in orientation.

Reviewing fiction is always tricky, this reviewer believes, because I must separate my own interests or turn-ons in the case of erotica from the target audience for the book. Just because a story doesn't thrill me doesn't necessarily mean it isn't well written. All of these stories are well written with engaging characters that capture our imagination from at least the second page, build up to an interesting climax, pun intended in this case, and then resolve the conflict in some fashion that makes sense for that particular story. Let me very briefly tell you about each of these tales

Most of these tales are told through the third person, a common practice that is easily understood by almost every reader. Some are told from the first person such as Remittance Girl's "Midnight at Sheremetyevo" that reveals the rules for a vamipiric family or Sommer Marsden's "The Student" which combines the latest ghost hunting craze with our living undead. Other stand out first person stories are Ciara Finn's "Advantage" where a mortal consciously fights her survival instincts for the thrill of her monstrous lover and "Devouring Heart" a tale of love's sacrifices from Andrea Dale.

In general, vampires are the powerful seducer that cannot be resisted but this is inverted several times in this anthology. "Red by Any Other Name" from Kathleen Bradlean inverts the normal paradigm wonderfully while "Enlightenment" from Amber Hipple gives us a victim who is more the hunter. Maxim Jakubowski's "The Communion of Blood and Semen" gives us the fragile vampire that is increasingly common in some teen literature but with a realistic sense of suffering and addiction that a mortal lover must control. Hunting for vampires takes on a desperate edge in a perfectly mundane setting in "Turn" from Nikki Magennis" but as good as the story is, I'd have to see it is the weakest in the collection since the plot seemed to move a bit too quickly for me to firmly grasp the viewpoint character.

Don't worry if you like your vampires the ones in control because they show up in several stories as well. "Fourth World" by Lisabet Sarai is a clash of cultures that results in orgasmic horror while G.B. Kensington's "Fair Play" gives us a vampire with a dark sense of humor about his latest meal. A true romantic lady of the night enjoys her evening in "Nightlife" from Madeleine Oh. An entire cult is created in Michelle Belanger's "Wicked Kisses" though the erotic edge here is more removed from vampires than in any other story. And we even have heroic vampires from Kristina Wright's story "Cutter" who gives a young woman more than she can give herself and A.D.R. Forte in "Once An Addict" though that vampire might see herself as more dealer than savior.

Given a vampire's potentially eternal life, authors can be free to set them during any time period. While none of these stories go into the science fiction genre, a few take us back to earlier periods. Anna Black's "The Temptation of Mlle. Marielle Doucette" takes corruption to a deeper level during the Reign of Terror. Post World War I fear compete with overwhelming sorrow in Teresa Noelle Roberts' "Blood and Bootleg". While wallow in the past though when you can embrace the latest in technology like Evan Mora's wily hunter in "Takeout or Delivery?".

My favorite story in the collection though is "Wait Until Dark, Montresor" from Thomas S. Roche, a widely published erotica author who not only gives us the unusually vampire and the mortal seeking her pleasures but does it all in second person that pulls you into the story. The runner up for my vote of best in this anthology is a wonderful dark twist on Dracula himself in Lisette Ashton's "Kiss and Make Up" where the victim isn't one of us mere mortals.

It is rare for me to review an anthology that has such good writing in every story. Cleis Press has done an excellent job of sorting through the horde of vampire erotica being written today and produced a book well worth your notice. With an array of characters that go beyond the common stereotypes for the undead and even greater variety among the mortals who encounter them, I feel confident that everyone who likes erotica or vampires will find something to enjoy in this collection.