Darker Edge of Desire
Gothic Tales of Romance
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Love, passion and sex…it’s all here in Darker Edge of Desire.
Gothic literature has always possessed a dark attraction ripe with the promise of the forbidden and the sensual. In Darker Edge of Desire, Mitzi Szereto takes the sexualized Gothic and ratchets it up a few notches into the danger zone, opening the door into the darker side of lust and love that only the courageous dare to venture through. Venturing even further into the world of mystery and romance than she did in the critically acclaimed Red Velvet and Absinthe, Szereto creates an atmosphere with a distinct Gothic flavor where we explore our more forbidden desires. In these tales, love and lust (and kink!) know no boundaries, and all nature of beings—from vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, ghosts, succubae—abound.
Tread carefully, danger and desire lie ahead!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gothic is a misnomer for this anthology, as many of the 14 tales, including the more successful ones, lack the expected atmosphere. Worthy of note is Gary Earl Ross's "Sister Bessie's Boys," a delicate story about growing up, overcoming loss, and truly attempting to know other people. Another strong story is Szereto's own "The Dracula Club," about a Dracula-obsessed American who follows her dreams to Transylvania and finds more than she expected. The most Gothic of the successful stories, Jo Wu's "Devoured by Envy," charts ballerina Giselle's self-destructive obsession with a man who refused her sexual overtures and married another woman. Two of the weakest inclusions, Benji Bright's "Blood Soup" and Rosal a Zizzo's "The Alchemist's Daughter," suffer from muddled settings and overwrought premises. Most disappointing of all is Adrian Ludens's "Reynold's Tale," which portrays Poe as a tortured homosexual destroyed by the secrets the eponymous narrator reveals to him. The few gems in this very mixed assortment are all but drowned out by the other entries.
