Guest Post: From the Bawdy to the Queer - "Shakespearotica" by Salome Wilde

If you studied Shakespeare with a good teacher or acted in any of his comedies, I don't have to tell you the Bard is bawdy. There is sex throughout his plays, both comic and tragic, and his often biting erotic wit is by no means out of date. Disdainful shepherdess Phoebe in As You Like It, for example, rejects her suitor with a familiar size joke, simply telling him he lacks "the measure for pleasure." Even in the hideous tragedy that is Titus Andronicus, we find a darkly potent "yo mama" crack. When Chiron complains, "Thou has undone our mother," Aaron retorts, "Villain, I have done thy mother."

Even so, diving in and making Shakespeare's work into overt erotica takes a devoted and creative mind and pen. When I decided to make my first adventure in erotic anthology editing focused on the Bard, I knew I was taking on a rich and exciting project. For those writers who love Shakespeare, it would be easy enough to envision what happens between the scenes of a favorite play or after the curtain closes. When lovers come together after misunderstandings or if tragedies could be averted, what glorious sex scenes we might find between Romeo and Juliet, Titania and Oberon, Othello and Desdemona, and Beatrice and Benedict.

But even as I envisioned these delicious pairings, I recognized the limitations in such a project for me. If Shakespeare is bawdy, he is also invested in challenging the boundaries of gender and sex. Consider his crossdressed female characters, his fairy magic, and the deep friendships between men.

With this in mind, my call for submissions for the volume requested a heightening of the suggestiveness of Shakespeare's investment in all things queer. I sought gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual pairings and grouping as well as gender-transgressive and/or trans characters. Writers could recast and rewrite familiar plays or focus on contemporary productions. And historical stories were as welcome as fantastic speculations.

What I received exceeded my imaginings, and the editing work was a labor of love and lust from start to finish. Penelope Addams' "For Love or Duty" fulfills my fondest gay Othello/Iago fantasies, and Louisa Bacio's "All Pucked Up" mixes and matches the lovers of A Midsummer Night's Dream to rouse the greedy bisexual in me. Anna Black's "By Any Other Name" takes us back to Shakespeare's London and the pretty boys who became the stage's pretty women, and Tilly Hunter's "As We Like It" blends science fiction and trans desires to create a sensitive and titillating otherworldly romance. Other stories shift focus to the present day, telling of lesbian, gay, and crossdressed actors in contemporary performances to which we are invited to peek at the intimate interactions going on backstage.

I love the blend of ten uniquely erotic and engaging tales you'll find in Shakespearotica: Queering the Bard because I love Shakespeare, I love erotica, and I love queerness. My experience in editing allowed me to bring these three loves together to reach far beyond my own imagination and right into my heart... and places slightly lower. I am confident the collection will offer something for every fan of erotica and romance, whether you're a literary devotee or just Bard curious.

Shakespearotica: Queering the Bard is now available in eBook ($4.99) and print ($9.99) versions through the Storm Moon Press site!

Salome Wilde (@SalomeWilde on Twitter) is the author of pansexual erotica and romance in genres from contemporary to historical and from Southern Gothic to hardboiled detective. She loves hurt-comfort and naughty humor in equal measure, as long as she gets her HEA. She is thrilled to be a writer for Storm Moon Press, with whom she has published the first of a three-novella series as well as her irst edited anthology, Shakespearotica: Queering the Bard.

Review: Love's Nest by Leta Blake & Keira Andrews

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Love's Nest (Tempting Tales #3) by Leta Blake and Keira Andrews
Ellora's Cave
Novel: 161pgs
2 Pants Off

Blurb:
There’s no greater mystery in the kingdom than how Prince Mateo’s sisters wear out their shoes each night while locked away in their chambers. Using old magic, Mateo discovers their secret and follows them through a portal to an enchanted world of fairies and lusty delights.

Ópalo has waited years for his male human, and he knows Mateo is his destiny. Mateo soon succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh, but as their worlds collide, Ópalo has to risk everything to win his man forever.

Review
Prince Mateo is the youngest of twelve children (twelve!!!) and the only son of The King. There is a mystery afoot, what oh what can his 11 sisters be doing at night that their slippers are ruined? Mateo’s father has decided to find out and he’s not against using his children as a reward. ALL OF HIS CHILDREN!! Mateo included!! Mateo’s not going to stand for this, as he wants the right to live his own life, not the life that someone else requires of him.

Mateo takes it upon himself to find out what’s going on and with the help of his former maid and a magical cloak, he’s off to see what his sister’s are up too. He follows them through a portal into the land of Fairy. The same land of fairy that they heard about as children, there he sees his sisters fall into the arms of their mates. As he watches he sees another someone there alone, Opalo. Opalo takes Mateo with him across the lake and shows him the life that his sisters are so taken with.

Opalo has been waiting for years for his “bride”. The one for whom he was created to be with. He knows the moment that he sees Mateo that his wishes have come true. That this handsome man is the one!! Opalo helps Mateo to see the wonder of being in Fairy. He also shows Mateo something that Mateo has never had…Passion! Opalo teaches Mateo all about the sensual delights of the flesh. But the one thing that he requires, more than anything is Mateo’s heart, his love.

Yet, there here is the crux of the problem…Mateo refuses to fall in love. He’s seen the devastation that happens when you love and lose the one you love. He’s watched his Father become heartbroken and grief-stricken with the loss of his wife. That is something that Mateo wants to avoid at all costs.

Now this is a sweet, story. No real angst or mystery. This is just a sweet, tender love story. If you have a hankering for a story that will leave you feeling sweetly gooey, this is the story for you.

2 Pants Off

Review: Convergence by Talya Andor

Reviewed by Fehu
Convergence (Proud to be a Vampire) by Talya Andor
Less Than 3 Press
Novella
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Chris and Ling travel the world in search of rare, exquisite curiosities, but treasure hunting is rife with danger and comes with a price. In order to retrieve a lost treasure deep within a perilous mountain, Chris hires on a vampire. But traveling with a predator comes with its own risks, and their venture may collapse into absolute loss unless they can each find the opportunity in one another.



Review
Charming characters and a nice action/adventure plot, a la Indiana Jones just with a vampire and gay blokes.
Chris works for his father on paper, but follows up his private interest in archaeological artifacts and treasures, with his partner and childhood friend Ling. A new treasure hunt in China brings with it a need for a special being. Chris can only succeed in recovering the old artefact, with the help of a dead or in this case undead person - a vampire.

Since it's not exactly easy to find a vampire per announcement in the paper, at least you cannot request one; Chris devises a plan and publishes a poem instead. The only one to answer is the mysterious, but quite charming Dorran. Dorran proves to be more interesting than Chris anticipated and soon he finds himself fighting his growing fascination with the vampire, whose interest and loyalties, Chris is still unsure of. They travel together to China and have to survive a more than one test, to get to the artefact and the last challenge might prove to be quite deadly to Chris.
I've read other book from this author, but so far no paranormal story and I hope to see more of Chris and Dorran, since their relationship just begins after they get back, at the very end.

The characters were interesting, but of course had their faults, which made them quite charming. I was a bit disappointed in how easy the guys solved the challenges and that they didn't need all that much time to do it. Action/adventure stories do need time, at least in my opinion. Thankfully the recovering of the artefact was not the end of this story and I was glad to see that Chris and Dorran did not just rush in a relationship. The slow build in the relationship was a bit of a contrast to the quick progress of the plot. Still for a story of this length, it was a pretty good in terms of plot and characters.

It's a story that leaves you wanting to read more!

Should You Read It? I very much enjoy this story and liked the characters, so I would recommend it. After said that, I'd love to see another story with these characters and where the adventure part is a bit more drawn out!

4 Pants Off

Review: Omorphi by C. Kennedy

Omorphi by C. Kennedy
Harmony Ink Press
Novel: 448pgs
2.75 Pants Off

Blurb:
High school senior Michael Sattler leads a charmed life. He’s a star athlete, has great friends, and parents who love him just the way he is. What’s missing from his life is a boyfriend. That’s a problem because he’s out only to his parents and best friend. When Michael accidentally bumps into Christy Castle at school, his life changes in ways he never imagined. Christy is Michael’s dream guy: smart, pretty, and sexy. But nothing could have prepared Michael for what being Christy's boyfriend would entail.

Christy needs to heal after years of abuse and knows he needs help to do it. After the death of his notorious father, he leaves his native Greece and settles in upstate New York. Alone, afraid, and left without a voice, Christy hides the myriad scars of his abuse. He desperately wants to be loved and when he meets Michael, he dares to hope that day has arrived. When one of Michael’s team-mates becomes an enemy and an abuser from Christy’s past seeks to return him to a life of slavery, only Michael and Christy's combined strength and unwavering determination can save them from the violence that threatens to destroy their future together.

Review
I am struggling how to approach this review because the book deals with such a sensitive and hard hitting topic. On one hand it’s easy to believe what was done to MC Christy because lets be real human can be great asshole and we hear about the nasty that can be done to innocent lives. So while Christy's abuse tore at my heart it’s the overall events of this book that I have a problem with.

Michael is believable as the closeted athlete and him falling for the beautiful Christy is quite nice and Christy being equally drawn to Michael. Its apparent from the get go that Christy has a lot to get over but Michael is already half in love and is willing to stick by him. It’s all so sweet already and I was thinking how much I was going to love it just reading about Michael loving Christy and finally making him feel safe. Well...things sort of went downhill for me when crazy starting coming from every side and it turned into a Final Destination (everyone must go) type of thing.

It's like whatever bad thing I was thinking would happen does, and my eye roll numerous came out in full swing. I can believe in a crazy homophobe but not 25 of them (gross exaggeration) and with a car bombing, Christy in flames, dead squirrels in lockers, gun being pulled at a club, near drowning, attack with a bat, death threat phone calls, I was over it. Its either everything was really good or very bad and I could not find a balance.

I'm all about overcoming and empowering characters but all the theatrics took away from me really enjoying this one. My highlights were the interactions between Michael and Christy, their dialogue and Christy's strength made this not totally horrible for me to read. Again, really sensitive and hard hitting content but the crazy that ensues kind of made what happened and what was happening to Christy feel light and I am sure that was not the overall intent.

Should You Read It? I can't really call this one because again I stand as the odd one out with my feelings. Omorphi just did not work for me on a number of levels but it might be the book for you (to each his/her own).

SideNote: I am a fan of a boy that dresses up and plays with gender that wins everytime.


DarienMoya

Review: An Erie Halloween by V.L Locey

Reviewed by SinChan
An Erie Halloween by V.L Locey
Torquere Press
Short Story: 79pgs
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Templeton Reed has been hiding his inner polecat since he was a child. Keeping his animal secreted is hard for a shifter, especially when one is living in a secret community of mystical beings. It`s the wolf shifters that cause Templeton the most trouble with their darned sensitive noses.

Templeton has a run-in with the Lake Erie pack and their alpha, Mikel Lupei, at the Office for Transmogrification Registration (OTTER). Templeton has a desk job checking registration papers and dealing with wolf shifters is not part of his job description. After that upsetting meeting the meek and mild office worker suddenly finds himself in the center of not only civil unrest among the shifter community, but a violent plan for a coup aimed at rousting Mikel.

Templeton and Mikel, a skilled tracker of rogue shifters, are soon not only fighting for their lives, they`re also fighting the rigidly archaic rules of their kind, as well as the person responsible for trying to take over Mikel`s pack from the inside. Can this magical odd couple turn a passionate attraction into a full-fledged love affair?

Review
I love that there is a hierarchy among shifters and they can be discriminated by species, gender, and sexual orientation. I think this story is more contemporary in terms of the issues the characters are dealing with and how their society is changing. Women are trying to gain positions of power and shifters are fighting for gay rights. The story has a strong underlying message with its romance package.

The mystery plot is wonderfully done and keeps the reader in the dark. Some rogue shifters are murdering "lesser shifters" and Templeton narrowly escapes being killed on Halloween night. I wish more foreshadowing is done to clue into the perpetrators so they don't come as a surprise (or complete strangers) at the end of the story.

There's no mate bond with the shifters but the attraction between Mikel and Templeton is still apparent. Mikel is the popular wolf shifter who's also secure in his position as an alpha wolf in the shifter society. Templeton, on the other hand, is a skunk shifter. He dyes his hair and hides whenever there's trouble and knows he's a lesser shifter who's not on par with the popular wolf shifters. I like Templeton's inner voice telling the story and his HEA ending.

This is a short, funny, romance story with skunk shifters and a dark plan to overthrow the male dominated wolf shifter pack. I definitely recommend this for shifter fans.

4 Pants Off