Renaissance, $4.00, ISBN 1-929670-54-0
Historical Erotica, 2000 (Reissue)
Adam and Eve is a simple, understated erotica set in London during the turn of the last century. Our heroine Eve Patten, eighteen years old, and her nineteen-year old boyfriend Adam Blythe arrive in London with big dreams. For her, she will be a star on stage. For him, he will be a famous artist. However, these two will soon be corrupted by the more jaded hedonists they encounter and in the end, what little bond these two have will be severely tested by their indoctrination into the rumpy-pumpies.
One thing I like about this one is that the sexual interludes are earthy and simple. The love scenes don’t try too hard to tantalize me by introducing too much kink, and in this case, they are pretty good. There’s a nice scene where Eve uses her hands on Adam under a restaurant table and later a schoolteacher seating on the table (once the two youngsters have departed) will wonder what on earth is dripping onto her legs from the underneath of the tabletop. American Wedding, eat your heart out.
Story-wise, this one is nothing new as it faithfully follows the formula of a typical erotica. The heroine starts out as sexually inexperienced and her initial indoctrination to the pleasures of flesh is not entirely with her consent. There are older women wanting to seduce our hero. Yet, just like all those glitz novels where everyone has wild sex only to be horribly miserable at the end – the author’s public service to the readers, something like fame will make your life depressing – Adam and Eve is essentially an insincere morality tale about the consequences of one’s pursuit of fame. However, I must give props to the author – his message may be insincere but he allows Eve to grow as a character. There is also an equal amount of lesbian as well as gay love scenes here, so it’s free-for-all exploitation of both genders in this story. Missing though are BDSM elements so if you are looking for this sort of kinky reading fun, you should look elsewhere.
What makes this erotica stand out is the final scene. Without me spoiling too much, let’s just say that it’s a really powerful scene that demonstrates just how fine the line that separates love and hate is. That scene stays with me much more vividly than the silly group sex and swinging actions and physics-defying coital acrobatics in this story. If Eve has crossed the line and showed no mercy, this one will have been a keeper. But the author chickened out, so I’m somewhat left high and dry at the end.
Adam and Eve isn’t the most exciting or greatest envelope-pushing erotica around, and to some readers it may even be too tame. Still, it is quite a pleasant book for those looking for some no-nonsense uncomplicated sexy read.
