Hmmm - I'd hoped this title would generate a bit more discussion! Personally I loved it, and thought it was different in an interesting way to most other erotic fiction out there ...
A bit belatedly, here are my answers to the questions:
- What did you like or dislike about Longing for Toys?
I was impressed by the tone of the book, which manages to encompass incredibly tawdry subject matter, crudely effective sexual energy and some sophisticated humour. As when the men crawl back to the club and claim 'We're just here to pick up some food.' 'Lollipops *are* food.' Classic.
- Which scenes did you enjoy the most?
My personal favourite is the bachelor party, partly because of the suggestions of just what has been going on with the lollipop. Am I beginning to sound like an obsessive here?
- The commercial sex trade isn't an area covered in most erotic fiction, mainly because publishers think it's unappealingly sleazy. Would you like to see more novels set in this world?
Certainly, if they're as well done as this. I think in a way the author's hit upon a curiously self-destructive erotic trend: for men (in particular) to be attracted to being used financially, in the most blatant way. Looking for love in all the wrong places ... Having had (ahem) 'relations' with camgirls in the past I can see where the men here are coming from.
- The author makes no bones about the moral and financial ruin caused by the strippers. Is sex really this dangerous?
As the author says in her interview, any kind of addiction is dangerous. Maybe this was what Michael Douglas meant when he claimed to be a sex addict - and I thought he was just trying to lure more girls back to his luxury pad ...
- The commercial sex trade generally tries to play down its financial motivation, while the strippers here are blatantly trying to take cash from the men. Yet their scenes are still horny as hell. Do you think a financial basis for sex gets in the way of a good dirty scene?
Evidently not. As above, in a curious way the financial basis for the sexual transactions here actually seems to make them more powerful. I may need to start paying my girlfriend for sex. Or maybe she should pay me?
- This is a very different take on fem dom. Did you find it convincing?
I'm not sure that the novel's meant to be that *realistic*. It seems very cartoonish to me in a way, the characters ciphers whose destinies are set from the start; there's not much difference between the strippers, for instance. But I do think that this kind of power - the ability to provoke and milk these infatuations for cash - exists, certainly. The novel starts to stray onto slightly dangerous territory with its implicit suggestion that the men are victims, exploited by the rapacious women - this is definitely not a politically correct way to view the sex trade! But the way in which it's done, and the kind of activities the girls indulge in, draw away from the grimmer end of the trade - and hey, it's novel ...
- Very few erotic novels focus on sex toys the way this does. Would you like to see more? And which toys would you like to see featured?
Oof. I was glad to see the erotic potential of remote-control vibrators being used here, all kinds of scenarios suggest themselves. I can't see Fleshlight stories winning too many fans though.
- Did the book end the way you expected?
I loved the ending - a perverse twist on the happily-ever-after wedding. As Michele says, everyone gets the thing they want the most.
- What changes would you make to the story?
Holly's viewing of the bachelor party video repeats some of the action we've already seen. This feels a bit like padding, I would have preferred to have more new material. Perhaps involving lollipops?
- Our Erotic Book Club titles have so far been Black Lace books. This is a Nexus book, aimed more at a male readership. Does this feel different from a Black Lace book?
Yes. The cliche about the different markets is that erotica for women focuses more on atmosphere and environment: descriptions of clothes, interior decor etc, more euphemistic sex, more of a focus on what's happening in a character's head and less on what's happening with their body, more romance and less obscene language. Men's erotica, by contrast, tends to focus more on physical attributes, dirty language, often specific kinks and fetishes (which is one reason why Nexus publishes spanking and caning novels, which you won't really find in Black Lace). Like many cliches, there's some truth to this - at the most basic level, Black Lace books are simply softer. My own tastes have evidently become so jaded that I generally prefer Nexus books, although these occasionally push the boat out a little too far for me.
- Have you read Virginia's first novel, Corruption? What did you think?
Not yet. Looks very different from Longing for Toys, but Ms Crowley's interview has definitely piqued my interest!
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