"Be careful what you wish for -- because you just might get it. Erotic anthology."

This anthology contains three stories around the concept of "make a wish" -- or perhaps, "be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it".

Craven's Downfall by Stephanie Burke

It's only a couple of hours until Nola and Gregor's wedding. Nola is sitting by the "fairy ring" on the hill where she and Gregor played as children, trying to avoid thinking about how she loves Gregor as a best friend, not a husband -- and how the thought of sex with him turns her off. She wishes she could travel and explore and find true passion before completing her medical residency and settling down to a boring life as Gregor's wife.

Craven is a fairy -- but most definitely not the flit-about- the-flowers-on-filmy-wings kind. He's over six feet tall, has black hair down to his ankles, and wears a nipple bar and leather. He's one of the Fey, living in Tier Na Nog (you know, ruled by Oberon and Titania, who were not exactly nice to humans). Craven is Lord of Carnality, Master of Fleshly Desires, Prince of Pleasurable Pain, and Dark Master of Desire. But lately he is BORED! All these orgies are the "same old sucking, same old fucking". So maybe he could find some interesting human and tempt her into a fairy ring and grant her wish -- as long as the wish would involve lots of very creative and mind-blowing sex with him.

But then what? He can't keep Nola in the land of the Fey, but he doesn't want to give her up. And Nola may be enjoying the sex, but what she meant by passion included the emotional element called love, too.

Whoa, sizzling hot super sex! And a very satisfying emotional ending.

A Wish Away by Marly Chance

It's Tiffany's birthday, and she just wants to make it through the day with no disasters. She's become superstitious about this day, after the devastating emotional mishaps of the last few birthdays -- like last year, when she came home early and found her boyfriend in bed with another woman. And she's been having a rough time lately with romance -- Zak has been her best friend for six years, but now she is having very erotic dreams about him and is getting nowhere with trying to make him see her in a sensual rather than sisterly light. So here she is on her birthday, having lunch with her best friend Polly, and all she said was "I wish Zak would notice me, really notice me, and I wish I had a little more excitement in my life."

Be careful what you wish for . . . In the next couple of hours, Tiffany finds out that Zak is actually from another planet, is in a kind of interplanetary Witness Protection Program because he can identify a murderer, and that said murderer has located Zak and arrived to kill him. Oh, and her friend Polly is really an operative for the Covert Coalition, a secret agency that spies on other planets. Plus, Tiffany is now in the Cuff Chamber of the Little Layaway Motel with Zak, who seems very turned on by the erotic furniture and pornographic holographic images. But why waste wishes on your birthday? Maybe even be generous and make one about Polly and Zak's brother Dran, just to add to the excitement.

A very fun and amusing romp, with GREAT sex.

Serendipity by Joanna Wylde

Mali is only three years old, but she is wishing for a new daddy. Not one like her old daddy, who beat and abused his wife and children. Jax, the space soldier staying at the hostel her mother runs, is such a nice guy, he plays with Mali and wants to kiss her mom. Mali's seven-year-old brother hates the idea -- he can protect his mom, they don't need anyone else, and he will do whatever needed to get rid of the threat of another man in the family. Mom Sarai also has no interest in ever marrying again. She grew up on a small farming asteroid, endured a horrendous marriage to a controlling and abusive man, and now just wants to raise her adored children on this small and quiet planet. She basically hates and fears men, feeling that a man would just take away her independence and take over her life. And a soldier would probably be the worst.

But Jax really is the person Mali perceives -- kind, patient, supportive, affectionate, good with children. Jax explains to Sarai that in his culture women are independent and are the equals of the men, but she has a hard time believing him. He is also trying hard to convince her that she is his destined lifemate, according to the ways of the planet he is from. So will continual hot sex make Sarai want him enough to overcome her fears, or will it only increase her concern about giving up her independence to a man? Or is loving her children the best way to her heart?

I loved the cultural legend Jax related to Sarai, the one his religion used to explain why only 20 percent of the children born in their race are female. "When the Goddess created the world, she made men and women equally strong. But [...] she discovered that even though men and women had the same strength, the women's lives were so much harder that it wasn't fair. [...] So she started making fewer women, but making them stronger. Now there are more men than women, but our women are so strong that they hold our society together. Any Saurellian man lucky enough to be found worthy to be mated to one of those women is blessed a thousand times by the Goddess."

Overall rating Hard R/NC-17 by Ellora's Cave.

Reviewed by Raelene Gorlinsky
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted September 13, 2002

Summary

Three women get their wishes granted, albeit not in a way any of them are expecting... Serendipity by Joanna Wylde: Sarai has lived through one terrible marriage. The last thing she needs is a new man in her life. But Jax isn't interested in taking "no" for an answer... Craven's Downfall by Stephanie Burke: She didn't want to marry the boring man she was bound to, so when one simple wish lands Nola inside a world filled with exotic creatures and erotic fantasies she thought it was a dream come true. But the thing about fantasies is that they never last...or do they? A Wish Away by Marly Chance: Tiffany has a bad history when it comes to birthdays. This year, she's made it 12 hours into her birthday and she's taking no chances. Well, except for that one small birthday wish she made...She wished her sexy best friend, Zak, would notice her and that her routine life would get more exciting. What, after all, could go wrong with a wish like that?