| Title | : | Leather Ever After: An Anthology of Kinky Fairy Tales |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1607775425 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781607775423 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 185 |
| Publication | : | First published January 2, 2013 |
Leather Ever After: An Anthology of Kinky Fairy Tales Reviews
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Originally posted at:
http://www.longandshortreviews.com/bo...
What do you get when you combine kinky leather and fairy tales? An anthology that covers every aspect of BDSM–a flogging to some kinky Daddy tales.
This collection has eighteen stories. With some of the biggest names in the industry, I was notably excited to review this collection of kink. Leather stories always fascinate, but when you twist them up in not so neat little packages of fairy tales and floggers, then you are going to get all kinds of tales, from the scary to the sublime. Laura Antoniou provides the forward and I always enjoy her words. Author of the Marketplace series, a leather and slave masterpiece, it was great to see her name on the author roster.
Each Step For Him by Lee Harrington
Lee Harrington can turn a phrase and can suck you into a story without trying. His imagery and the blending of the leather community with a tale of The Little Mermaid was truly inspirational. This m/m short was infused with images of leather, the sea and finding a Prince to love. It was sexy and well done and I am eager to read more from this author.
Blue Beard’s Ghost by Ariel Dalziel
The story of Bluebeard is one I remember hearing as I was growing up. A murderous pirate, Bluebeard claimed the lives of his wives and kept gruesome trophies in a room upstairs. In this rendition, the bride claims a place of her own. An awakening into the art of D/s and a delicious twist at the end made this story a joy to read.
Blood in the House of Sweets by Miss Lola Sunshine
This original twist on the Hansel and Gretel tale had me at the word go. Needle play, age play, ménage…a very creative scene that will delight readers with its adult themes and edge play.
The Suitor by Miel Rose
This story reminded me a lot of Brave with a princess that rebelled against her mother’s matchmaking schemes. A rousing bit of sword play and a surprise suitor bring some f/f action to this kinky fairy tale rewrite.
Hair Like Gold by Nalu Kalani
Rapunzel never had as much fun as the girl suspended by her hair in this short. An elaborate bondage by hair scene, the prince in this story has to bring a captive girl to orgasm in order to free her from her bonds. A fun retelling.
The Mistress and the Pea by Cynthia Hamilton
A search for a Domme leads a prince on a wild hunt for the perfect mate. This story was very like Cinderella trying on magic shoes, except in this case, it was a prince trying out princesses one at a time to find the right fit.
The Red Shoes by Hosha
Red shoes rock. It is a known fact and one that this story really captures well. The girl in this story lusts for the shoes in the window and after an interesting visitor to the shoe shop where she works, all kinds of doors open up for her. A winding plot and good erotic content, I enjoyed this story.
The Seven Swan Princes by D L King
This story was an excellent rendition of the fairytale on which it was based. An overbearing oaf demanding the hand of Eve, she refuses and fights against his unwelcome advances. Weaving robes to free her brothers from a curse, the maiden crafts some lovely garments. Add in some lovely sex magic, a wizard with a talented flogger and some hot bondage and you have a great short story for this collection.
The Good Witch by Ali Oh
The wicked witch is one of the most misunderstood characters in fairytales. In this rendition of Baba Yaga, the Good Witch and The Wicked Witch have a series of meetings that taunt and tantalize, all the while exploring bondage and some fun D/s. There might be a little more to the Good Witch than everyone thinks.
Snow Fight by Rob Rosen
When the prince finds Snow White in her glass coffin, he encounters some resistance before he is able to get her freed from the spell of death. The huntsman fights him and ties him up to have his wicked way with him. Lots of nipple twisting and some steamy m/m action commence.
Down Under by Raven Kaldera
A man made of bread and a girl have some interesting trysts in the woods. Add a witch, a whole lot of bondage and a splendid gift and you have a story that never gets old. Being beautiful on the inside is always better than being a shallow beauty on the outside any day.
Golden Twink and the Three Bears by Elizabeth “Jake” Hart
A smoking hot tale of The Three Bears, this one isn’t for the faint of heart. When Twink finds his way into the Bear’s cottage, he happens upon their bondage toy collection and some red hot branding equipment. When the family comes home to find him nestled in Baby Bear’s bed, we can only imagine what comes next.
Iron Henry by Karen Taylor
I want to go to a tea party like this one. The main character is loosely based on the Frog Prince, or Iron Henry. Going to a tea party, this submissive male is there to serve and as he makes his way artfully among the Dommes, one woman in particular catches his eye. She is also watching him. In a delicious development, the two meet and the erotic submission of Henry to his new mistress will take you to realms of cock rings and some creative restraints.
The Wolf and Little Red by Alysia Angel
Little Red Riding Hood can be a very erotic tale. This one used Daddy play and I had a little trouble getting into the story. While the imagery was very well written, the Daddy play used a lot of descriptive elements that bordered on an underage person in a sexual encounter with an older, possible father figure. It most likely was not written to be read that way, but it really hit a trigger for me. The image of a little girl with little hands touching the wolf and more was disturbing to me. If you have triggers with age play then do not read this story.
Not Enough Storms by Goldie Dartmouth
This fairy story did a lot of showing and not telling and I found myself drifting after the first page. There is an elaborate world building scenario that was very difficult for a reader to latch onto and identify with. Adding some character interaction would have been beneficial to the story.
Cinderfella by Sossity Chiricuzio
Cinderella has some f/f tendencies in this provocative tale. When a cousin to one of the maids shows up to teach El about her secret fantasies, things heat up.
Lady Leoprine by Mollena Williams
A bondage club scene with a Mistress that is all powerful has a submissive male slave aching to serve. When a disruptive influence causes a nuisance at the club, Lady Leoprine takes matters into her own hands. Starting out as a normal leather club scene, this tale quickly shifts with paranormal elements.
The Little Boot Black by Sassafras Lowrey
This Daddy play story was compelling and very well done. The little bootblack is missing his Daddy, a female who takes care of him. Even though this story dealt with age play and the term “little boy” it did not bring to mind images of abuse, but instead of coming home to a lover who takes control and gives the devotion that the bootblack yearns for. It is a beautiful story.
This collection overall was very well done. The BDSM elements roamed far and wide, bringing imagery of needle play, age play, impact play and more. If you enjoy a romp on the leather side, than this fairy tale redo is just the thing. -
I read this for my April review for Erotica Revealed.
I love the retelling and re-imagination of old tales, and I think I’ve mentioned here at least once that I adore it when someone can take something that’s been pushed almost to the edge of total saturation and turn it sideways. I also love – via this gig at Erotica Revealed – how I get to so often find anthologies that I never would have bumped into otherwise, and likely wouldn’t have picked up for one reason or another (most centrally that in the world of erotica, so often you don’t know what’s out there, let alone where to get it and which title might be worthy of a gamble). I have read so many things in the months – wait, are we at years yet? – I’ve been on board that I likely would have put aside as “not my kink.”
Leather Ever After hits all those points, dead center. These are not the tales that the Brothers Grimm gathered, but they bear resemblance enough to the original stories that you’ll find yourself grinning at where the authors send the characters you’re used to imagining in far more innocent surroundings.
When I say these retellings turn a tale sideways, I mean the stories like “Each Step For Him,” by Lee Harrington, which begins where the Little Mermaid ends, giving her a brother, and envisioning a version of the story where this young merman falls hard for a leather man and faces a similar trail: what must be given up to live on land with the man he loves? The clever twist to the “every step the pain of a thousand knives” and the ultimate scene of the tale left me grinning and tantalized with a view of a community I don’t know well.
I also mean “Hair Like Gold,” by Nalu Kalani, where Rapunzel’s beautiful hair is used to bind and tease, and whose freedom can only be bought through release of a different kind. Cynthia Hamilton likewise takes a staple and kinks it up with “The Mistress and the Pea,” wherein it’s the Prince who is seeking some discomfort, and what happens on the top of the huge pile of mattresses is an exchange of power and submission.
The anthology itself has common fairy tales retold – Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood – alongside some others that are less obvious or less often seen in these types of collections. D.L. King’s revision of “The Seven Swan Princes” was fantastic – nettles have never been used to build such tension, and the trails to restore her beauty at the hands of her goth prince all but cracked aloud. The almost tangential retelling of the Frog Prince in Karen Taylor’s “Iron Henry” is another favourite – cleverly set up, and executed with a rich style. And the gender fluidity of “Cinderfella” – which also has my favourite ending of the whole collection – has put Sossity Chiricuzio dead center on my radar.
And I should mention when I say that it’s anthologies like this that expose me to stories I would have put aside as “not my kink” in the past, I definitely picture “House of Sweets.” – “House of Sweets” has needle play – something that would frankly send me racing from a room in double time. And yet even when faced with something that leaves me personally ready to bolt, Miss Lola Sunshine keeps an erotic edge humming, and every dimple of flesh at the tip of a sharp needle is a moment of pain and pleasure wrapped into one package of torment that still tantalizes. It’s no small thing to accomplish keeping a reader interested when he’s cringing. I can imagine fans of needle play would salivate here.
That’s my overall impression, actually: there will be something in here for everyone, and for those of you with edgier tastes, I think you’ll be even more pleased. Leather, bondage, rubber, the aforementioned needle play, whipping, shoe worship, knife play... The range is quite wide. It’s a rare collection that dares to step a bit further away from the gamut of what could be called mainstream kink (if that’s even a classification I can beg you to consider), but Leather Ever After takes that risk and successfully spins straw into gold. -
So, you want happily every after? Or maybe you’ll just go for a happy ending…
Once upon a time, in a dungeon far, far away the kinkiest writers in the land were summoned to pervert beloved fairy tales with tales of dominance, submission, bondage and surrender. In these stories twisted princesses take control of submissive princes, witches play with power and fairy tales come to life in our homes and dungeons…
In Leather Ever After, celebrated queer author Sassafras Lowrey brings together some of the most beloved leather writers in an enchanting collection published by Ravenous Romance with a foreword by Laura Antoniou! Leather Ever After is Learn more about about Leather Ever After at
www.LeatherEverAfter.wordpress.com and to get more information about Sassafras and hir work visit
www.SassafrasLowrey.com
I should disclose right now that I submitted a story for this anthology, but it did not make the cut. Hopefully, that will explain the bitterness infused throughout this review.
Just kidding. I really love the way this turned out. I was intrigued from the first call for submissions about this idea, cherished and well-known fairy tales turned on their heads by a bunch of perverts… what could be more cool than that?
Out of eighteen tales, there were only a few that didn’t do much for me, but most were wonderful, surprising, hot and enjoyable. Here are my favorites:
Each Step for Him by Lee Harrington is a new twist on the original Little Mermaid story. I was hooked right away by the sexiness, the chivalry, the honor and service. This is a story I wanted so much to step right into.
The Mistress and the Pea by Cynthia Hamilton is excellent. Well written, great imagery, very sexy and a really fun twist on the original story.
Good Witch by Ali Oh. My second favorite, so hot. Wonderfully imaginative story about witches good and bad. Reading this will have you looking at fairy tales in a whole new way. I’ll definitely go back for more of this hot, sexy story.
Snow Fight by Rob Rosen made me laugh out loud. Not good, you think? Oh, I disagree. I love cleverness and humor in erotica and this story delivered. Also, serious sexy hotness.
Cinderfella by Sossity Chiricuzio. A very familiar story, told with a delightful, gender-bending twist. This is another tale I wouldn’t mind falling into, cleaning up the ashes never looked so good.
Lady Leporine by Mollena Williams. This one made me laugh in a whole other way. Not sure which fairy tale this is based on, but the Lady is my new favorite super hero. Wonderfully well written with loads of gorgeous detail and the kind of ending we all hope for… scary powerful female top gets the boy. Wait, you don’t all hope for that? Ahhh.. too bad.
The collection is rounded out by The Little Bootblack by Sassafras Lowrey. This is the sweet, cherry on the top contribution to finish up the collection, complete with a happy ending.
The Scoop: Leather Ever After, an Anthology of Kinky Fairy Tales, edited by Sassafras Lowrey, forward by Laura Antoniou, published through Ravenous Romance, is available through Amazon, in print and Kindle versions ($
12.99/$5.79).
The Verdict: buy it -
I'm so happy to see an anthology that includes trans folk and people of color! Inclusion of everyone is a wonderful thing!
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Some of the stories in this anthology really spoke to me, and some were just quick or enjoyable reads. Not every story is going to work for you, but they are all worth reading regardless.
I didn't recognize some of the fairytales that these stories were based on, but you don't need to know a lot of fairytales in order to understand and enjoy these stories. -
I do love a smutty story. This short-story collection is a mix of good smut, really good smut and ok smut. Which is which is a matter of taste. Props to Raven Kaldera for really nailing the fairy-tale feel in a story that as far as I know was completely original.
