10. Enchanted

The title: Enchanted
The author: Nancy Madore
Publication: Spice, 2006
Got it from: Amazon

Oh lord, did I have to debate whether I would put this one on my blog! All I can say is thank heavens my grandmother doesn't use the Internet anymore. This is probably going to shock a lot of people and their notions about what a good girl I am. I had plenty of excuses at the ready: but we read erotic fairytales for my children's literature class! It's not like it's hardcore or anything! Oh, #@*$ it. Like you've never had these thoughts before! Like you never thought about how sexy those old fairytales really were! So you can take your morals and shove them!

Heh heh.

(Plus, I couldn't bear the thought of giving up another notch on the book count tally. Especially since the one I'm reading right now is really dense and will take awhile to finish.)

I LOVED this book. It was freaking awesome. This is going to be the book to beat this year. (Heh heh. She said "beat".) Seriously, I'm going to be hard-pressed to find a book I like more in 2008. (Heh heh. She said "hard pressed".) Aside from the obvious, there are many reasons why I adore this book. First of all, it's written entirely for women: no subtle injections of male fantasies, no snide moralizing, just lady-worshipping goodness. There is a strong feminist streak in all the stories, but they're anything but libido killing. We're pretty much dealing with everything here: s&m, exhibitionism, menage-a-huit (I'll let you guess which fairytale that is), girl and girl, husband-swapping, beastiality (sort of. With the Beast.) Also, a really lovely take on the Cupid and Psyche myth, which is just hot anyway, but is really something here.

The no moralizing aspect is really what makes these stories gems. Goldilocks? She learns NOTHING from her visit to the three barons, other than that being nosy will lead to sexy results! Bluebeard's wife? She's going to die - of pleasure! And the two ladies who scheme to swap husbands in secret? They keep on doing it, yo, because the grass may not always be greener, but it's still pretty green. (Although I'm still confused as to how both the guys could totally not know it was their best friend's wife. Even in the dark. Come on!)

All joking aside, these stories were excellently written in clear, non-vulgar language. They managed to be smart, funny and sexy, while helping women to appreciate themselves just as they are and to not be ashamed of their sexuality. A romantic, sensual book for women that doesn't insult my intelligence? A for Awesome.

(As an aside, I may be kind of biased toward these stories because they take the form of fairytales, which I have adored all my life. I guess when I was little I used to be obsessed with Cinderella's prince. Mom says there was a time when all I could do was watch, talk about and draw pictures of the prince. I have, like, a dozen of these "books" I made when I was six about the prince. Even though he is totally bland and unappealing. I think I need to have myself psychoanalyzed.)

(Also note: if anyone attempts to tease me about this in real life, I will kill you. No, really.)

(Also also note: I know you totally want to borrow this book. Admit it!)