Book Review: Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney

I adore short stories, especially fantastical ones. My acquaintance with Craig Laurence Gidney's work actually begins with the YA novel, Bereft, but that's another book to mention in its own review.

I knew I needed to read Skin Deep Magic when I saw the cover.

There's a dark-skinned Black woman's face with eyes closed framed by gold leaves and blossoms. I'm old enough to remember when it wasn't common to see a Black woman on a cover. Even the great departed Octavia Butler was not safe from a Marketing department that believed no one would buy a book with a picture of a Black person on the cover. I must be an anomaly then, because I am one of those Readers who is often enticed by the cover first to sample what's inside the book. And I wanted to buy books with characters who resembled me.

And sure 'nuf' here is Brotha Gidney writing 'bout some most powerful Sistahs in these stories. (Ebonics totally intentional.) I felt like I wanted to be or had been some of these women. And it IS a magical thing when a male writer hangs up his own gender like a coat and dons another dreaming herself into the Reader's reality. (Pronoun Gender switch is totally intentional.) I believed in these women and the gents who graced these pages. Mighty fine writing if you ask me. The African Descended have long utilized the power of the word.

For those of us who identify as Black, our being ignored or belittled subject matter is in escapable as gravity or the call of mortality. I simply wanted to provide the context of why this short story collection so moved me. At some point, a well-meaning person decided that the trope of the Magical Negro was to be scorned. In the context of the Black character who serves no other purpose than to illuminate a white character that person is absolutely correct, however, magic and Blackness are often inseparable and it is to that truth that the tales in Skin Deep Magic speak to.

*Spoiler Alert*

Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further, and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert End*

Psychometry, or Gone with the Dust

A mountain of Black memorabilia in a dead woman's home yields some disturbing clues about each piece's origin when touched. As someone who has had real-life experiences with Psychometry, I wouldn't even call this piece fiction. Gidney is simply telling how these things be.

Sapling

Maybe this is the story that inspired the book cover. A young woman learns she is the daughter of a tree spirit and that joining her absent father in the local greenspace is the highpoint of her existence. This story also features a theme that often crops up in Gidney's work: a conflict due the stranglehold Christian belief on the Old ways of knowing/being.

Mauve's Quilt

Two lonely people on either side of a quilt exchange worlds. Eventually, Mauve returns to the known world after a motherless Quentin is drawn into hers. Ahh, the power to be found in stitches.

Lyes

I had to giggle at this story. Graduate Students under pressure. No one expects trademark imagery to take life and start haunting them. Sheri never suspected her strongest ally would be the one person who could have called the country bumpkin. I need one of those Caution: Educated Black Woman T-shirts.

Conjuring Shadowa

This is one of my favorite pieces. Back in the day where men loving men gathered, a guardian stood with them. Even when the boys in blue come to bust up the party, they too find themselves pressed man to man and mouth to mouth in 1926.

Zora's Destiny

Here Gidney pays homage to one of his literary forebears. Zora calls upon an Elder to ease her mother's suffering and by story end learns her own path lies in tale-telling and root-working. This is the second of the Christian Vs. Old World Belief themed stories.

Death and Two Maidens

One dead female house servant meets with a living one and both are pestered by the same top-hatted, skull-faced gent. Only a fellow goddess can bring them any defense. Follow the machinations of the Loa whose territories range far outside not only Africa but also the human heart and head.

Sugardaddy

The highlight of this story is the unflinching look at some of the uglier aspects of Urban Life. The daughter of an abusive addict takes matters into her own hands once she becomes a huntress herself. Who knew toxins and additives could taste so good? One might say the moral of they story is to be kind to those big, fat girls. You never know what they might be capable of.

Inscribed

A deceased, gay, white father and a dead black mother join forces to protect their adult child from an ancient patron of thieves whose modern-day vehicle is a pc game. The question I pondered the longest as I read was did the child even want to be saved?

Coalrose

This is one of my other favorite stories from the collection. Let's deconstruct. What is Negritude? What is a stage performance? What is the performer? What happens when the sensuality of Josephine Baker combines with the rawness and blackness of a Nina Simone? Raise your hand if you thought of Coalrose.


Note: This copy of SkinDeep Magic was a hard copy edition purchased by the reviewer. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.

Book Review: Skin Effect by M. Christian

Her Tangh-i-ness loves her some Kink. Erotica has always figured in my Must-Read pile.

I'm always re-reading the naughty parts. So this M. Christian offered up something hot and spicy.

Sex ain't just about the act. There's a before and after it...like everything else. But a badass writer can make you consider a pencil with an eraser as a love object or a handy-dandy pervertible. A man can nail the truth about how it feels for a woman and a gay/bi person can hammer out what its's like to live straight. A writers gotta be flexible and fluid. Are you hearing me? Ok. Now you can start salivating or get the tubes of lube ready.

To make it easy for potential readers of this collection, Her Tangh-i-ness will institute the following rating system.

TAMTT *Take A Minute to Think* This means the sexiness might have to grow on you.

WT *Wet* Self-explanatory. No?

H/OA *Hand/Object Assisted* Requires immediate action after the story climax.

FAPP *Find a Partner Pronto* Try this one at home, Folks.


*Spoiler Alert*

Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further, and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert End*


Time and Beyond Beyond – Ernest Hogan : TAMTT Nonfic. This is an essay by a fellow writer who reminds us that sex never left the Space or Tech Ages. Tell it.

[Title Forgotten] TAMTT Fiction. A male Dom mourns the female sub he lost and one wounded woman shares her private pain with another. While the man grieves for what ended, the women begin.

Prêt-à-Porter Another TAMTT Fiction. A woman rediscovers herself with help of her smart fabric's display. Prakuna must have heard the old saw keep the whore in the bedroom.

The Subsequent State WT Fiction. A religious zealot of man sent to destroy a free-loving community decides, after experiencing what the community has to offer, to return to his own to stop the hate. Her Tangh-i-ness heartily approves the premise of woman as goddess. This is the best of the explicit nipple action stories.

Happy Birthday TAMTT Ficton. After shifting genders then only challenge left is discarding of a previous self.

The Bell House Invitation H/OA and FAPP fiction. Take Mindfuck to new level of completeness. The newest member of a cybernetic community has quite the romp with her new bedfellows.

The Potter'S Wheel WT Fiction. An English-speaking woman travels to Japan to meet with another Westerner who has been living as a National Treasure and bring his experience to a wider audience. Pity.The sole missed opportunity lay in that Her Tangh-i-ness felt certain there would have been a scene slathering wet clay all over themselves. Maybe a quickie in front of the kiln? All right. Next time.

Double Toil and Trouble WT Fiction. Women, more often than not, have problems owning their own bodies. With the constant assault on their confidence, small wonder a visit to a Tech Enchantress is in order. Gotta love any character with purple hair.

A Kiss Goodnight WT Fiction. Someone who believes in the great Connectedness finds himself approached by the collective entity in the guise of a female student. Note the return of nipple action.

LMS H/OA and FAPP fiction. Her Tangh-i-ness would like to point out that although the story of the Black man is at the back of the book, she prefers to think the author was simply observing an African tradition of the most senior in importance arrives last. Brother from this planet meets with a Transgender female at a Web Design conference and she plays the skin flute. Twice. Talk about going somewhere.

Afterword: It's Not the End of the World as We Know it–and I Feel Fine TAMTT and FAPP NonFic. Peoples, especially peoples who write Science Fiction, please pay Especial attention to M. Christian's challenge. Excuse us, Her Tangh-i-ness needs to get back to scribbling for the Positive.



Note: This copy of Skin Effect was an electronic edition acquired from an author upon the reviewer's request. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.

Book Review: Little Dystopias by Kyle Aisteach

Like your Science Fiction Soft as Well as Hard? Does the Fantastical have to be a bit twisted for you to enjoy it? Has Her Tangh-i-ness got a new read for you. Do you want to have a snippet into the evolution of your stories before you dive into them?

Then you're gonna gobble up the essays in love Little Dystopias. One essay for each short story. If you're curious, like me, then you want to know what incident precipitated a reading experience and Kyle Aisteach lays it all bare for you. Isn't that delightfully wicked of him?

This compilation isn't short of stories. Seventeen tales ranging from the what-ifs of Science Fiction to the Anti-Fantastiscal.



*Spoiler Alert*

Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further, and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert End*



Too Close for Comfort - Her Tangh-i-ness delighted in the essay that gave the 411 on this tale. Do take us back to the Science Fiction Golden age. A scientist mother, a lawyer, and some imprisoned Neanderthals intersect in a way that might make Clarence Darrow proud.

The Survivors’ Menagerie - Where Readers observe two important premises: Irish lasses disappear in their own time and out of it. One can take a gladiator out of arena, but you can't take the fighter out of him.

Pressure and the Argument Tree - Consider the usefulness of neutral buoyancy. C'mon you do want to know what can go possibly right in a Venus Surface Rover don't you? BTW, does anyone else think heroes should be named after poets?

Final Voices - The title sums it all up.

The Wrong Dog - Animal spies, a veterinarian, and a persecuted religious group that believes that the Earth has a heart. Who said veterinarians couldn't be action heroes?

Eternal Love - Okay Zombiephiles, here ya go. Flash Fiction about a cringeworthy jest. Call the dry cleaners. Stat.

Clockman - One Gwen outlasts them all: mechanical warrior, knights, wizard, and father-king. ROFLMAO.

A Fairy Tale - When the prince is a blond bottom, the princess takes bad puns into her arsenal. And the stable boy puts on a performance worthy of being made into a blue movie.

Nobody’s Ancestor - This what happens when a so-called rational mind cannot embrace the reality of Life After Death.

Eternity Undone - A woman named for two Hindu goddesses meets with a cybernetically preserved man. Erasure follows.

Promised - A young Hope and and an older Stone come together and the afterwards is bleak.

Unforgivable - Justice gone stone cold. Virtual Reality Vs. Criminal Recidivism.

The Folklorist’s Notebook - Stories within a story. Complete with guidelines, the spiral binding and blood.

Another Generation’s Problems - A Chinese woman survives an attack that kills her parents. Later in life, Miss Wu encounters the Black American war criminal on a crippled space station. She decides to leave him there instead of turning him over to the Chinese authorities.

Ward and Protector - A Sentient spaceship suffering from dementia has a Hal 5000 moment with the human who flies with her.

Nobody Watches - Horny sixteen year old gay male looking for attention. He learns he has to give it first.

Man of Water - Her Tangh-i-ness especially likes this story. A former Congressman on the run from men who melt. Gimme another neologism.



Note: This copy of Little Dystopias was an electronic edition acquired from an author upon the reviewer's request. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.

Book Review: Danny by Steven Harper McClary Piziks

Her Tangh-i-ness has identified yet another juicy book for all those fellow Bisexual-approving, Mythophilic, Science Fantasy, Ancient History addicts out there.

YA Librarians please take note: other than the use of standard Anglo-Saxon-derived cuss words, this work is devoid of Any reason to hesitate to include it on bookshelves. For prurient content, look elsewhere.

And I talking about this book called Danny.

I read it. Really.

*Spoiler Alert*

Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further, and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert End*


Ok. Onto the good stuff. So Readers meet Danny Marina a sixteen-year-old who discovers...gasp...he likes boys just as much as he likes girls and guess what? He doesn't have to give up either of them! Hows that for starters?

What do you do when you run away from one creepy situation with the son of the guy that your mother's sleeping with? Where do you go if you think you can make it on your own? Who said someplace warm?

All right, Genius.

So what if you're in the Sunshine state and you meet a girl who has no problem bedding you at the same time along with the other boy you ran away with? Hmnnn. Hmmmn.

What do you do if you were once immortal and the most recent "plaything" of that infamous Olympian Seducer, Zeus, that guy with the thunderbolts? Would you stick around and take being trapped in a divine equivalent to a suburban gated community? Do you really want to keep getting poked occasionally and pour ambrosia on command?

Her Tangh-i-ness thinks not.

Let's keep reading shall we? How do three hairs and a mug become power objects? Why was an Egyptian God seen shaking hands with Zeus? And most important of all, why did the island of Thera undergo that eruption that spread ash to the corners of the known ancient world? Think you can stand up to a mother who puts you at-risk, a pistol, and a category 4 hurricane?

See? Aren't you itching to find out?

PS. At the end of Danny, there is a teaser for another Steven Harper book called Nightmare. Always did wonder what would happen to Aboriginal people in Space. I found the teaser quite compelling.



Note: This copy of Danny was an electronic edition acquired from an author upon the reviewer's request. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.

Book Review: Bone Walker Book 2 Free Court of Seattle Series by Angela Korra'ti

Yeah, Peoples, Her Tangh-i-ness has something to say again. Listen up.

*Spoiler Alert*

Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further, and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert End*

So African American females can play violins, have Faerie blood, enjoy interracial relationships, have a human mage and a Faery Rockstar equivalent's attentions, and save the day? An established Male-Male and a new Female-Female couple figure as the other ongoing romances? Best of all, Japanese Dragons and Kitsune abound? And all of this happens in Seattle? (which happens to be the only city in the US that I happily consider dwelling in as an alternative to my native Boston?)

Efffff-Ya! I wanna read me some o' dat! (Ebonics totally intentional)

Bone Walker is a book that celebrates the power of music and music-makers and subtly reminds us of just why despots have always feared the creatives of this world. Bone Walker is the kind of novel where girl has to play her violin into a fury before she goes out and kicks the baddie's butt. Can I get a witness?

I can say the good news about the novel Bone Walker is that I am this book's target audience. There are readers like me who are People of Color, a Geek/Geekette, LGBTQI/Allied, Creative, and who defy what Mainstream Marketing would have readers like us absorb. I am on Team Anti-Twilight. Keep the 1950's throwback Bella. Kendis Thompson makes up for me the Serious Suck value of watching Rue and Thresh die in The Hunger Games. Bone Walker is for readers like me who squirmed through Lord of the Rings every time the beautiful, blond elves clashed with the dark, ugly orcs, goblins, and trolls. Guess who this reader identified with every time? Just sayin'.

That said, I am also a reader who started with a second book in the series. Let me tell you Bone Walker worked as a standalone. So much so that I wanted to begin reading the first book, Faerie Blood, immediately to see what I'd missed and I will happily follow Kendis to a third book.

Note: This copy of Bone Walker: Book 2 Free Court of Seattle was an electronic edition acquired from an author upon the reviewer's request. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.

Book Review: Scheherazade’s Façade: Fantastical Tales of Gender Bending, Cross-dressing and Transformation

Book Review: Scheherazade’s Façade: Fantastical Tales of Gender Bending, Cross-dressing and Transformation
Edited by Michael M. Jones
© 2012
Circlet Press


*Spoiler Alert*

A description of Adult material follows. Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert*

Introduction • Michael M. Jones

Many are familiar with The Thousand and One Nights and the premise of keeping an king engaged with a story or losing one’s life. Here an editor explains what went into keeping an anthology alive. Perish the thought that there wouldn’t be any anthos with Gender Bending, Cross-Dressing or fluidly Changing from one sex into another celebrated.

The Secret Name of the Prince • Alma Alexander

Start with someone in trouble. Check. Life and death kind of trouble. Check. Start with a frightened brother and sister swapping genders and roles as the protector and the protected. Check. Throw in the power of Naming to determine a character’s purpose and destiny and a reader will be ready to appreciate the retelling of entire backstory of The Thousand and One Nights squeezed into an adolescent’s coming-of-age. Check. Read it? Reading the review does not count. Then mark off as many check marks as you like.

The Daemons of Tairdean Town • C.S. MacCath-Moran

Her Tangh-i-ness has a soft spot for ugly, crippled girls. First person makes it easy to slip inside the head of a clairsentient one for a bit especially one who hasn’t lost touch with her inner male. An ugly, crippled girl who guides the living and the dying equally from their known life to and from the great, interconnected Is-ness. Wait. And of the Daemons? Remember the less popular, less intimidating, non-computer technology definition of the word daemon, insert the word anima/animus instead and a reader makes Jung proud. Plus there is juicy daemon sex.

Kambal Kulan • Paolo Chikiamco

Be a literary Armchair Traveler. Two is not always enough company. Another first person tale about the little known Fillipino art of curse blocking, falling in-love with unexpected objects of affection, and dealing with the aftermath of painful break-ups. Dare to repeat the word mangkukulam ten times. Her Tangh-i-ness adores these lines of dialogue, said by one man to another, “I hope you realize the irony of saying that while wearing a pink dress” then, “Most people are bi anyway….” Kambal Kulan’s theme seems to ask: Is love a curse or a good thing? Best of all, the story’s not over until there’s a threesome.

Driftwood • Tiffany Trent

Don’t leave the deeps, Maebelle. Let others fill their own hollow places. Let them rediscover their own Wo/man within. Weep for the Water-kin. Seal. Selchie. Selkie. Sad. Take the original ending of Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid for a close parallel. Behold the awesome terribleness of human fear coupled with distrust and intolerance. Dive into the gazes of those humans who live by the seashore separated by sand and surf from those who could help them return to any self they chose if the humans would only choose love. Remember Maebelle.

Pride • Melissa Mead

Her Tangh-i-ness knows some folks who would gladly down jana berry supplements should they ever become available outside the confines of this story. Fighting sticks help to equalize combatants of either gender. Animal-identified tribespeople choose to serve their village as lions, rhinos, baboons, snakes and elephants. Kayin hunts and wars together with them on the savannah. Never did Her Tangh-i-ness imagine she’d come across a story where menstrual cramps would be a celebrated thing. She predicts Pride will become required reading during mooncycles.

Keeping the World on Course • Tanith Lee

People doubt whenever dog meets cat that meeting will ever work itself without a lot of attendant growling and hissing. Now consider when bird meets cat. The World is absurd. Therefore, Her Tangh-i-ness must laugh. Tanith Lee fans notwithstanding, readers perk up at the mention of that author’s name in a Table of Contents. There’s bound to be brilliant, oddly amusing plot magic afoot. Who else could track the arc of Extreme Revulsion as it spins about into its opposite sentiment. Nope, this story doesn’t have a husband and wife with a gold watch or a head full of long tresses. Keeping the World on Course, however, shares a feel-good ending with another famous literary testament of situational irony.

A Bitter Taste • Aliette de Bodard

Like your fictional flavors hot and subtle as a curry? Her Tangh-i-ness adores Southeast Indian epics like the Mahabharata. Way to go, Alliette de Bodard, with this desperate act of a princess demigoddess pretending to be a common mortal in order to halt a heavenly war. Watch out for those Rakshashas. And still the Man-Woman rises. What price must Naryati pay in order to bring time and the worlds back into balance? What happens to avatars caught in unending conflict? Only a thorough reading will tell.

Going Dark • Lyn C.A. Gardner

Potent. This struck Her Tangh-i-ness as the ultimate Outsider-themed story of this anthology. It occurs in the hairline space between mixing the proper chemicals to develop a desired photographed image and creating a lethal chemical reaction. That Imogene got troubles. First person account of what it feels like to be not only to be genderless or male or female all at the same time but also an unintentional energy thief. Remember, through it all, Imogene is innocent. Imogene simply desires the freedom to be loved for being Imogene.

The Cloak of Isis • Sunny Moraine

Enjoyed the work of Sunny Moraine in a previously reviewed Circlet anthology: The Kitsune’s Laughter included within Like A Cunning Plan so the question becomes: can this reader be enchanted again? A lover of Quirky Romances nods enthusiastically. The Cloak of Isis shares with Melissa Mead’s Pride the wonder of shifting from male into female and an upbeat ending. Could this be a re-imagining of a tale from Ovid’s Metamorphoses combined with the backstory of a certain falcon-headed god who hailed from ancient Egypt? Ask Ianthe and Iphis.

How to Dance While Drowning • Shanna Germain

First person start tosses the reader into the dark waters of Showbiz. Behold those men who would be mermaids. Details such as the pliancy of a silicon breast firmly anchor the sensation of being mise en scène. Follow Dalilah: the makeup-artist witch and Jojo, and Gianna: the little Mermaids onto the stage. Marvel at the line “…may the best man drown so I can take his place.” Xenografted face transplants oust face-lifts in this desperate milieu. Fear the Colors. The spirit of Hans Christian Andersen sheds a tear.

Treasure and Maidens • Sarah Rees Brennan

Her Tangh-i-ness espies a dragon. Therefore, this tale must take place somewhere in Queens, NY. Why not share a bowl of Cheerios with a mythical, magical being? Apparently, jumping out of windows is the only way for dragons to get around in NY these days. They do it all the time. And I want to see the dragon cookbook that lists all the dishes prepared from maiden hearts. It can’t be that complicated. Unless your name is Emma. BTW, if there is daemon sex in this anthology then sex with shape-changing dragons becomes more than likely.

Lady Marmalade’s Special Place in Hell • David Sklar

C’mon. Just about anyone who has read a title like that wants to know what the heck is going on. Bet it isn’t just Patti LaBelle fans. Last story in an antho has the dual effect of being the last experience a reader takes with them and it answers and amplifies the tone set up by the first story. Marmalade AKA Roger marches into the Inferno as if s/he were born to be the top at the top. Kinky readers smirk knowingly. Wait…wait! But then, Marmalade finds her/his parents, a play/group space in Hell and forgiveness. Work that damnation, Girl, all the way to wherever and with whomever you choose to be.


Note: This copy of Scheherazade’s Façade: Fantastical Tales of Gender Bending, Cross-dressing and Transformation was an electronic edition acquired from an editor upon the reviewer's request. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.

Book Review: Like a Cunning Plan: Erotic Trickster Tales

Book Review: Like a Cunning Plan: Erotic Trickster Tales
Edited by Michael M. Jones
© 2012
Circlet Press

*Spoiler Alert*
A description of Adult material follows. Her Tangh-i-ness greatly appreciates pithy plot summaries. However, for those who must have a virgin reading experience, read no further and eyeball elsewhere.

*Spoiler Alert*
Introduction • Michael M. Jones
Deftly introduces the all female writers, the stories, and the editor’s personal experience with a certain Native American Trickster who shall remain unnamed. Read the rest of the review and the actual Introduction of the anthology to find out which one.

Winter Spirit • Nica Berry
Loved it. Talk about tortured journeys. The first story in Like a Cunning Plan: Erotic Trickster Tales proves worthy of its place. It prickles the emotions of the reader like a bamboo splinter beneath skin. Those who believe in the power of love might secretly wish there was someone who loved them enough to risk pursuing them even at the cost of their own soul. A teahouse, a kagema (male prostitute) and a kitsune (fox spirit) blend into a steamy, fictional beverage.

Good Bad Habits • N. Violett
Instead of being all about the bark, this tale is all about the bite. Mess with Coyote and get messed with and lose near every stitch of clothing you own. First person female protagonist and a dense, sensory-laden exchange between the protagonist and her tall, dark, and be-ringed quarry Lopez. Howl, people until you can’t howl no more. This is a blow-by-blow encounter of why some people show up in public buck-naked.

The Fox Hunt • Nadine Wilmot
One of her Tangh-i-ness’s other faves. Beware. Erectile tissue of both genders could become aroused. During a holy festival, animal masks worn by mutual predators serve as a thematic counterpoint to a tryst. A dove seduces a fox. A nobleman becomes relieved of much coin after he dares to take the virginity of another noblewoman. Loved the repetition of, “Are you well my Lady?”

Fools Rush In • Elizabeth Schechter
First person story again. A famous Master Thief promises to steal from a god in his own temple. Reminds me of a tale Robert E. Howard would have approved of. What the Master Thief didn’t count on was that the god wanted to steal him. Gave a big awwwww-that’s-so-quirky-Romantic sigh at the confessional-type ending.

Come the Revolution • Gayle C. Straun
Back to Classical Greece to witness the bondage and ravishment of the Lightning-Thrower and Thunderer by a fearless, female redhead. Consider this story payback for Io, Europa, Danäe, and Ganymede amongst others. This forms a fitting thematic bookend to the preceding story Fools Rush In.

Tricksters Are Made, Not Born • Kaysee Renee Robichaud
The Norse god Loki approaches his latest mortal quarry with a destiny-ridden suitcase. The unluckiest guy meets the son of Loki and after several sex acts later, learns that he’s also the spawn of a Norse god too. BTW, this is the second story in the antho where handcuffs figure at the post-coital climax.

The Kitsune’s Laughter • Sunny Moraine
Her Tangh-i-ness agreed with the editor’s choice to include two stories dealing with the same trickster figure. Finally, readers get to enjoy some sizzling woman upon transwoman action. A childless Japanese wife calls upon a fertility spirit, the Great Kami Inari to help her and a fox spirit comes to her aid with the necessary baby-making equipment. Hopefully, readers will be left with a vague desire to find someone of their own to share a tatami mat with in a favorite position….


Note: This copy of Like a Cunning Plan: Erotic Trickster Tales was an electronic edition acquired from an editor upon the reviewer's request. Her Tangh-i-ness usually reviews on a for-the-love basis. No lucre has been involved.