Reviewed by Shanna Germain
(02/08/06)
The ears are one of the most erotic zones on the body. And I don't just mean in the nibbling, licking, and kissing sense. I also mean in the listening sense. Anyone who's gotten shivers from a lover's whisper, or who has fallen in lust with someone just because of their amazing accent can vouch for the lure of auditory stimulation. Phone sex, audio blogs, and the get-down sound of the sexy music all add new levels of eroticism to our sensual experiences.
Now someone has come up with a new way to tickle our earlobes' fancies: a line of erotic fiction on CD. Created by SoundsErotic, these CDs are much more than just erotic stories turned into audio. Instead, each CD presents original content that's been written specifically to be read aloud -- and listened to. Whether you listen to them together on your bedroom stereo, alone on your Walkman, or in the car on the way to pick up your lover, these stories delight the ears, the mind, and all of those other body parts that are made to be delighted.
With nine stories to choose from on each disk, popping these babies into the CD player reminds me of opening a collection of literary erotica. While many of the stories have first-person, female narrators, that is where the similarities end. Just like a great erotica collection, each of the discs includes a broad variety of subjects and tones -- from masturbation, first time experiences, and married sex, to blind dates, voyeurism, and bondage.
While the stories can be listened to solo, the majority of stories are geared for four ears instead of two. Beyond being erotic, the pieces are full of sexual ideas that will easily make the transition from fantasy to reality, from specific places and ways to touch, to toy-play, teasing, and tie-ups.
Stories like, "Boy Toy," (from A Lick & A Promise), in which the narrator agrees to a motorcycle test drive with her lover, remind us how fun it can be to drive each other wild with sexy anticipation and rev up the sexual engine that can sometimes fall idle: When we got back from riding his silly bike, I'd make him spend three solid hours between my thighs and then I would give him a quick jerk. One ride a day for Luke would just have to be enough. I dressed in a short thin summer dress that buttoned down the front. Beneath it, there was just me, no bra, panties. My nipples were perky from pinching them. I can be ruthless.
The discs come in three varieties: Sugar, Spice, and Spank! (and just this month, a brand new category called Penthouse Audio). All self-explanatory, and all of the stories that I listened to felt correctly placed in their respective categories. I will say that if you have a bit of experience with erotica (either reading or listening), then you might want to begin with either the Spice or Spank! line rather than the lighter Sugar.
While it's true that sounds can heighten sexual experiences -- they have to be the right sounds (think of a lover who whispers the wrong name or the chintzy music in most porn videos). This is a place where SoundsErotic excels. Recorded in a professional studio, the CDs present clear, quality sound. That, however, is just the beginning -- because the stories are read by trained actors, there's none of that overly-breathy phone-sex ad stuff. Instead, listening to the stories is like listening to your sexiest, most adventurous friend share a secret.
A perfect example: in one of my favorite stories, "The Best at Being Bad" (on the Spank! CD, Tongue & Tied), the narrator tells us about her sexual experience in this whisper-in-your-ear way that makes it impossible to do anything but close your eyes and echo her movements. I moved the finger from side to side, stroking my G-spot, as my knuckles rubbed the top of his shaft. I used my other fingers to pinch my clit. Don leaned down, taking my nipple in his teeth.
In any erotica collection that I like, I always mark the pages of my favorite stories with sticky notes. With CDs you can't do that, of course, and with just the title and author listed, I had a hard time remembering which SoundsErotic stories I had loved on first listen. To that end, the CDs would benefit from a little blurb under each story, or from a "notes" space where you could leave comments (or even suggestions to your lover). But really, that's just nit-picking on my part, because I liked some of the stories so much that I want to be able to return to them again easily.
The coolest thing about these audio stories is that they offer the kind of quality erotica that you find in published literary collections -- only you get to listen to them, which leaves your hands free to do...whatever. And with these stories whispering their sweet everything into your ears, I'm sure you'll find lots of other things for your hands to do.
