Ultimate Decadence

The nice people at Xcite Books sent me a copy of this great new tome of short stories edited by Emily Dubberley. The writers donated their stories for free and a percentage of the cover price is being passed on to MacMillan Cancer Care.

Ultimate Decadence is an anthology of 30 erotic stories on the theme of decadence from best-selling authors including Karen Krizanovich, Suzanne Portnoy, Maxim Jakubowski and Elizabeth Coldwell. Every aspect of decadent sexual excess is explored, from Bloomsbury-set inspired debauched romps to romantically naughty tales full of roses and champagne, diamonds and Venetian masks.

As usual with these short story selections, it's not something you can sit down and read all in one sitting. Well not for me anyway. I find if I read more than three or four in a row, I start to lose the impetus for my excitement because I begin to expect the unexpected and become inured to the element of surprise.

What I enjoyed most about this book, apart from the outstanding quality of the writing, was that the interpretations of the term 'ultimate decadence' were so varied. That umbrella title really did take you into so many different scenes, settings and scenarios at the behest of the author's take on the subject matter.

Quite revelatory and very arousing.