‘Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica’ edited by Sinclair Sexsmith
Author: Angel Propps
November 8, 2012
Sinclair Sexsmith has long been a very visible face in the kinky community thanks in no small part to her award-winning online writing project Sugarbutch Chronicles. Sexsmith is an educator, a writer, a thinker and a kinky queer top. Her firsthand knowledge of BDSM has given her full possession of an empathy that is utterly devoid of sentimentality, making her capable of finding stories that are as lyrical as they are foul mouthed, as brutal as they are beautiful. In this standout collection of lesbian BDSM erotica Sexsmith is at her best, taking on tales and characters that shine with a chilling clarity.
Some of the best transgressive erotic fiction to come along in recent years has been authored by Xan West and in the story “Strong,” Xan is working at top form. Gender itself is the beating, bleeding heart of the play between a transgendered butch and a genderqueer submissive. Using language that shows all too clearly the terrifying loveliness that is vulnerability, Xan delivers characters who willingly choose to go places where others fear to tread and the result is incredibly, satisfyingly filthy and erotic. The caning scene within this story literally made my thighs ache, and not just in sympathy.
Elizabeth Thorne’s “Unworthy As I Am” captures the intimacy between its two main characters in an intense tale of limits being pushed and the ultimate gifts of submission and ownership being bestowed. The story is not only quietly and undeniably lovely; it is filled with some of the hottest sex within the book, and some of the edgiest play, which made it one of my favorites.
BB Rydell’s “Call Me Sir” is a skillfully written look at the scene between a submissive that uses bravado and brattiness to hide the fear and hurt left behind by a night of police violence, and the top that is faced with the choice and the chance to use their skills in a different way.
The story “Housewife” takes the old model; turns it on its ear and allows us to watch the pieces fall back into a far different and incredibly exciting place where servitude and domesticity meet, while “Counting Love” is at once artless and filled with guile, just like the girl who narrates it. From deliberately teasing her Daddy during a long workday to helping to blur the line between punishment and a pleasurable game, August InFlux’s protagonist speaks in a light and young voice that contrasts with, and gives weight to, the incredibly visual scene.
Perhaps my favorite was Amelia Thornton’s absolutely stellar “All Of Me.” The protagonist is a Pro Domme and the story begins with her in her dungeon, wearing her favorite rubber dress and forcing to a male client perform fellatio while thinking of all the special things she has done to please her top and lover, whom she will see after the next session she has scheduled. That session, as it turns out, has been booked by her lover and the pushing on personal boundaries makes for an incredibly erotic scene.
The scene, which is incredibly written, and the sex are utterly amazing but what really resonates here are the thoughts processes and emotions that guide it, and the Mistress who finds herself naming her lover her Master, much to her own surprise.
There are no weak spots anywhere in this anthology. These characters do everything to extremes, and they do it intelligently and mindfully. The sex runs the gamut as do the kinks, making sure that there is something here for everyone but be aware that Sinclair Sexsmith knows her very rough stuff, and none of these stories are for the faint of heart.
Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica
Edited by Sinclair Sexsmith
Cleis Press
Paperback, 9781573447850, 232 pp.
April 2012
