Erotic Gothic Paranormal Stories edited by Mitzi Szereto

Red Velvet and Absinthe:  Paranormal Erotic Romance edited by Mitzi Szereto

Fifteen Very Erotic Paranormal Tales

in a Gothic Mode

Red Velvet and Absinthe:  Paranormal Erotic Romance  (2011m 238 pages) is the 5th work by Mitzi Szereto that I have greatly enjoyed reading and posting on.   All of her books are for adults only and have a strong erotic and sexual quality.   Of the four works I posted on prior today, one was a collection of Mitzi's own erotic short stories, two others were anthologies of  short stories selected by Szereto (with a story written by her included), and one was a hilarious very sexy  take off on Jane Austin, Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts.    I like all of her works a lot (otherwise I would not be posting on my 5th one now!) and I think  I like best the Austin rewrite.   If you want to know what went on behind closed doors and out in the barn at Pemberly Place, give it a try.   

Red Velvet and Absinthe:  Paranormal Erotic Romance is a really well selected collection of very exciting stories.   Most of the writers are women and most are quite successful authors.    Szereto has thoughtfully provided a brief biography of each of the authors (including the web address for the home page of the authors-a really nice touch more editors should emulate).   Most of the stories involve paranormal events-vampires, werewolves, strange castles, dungeons, etc.   If you ever had a fantasy about one of the characters on True Blood, you will be happy to have this book on your nightstand.   A number of the stories involve lesbian sex, some involve domination, some obsession and other alternative activities.  The writing is explicit and goes on at length.  

I will spotlight two of the stories I really enjoyed but there is not a bad story in the collection.

My favorite story in the collection is "Milady's Bath" by Giselle Renarde.   Her most famous book is Lesbian Love.    "Milady's Bath" is set on a great house, maybe it is Louisiana in 1820 or maybe somewhere in Ireland in the 1870s.   There are only two characters on stage in the story, one is a young servant girl who was allowed, unlike most servant girls, to sleep in the room with her mistress, a woman a bit older than herself.   The serving girl seems like a bound servant of some kind.   Very often my lady goes into the wood late at night, she returns with her clothes torn asunder, marks of bites all over her body, and the clear appearance of having been ravaged.   The serving girl, who is in love with her mistress, tries to find out who or what she is going out to see late at night.  In a very smoldering scene, she gives milady a bath.   Milady has just returned from the woods and the serving girl takes her time giving her a very thorough bath.   Renarade does a very good job of making us feel that we are there (OK I did not say making us wish we were there!).   The serving girl has a powerful sexual fixation on milady.   This is an x-rated story.   The descriptions of the women are very well done.   I would happily read more stories by Renarde.   This is my favorite story in the collection.  

"The Queen" by Tahira Igbal is a very intriguing story about a hundreds of year  old vampire queen and her lover.   This is, I think, the author's first published short story and she is off to a great start.   The story begins with a long passionate encounter between the queen and a male.   There is nothing gentle or subtle about their encounter.     The story is set today but it really begins 300 years ago in Paris when the king of the vampires took her life and her virginity.   She now lives on his estate in the forests of France.   I like her prose style immensely.    Igbal has written an enthralling vampire story that transcends the cliche of that genre.

All of the stories are first rate.    Some are lyrical and languorous, some are pretty violent and depict dark worlds.   All of the stories contain strong paranormal content.   This is a first rate collection of stories.  It is a lot of fun to read.   

Here is Mitzi Szereto's official biography

"MITZI SZERETO is a bestselling author and anthology editor of multi-genre and erotic fiction and non-fiction, blogger for the popular ERRANT RAMBLINGS: MITZI SZERETO'S WEBLOG (http://mitziszereto.com/blog), and the creator/presenter for the internet TV channel MITZI TV (http://mitziszereto.com/tv), which offers a quirky take on London.

Her published titles include PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: HIDDEN LUSTS; RED VELVET AND ABSINTHE: PARANORMAL EROTIC ROMANCE; IN SLEEPING BEAUTY'S BED: EROTIC FAIRY TALES (solo short story collection); THE NEW BLACK LACE BOOK OF WOMEN'S SEXUAL FANTASIES (non-fiction/survey); GETTING EVEN: REVENGE STORIES (crime/multi-genre); DYING FOR IT: TALES OF SEX AND DEATH (erotica/multi-genre); WICKED: SEXY TALES OF LEGENDARY LOVERS (erotica/romance/historical); the EROTIC TRAVEL TALES anthology series (erotica/romance); THE WORLD'S BEST SEX WRITING 2005"…

Mel u