Erotica rec: Playing with Prudence by Rachel Randall

I finally made time to read circe_tigana's delightful original erotica, Playing With Prudence.

It's wonderful smut! The language is lush but never too much--plenty of dialogue to keep the whole thing moving, and every scene is ripe with sex. It's full of bondage games and people who love each other very much and enjoy pushing boundaries. Go here and read excerpts and be linked to Total E-Bound's site where you can read more reviews and buy it if you'd prefer to get it from the original publisher rather than Amazon.

Sex Meme and Kids' Lit. No wait, come back!

The "First sentence on page 45 of nearest book describes your sex life in the next year" meme:

From A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz:

The woman continued to limp toward the table.

Ooh, if that means there will be table bondage and beatings, yay!

I have an ulterior motive in doing the meme, because I want to recommend the book (which is why it's the book sitting next to me). A Drowned Maiden's Hair is subtitled "A Melodrama," and it does fit well into that category, featuring orphanages and mysterious benefactors and crumbling old houses and lies. It's actually quite fun and optimistic, for all that. And I couldn't put it down. The heroine is plucky but earnest, in a way I enjoy. Eva Ibbotson has an endorsement on the book's back cover and the author actually includes her in the dedication for pushing her to write the book.

And speaking of Ibbotson, a few days later I read another "orphans and mysterious benefactors and crumbling old houses and lies" book by Eva Ibbotson, which nevertheless couldn't have been a more different story from the previous book. But still completely delightful and with that same upbeat direction. This heroine is more sweet than plucky, and quite lovable. It's called The Star of Kazan, and while I think Eva Ibbotson hardly needs the endorsement, this really was one of my favorites of hers I've read. (Though nothing can top Which Witch?.)

Both are available as ebooks on Amazon and I found them in the juvenile section of my public library.