Side_Quests

EROTIC FANTASY

LOVER'S TALISMAN
THE QUINTESSENTIAL TEMPTRESS
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS
THE GIRL WHO SHAGGED ME
MORE TIDINGS: FROM ASHLEIGH RAINE
MORE TIDINGS: FROM ELLORA'S CAVE

LOVER'S TALISMAN

Ellora's Cave: E-rotic Paranormal Romance

When Muninn and I first started dating, she introduced me to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Sure, I'd previously caught a stray episode here and there, but she got me into the series. Deeply into the series. Watching these shows together became one of our rituals as a couple and, after the shows were cancelled, we collected the DVDs and watched the entire saga from beginning to end.

There was something special about the Buffyverse, it possessed a dark yet compelling charm that the X-Files had in its early days, then somehow lost. Such magic is hard to capture in a series about the paranormal. Real people with extraordinary abilities facing incredible situations without losing their basic humanity and focus on mundane concerns... difficult to pull off convincingly for any writer.

But not for Ashleigh Raine.

Lover's Talisman has that special magic going for it. The setting is Talisman Bay, a hotbed of multidimensional activity, kept safe by the mysterious, and ever-vigilant, Shadow Walkers. Many of the 'demons' that come to our world are relatively harmless, but need to be monitored nonetheless, lest they cause mischief. Others are utterly alien - nay, evil, and actively seek to harm humans. These must be opposed, and vanquished.

The Shadow Walkers maintain 'Rare and Unusual Imports', a waterfront store, as their home base. They have become wealthy by trading with the demon dimensions. Their business subsidizes their greater mission and helps them keep tabs on what's going on with the incoming Others.

Shadow Walkers are modern-day warriors, sworn to protect their people from the hordes of Hell. Their lives are always at risk and not wholly their own. And everyone in their personal sphere is vulnerable to attack. So a Shadow Walker quickly learns to avoid intimacy. The Order, an astral organization of mages, sets the rules, guides their actions and helps keep the Shadow Walkers healthy between missions.

Stephen leads Talisman Bay's Shadow Walkers. He is a veteran of many demonic battles and knows the folly of following one's heart. His own brother, Marlin - also a Shadow Walker, lost his beloved to marauding demons and henceforth lost a part of himself forever. No, love was not for someone like Stephen.

Or so he believed...

Enter Mariah, an exotic dancer who has sworn off men. Stephen rescues her from an androgynous Losfun demon named Asfar, then -quite uncharacteristically and inexplicably- declares Mariah his soul-mate.

Bringing her back to his top-secret HQ - another no-no, he then demands that Fierro from The Order restore her health - as if she were a Shadow Walker. The champions wonder what is going on with their leader. Stephen doesn't quite know himself, but the words he uttered earlier were true... indeed, they rang of prophecy. A revived Mariah, knowing nothing of this, finds the ice-wall guarding her heart melting and her body craving Stephen. And her heart whispers words she doesn't want to hear.

Mariah and Stephen find true-love, deny it, lose it and must then struggle to regain it. A daunting task made even more difficult by fated circumstances beyond their control: The Dread Lords have finally come to Talisman Bay. They've kidnapped Mariah's best friend Twyla and have marked Stephen for death. The Dread Lords know of and will exploit his newfound weakness, they will lure him to his doom and cruelly wound him by obtaining Mariah.

Lover's Talisman is the first book of the Talisman Bay series. Needless to say, I'm now hooked and look forward to reading Forsaken Talisman, the second book.

Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton move over, there's a new contender for the highest throne of erotic paranormal fiction. Ashleigh Raine reigns supreme. Lover's Talisman was very cinematic, it was easy to visualize the unfolding action in my mind's eye. A film, a miniseries, a TV show... surely these are destined for Talisman Bay!

I've placed Lover's Talisman in Muninn's to-read pile. Perhaps it is time to start a new tradition.

Review by Thor the Barbarian

THE QUINTESSENTIAL TEMPTRESS

Mongoose Publishing: d20 Resource/PDF

The Temptress can be from any character class: the seductive sorceress, the scantily clad barbarian who distracts you in battle with her physical charms, the love goddess' hot priestess and the back-alley rogue who spreads her legs for your pleasure while stealing your wallet.

Muscle and magic are effective weapons, but so is the promise of exposed flesh. The Temptress may be an Actress, an Assassin, a Courtesan, a Madam, a Rebellious Princess, a Rising Star, a Servant of the Goddess, a Slave, a Spy, a Streetwalker, a Thief, a Wench... all of these Character Concepts are explored in this tome, as are the non-human concepts: Dwarven Matron, Dark Elf Pain Mistress, Gnomish Sexual Tinker, Half-Elven Fantasist, Half-Orc Tribal Manipulator and Halfling Bounty. There's alot here, but wait - we're just getting warmed up...

Prestige Classes include the Agent, Avatar of Love, Guild Enforcer, Lady of the House and Romantic Advisor. Each Prestige Class has its own Class Skills and Features.

As with Encyclopaedia Arcane: Nymphology, but more so, there are lots of new Skills and Feats, as well as lots of creative (and sexual) uses for standard Skills & Feats. Advice is given on turning fellow adventurers into Sugar Daddies, taking advantage of Merchants, Crime Lords and the Clergy, and seducing non-human intelligences. By mastering 'Hair Toss and Smile' and 'Cleavage Control', how can you fail?

Exotic Weapons (for example the Lady's Protector), Armor (quick-release or with breast enhancing properties), Toys (such as the magical Groinseeker) and Potions (including the 'Potion of Boobtacular Expansion') make life interesting for the Temptress and can serve her well as she plies her trade.

Roughly half the book deals with prostitution in a fantasy campaign and provides the game mechanics and background information needed to make the second-oldest profession an integral part of your RPG setting. And then some. If you own Shadizar: City of Wickedness for the Conan RPG, The Quintessential Temptress is a MUST HAVE if you wish to bring that corrupt Zamoran city to life. There is even a comprehensive chapter on creating, and running, a brothel as a base of operations for your PCs.

What is truly staggering about The Quintessential Temptress is the wealth of content it provides. It breaks new ground - yes, but we've come to expect this from Mongoose. It can be read as a parody - yes, but it's fully functional nonetheless. And very well thought-out.

I salute you James 'Grim' Desborough! You are a modest fellow indeed, your tome is far too impressive and detailed to be the 'bit of a piss-take' you claim. And quite a bargain at $10.

Review by Thor the Barbarian

Note: Anyone desiring more info on The Quintessential Temptress can visit: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/d20/detail.php?qsID=575&qsSeries=1#

DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS

After Hours Cinema: DVD

Those damn Goths! Mere pretenders! They have assumed a dark 'look' and 'manner', while knowing nothing about the unholy beings they so mindlessly imitate.

The creatures of the night demand the fear that is their due and know nothing of compassion. They do not take kindly to being mocked.

Two lesbian vampires (Darian Caine and A.J. Khan) have had enough of these disrespectful mortals and vow revenge. They kidnap a bratty Goth Girl (Katie Jordon), strip her down to her boots and torturously tease her until she begs for the release of orgasm.

She is tied up and caged, spanked and crucified, muzzled and penetrated... the vampires are relentless as they administer their punishments with whips and paddles, clothes pins and hot wax.

Ultimately, they grant their prisoner her release. And then they feed...

Daughters of Darkness features the stars of our favorite Seduction Cinema movies in situations that are much more sexually explicit. No cartoon sex here! Although definitely hardcore this movie still retains much of the playful charm that powerfully brands most ie-Independent Cinema in-house productions.

In the Ultra-Naughty Edition DVD we also get to know Darian Darian much more intimately: through her Trailer Vault and Naughty Webcam.

I enjoy watching ie-Independent Cinema stretch its creative muscles, explore new territory and grow. They've definitely expanded their graphic horizons with Daughters of Darkness. I look forward to their future releases from this brave new world.

Review by Thor the Barbarian

Seduction Cinema: DVD

In the dawn of time: one cave woman (Anoushka) knew lust so great that she became a living Goddess. Men adored her and all was well... until she renounced the entire male gender. The Goddess of Lust found greater joy in the arms of the fairer sex and the future of humanity was in peril as more and more women forsook their mates to worship at Her altar.

The shamans of old performed their magics and, after a great battle, the Goddess was imprisoned in ice.

In modern times: a portly adventurer, Captain Waldo Lavish, is led to the lost Goddess' icy tomb by his young assistant, whose groin cannot resist her primal call. She is removed and transported... only to be stolen by Lavish's arch-nemesis, the bizarre Doctor Unsound.

Unsound wishes to revive the Goddess and clone her. He plans on selling her replicas to brothels in the Far East (among other things). But the Goddess has other plans.

When she is thawed, she seduces Unsound's sexy assistant (Rachel Travers) and siezes her will. The Goddess is determined to build her army, one woman at a time, and finally take her revenge!

Even agent Johnson (Misty Mundae), a living legend and somewhat of a super-hero, easily falls prey to the Goddess' primal charms, dashing all hopes of a quick resolution. And now Johnson serves the Goddess. Her secret-agent skills are the Lusty One's to command.

The Goddess will lead her lesbian legions to victory!

It is up to Waldo Lavish and his bold crew of eccentrics (which includes a domesticated Yeti) to thwart them. As this first installment ends, our heroes fly off to complete their mission.

Surprisingly, The Girl Who Shagged Me ISN'T a spoof of Michael Myers' parodies of the James Bond movies! However, it IS a spoof of mod British spy thrillers from yesteryear... and is shot in their style. In a Seduction Cinema production we can expects lots of swipes... ahem... homages to several genre flicks; the funniest in The Girl Who Shagged Me was a Hannibal Lechtereque figure who happens to be a strict vegetarian. A.J. Khan has a cameo appearance as agent Johnson's masturbatory-fantasy figure.

The Girl Who Shagged Me is Seduction Cinema's first overseas production. It was shot in London and Manchester. Two versions, an MPAA R-rated Director's Cut and a Super-Sexy Unrated Editions, were available on March 29th. Each version has its own unique extras, so if you dig this film you'll want both.

Me? I'm waiting for part two of course. Cheers!

Review by Thor the Barbarian

FROM ASHLEIGH RAINE

Forsaken Talisman, the second volume in the Talisman Bay series, was officially released in paperback by Ellora's Cave. Forsaken Talisman will be available in Borders, Waldenbooks and other fine bookstores.
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April 27-May 1, 2005 Jennifer and Lisa, the Ashleigh Raine writing team, are both attending the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in St. Louis, MO.

Jennifer Martin will be going to Germany in May to speak at the Wiesbaden Erotica Convention.

Stay tuned to TBC in the months ahead as we review the entire Talisman Bay series.

Savannah was groomed from birth to take the reins of her father’s manufacturing empire. Her emotional armor is as tough as the steel used in her factories, and nobody is allowed past it. Business partner Matt realizes that the key to entry is to command her submission. Calling on the unique sensual talents of his four-man management team, he engineers an aggressive and erotic takeover, determined to rescue the woman he’s loved from the steel cage she’s manufactured around her heart. Masked and lost to the sensations the team arouses in her, Savannah is theirs, at least for this one night.

Mia Sanderson has been in love with her boss, Ty Brewer, for years, but ladies’ man Ty only sees her as a friend and even worse, a good girl. So when Mia and Ty are invited to the same Mardi Gras party, Mia decides to live out a fantasy. Donning a Mardi Gras mask and wig, Mia masquerades as the seductive Mistress Mina, the bad girl of Ty’s dreams. But what will happen if Ty discovers her true identity? Mina’s risking their friendship and her job, but for a night with Ty, it’s worth it.

Lily had to admit she was desperate. Here she was in New Orleans on a two week vacation, she made the trip especially for the Mardi Gras, and she didn’t have a mask! Everything she found seemed wrong.

As a last ditch effort, she entered a small shop and found the perfect mask…until it showed her visions of herself getting ravished by a masked highwayman.

But when that highwayman turned up at the Mardi Gras bash, she knows the chemistry between them could only lead to one place.

Tiya is turning the tables on the Embraced. She wants their blood. With a desire for vengeance - and lots of weapons - she's searching for the rogue Vampir who killed her family. One night she meets her match in Charlie, a visiting vamp in the territory where she's hunting.

Charlie tracks down the woman he knows isn't human because she's too fast and way too strong. Soon he becomes obsessed with her and her plight. All he wants is Tiya naked and beneath him on a bed. He wants to possess her in every way. Her blood sings to his and he soon finds out why. Tiya is OtherKin Sidhe:a real, live faery.

Tiya discovers that Charlie has enough sexual heat to melt away the cold knot of revenge within her. He's a well-bred, well-mannered vamp, but once she gets him stripped, his civilized composure turns into erotic single-minded passion that rocks her to her core. Charlie makes her feel alive again.

But Tiya's feelings of being alive may not last. Someone in this territory hungers for the special blood of the OtherKin Sidhe, and her family's blood in particular.

Loyalty to her lord sends the Sakar woman-warrior, Nuwaa, to where her tribe's hated enemy, the Kebo, are hunting.

Her mission: to kill the Kebo leader. Instead, she becomes the prisoner of their powerful war-liege, Bor. His mission: to turn the bound woman into a sex-hungry creature worthy of his leader.

But Nuwaa is nothing like the submissive slave-whores Bor is accustomed to. Instead, he finds himself pitted against a courageous if helpless adversary. His plan to strip her of her pride doesn't count on the undaunted warrior spirit that is part of her heart and soul. A mutual but wary respect blooms. Still neither is prepared for the intense attraction that engulfs them.

During their days and nights together on the trip back to the Kebo village, each reveals things about themselves that will change them forever. But unquestioned loyalty to their lieges is ingrained, and neither suspects the treachery and deceit awaiting them at journey's end, that will threaten their survival and rip them apart.

Visiting an old English castle, Carla Morgan falls asleep with a book of poetry on her lap. And awakens to 19th century England, complete with its own Duke. A deliciously arrogant man with more than enough sex appeal to curl her toes and make her forget all about life in 2004.

Sinclair, Duke of Heath, doesn't want another wife, but when the village soothsayer tells him Carla Morgan is his destiny, his curiosity is piqued. And while one look at the sleeping vixen on the settee bids him to accept what the fates have decreed, one taste tells him he can do nothing less.

With mind-blowing sex to muddy the waters, Carla has to decide where her true destiny lies -in the arms of this duke or with her old boring life. And when the portal opens to enable her to return home, Sinclair makes it very clear he wants her to stay. She never much cared for modern convenience anyway. After all, what good is technology without love and excellent sex.

Two strangers pulled together by an attraction neither one could resist and an innocent kiss that flares into a scorching blaze.

Rourke Campbell would bet every one of his psychic senses the woman in his arms was the woman of his dreams. Problem: he's a psychic tracker, married to the Army. She's married to another man. A stolen kiss is all it can ever be!

When one of Rourke's men comes down with a suspect case of Ebola Tai Forest, a simple kiss has the power to turn deadly and thrusts Rourke and Loren together into a mountain quarantine.

While the clock ticks down, Loren finds fighting the temptation of surrendering to Rourke an overwhelming battle. When her estranged husband is murdered, the final blockade is removed. Except the threat of tomorrow - a deadly disease or a broken heart. Either way it's doomed to failure.

Playing to win, and determined to make her his, Rourke uses every weapon in his considerable psychic and sensual arsenal to seduce her.

Bestselling horror author Trent Martin is on the run from a past that won't let him go.

Acquitted of a murder that half the world still thinks he committed, he seeks solace in a tiny, quiet New England town. But the solitude doesn't last very long. The townspeople love to talk of a ghost of a beautiful woman who haunts the woods around his house. Legend has it that she seduces men, hurts them, even drives some of them insane. Trent doesn't believe in any of that. Not until he meets the ghost one night and falls under her spell.

Nights of hot, unbridled passion follow, but in the light of day everything seems strange. He begins to wonder if he's meeting the ghost or if she is a figment of his fertile imagination. As time passes, pieces of the puzzle start to slide into place and Trent comes to a realization. His mystery woman is very real, but she isn't human. And allowing her into his bed, and his heart, could end up getting him killed.

The balance between night and day has been disrupted, and possibly the eternal equilibrium of good and evil. Count Simon Ruthven is a suspect.

Vampire hunter Blue Dampier's willowy body, auburn curls and blue eyes belie her natural huntress abilities. Blue, brother Jordan, and cousin Taryn continue the family business. Taryn uses her mystical powers of magic, psychic and the unseen. Jordan, physically challenged, commands the scientific aspects.

Their search leads to the Club Hell Fire, notorious hangout for popular society and vampires looking for the hottest club. The mysterious Count Ruthven appears in New York City. His secrets have nothing to do with the unexplained global changes and everything to do with Blue, the woman.

His true identity comes as a big surprise, but the truth doesnt change her feelings. Shes loved him for as long as she can remember. His promises could merely be a ruse to distract her from his secrets.

Unable to resist what Simon offers, she allows their passion to rage. Together, they hunt for an answer to the world's imbalance, but struggle to resolve the fundamental issue threatening to separate them forever.

What does a five hundred year old, cultured male vampire want? Sebastian Montgomery Chateaufix stares at the mirror and wonders. His reflection eludes him as usual but that doesn't matter. What matters is that in five hundred years he hasn't found what eludes him - a soul mate.

He finds himself on The Mating Game after unknowingly sucking up Viagra with his meal. And as Sebastian is about to discover, Viagra + red wine + a Vampire = completely stoned. But that doesn't matter. He's met the pixie of his dreams!

Pixies, as everyone knows, are the trailer trash of the supernatural world. Vampires are the aristocrats. So when Jessica finds herself in front of her chosen one - a vampire who obviously lost some stupid bet - she has only one choice, to deck him. And she does.

It's love at first bite. But in order to live happily ever after, Sebastian has to pass Jessica off as an aristocrat to Queen Mabb and the fairy court at summer solstice. Jessica's education is about to begin.

That is, if she can get the bubblegum out of her bleached blonde beehive hairdo.

Clare needs to loosen up and have some fun - not to mention some hot sex with someone other than herself. Her best friend, Kira, knows exactly what she needs - a vacation full of hunky single men who'll knock her panties off. When she booked the cruise for Clare's birthday, the travel agent left out one tiny detail. It's a supernatural cruise, and they aren't getting off until they're married.

The powers that be are tired of waiting for the supernatural to find their own mates and reproduce. In a desperate act to get the dwindling population back up, they've decided to take matters into their own hands. Dominik, a lycan, and Braden, a vampire, are just the two perfect candidates to start this experiment. They're sexy, in the prime of their reproductive immortal lives and ready to mate - just as soon as they can seduce their unsuspecting brides, or at the very least, keep them from swimming back to shore.

Lady Kynthia Ancaeus was the unwilling bride of a man she had never met. She jumps at the chance to possess powers that will ensure she will never be a helpless victim again.

Leksi Helios tried his best to outrun the pack of women warriors, but a narcotic-tipped arrow brought him to ground. Staring up into greedy eyes, he was horrified to realize his manhood would soon be in their grasping hands.

Kynthia discovers Helios bound to her bed. Infuriated that another unwanted mate has been foisted upon her, she sets the warrior free, wanting him out of her life.

Learning that this lovely woman is a being more powerful than any warrior he has ever encountered, Leksi falls hard for the curvaceous beauty. The flames of Kynthia’s love are ignited when the handsome warrior is willing to take her as she really is.

Against the backdrop of a world on the brink of a hellish war, the first female Reaper is born—a being who Transitions into a wolf-life creature that needs to drink blood in order to thrive. Her powers are forged in the cauldron of a lonely man’s need to set right an evil done decades before.

Vampire Julian Gaston has restlessly roamed the earth for three hundred years, taking his pleasure in the arms of lovely women and at the throats of his human prey. His nature compels him to take the blood of innocent humans, even as his compassion for fragile human life tempers his greed. Rich, handsome and powerful, Julian slips from place to place, yet loneliness is an overriding theme for a man nearly immortal and isolated from his own kind.

Grace Davis has always known there was something “wrong” about her—she has a secret fascination with all things vampire and an unrequited longing for the sweet taste of blood. Abandoned at birth, she doesn’t yet know her true nature. When Julian appears in her life, he offers delicious passion and dark discovery.

Julian wrenches Grace from her safe but lonely humanity into something dark and dangerous, yet overwhelmingly sensual and explicit. The whisper of true love beckons but it comes wrapped in blood-soaked cruelty, gossamer sweetness and sizzling passion. Grace is led into sensual submission to a vampire who demands obedience and returns a pure passion in a fiery exchange of power and love.

Sex—and vampires! Stories combining both elements sent writer S.A. Moss to the top of the best-selling lists, but harsh dreams about them are beginning to unsettle her. Sally Ann is compelled by her nightmares to create tales of erotic, savage domination that shock even her! Perhaps she’s going insane. Or perhaps there is some otherworldly force at work within her brain…one that has created a Master, a man who is everything she could ever desire—and more.

Awakening to the lustful reality of distant Raheen, Suliana finds her Master ready to meet her devouring passion with his own as they rule together. But Raheen is a troubled planet, needing more than usual from its rulers. Suliana is not the usual Mistress, however, and carries within her the soul of a human woman. Perhaps it will be enough to save the world of Raheen from betrayal and disaster…and mark the beginning of a new species of vampire…

Note: Contains brief male/male and female/female sexual interaction. Raheen is an intense and violent place where anything goes, and this book is not for the faint of heart.

The Shareem. Males created to be tall, muscled, sexy, and…enhanced. They come in one of three levels—pure sensual pleasure, games and wicked fun, or the ultimate barbarian—complete with whip. They know how to bring a woman to ecstasy and exactly how to keep her there.

When Lady Talan d’Urvey reads the diary of a woman who spent one wicked week with a Shareem, she longs to experience the same carnality in one last fling before she takes her vow of celibacy. She goes in search of a Shareem and finds Rees, tall and blond, with Shareem-blue eyes. Just looking into those eyes makes Talan wild with need.

But Rees is a Shareem experiment that never should have been made. Rees is all the Shareem levels rolled into one, and then some. Rees is uncontrollable, Rees is unpredictable. Even Rees’s creators could never, ever be sure exactly what he would do…