Chemical [se]X 2

What a magical volume.
Every story so beautifully done.
So many gorgeous descriptive pieces.
If you like variety in your erotica this is a great book.
Plenty of taboo subjects.
Angora Shades ‘Beast’ is stunningly beautiful.
Deserves a full novel by itself.
Lay eggs Renault’s Fairy story is simply magical in every way.
Sally Bend’s Vanilla Frosting would encourage any man to want to partake of those magic chocolates.
Every story is brilliant.
Personal taste means you will like some more than me.
However they are all simply delicious.
Five pulsing shooting stars!

Which is better: sex, or chocolate?

You know that’s a trick question, right? Because why should you ever have to choose? For one thing, everyone knows that sex and chocolate go together like Laurel and Hardy – peanut butter and jelly – Batman and Robin – hamburgers and fries – love and marriage – okay, scratch that one! Certainly, erotic stories featuring chocolate aren’t exactly new. The sensual decadence of good chocolate almost naturally suggests other varieties of pleasure. Consuming chocolate can be used as a kind of foreplay, one form of indulgence leading to another.

But what if chocolate actually had aphrodisiac properties? A secret ingredient that reliably kindled irresistible lust? This is the unifying premise of Chemical [se]X 2: Just One More, a new erotica anthology edited by Oleander Plume, Dr. J. and Mischa Eliot, and published by Passion Works Press. Each of the thirteen authors represented in this delicious collection starts with this basic assumption – aphrodisiac chocolates that actually work – and explores the repercussions.

You might think this common plot element would lead to a sameness among the stories. On the contrary, the tales in Chemical [se]X 2 present a wide range of voices, situations and especially, sexual orientations. In “Beast”, Angora Shade creates an uptight, perfectionist heroine whose careful plans for an outdoor seduction disintegrate in the face of pure, literal, animal passion. In Sally Bend’s “Vanilla Frosting”, a dominant male uses the aphrodisiac sweets to pry his shy twink roommate out of the closet and into his bed. Ria Restrepo’s protagonist gets stuck in an elevator in “Elevator Confidential”, with the much older man she’s desired for decades – plus a convenient supply of the wickedly lust-inducing chocolates. F. Leanora Sullivan uses a company wine and cheese – and chocolate – event to break through the barriers between a career woman and her annoying co-worker in “Team Building”. Dr. J and Mischa Eliot pen tales of sizzling lesbian lust in “My Blu Valentine” and “Because She Hates Me”. I particularly enjoyed the characters in the latter story, a butch biker chick and her trouble-prone femme housemate, each of whom believes she’s hated by the other. Oleander Plume gives us a gorgeous homoerotic encounter between a famous black athlete and his skillful Hispanic tailor in “Well-Suited”. There are indeed times when being dressed is sexier than being naked.

While in many cases the notorious chocolates lubricate (so to speak) relationships between acquaintances, in some stories they bring strangers together. “For the Record” by Kristi Hancock is an example. The company responsible for the aphrodisiac chocolates (“Acme”, just like in the Road Runner/Coyote cartoons!) is testing their efficacy. A woman who volunteers finds herself nearly out of her mind with sexual need, so much so that she picks up the first guy she meets. However, her zipless fuck partner has his own secrets. Rachel Woe’s “Making Waves” gives us a warm-hearted but transient encounter between a middle-aged, overworked hotel housekeeper and a barely-twenty rich kid, a brief connection that nevertheless changes them both.

“Come Away with the Sweet Fairies” by Jayne Renault and “Season’s Change” by Delilah Night are two of the most unusual tales in the collection. The latter is a lusty revisit to the myth of Persephone. The former is set at an outdoor midsummer festival called Kablamfest, reminiscent of Woodstock or Burning Man, where sexual fluidity and magic reign. It brought me back to the days of my youth, before AIDS or terrorism or global warning, when sex was pure joy no matter who happened to be your partner.

I haven’t mentioned every story; I want to leave some for you to discover on your own. Overall, this is a fun collection that manages to transcend what might seem a rather narrow theme to provide a delightful diversity of characters, perspectives and orientations. Every story is well-written, and the editing is superb. The manuscript I read was labeled as an uncorrected proof, but it was much cleaner than many published books I read. In the entire 144 pages, I noticed only one minor typographic error. And as an editor myself, I would notice mistakes if they were there.

Unfortunately, I happen to be allergic to chocolate. This anthology gave me a vivid sense of what I’m missing!

Phew, what can I say about this anthology? It was one of two erotica books I took away on holiday with me and I was so glad to be given an advanced copy to enjoy. At first while I was reading, I had my sensible “reviewer” head on, making plans that I would pick out one or two stories that really had me going, but that fell apart with the first story. Each one got me going, each one got me hot, each one had me touching myself. I seriously had to have a break after every story. Don’t believe me? Download a free sample from Amazon and you’ll see what I mean.

So can I pick out the strongest ones? Honestly, no. But I do have some favourites for various reasons. Jayne Renault’s “Come Away with the Sweet Fairies” gets a special mention for inclusion of a non-binary character and also for an amazing description of a decadent, fun, slightly trippy orgy. “Vanilla Frosting” by Sally Bend was so unbelievably naughty…well, you have to read it. I adored “Team Building” by F. Leonora Solomon, and this was the story that had me looking over my shoulder on the beach just in case anyone was watching how squirmy I was getting. And then there’s Mischa Eliot’s lesbian erotica, “Because She Hates Me” – the story includes an absolutely kick ass lesbian who I desperately want on my side if I’m ever in trouble.