Several months back I read about a new trend in erotica that involved re-imagined fairy tales with risque scenes. I liked the idea, a lot, and so when I had an opportunity to review Fairy Tale Lust, I happily took it on. Kristina Wright has assembled a good collection of short stories, with an emphasis on ‘short’; there are 18 stories in a little under 200 pages. Normally I would grouse about the story length, but let’s face it, in an erotica collection I’m not looking for character development. I’m looking for a hot little story that’s like candy for my brain.

Some of the writers faithfully adhered to the fairy tale format, and others wrote contemporary stories with a touch of fantasy. I liked both, but I wish more of the stories read like fairy tales, with a naughty twist, of course. There are too many stories for me to review them individually, but I will say that they were all decent, with several rising above the rest. My particular favorites were “The Pub Owner’s Daughter” by Alegra Verde, which closely mimicked a traditional fairy tale, “Sleep Tight” by Janine Ashbless, where a blue collar worker finds a sleeping beauty, “In the Dark Woods” by Kristina Wright, with a woman who may or may not be sleeping with a demon, and “The Return” by Charlotte Stein, where an unhappy wife is seduced by a man masquerading as her husband.

I spent the day reading these little stories in between doing my usual mom-drudgery, and I must say that it made my day ever so pleasant. Since this is an erotica I feel the need to give it a ‘sensuality rating,’ and while it’s nice and hot, it’s not quite as scorching as some stuff I’ve read. Some of the stories are merely titillating, and others are downright satisfying.

This title will be released on July 1, 2010.

Note: I received a free advanced review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine Program.