Rebecca Hart's Reading Adventures

Quite an ecclectic mix of tales. Everything from the super steamy to the super strange. With so many stories of such a wide variety, I thought it best to approach each story individually rather than try to capture an overall sense. It may take me a bit to get to each of the stories, but bear with me.My Soul to Take (Stella Berkley): Dark, gritty and modern -- not to mention, oh so naughty. The vibrant characters really jumped off the page, and despite the physical unusualness of the male lead character, the sex was smoking hot and really well written. This one was a winner and made it clear why the editor chose to open the anthology with this tale. Nothing like a story that gets you hot and freaks you out all at the same time. Sophie, an drug addict looking for her next fix runs into Balan and sells her soul for more of what he's selling. 5 stars on this one. Hot and the visuals gave me the willies.For The Love of Death (Deb Eskie): One of the shorter tales in the book, this one lost me just a little bit. After the strong active voice of the first tale, the passive narrative and lack of erotic punch of this one stuck out a bit to me. The ending had a nice twisted feel to it, but I would have liked a bit more mystery. It read predictable to me. 2.75 stars here - wasn't enough horror or erotica for me and I didn't really like being on the outside looking in.The Real Girl (Robert S Tyler): While this story didn't exactly get me hot and bothered, I enjoyed it all the same. I felt this story had a more "Twilight Zone" sort of feel than a terror thing--and I was always a huge fan of that show. The story of a porn peruser whose wish to experience a girl he finds online comes true -- but perhaps not quite in the way he expects. 3.5 stars to this story - well written just not enough steam or "terror" for my liking. It's erotic horror, afterall.Yve Redeemed (Lila Shaw): I thought the story behind this one was just great. A new twist on the succubus theme. Combine this with a first person perspective, and I was sucked right in. I loved Yve's personality -- gotta love a strong female character, even if she is technically just a slave. Nicely written, hot sex without being completely over the top, and a dash of romance. What more can you ask for? 5 stars here. Just a great, entertaining short story.Top of the Food Chain (Gustavo Bondoni): I was pleasantly surprised to get this far into the book before hitting a vampire tale. I had figured it a quite obvious theme for erotic horror? I mean who doesn't think bites are sexy? Okay, so now you know it is a vampire tale, and I won't spoil it further by delving any further into the meat of the well crafted plot than that. I will say that I just loved this tale. It had great erotic elements, disturbed and slightly angered me, and I felt satisfied at the ending. 5 stars here. Entertained, smooth read, good steam. Daddy's Little Feminist (Maxine Marsh):