AUTHOR: Robin Wolfe
PUBLISHER: Eternal Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 11k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotica
COST: $3.95
Marie is looking forward to getting a tattoo from the most amazing artist she has ever seen, so much so that she is wet as soon as she arrives. Her arousal, however, is getting in his way…
Erotica is not always about the sex. It’s about experiencing the senses, the sensual as much as the sexual. While this short story doesn’t have a lot of actual sexual contact in it, it attempts to make up for it via using the tattooing in that manner. That’s how the story opens, and honestly, was the incitement that convinced me to buy it. Because it worked. Very well. Unfortunately, it all fell apart.
There’s very little storywise that goes on. Marie has a special tattoo she wants across her lower abdomen, and has specifically sought out Paul to give it to her. She’s attracted to him from the start, and when it makes her twitchy, he attempts to take her mind off it. As I said, the details in the beginning were well-done and evocative, but as soon as it switches to Paul turning things sexual, it all goes downhill. He stops the job because she twitches every time he touches her, and yet, he proceeds to demand that she satisfy him, and forces her to wait for her own release until after he’s done with the tattoo. How is that in any way logical? If anything, she’s more twitchy afterward. How does that help the situation? It doesn’t. It especially doesn’t help me like Paul. His attitude becomes demeaning and selfish. He demands she blow him even though she doesn’t like to do it. Dialogue like, Say you're my bitch first, and then blow
The other aspect that really pulled me out of it was the attitude toward safety. Paul is meticulous in the protection he uses in preparing Marie for the tattoo, and during the actual job. However, when it came to the sex, there is no mention of condoms, and no discussion. He comes in her mouth, as well as vaginally later on. The incongruity is jarring, and only furthers my dislike of the story.
If it’s going to be escapism, make it escapism. This half and half approach just doesn’t work.
| Readability | 7/10 – An easy read, but the pacing/balance is so skewed that it throws it off |
| Hero | 3/10 – Any kind of sexy behavior at the beginning and nice guy attitude at the end doesn’t work to counter his pure bastard qualities of the middle |
| Heroine | 4/10 – An understandable mindset at the start gives way to a woman who makes me roll my eyes |
| Entertainment value | 3/10 – I find little erotic about a jerk and an idiot |
| World building | 5/10 – Why go to the bother to emphasize safety with the tattooing and then completely slack on safety with the sex? |
| TOTAL: | 22/50 |
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