Alexandra SeidelBesprekingen

This is not often said about Erotica - but _Luminous Dreams_ is an extraordinary anthology of magic and adult literature. I may have saved the "Phoenix and Styx" for later in the book, as, without understanding the "fairy tale"/"mythology" theme, it was a bit confusing. Later characters such as Gretel and her lure to the candy house, and especially, Aurora in "Fortune’s Song" create new,sensuous twists to the tales we all grew up with.

I comment Alexa Piper for creating a world that is titillating without being crude - alluring,bewitching (often literally), and sublime. Kudos.

Alexa Piper (2016-12-13T07:00:00+00:00). Luminous Dreams (Kindle Location 142). World Weaver Press. Kindle Edition.

I received a free copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Lyrical, poetic, and mythic tales of enchanting erotica

While I normally read more romance than erotica, any hesitations I had about reading this work were quickly whisked away. The writing swept me into a tantalizing range of settings, characters and lyrical text that winds from overly flowery poetry to simply pleasant prose, weaving mythical tales with explicit exploits.

The sizzling stories combine tasteful but searingly heated re-imaginings of characters and scenes from historic mythology and folk tales. I found it to be a much more thoughtful and enticing exploration of supernatural and paranormal themes than the typical, modern paranormal romantica stories, serving refreshing poetic tales with explicit heat as a collection of lyrical and enchanting erotic shorts.

Phoenix and Styx - 10 pages (mf)
This first tale included very flowery, sophisticated, complex and evocative prose which might be a bit "too rich" for some readers but wove words into an overly poetic, imaginatively descriptive prose which I found enchanting. It combines an extremely creative contemporary/mythical story with evocative prose that flows from the page, weaving its way through my emotions and intellect. Just a decent touch of sizzle in the sometimes heated, sometimes molten, and even ashen rhetoric.

Fortune's Song - 31 pages (mf)
This short erotic story is nicely heated, a well-written mix of ancient myth, contemporary paranormal, and explicitly intimate encounters. The fortune teller's voice had just a touch of mystery, and her enounter with the man of evil repute rang out with an unusual melody.

Candy and the Witch - 17 pages (mf)
The insight of an intelligent witch of the fairy tales accompanies her curiosity as she knowingly follows a potentially trapped trail. The character was endearing but the story too brief, with just enough heat to be enticing but certainly not entirely filling. A just slightly spiced morsel to whet one's appetite - or savor as a tangy treat. (Of course, the revelations about Hansel makes me want to seek the story of the Gingerbread man.)

Night Train: Story of a Passage - 26 pages (mfm)
A woman determined to be open and experience all life has to offer meets two strong, horned and horny men on the train. The hottest story so far, it takes the Between world of mystical, mythic creatures to doubly insert the train's travels into a woman's resolve to pursue the most interesting paths.

I Will Feed You Honey - 20 pages (mf)
Very sensual, inventive, and erotic prose. Incredible inspritation is in the cards, but transcendence has its price.

The Acorn Princess - 19 pages. (ff)
Perhaps a bit more focused on the steam than some of the other stories, a young lady is entranced by the forest nymph and seduced into enjoying the pleasures of a woman of the wood. Alice is unable to stay away from the forest, and the Sylph is unable to stay away from the enticing, intriguing woman.

Drinks and the Other Witch - 8 pages (mm)
Blow and drink. This was the sauciest and most direct of the tales, but the letter Hans writes to his sister Greta puts a wonderfully fairy tale, magical spin on a mostly lustful setting. I had been hoping for the story of Hansel and the Gingerbread man, but I was more than happy to read the story of the male witch and his Fae acquaintance even more, with a wonderfully nice touch of reciprocal male on male lust.

Nocturnal Conquests - 23 pages (mfm)
Two creatures of the night stalk, lure, and tease their prey to quench their thirst and slake their lust. Yet this time the intimate nibble is more than a fulfilling but fleeting meal, as even a vampire can fall to the mesmerizing lure.

A Raven by Day - 14 pages (mf)
A bittersweet end to the day, beginning with the crow cawing in the morn but yet with the hope that the wayward bird will someday return.½

I enjoyed these nine short stores. Some of them seemed more paranormal then dream like to me but they were all entertaining. a few of my favorites were The Night Train, Nocturnal Conquests and A Raven by day. If you like erotic then I suggest you give this a try.½

I was asked to review this book by www.librarything.com

I have never read erotic romance short stories so this was a first for me. I have snuggled down in the cold dark days of January and found these nine stories to be creative, dreams that you were not sure if this was real or not - but as these were beautifully written, I just enjoyed. There is a touch of fairytale too.

A different slant on the erotic and well written.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Generally speaking I'm not a huge fan of erotica - you usually wind up with a story that comprises weird angles and at five different words for each reproductive organ. Alexa Piper's Luminous Dreams was different for me, because for the first time I was actually interested in the characters and what happened to them afterwards. Piper creates characters and worlds with great economy, her stories are short yet compelling, descriptive without getting too carried away.

I will make a note that I wouldn't have considered this 'paranormal erotica' so much fairytale or folklore erotica, but I'm not sure how important a distinction that is.
Let's be honest, I feel there's a limit to how 'great' most erotica can be. With that in mind, I think this book works particularly well on a phone or e-reader, where you can fill in some time. The stories take around ten or fifteen minutes to read, I think they'd be a good way to keep busy while you're waiting or eating your lunch. I do find myself wishing that the stories were a little longer, but I think that's just because I like the writing style rather than the erotic content.

I give this book a 3.5/5 - I suspect that if Alexa Piper wrote longer form fiction, I would be giving that book a higher score. Definitely worth a read.½