Review: Erotic Romance with a Military Backdrop
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2013
With erotica - blatantly sexual writing - we are at the controversial end of the scale with romance fiction.  The total opposite of  so-called 'sweet romance' with its hints and implications.  Romance writing can go from sweet to 'spare my blushes' to full on sexual activity, In actual erotica, the sex scenes are  in-your-face.  Sometimes literally.  No romantic language here.  A spade is most definitely a spade.  Body parts are given their actual names, usually the type of names you won't hear in a church or a hospital.Which is fine if that's what you like.  Consenting adults in private and all that.  People, women especially, usually read romance fiction for the emotional rush, the heady feeling of falling in love.  From what I know, readers of erotica do so to kick start their libido.  So you could call it a form of sex therapy.  When I was thirteen I remember getting all thrilled when I read a Violet Winspear novel and the hero pushed the heroine a little too firmly then 'claimed her lips in a kiss' or words to that effect..  The next scene, she woke up in bed with him.  Full scene censored.  But that was enough.  I.  Was.  Hooked.  Now I'd say 'OMG what a chauvinist' and if I saw my daughters reading stuff like that, I'd be careful to tell them that that type of male behaviour is unacceptable.  An alpha male is one thing.  A bully is another.  But what did I know back then?The thing about erotic fiction is that the premises may be different but the aim is always to get 'serviced', shall we say? Sorry if I sound all coy, it's my convent educated background playing up here!.  First you get hints, implications, a little lead on here and there.  Then more.  More.  More and more.  The climax of the story usually coincides with the climax of the sexual activity of the protagonists. Which of course is really  no coincidence.SERVICED VOLUME I is a collection of erotic novellas within one volume,. by a team of competent authors from Breathless Press.  They're all more than up to the mark to write 'hot' and write it most effectively.  I wouldn't say I was a prude, but I took a few days to read this because I wouldn't read it in front of the kids and also because as a housewife, there was no point in reading this, getting all hot and bothered and then having to go and wash the freaking dishes. I'd have probably ended up breaking half of them.  SERVICED VOL. I.is about service people, i.e. active military personnel.  Well, there couldn't be anyone more hungry for a bit of hot loving than a serviceman on leave, now could there?  Except perhaps his lady?  And then, what of the servicewomen?  Military personnel aren't all male anymore, are they?As a self-confessed vanilla type, who was brought up to believe that sex was sacred and only for private activity, I'm probably not the best person to review a book like SERVICED.  But as Oscar Wilde said, books are well written or badly written, that is all.  And I can recognize good writing when I see it.  And this is that elusive commodity, good writing. Skilled writing.  After all, if you're going to write hot, you might as well 'get it write' so to speak.  And yes, they do.So if you're a fan of erotic romance, you won't go wrong to pick this up.  It will certainly get your pulse racing.  And a few more things too, I should think.Well done, Allie A. Burrow and the rest of the group, you've earned your commissions here.  This volume has been reported to have been selling wildly, so I guess that Volume II will the virtual shelves in due course. .