I’m one of those compulsive Amazon sample downloaders. (I kind of have to be as an erotica author, it’s called research.) (Yes, I know, I’m not fooling anyone.) Anyway, this book proved the power of the sample to me once and for all.

The first story in this mini-anthology ‘My Ass is Your Ass is My Ass’ by Kristina Lloyd had me from the get-go. Not just because it was kinky (and I mean really very dirty), but mostly (seriously) because of the stellar writing.

I can’t even remember where the sample ended (I tried to because I wanted to use it to illustrate my point in this blog post), because all I wanted to do was continue reading. I didn’t care how much I had to pay for it ($4.49 on Amazon, I learned later), I just wanted to have it on my Kindle and finish reading it. Kristina, you’ve got yourself a new fan.

I was already a fan of the über-prolific Sommer Marsden, who seems to have a story in every anthology I read. Her story ‘Smokehouse’ was equally dirty, slightly unethical (but in a really exciting, romantic way) and, basically, made me realise that, as far as kinky writing is concerned, I can push the boat out much further than I’ve been doing so far.

In the third tale, ‘Tahoe Tease’ by Thomas S. Roche, the act of anal sex isn’t even consumed. It’s all in the teasing, which is more than expertly evoked by Roche’s fantastic tension-building sentences.

‘From the Bottom of My Heart’ by Sophia Valenti is an almost romantic story about a friendship that goes, well, all the way. The fifth and last story, ‘Plucked’ by the editor of this anthology Alison Tyler, had some interesting role reversals going on. It also features a bisexual woman and led to a lot of wishful thinking on my part (but that’s just me, of course) and despite (mild spoiler alert) not getting my wish granted, the plot twist in the end had me quite surprised.

I read Smart Ass over the weekend and I’ve been trying to come up with a few good reasons why, of all the books I read and sample, this one got to me. I mean, the lay-out was a bit wonky, the cover not particularly enticing and, let’s face it, heterosexual anal sex isn’t exactly my cup of tea. It can only be the exquisite writing then, which transported me right to where I needed to be to enjoy every single story.

Needless to say, I loved this book. It’s the right kind of intense and filthy. But don’t take my word for it. Download the sample and see if you can resist.