Good Reads
Interestingly enough, I went from reading Junie B. Jones to Zane novels just as seamlessly and quietly as my body began going through puberty. And I know for a fact I wasn't alone in this. Gang-gang for sure, because I can't even count on hand how many 8th graders were running around nose deep in Zane's Around the Way Girl, and its likeness. This was arguably in the early aughts Black girl starter pack. It was truly the equivalent to the way in which our male counterparts were sneaking and watching porn.
Though women do enjoy traditional porn, many have said that there's a greater draw to erotica for many of us. Personally, I enjoy the creativie spaces that erotic novels provide — allowing us to envison the character through our own rose-colored readers. The visualizing, if you will. Suffice to say, I'm still a sucker for a good erotic tale these days. Just as hot and bothered as my 13-year-old self but with all the means to...release while reading. But time is of the essence, as many of us who once loved reading are hard-pressed to find the time to do so these days. That's why we thought it would be nice to make it easier for our fellow erotica-loving ladies and round up some of the most spicy ones to add to your ongoing and infinite reading list.
I scanned the pages of Goodreads and double-checked the reviews via Amazon to find only those with a gold-star rating (4 and above) erotic novels to add to your reading list. Check them out below.
'Night Shift: A Choose-Your-Own Erotic Fantasy' by Joanna Angel
Goodreads
Chosen both for its high rating and its uniqueness, this book is an interactive erotic novel that allows you to choose the fate of the main character Taryn. Angel is the founder of adult entertainment company "Burning Angel", making it that much more appealing to us for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of writing and everything to do with the fire, hot content.
'Sex Chronicles' by Zane
Walmart
This list couldn't live without a classic being thrown on the list. It's not often that we get Black authors who do erotica and Zane was erotica's it girl once upon a time. And because the author hasn't come out with anything recently, we're forced to dig out our time capsule for this gem. We're not mad at it though! For those of us who were old enough to be reading it back in the day, it's a fine time to revisit and for those of us who weren't old enough but read it anyway...it's a time to revisit.
'Bad Behavior: Stories' by Mary Gaitskill
Amazon
Bad Behavior: Stories is seemingly the R-rated version of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City, as it's set in the raunchy, seductive, and old school Manhattan — exploring all of those themes and more through the eyes of one young woman and her adventures in the city.
'Rock Hard' by Lucia Jordan
Amazon
The title definitely pulled me in with this one, which is always a good sign but not necessarily telling of what the future holds when it comes to a good read. The description alone suggests an entanglement between three old high school friends all grown up. And by the looks of it, Lucia Jordan doesn't waste any time getting right into the erotica plot in Rock Hard.
'The Siren' by Tiffany Reisz
Amazon
Make it Fifty Shades, but better. That's what so many asked for back when the trilogy infamously rose to fame. Well, this piece of erotica might just be the one that delivers on the "better". It explores erotic, kinky sex while holding no punches, according to many of the reviews.
'Tempted By You' by Stephanie Nicole Norris
Goodreads
Norris brings us this 5-star erotica series, with plenty of characters of color to fantasize about. Though this book is the last in the series, it comes highly recommended for its sex content which seems to be an uptick from the others in the series.
'Set: A Novella (Them Boys)' by Alexandria House
Amazon
I took one look at the comments for Set: A Novella (Them Boys), mostly because I didn't make it past the first one which said, "If I wanted to watch porn, I would've." Look for my comment in a few days because I'll be the one copying and pasting that user's comment but with 5-stars because that's exactly what I came here for.
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