Review of ‘F is for Five Sapphic Tales’ by Donna Jay
Donna Jay writes BDSM erotica and she writes it well. That’s a given by now. F is for… Five Sapphic Tales is an anthology of five lesbian BDSM erotic short stories (and a bonus), all hot and well-written.
I’m not a big reader of short stories, but I like Jay’s writing and I was interested in seeing what she could do with limited space. The order in which the stories are told is the perfect build-up. The first story is a retelling of the Gingerbread Man tale, and it’s both light and steamy. The next two are about role play, which I’m really not into, so while I was enjoying reading them, they didn’t do a lot for me. They’re very well done, just not my thing. The next ones, however, were right up my street.
I’m all about pushing boundaries, in every area of life, and that’s what these stories are about. The one that got to me the most is the fourth one, Dark Desires. The topic is consensual non-consent, and I really appreciated the way Jay went about it, focusing on the domme’s hesitating about pushing her personal boundaries, the sub’s disquiet with her own fantasy and how she comes to own it. I was uncertain about this and I liked that the character’s unease mirrored my own.
The next story, A Sexy Send-Off, is a threesome between a couple and their best friend who’s leaving the next day for a year. I loved the banter, the chemistry, the mix of lust and kindness, what small power play there was.
I would have been happy for the fun to stop here but Jay gives us a bonus story, the ultimate gift from Zoe to Claire, the characters from ‘Finding Love Down Under’, which I haven’t read, and now I have to. A Special Gift can be read as a standalone, but it made me want to know more about the couple’s backstory.
Except for the first story which is pure fantasy, they all have one thing in common, besides being hot: they are all about love and giving the person you love what they want, but never at the expense of your own needs and desires. It all comes down to communication and informed trust. It doesn’t get any sexier than that.
