Celestial Reviews 204 - August 2, 1997

 Note:  I posted some information about killfiles and zipped files in 
the last issue of CR.  What I posted was generally accurate.  However, 
as someone astutely pointed out in an a.s.s.d. discussion, I really 
don't know much about technology and I was just paraphrasing what more 
knowledgeable people had told me.  This discussion is continuing on 
a.s.s.d., where it belongs and where more competent people are handling 
the debate.

Second note:  I have neglected Parker in my reviews.  Parker is a good 
writer, but most of his stories simply deal with topics that don't 
interest me.  I am reposting my reviews of the three Parker stories I 
have reviewed.  In addition, I have "commissioned" guest reviews of two 
of his other stories (as if I really had the authority to "commission" 
anything).  If there is anyone out there who would like to guest review 
some more of Parker's stories, I would be happy to hear from you.

Final note: Remember: even though someone else may be posting my reviews 
for me, my e-mail address is still Celeste801@aol.com. 
- Celeste

      "After School Special" by Unknown Author (teacher sex)
            8, 8, 8
      "The Words" by L.P. (cyber-romance fruition) 8, 8, 8
      "Surprise" by DaTurnOn (dreamy threesome) 8, 8, 8
      "On The Other Side of Seduction" by ElSol (seductive
             romance) 6, 5, 5
      "Begging on all FOURS" by Puppylicks (sex slavery &
            bestiality) 6, 5, 3
      "The Insatiable Flirt" by Anne747 (ff shower sex) 
            10, 10, 10
      "The Hunter" by The Erotic Pen (magick & romance) 
            10, 9, 9
      "Taking it in the Shorts" by Jamie Phillips (light-hearted 
            revenge) 10, 10, 10

Guest Reviews:

      "Elizabeth" by Seurat (bdsm & control) 9.5, 9.5, 6
      "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Waldo (vampires
            & TG) 10, 10, 10
      "Nancy Comes to Work" by the Erotic Pen (office 
            rendezvous)

Reposted Reviews (because the stories have recently been reposted):

    * "Singapore Girl" by Friar Dave (anal sex, fisting, bondage,
            etc.) 10, 8, 8
    * "Honeymoon" by Parker (Slavery/bdsm) 10, 8, 3 
    * "Office Girl" by Parker (blackmail & white slavery) 
            10, 10, 9
    * "Princess" by Parker (TG Halloween Party) 10, 9.5, 9
    * "Scarlett's Cove" by Ann Douglas (hot lesbian romance) 
            10, 10, 10

"After School Special" by Unknown Author (teacher sex).  An After School 
Special is an occasional television show that appears in the late 
afternoon in the United States with the purpose of enlightening children 
in an entertaining atmosphere.  This story is about a different sort of 
After School Special.  The narrator is a teacher who flirts with Miss 
Daphne Mason and is invited to the book closet for a session of hot sex.  
Although the terminology is stereotypical and the plot predictable, this 
is a fairly hot story.

Ratings for "After School Special" Athena (technical quality): 8 Venus 
(plot & character): 8 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

"The Words" by L.P. (kspeyt@hotmail.com).  Her sex life was sterile and 
uninteresting, until she found the Internet, where she was able to let 
her inhibitions down and let the sexy and charming self emerge from 
inside her.  Then she found herself actually having orgasms with this 
man on the telephone.  Now she is going to meet him in person.

I guess part of the appeal of cyber-romances that eventually come to 
fruition is that the participants often know each other even before they 
meet.  The rendezvous is a blind date, but not a blind date.  In this 
case, the man and woman had talked about everything:  birth control, 
their children, what they read, the music they listened to....  Since 
they had exchanged sexual fantasies ad nauseam, it was only a matter of 
acting them out, following the game plan. This sounds like something 
Dear Abby or Dr. Ruth would approve of.

I found the use of very short sentences and numerous sentence fragments 
to be a bit choppy and distracting.  The author should either work to 
perfect that style (as Hemingway did) or consider using a more 
conventional style to combine thoughts and to subordinate one idea to 
another.  All in all, however, this is pretty sexy stuff.

Ratings for "The Words" Athena (technical quality): 8 Venus (plot & 
character): 8 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

"Surprise" by DaTurnOn (Almond423@aol.com).  I give my students the 
following advice: "Your ideas are more important than grammar, spelling, 
and punctuation; but that doesn't mean that these skills are 
inconsequential. When you're writing something formal for someone who is 
likely to judge you, use the grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules 
that are in the grammar handbook.  When you're allowed to be creative, 
it's sometimes OK to cast aside the rules of grammar, spelling, and 
punctuation; but you should have a purpose in doing so.  For example, if 
you decide to use your own rules for capitalization, this can be 
effective; but when you choose to do this, you are essentially inventing 
your own system.  Your readers can no longer rely on conventional rules 
to understand you.  Using unconventional grammar, spelling, and 
punctuation is often much more difficult than simply applying the 
standard rules."

This author chooses to use no capital letters at the beginning of 
sentences.  As I start the story, I'm not sure why she does this; but as 
a reader I am willing to go along with her.  Maybe she wants to suggest 
that the narrator is moderately illiterate.  Maybe she wants to express 
a feeling of urgency.  Maybe she just wants to show that she's a free 
spirit.  The only real disservice this deviation accomplishes is that it 
makes it a little harder for me to find the beginning of a sentence if 
my eyes wander.  I guess I better not let my eyes wander.  Maybe that's 
why the author does this.

Near the beginning I also notice that sometimes sentences end with 
periods, but sometimes they end with four dots - but then sometimes four 
dots occur between phrases in the middle of sentences.  Sometimes 
paragraphs end with nothing but empty space.  Is the author trying to 
say something?  Maybe she's just saying she doesn't care much about 
punctuation.

So then in fifth paragraph I see the sentence "Derek... this is my gurl 
Naomi...."  I would have expected, "Derek, this is my girl Naomi."  Now 
I am wondering, why does she call Naomi a "gurl" rather than a "girl"?  
Since the author makes other "mistakes" on purpose, I am left wondering 
why she has done this.  What is a "gurl"?  A few sentences later I find 
this sentence: " his eyes widen.... looking at the woman that turns him 
on..."  Grammar books tell me to use "who" not "that" when referring to 
a person.  Is the author making a statement?  Is she trying to suggest 
that the woman is more of an object than a person.  I doubt it.  I 
suspect the author simply screwed up the grammar; and by this time I 
suspect that she simply misspelled "girl" as well.

Near the middle of the story a paragraph begins with a capitalized "He."  
Is there some significance to this?  I suspect carelessness - but I am 
obsessing.

The story is a simple description of a woman sharing her girlfriend with 
her boyfriend.  I think the author is trying to use a train-of-though 
approach; but I did NOT find it to be all that effective.  I think it 
interfered with this story.  This author used the same general style in 
"Dreamland," and Stubby (who wrote the guest review) liked that style in 
that story - calling it poetic.  I have read "Dreamland," and I think 
the author did a better job of using this style in that story. I think 
"Dreamland" was a better story than this one; but this is still a very 
good, sexy story.

My advice to this author is the same as what I say to my students: using 
unconventional grammar, spelling, and punctuation is often much more 
difficult than simply applying the standard rules.  I think the gimmick 
worked once, and now it is beginning to stand in the way.  Nevertheless, 
I hope to see more stories by this author.  I admire people who are 
willing to try both different ideas and different approaches to 
presenting these ideas.

Ratings for "Surprise" Athena (technical quality): 8 Venus (plot & 
character): 8 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

"On The Other Side of Seduction" by ElSol (Commander Jameson repost).  
The guy has seen a female coworker he likes in the computer lab and has 
decided to bed her.  He begins his slow and devious process of 
seduction.  He's a geek, a weirdo, a stalker.  The seduction drags on 
and on, and then the narrator discovers that he is the one who has been 
seduced!  Imagine that.

This story is labeled "real." My advice to the author is to make it less 
real and more interesting.  "Real" stories are what make anthropology 
courses boring, unless the teacher does something to liven things up - 
something like having an angle or focal point to the stories.  

The verb tenses in this story are confusing.  Sometimes the present 
tense indicates habitual action; sometimes it indicates what is 
happening "now," but "now" changes as the perspective shifts.  Then we 
find ourselves in the past tense - where are we?  It gets worse as the 
story goes on.

Finally, I found this sentence: "I put a husband between us...."  The 
author is obviously referring to something like a cushion. Then by 
massaging her shoulders the narrator makes the woman lean back into the 
"husband."  The author has obviously used spellcheck and has 
accidentally used global replace to insert "husband" for something else, 
but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is.  Can you?

Ratings for "On The Other Side of Seduction" Athena (technical quality): 
6 Venus (plot & character): 5 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 5

"Begging on all FOURS" by Puppylicks.  The full heading for this story 
was WOMEN INVITED TO READ "Begging on all FOURS.... .....", if you DARE! 
:)"  It really wasn't all that nerve shattering; actually, it was just 
another sex slavery story, based on the notion that "woman have richer, 
wilder fantasies than men.... Men are only beginning to perceive the 
true nature of woman's being.... They have created a false image of her.  
She's' neither an angel nor a bitch in heat.  If she is no longer an 
enigma, She's' certainly an everlasting source of wonder and rich in 
unexplored possibilities in every domain of life....."  Oh, and the guy 
has his faithful dog Rusty work her over as well.  

Well, at least one intrepid woman has dared to read this story, even if 
she thinks that men have to be stupid to believe this kind of shit.  
This is actually an ad in which the other is trying to solicit a woman 
who would like to perform these services for the him and Wonder Dog (not 
the dog's real name).  Good luck.  {I don't know why FOURS is all caps 
in the title - maybe Rusty was licking the author's asshole or something 
when he wrote it.}

Ratings for "Begging on all FOURS" Athena (technical quality): 6 Venus 
(plot & character): 5 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 3

"The Insatiable Flirt" by Anne747 (Anon747@aol.com).  It is certainly 
possible to write a better story than this.  It lacks character and plot 
development.  But it really does a good job at what it's supposed to do: 
describe the actions and atmosphere surrounding a first-time quickie 
between two female friends in the shower.

I am not going to describe the intimate details: you can discover all of 
those in ten minutes by reading the story yourself.  As I have said many 
times in the past, I am a monogamous heterosexual woman, but I still 
find a story like this to be extremely stimulating.  Any sensible woman 
would.  So will most sensible men.

Ratings for "The Insatiable Flirt" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus 
(plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

"The Hunter" by The Erotic Pen (sarlim@aol.com).  Medieval fantasy 
stories are often uninteresting to me.  You see, I have this sneaking 
suspicion that magicians are imaginary and that people and animals 
cannot really change their shapes at will.  Medieval magick stories are 
often confusing to outsiders like myself, who don't understand the 
ground rules.

This author has managed to avoid the major pitfalls and has written a 
very nice love story about a hunter who rescues a maiden from three men 
who are about to slay her.  She nurses him back to health and makes 
tender love to him, but then she mysteriously announces that she cannot 
remain the love of his life.  As he leaves for home, he realizes that 
the maiden was really the bear he had been hunting.

Ratings for "The Hunter" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & 
character): 9 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

"Taking it in the Shorts" by Jamie Phillips (jimadam@cybertours.com).  
{In the postings this story is labeled simply "In the Shorts."} Mike 
Hunt is going to be really upset that he didn't think of the story label 
for this one in my table of contents - "short comings."  See, the guy in 
this story thinks he's God's Gift to Women; but he's not, because he has 
a "shortcoming": "he comes in his shorts" - as in premature ejaculation 
- getting so turned on that he comes before entry.  Personally, I think 
that's also Austin's problem on DOOL, but network television isn't ready 
for that plot yet.

This is not an earth-shaking story - except, perhaps, in Hemingway's 
sense - just a cute little story about how a girl gets even with a boy 
who has said behind her back that she's a slut.

Minor problem time: If a guy takes a girl's aureole into his mouth, he's 
having an other-worldly experience.  The area around the nipples is 
called the areola. An aureole, you see, is a circle of light or radiance 
surrounding the head or body of a representation of a deity or holy 
person; in short, it's a halo.  {The term is also used by astronomers to 
refer to the corona around the sun.}  The word these authors undoubtedly 
mean to use is "areola" (also referred to as "areole" when it is a 
specifically biological term), which refers to a small ring of color 
around a center portion, as about the nipple of the breast or the part 
of the iris surrounding the pupil of the eye.  I have seen other bizarre 
spellings, including "aereole" - a word which doesn't exist but which 
would appear to be related to "aer" or "aero," a root that refers to air 
or gas.  I suppose this spelling could suggest that the lover was 
nibbling an aperture through which air or gas might be expunged - but I 
rather think this is a simple spelling error.  Anyway, when my husband 
makes love to me, I prefer that he nibble on an areola when the spirit 
moves him.  If he wants them both, they're called either areolas or 
areolae.  There's also a noun called areolation.  That sounds like a 
good title for a story.

Ratings for "Taking it in the Shorts" Athena (technical quality): 10 
Venus (plot & character): 10 Tern (appeal to reviewer): 10

"Elizabeth" by Seurat (Dantedibby@aol.com).  Guest review by Anne747.

First, for those who may not know, I don't really get into BDSM-style 
pieces.  I thought I would say that before I start, so you would realize 
that my review may be flavored by that.  However, the challenge of 
reviewing something that might not appeal to me was too tempting to turn 
down.

I'm not sure I can summarize the story without giving away the plot.  
All I will say is that it's a tale of lust, greed, and control.  There 
are a few twists and turns in the piece, although I'll have to say I 
kind of saw them coming.  That could actually be a sign of my own warped 
and twisted mind, since I love to mess with the reader's train of 
thought when I can.  I usually love stories where the unexpected 
happens.

The characters are well drawn, and the author has done a reasonable job 
of keeping the flow of the piece going well.  I found the <inserted 
text> of a character's private thoughts slightly distracting.  I can't 
come up with a better solution for a newsgroup posting, but if this goes 
onto a website, perhaps italics would be a more appropriate choice.  I 
understand the need to know her thoughts, but it just took away slightly 
from the flow of the piece.  The "control" scene went a little slowly in 
my mind; but then, for those more into this type of piece they might see 
it as a slow build-up to the climax (hmmm... pun intended).

Ratings for "Elizabeth" Athena (technical quality): 9.5 Venus (plot & 
character): 9.5 Anne747 (appeal to reviewer): 6 (sorry, just didn't 
convert me!)

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation" (also called "Vamp") by Waldo.  Guest 
Review by Vickie Tern.

Waldo's stories tend to be long, slow getting under way, carefully 
constructed, reliable, persuasive, and solidly satisfying.  In fact some 
of them already risk becoming "classics," more respected than read.  His 
plots are never predictable, and he can do amusing or torrid scenes with 
the best of them -- he IS one of the best.  But sometimes his writing 
seems too deliberate, solemn, somehow lacking spontaneity and spice.  He 
makes it easy for new readers, in this case providing a Table of 
Contents and a Story Summary to warn off those who may find themselves 
turned off.  This makes things seem even more ponderous.  Stay with it 
though, and you see that everything matters, nothing has been arbitrary 
or irresolute.  You can trust Waldo.  He's a good read.  Eventually 
also, a fun read.   

Mostly he writes media-genre "TG" stories (archived at 
http://www1.mhv.net/sapphire/waldo.htm), tales of gender-swapping that 
people usually read for the same reasons they read wife-swapping or 
adultery stories, for the dangerously delicious wickedness of it all, to 
feel they're breaking rules and transgressing boundaries (what dumb mix 
of metaphors gave us "pushing envelopes"?).  Most TG fans risk primary 
sexual identity in their imaginations in order to gratify secret and 
perverse desires.  Yum!  I myself write for such fans, and also to test 
out the subordination of the sexes -- though somehow my TG tales always 
come out Femdom, a woman always finally in charge of some humiliated 
hapless male.  

Not Waldo.  He has too strong a sense of irony to wallow in the 
pleasures of the perverse, too much concern with motivation, and how 
things feel, too much plain curiosity.  His gender-switching is more to 
put characters into wholly unfamiliar predicaments, then to see how they 
cope, if they can deal with the unthinkable at all.  A man become a 
woman?  What's different?  What's unexpected?  What then?

So "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" puts a TG spin on the old Vampire 
genre, those novels and movies that are really about sexual desire -- 
one taste and then you can't ever again get enough of it.  In Bela 
Lugosi's day the eroticism was disguised as drinking blood.  But 
consider.  There's this debonair European Count suddenly in the 
diaphanous virgin's bedchamber, who leans over her to kiss her neck, and 
the next morning she's a compulsive seducer, eyes gleaming in lust?  Or 
there's this temptress called a "Vamp" in 1920's movies, strangely 
exotic (though the original, Theda Bara, came from Staten Island), a 
Medusa who mercilessly lures men to her bejeweled body and then destroys 
them?  Conversion to a thirst for blood?  C'mon!  Anyhow, that's where 
Waldo is.  In this story, one bite on the neck, maybe not even that, and 
instead of joining the living dead, eating flies, avoiding mirrors, and 
sleeping in coffins, awake or asleep you experience exotically enhanced, 
intensely high-powered sex as yourself and as others of the other 
gender, in all possible permutations.

Of course you have to get there first, and that's a fun part.  This is 
also a lightly satirical "academic" story, beginning and ending in a 
classroom.  That's where a mysteriously seductive stranger first 
challenges a prissy Professor to justify his latest book on the non-
existence of Vampires by visiting her castle deep in Dracula country.  
He's a second-rate skeptic intent "to prove that this is a hoax" instead 
of exploring a real question such as Why do people Want to Believe in 
Vampires in the First Place (see answer above).  But he strokes his 
beard, consults his Dean, and assembles a research team consisting of a 
fat woman scholar (lesbian), a football stud (hetero), a gorgeous dish 
(ambitious), and a true-believing religionist (soft).  Then off they go.

Anyone can enjoy this part who has ever been amused or exasperated by 
professorial egos, garrulous student showboating, or the perfect tits on 
that inaccessible doll in the third row.  The academy as well as the 
whole vampire tradition is solemnly ransacked and parodied.  Then when 
we get to the castle where erotic desires are awakened and acted out, 
and people are transformed and re-transformed, who can't enjoy it?  Even 
our cautious if libidinous professor gets more than he'd anticipated, 
and I don't mean merely that he gets to give himself a blow job.

Heavy duty stuff.  Triple 10, of course.

Ratings for "Elizabeth" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & 
character): 10 Tern (appeal to reviewer): 10

"Nancy Comes to Work" by the Erotic Pen (Sarlim@aol.com).  Guest review 
by Mike Hunt.

This is a simple story simply told. In fact, you barely need to read 
more than the title to figure out everything that happens. Nancy visits 
her husband at work on a weekend. They have sex. It's husband and wife 
sex, but (of course) it still has "pinched nipples", a "hot, wet clit", 
and "she cums."

All the words are there, but the action didn't carry me along as it does 
in a more interesting story. The author has a jarring tendency to jump 
tenses, as in "Since I hadn't eaten anything yet today I told her..." 
and "my hands moved to her breast.... My mouth traces a trail from her 
mouth." It's not a critical flaw, it just detracts from a smooth read.

There's not a lot wrong with this story. There's just not a lot right 
with it, either. The best thing I can say about it is "it's short." 
There's very little character development, virtually no plot, and one 
short sex scene. Ho hum.

 * "Singapore Girl" by Friar Dave (friar_dave@mhbbs.com).  The guy meets 
and becomes enamored with a beautiful and successful businesswoman from 
Singapore whose name is June.  They help each other carry out some of 
their mutual sex fantasies.  He also has another beautiful lover named 
Annie, whose greatest virtue besides her beauty and intelligence is her 
spontaneity and freedom from inhibitions.  The guy quickly discovers 
that June has a kinky streak; to his astonishment she takes special 
delight in being fisted.  Her ultimate request is for him to tie her up 
and do what he likes to her until she literally passes out from the 
sexual pleasure.  The guy manages to satisfy her needs; as near as I can 
figure she came in continuous orgasms for about three and a half hours.  
Although originally she disliked giving head, by the end of the story 
she is proficient at it.

This is a good story, and it's a lot hotter than my factual summary 
indicates.  However, it's not a perfect story; there are too many loose 
ends.  For example, why make such a big thing out of her bias against 
lesbians if that bias plays no part in the story?  Why introduce the 
other women, if they play no important part in the story?  I suspect 
that the author had planned a threesome but lost interest.  The story is 
hot and enjoyable, but it's not Friar Dave's best work.  It's still 
good, mind you - just not his best work.  (Rating: 8)

 Ratings for "Singapore Girl" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot 
& character): 8 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

* "Honeymoon" by Parker.  After giving the preceding three stories high 
ratings, I sat down at my computer to read my first Parker story.  This 
one is about a man who gives his beautiful young wife a surprise gift 
for their honeymoon - her former English professor as a sex slave.  
Needless to say, the professor had been a prissy but sexy bitch (so far 
that sounds accurate), and so she probably deserved this reduction to 
chattel servitude.  They humiliate her in various ways while they 
satisfy their sexual urges.  The story also gives a description of this 
alleged slave trade.  If this really happens, it's a bunch of crap.  I'm 
trying not to be a prude.  I see the point in and actually enjoyed the 
voyeurism in deirdre's "Couch." I also gave a high rating to "Run," 
which had an sm/slavery twist; but it didn't dwell on how much fun it 
would be to degrade someone.  In "Dreamwalk" the neighbor dominates the 
man who narrates the story; but it's actually a nice kind of domination 
- she actually likes the guy.  I'm not trying to be unfriendly; and I 
realize there are valid differences in lifestyles and interests.  But 
when somebody writes a story that describes how interesting it would be 
to turn a passerby into a degraded specimen of a human being (granted, 
she was already an English teacher), am I being a bigot to say that this 
is really kind of sick and to worry about the mental health of people 
who enjoy this kind of garbage?  I would appreciate serious comments, 
not flames.  I'm really trying to understand.  Here's the crux of the 
question:  If Jeffrey Dahmers wrote a grammatically correct, clear, 
detailed description of how he drilled holes into the heads of his 
victims while they were still alive and then had sex with them before he 
killed and ate them, am I supposed to accept this as a "lifestyle 
choice"?  And if I found my husband jacking off while he was reading 
this description after Dahmers published it on a.s.s., would I be 
paranoid to think he had a serious problem?

Ratings for "Honeymoon" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & 
character): 8 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 3

* "Office Girl" by Parker.  The college girl has accepted a boring 
summer job.  Someone from another company offers her a large amount of 
money for some survey results.  She agrees to the terms, but she gets 
caught stealing the information.  Either she must do what her superiors 
demand or they will report her to the police.  She has become that 
saddest wretch of a.s.s. - the moral (or immoral) equivalent of the 
trapped tenant farmer or coal miner locked into the company store; she 
has become a sex slave.  The story describes in detail some creative 
forms of humiliation to keep the girls ensnared in what used to be 
called white slavery.

Ratings for "Office Girl" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & 
character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

* "Princess" by Parker.  This is listed as Parker25.  It has been posted 
recently, and so it should be available on Deja News.  I hope someone 
will repost it quickly on a.s.s.  {I originally wrote this as part of a 
Halloween Special Issue of CR.}

Stephen is a computer geek who has been invited by Janice Sweet to be 
her date at Cindy Parker's Halloween party.  Janice is the most 
beautiful girl in the school, and she has just broken up with the most 
handsome jock.  Stephen is tempted to back out when he finds out that 
Janice wants him to dress like a girl while she dresses like a guy; but 
Janice is very persuasive.  She promises him lots of sex later on; and 
she's not lying about that!

The costume goes on very nicely; Stephen has become Stephanie.  Janice 
hurries off to help Cindy prepare for the party, and Stephen arrives 
alone at Cindy's house in time for the party.  Only it's not a costume 
party!  He's the only one dressed in a costume; but nobody notices, 
because he looks like a real girl in normal clothing.  There's no way 
out; so he continues to play the female role.

It turns out that Janice is simply using Stephen to get even with Biff 
the football jock for dumping her.  Use your imagination.  How would a 
pretty little bitch use a dork dressed up like a cute little girl to get 
even with her brutish ex?  That's right!  And pretty soon he finds 
himself doing the entire football team.  At least he gets to be a 
cheerleader.

Ratings for "Princess" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & 
character): 9.5 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

* "Scarlett's Cove" by Ann Douglas (annd@pop.tiac.net).  Ann Douglas has 
recently announced her retirement from active erotic story writing.  
Coincidentally, someone else has reposted all her stories.  I can't fit 
all of those reviews in this issue of CR, but I'd like to repost a 
review of one of my favorites.  In addition, I'd like to add that Will 
Rogers never read a story by Ann Douglas that he didn't like.

The story centers around the visit of two friends to a Caribbean Club 
Med type resort that caters to lesbians and bisexuals.  Although both 
women are lesbians, they are not habitual lovers - just friends.  After 
some preliminary fun, Jeanette finds that Arlene has entered her into a 
sort of charity bachelor auction - the other women will bid to have 
Jeanette for their date for the evening.  I think I have told you enough 
about the story.  It's a hot plot with hot sex.  I might add that 
Jeanette is a high school teacher and many of us often wish we could 
touch our favorite students the way she does - but somebody might take 
that comment the wrong way.

Ann writes many different kinds of stories, and I enjoy them all; but 
this story is a good example of what Ann does best: an interesting and 
sexy plot woven into an exotic environment embellished with accurate 
information about varied cultures.  In addition, the author enriches the 
narrative with sexy flashbacks and side plots that heighten the tension 
and allure of the main storyline.

As I have said many times before, although I suspect that all sensible 
women would enjoy sexual activities like those described in this story, 
I myself have never engaged in full genital lesbian or bisexual 
activity.  However, after reading this story, my defenses have begun to 
crumble.  If by some chance I would ever be bereaved of this wonderful 
guy that humps me on demand like Mark Aster's studly hero and then found 
myself on an exotic Caribbean island with a beautiful, rich former 
student who was professing her love for me after purchasing me for an 
exorbitant price in a charity auction - well, I might give it a thought.  
Hell, I think I'll give it a thought right now!

I'm reminded of the words of my daughter, who every year proclaims that 
"this is my best birthday ever."  This is the best story ever by Ann 
Douglas.

Ratings for "Scarlett's Cove" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot 
& character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10