Rogue Reviews Digest No. 10 - August 3, 1998 NOTICE If you are easily offended or under the age of eighteen then please do not read what follows. CONTENTS Mailing List Information Ratings Reviews No. 122 ["A Matter of Need" by Watcher] No. 123 ["Janey in Bloom" by BitBard] No. 124 ["Coming in Last" by Sven the Elder] No. 125 ["Summertime Blues" by Hawkeye] No. 126 ["Lisa's Feet" by Sue D. Nyym] No. 127 ["Crazy Tomas" by Hawk Richards] No. 128 ["Louie and Ser" by Rock Hancock] No. 129 ["Janey's June" by Janey] No. 130 ["Pump Song" by Mat Twassel] No. 131 ["Summer Rain" by Vickie Morgan] ***** MAILING LIST INFORMATION I send my reviews individually, when I finish them, to the Sex Stories Discussion List. If you are interested in joining there is a form for doing so on my home page. * Home Page - http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Cafe/3122/ * E-Mail - santiago@switchboardmail.com ***** RATINGS In order from best to worst I rate stories as follows: Outstanding Excellent Very Good Good Grudgingly Good Not Good The "Outstanding", "Excellent", "Very Good", and "Good" ratings indicate, to varying degrees, that I like the story. The "Grudgingly Good" rating indicates that I think the story is well written, but that I find some of the elements in the story so disturbing that if I were to review the story based solely on my personal tastes I would give it a "Not Good" rating. The "Not Good" rating indicates that I do not like the story. ***** REVIEWS No. 122 - July 28, 1998 A Matter of Need by Watcher M/F Length: 14,700 words SUMMARY Barry grieves over the death of his wife for two years. It is Crystal, a stripper, who finally captures his heart and ends his mourning period. COMMENTARY I like the way this story begins. I do not like the way it ends. I am disappointed that Jeanine, a friend of Barry, only made a brief appearance in the story. When she was first introduced I thought she was there to do more than just help set the mood. Alas, she was not. [A lass, she was. Zort!] This is a well written story, but I cannot believe that it is love that motivated Barry to fall for Crystal. It was lust. Maybe the author did not mean for it to be love. Even if that is the case, I think there was too much of this story spent in the strip bar. [YEEESSS! Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?] [I think so Brain, but what does wearing a beret have to do with safe sex?] I did not care for the way the author resolved Barry's dilemma. I would much rather have seen him jumping in the sack with his friend Jeanine, or even his other friend, Ted. JUDGMENT This is a good story, but I did not care for the way the plot developed. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13034.txt [1/3] http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13035.txt [2/3] http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13036.txt [3/3] ----- No. 123 - July 29, 1998 Janey in Bloom by Sandman/BitBard M/F Length: 5,800 words NOTE The Summary was written by Sandman/BitBard, not me. SUMMARY Mad, passionate affairs definitely have their appeal. A one day layover turns into a one day whirlwind romance. COMMENTARY This is a well written story. It is very well paced. The sex is passionate. The author does not mince words. The author does not rush the story. There are some references to other authors in here. I did not understand them all. They did not interfere with my enjoyment of this story. I do have one bone to pick with Sandman/BitBard. He refers to the Divinyls as an eighties band. I can clearly remember listening to "I Touch Myself" over and over again, on the juke box at a club I used to go to, back in '92. Maybe he meant that the sort of music they played was more eighties-ish? This story is a lot of fun. JUDGMENT This is an outstanding story. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12703.txt ----- No. 124 - July 30, 1998 Coming In Last by Sven the Elder M/F Length: 1,500 words SUMMARY Sven and Kate have sex during a boat race. COMMENTARY This story is short, but sweet. It is well paced. There is a little bit of build up, before the sex. The character's are not very deep and there is not much to the plot, but I enjoyed this story thoroughly. JUDGMENT This is an excellent story. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12849.txt ----- No. 125 - July 30, 1998 Summertime Blues by Hawkeye M/F Length: 2,900 words NOTE This is part two of a seven part series called "Seasons". Part 1 - Hazy Shade of Winter [Rogue Review No. 73] Part 2 - Summertime Blues [Rogue Review No. 125] Part 3 - Season of the Witch Part 4 - April Showers Part 5 - The Cruelest Month Part 6 - The Real World Part 7 - A Time to Cast Away Stones SUMMARY Sam and Lisa make some fireworks of their own on the 4th of July. COMMENTARY I like the way the author partitioned off this story. The first part sets up the rest of story nicely. The characters seemed realistic, but not necessarily very deep. The plot is simple enough. The author's descriptions are what make this story worth the read. JUDGMENT This is an excellent story. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13181.txt ----- No. 126 - July 31, 1998 Lisa's Feet by Sue D. Nyym F/F Length: 3,300 words SUMMARY Sue massages Lisa's feet. COMMENTARY I like how the author sets out clearly what does not happen in this story. It fed my interest; I desperately wanted to see what did happen. I was not disappointed. The plot is fairly simple, but I enjoyed watching it unfold. JUDGMENT This is an excellent story. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13194.txt ----- No. 127 - July 31, 1998 Crazy Tomas by Hawk Richards M/F Length: 1,000 words SUMMARY Tomas picks a flower and gets laid. COMMENTARY After reading this story I feel like I missed something. It is well written, but it seems as though the author left something out. I had trouble making the transition from the first part of the story to the second part. The connection between the beginning and ending was a bit tenuous. JUDGMENT This is a good story, but I had trouble understanding how the beginning and ending fit together. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13196.txt ----- No. 128 - August 1, 1998 Louie and Ser by Rock Hancock M/F, Inter-Species Length: 2,300 words SUMMARY Louie, an iguana, woos Ser, a frog. COMMENTARY This story is a lot of fun. It is set in the swamp where the frogs and iguanas from the Budweiser commercials live. I like the commercials, and I like this story. The author does a good job with the banter between Frankie and Louie, the iguanas. This story has a plot, but there is not much to it. The characters are okay. The real strength of this story is the humor. JUDGMENT This is a very good story, but it is a little short on character development. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13258.txt ----- No. 129 - August 1, 1998 Janey's June by Janey M/F Length: 3,900 words SUMMARY Janey visits Abe's bookstore on what otherwise would have been a quiet, uneventful morning. COMMENTARY I like this story. Despite the fact that I like it, I am not completely satisfied with it. It feels a bit distant and cold at times, especially in the beginning. I like Abe's reactions to Janey. I think the author does a good job showing how the characters feel, when they are having sex, without explicitly saying how they feel. JUDGMENT This is a very good story, but it feels as though something is missing. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13273.txt ----- No. 130 - August 2, 1998 Pump Song by Mat Twassel M/F Length: 3,600 words SUMMARY Mat tells Laura a story. Laura sucks Mat's cock. They both listen to the bed springs squeak, on the floor above them, as Annie, their daughter, make love to Tom, her husband. COMMENTARY I like the characters in this story. I like the setting. It is nice and calm, peaceful. I like the pace. It is nice and leisurely, not rushed. I like both stories, the one Mat tells Laura and the one in which Mat tells Laura a story. If only most summer nights could be like this one. JUDGMENT This is a very good story. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12882.txt ----- No. 131 - August 2, 1998 Summer Rain by Vickie Morgan Voy, F-solo, M-solo Length: 700 words SUMMARY A man watches a woman masturbate in the rain. COMMENTARY This story is more action than feeling. There is no dialogue. It reads like a polished rough draft. The author tells us a little about the two characters, but not enough for me to feel satisfied. This might work as part of a longer story, but it does not work standing on its own. JUDGMENT This is a not good story. LINK(S) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13004.txt ***** 8/3/98