​Well, at just on fifty odd pages on Kindle, Little Red will not completely satisfy your desire for a good, long read, but it is a lovely morsel to munch on when you have an hour to spare. This is more of a short story than a novella, but that's fine as I knew going in, what I was buying, 

What James', it appears, is intent on doing, is taking our beloved fairytales from our childhood, placing them in a modern-day setting and throwing in some adult-themed context. Initially, I was a bit uncertain about having all my childhood illusions of sweet Red Riding Hood blown apart by an adult context, but having read Little Red, I can say I was satisfied with James' efforts. 

Little Red is heading off to take some baking to Grandma, who lives alone in the woods. Yes, the Big Bad Wolf is indeed waiting for her, but not perhaps in the way you might expect. 

I was impressed with James' writing style and the story flowed very well. The character of Ruby was well defined and easily identifiable. I think the author's handling of the adult scene in the story was exciting, extremely vivid and hot. This is not a fairy-tale for children, by any stretch of the imagination. 

I see on Amazon she has already added her unique touch to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, which I have no doubt will be on my TBR list soon. If I could make one plea to the author it would be that she tries to flesh out one of these stories a little more and turn it into a novella, or better still, a novel. She is talented and I would like to read more of her work. 

For what it is and within its genre, Little Red is a great story. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a momentary diversion for an hour or so and likes a salacious touch to an old classic. Great job Jess James and five well-earned stars from me.

Check out all of Jess James' offerings here: http://amzn.to/1XIZzbM       

Water Into Whine, I guess is a marked departure for Kelly, from his usual genres, which tends toward comedic slapdash, as evidenced by his Damsels' series, with a bit of horror and mysticism thrown in for good measure, in some of his other offerings. 

Kelly made it clear in his introduction that the motivation for writing Water into Whine, was a challenge from a couple of his friends to write something "smutty". Well, Mr. Kelly, you answered that challenge in "spades"! Water into Whine, if nothing else, is a definitely one enormous pile of smut. Unlike the Damsels' series where the smut is implied through the use of ribald and euphemistic jokes, the grubbiness is laid out for all to see (and read) in Water into Whine. The concentration on the erotica (although pleasant to read) didn't take away from the quirky story being told, however. 

We are introduced to the Reverend Redders who, along with his wife Miriam has a very interesting philosophy on life, especially as it applies to sin. In a nutshell, the good Reverend believes we are all sinners and we are all forgiven our sins by Jesus' death at Calvary. It is, therefore, our bounden duty, as Christians, to sin well and to sin often, something they are quick to do.      

This is a funny, quirky, little story, with a whole heap of sex scenes. Do nit read this book if you are of the prudish mold, however, it is a fun story. If I had a couple of riders to my review, they would be as follows: The sex scenes did at times tend to become repetitive, although kudos to the author for varying the ways and means of the participants to reach their climaxes. I do realize, as an author, how hard it is to write fresh and inspiring erotica. I think Kelly did a pretty good job of handling all of this "smut". The second thing that disappointed me a little was the focus on the Reverend's sexual impropriety, to the detriment of his financial improprieties, which I felt could have been explored a little more. 

The good thing is, it appears the Reverend Redders and his seductive wife Miriam have been reassigned to a remote Scottish Isle and reappear in the next installment of this tale from Kelly, titled Vicars and Tarts. 

A good, satisfying and slightly heated Sunday afternoon read. If you like a bit of slap and tickle, a bit of a quirky little story, then Water into Whine is a definite yes, but only if you are broad-minded. I give this effort fro, Michael H Kelly a very solid four-star rating. Thanks for the fun read.

You can check put more of Michael H Kelly's work here: http://amzn.to/24tVoSV  

​Lusting After Michiko by Frank Noir makes no pretensions about what it is and is not. It is, as the author puts it, a pornographic novella. At only 43 pages, it is short, even for a novella, but the author still manages to pack those 43 pages with an interesting concept and one Noir explores well and fully. 

I'll be honest and say pornographic stories are not my favorite read, but I'm open minded enough to read them and get a modicum of pleasure from them. As far as this genre is concerned, Lusting After Michiko is a good one. 

The basic concept of voyeuristic and exhibitionist behaviour is one that appeals to many readers and I guess we've all felt the desire to act out those fantasies from time to time. Luckily probably, most of us have resisted that desire. In the eighties, which is a generation I'm more familiar with, we would have called what was happening in this plot (zipless sex).  

The story itself focuses on an Asian woman who is "stalked" by her next door neighbour and indulges in a variety of exhibitionist behaviours and games with him. I found the writing to be excellent and I do realise how difficult it is to add variety and spice into a story that focuses principally on just one aspect of human behaviour - sex. I think the writer did fairly well, although I did find some of the sex scenes a little repetitive. 

All that having been said, I think if you want a quick, exciting, titillation, Lusting After Michiko would be a very good book to keep by your bed, to indulge yourself in your own fantasies. I did enjoy this quick dip into the fantasy realm - it made a change from horror/romance, which is my normal reading fare. For that reason, I would give Lusting After Michiko 3.5 stars, rounded up to a healthy and enjoyable 4 Stars.

You can check out more of Frank Noir's work here: http://amzn.to/1rpWpNW   

When I first picked up Christina Mandara's new book Good As Dead, my immediate thoughts were; vampires and witches ha! I'm not sure, as a reader, I do vampires and witched all that happily, but what I do do happily is romance and eroticism and this book is chock-a-block full of both.
I was immediately drawn into the story of the young witch Lainey, who was rescued from certain death by a very ancient, but very virile and sexy vampire Mercer. 
Mercer it appears works for some organisation whose job it is to save people, but I never really understood how that all worked, not that it made any difference to my enjoyment of this story. There is an instant and undeniable physical, emotional and spiritual attraction and connection between Mercer and Lainey, around which much of the action is built. Now apparently witches and vampires are supposed to be mortal enemies, so that made the attraction even spicier and more interesting. 
Lainey, a doctor, has developed some serum that everyone desires to get their hands on; witches, vampires and humans. This makes Lainey a very important person to protect and of course Mercer is just the man (vampire) for the job. 
I love a good erotic storyline, with plenty of plot ideas and Good As Dead definitely fulfills my every need in that respect. It is a fast-paced, easy read and one I am sure many people will enjoy immensely.
Despite the genre being well outside of my usual reading choice I have absolutely no hesitation in giving Good As Dead a resounding five stars. I hope the second book in the series can live up to the hype and enjoyment I got from Good As Dead. Another fine effort from C.P. Mandara

You can check out all of C.P. Mandara's offerings here: http://amzn.to/1L0rgcv