Rogue Reviews Digest No. 42 - June 20, 1999


  NOTICE

If you are easily offended, not of the required legal age, or 
material of an erotic nature is illegal where you are, then do not 
read what follows.


  REVIEWS

"Every Girl Has Her Price" by Maria Gonzales
"My Mother, Susan" by Billy G
"The Best Woman" by E. Z. Riter
"Tiffany's Lesson" by a.k.a. nolan
"Learning to Love Again" by Lambchop
"Good Samaritan" by Ann Douglas
"Christmas with the Andersons" by J. Boswell


  MAILING LIST INFORMATION

I send my reviews individually, when I finish them, to the 
Rogue Reviews Mailing List.  If you are interested in joining 
there is a form for doing so on my home page.

* Home Page - http://www92.pair.com/leevine/
* E-Mail - leevine@pair.com


  REVIEWS

Rogue Review No. 391 - June 9, 1999

TITLE: Every Girl Has Her Price
AUTHOR: Maria Gonzales
LENGTH: 9,700 words
MAIN CHARACTER: Female
COMBINATION(S): Solo (Female)
                Twosome (1 Female, 1 Male)
                Twosome (2 Females)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
                Homosexual (Female)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Strangers
KINK(S): Exhibitionism
SETTING(S): Bar
            Restaurant
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): --

SUMMARY: Juana works at a fast food restaurant. Kyle, a customer,
offers her money to expose herself to her coworkers.  Taking Kyle
up on his first offer only leads to additional offers from Kyle, 
which for the most part involve exposing herself further.

COMMENTARY: This is a very arousing story.  The fact that Juana 
was doing things that she normally would not do made this story 
quite arousing.  The fact that I could feel the tension in her 
voice and imagine what was going through her head as she 
considered each offer also made this story rather arousing.

This is a well written story, but I had a couple problems with 
it.  It is well paced and flows well enough.  The author does a 
nice job keeping the story rolling.  She does not allow it to 
slow or bog down.  I'm not too sure how realistic the characters 
are, but the fact that Juana does not leap at every offer that 
Kyle throws her way makes her seem more realistic.  Kyle is more 
of a type; I find him lacking as a main player in the story.  One
more criticism that I have to make is that the story does not seem 
to build to any particular point.  While Kyle's offers do get to 
be more and more challenging for Juana, I got the sense that the 
story could have ended before it did, or could have continued on.
What made the end "the end", was that that was where the author 
decided it would be.

Despite what I perceive as a couple short comings, I enjoyed this 
story.  It is very arousing.  I think most of you should also 
enjoy it.  I have given it a Very Good.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 8.0 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 4/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 3/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Very Good

LINK(S): EroticStories.com

         - http://www.eroticstories.com/


Rogue Review No. 392 - June 10, 1999

TITLE: My Mother, Susan
AUTHOR: Billy G
LENGTH: 12,400 words
MAIN CHARACTER: Male
COMBINATION(S): Twosome (1 Female, 1 Male)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Incest (Mother-Son)
KINK(S): Voyeurism
SETTING(S): College
            Home
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): --

SUMMARY: What starts off as a crush, leads to much more between 
Susan and her college-age son, Billy.

COMMENTARY: This is a very arousing story.  The author does not 
take things too fast.  By the time Billy and Susan get hot and 
heavy it seems appropriate and is arousing, which is not to say 
that the story is not arousing before that point.  The little 
games that mother and son play before they decide to get 
horizontal together are also rather arousing.

This is a very well written story.  It flows very nicely.  It is 
well paced.  Both characters seemed realistic.  The author does a
nice job describing the relationship that mother and son share 
through narration and dialogue.  One of the outstanding qualities
of this story is that it does not feel forced; it just seems to 
follow a natural course.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit.  It is both very arousing and 
very well written.  If you want something that has sex in it from
the first paragraph you may be a bit disappointed.  On the other 
hand if you appreciate good writing I think you should enjoy this
one.  Of course, if you cannot enjoy an incest story under any 
circumstances then you may want to skip this one.  I have given 
it an Excellent.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 9.0 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 4/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 5/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Excellent

LINK(S): My Mother, Susan

         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=228075503&fmt=raw

         Stories Online

         - http://www.storiesonline.net/


Rogue Review No. 393 - June 11, 1999

TITLE: The Best Woman
AUTHOR: E. Z. Riter
LENGTH: 3,300 words
MAIN CHARACTER: Male
COMBINATION(S): Threesome (2 Females, 1 Male)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Husband, Wife & Husband's High School Sweetheart
KINK(S): --
SETTING(S): High School Reunion
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): --

SUMMARY: Jason's wife surprises him after she invites Sharon, his
old flame, to spend the evening with them, in bed.

COMMENTARY: This story is somewhat arousing.  As the narrator 
intimates at one point, "this story isn't about my sexual 
escapades."  There are a few parts that I found arousing.  Some 
involved sex and some only the hint of things to come.

This is a well written story.  It is intelligently written and 
does not center around sex, but rather a relationship.  The story
flows, but at the same time the author seems to be trying to fit 
quite a bit into a rather short story.  The characters remain a 
bit mysterious.  They did not seem unrealistic, but I did not get
the feeling that I knew them all that well by the end of the 
story.

This is an interesting read.  It is well written and somewhat 
arousing.  I wasn't too sexually aroused by it, but it did make 
me think.  I have given it a Good.


OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 7.5 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 3/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 4/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Good

LINK(S): The Best Woman

         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=488465067&fmt=raw


Rogue Review No. 394 - June 13, 1999

TITLE: Tiffany's Lesson
AUTHOR: a.k.a. nolan
LENGTH: 9,300 words
MAIN CHARACTER: Male
COMBINATION(S): Twosome (1 Female, 1 Male)
                Threesome (2 Females, 1 Male)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
                Homosexual (Female)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Married Couple
                 Fellow Hotel Guests
KINK(S): Exhibitionism
SETTING(S): Hotel
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): --

SUMMARY: Andrew and Gwen are on vacation in San Diego when they 
meet Tiffany, who has just finished her junior year of high 
school.  They wouldn't have met her if it weren't for the fact 
that they left their curtains partly open while they were 
screwing.  Tiffany wouldn't have met them if it weren't for her 
curiosity getting the better of her.  Gwen and Andrew arrange to 
spend some time with her before she heads home the next day.

COMMENTARY: This is a very arousing story.  While it does begin 
and end with sex, there is enough plot and characterization 
thrown in between to make this story rather arousing.  The 
uncertainty that Andrew, who narrates the story, displays as the 
story unfolds certainly makes this story more enjoyable.

This is a well written story.  If flows nicely.  As I mentioned 
before there is a plot, although it does revolve around sex.  The
flow seems logical enough.  The characters are nicely handled.  
Most of the dialogue is between Andrew and Gwen.  Because Tiffany
was not as vocal as the other two she did not seem quite as real 
as them.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit.  It is well written and very 
arousing.  I think it will appeal more to male readers than to 
female readers.  I say this because what it describes seems more 
of a male fantasy than a female fantasy.  I have given it an 
Excellent.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 8.5 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 4/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 4/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Excellent

LINK(S): a.k.a. nolan's stories

         - http://members.tripod.com/akanolan/home.html

         EroticStories.com

         - http://www.eroticstories.com/


Rogue Review No. 395 - June 16, 1999

TITLE: Learning to Love Again
AUTHOR: Lambchop
LENGTH: 4,000 words
MAIN CHARACTER: Male
COMBINATION(S): Twosome (1 Female, 1 Male)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Married Couple
                 Parent-Teacher
KINK(S): --
SETTING(S): Home
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): --

SUMMARY: With some help from his daughter's teacher, Harry gets 
over losing Susan, his wife.

COMMENTARY: This is a very arousing story.  The author does a 
nice job of showing rather than telling the reader what each of 
the characters are experiencing.  I actually found the opening 
scene so arousing that when the scene comes to a sudden stop I 
had a hard time focusing on the seriousness of the next scene.

This is a well written story.  The author does a nice job of 
tossing the point of view back and forth between Harry and Susan 
and then later between Harry and Colleen, his daughter's teacher.
One problem that I did have with this story was the shift in mood
from the first scene to the second one.  It happens rather 
abruptly.  The second scene also felt wedged in between the first
and third scenes, as if the author included it only because he 
had to.

On the whole I like this story.  It is well written and very 
arousing.  I think it should appeal to those who like stories 
that are of a romantic flavor.  I have given it a Very Good.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 8.5 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 4/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 4/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Very Good

LINK(S): Learning to Love Again

         - http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/17520.txt
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=415110567&fmt=raw

         Lambchop's Erotic Stories

         - http://www.asstr.org/~Lambchop/


Rogue Review No. 396 - June 17, 1999

TITLE: Good Samaritan
AUTHOR: Ann Douglas
LENGTH: 6,700 words
MAIN CHARACTER: Female
COMBINATION(S): Twosome (1 Female, 1 Male)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Older Female-Younger Male
KINK(S): --
SETTING(S): Home
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): --

SUMMARY: A teenage college student, Ryan, helps out a 49-year-old
waitress, Dalia, after her car breaks down.  Later that night 
Dalia returns the favor.

COMMENTARY: This is a very arousing story.  The author takes 
things at a nice pace and does not rush them.  She shows rather 
tells the reader that is transpiring between Dalia and Ryan.  The
descriptions focus on how the characters are feeling as well as 
what they are experiencing.

This is a very well written story.  As I mentioned earlier, it 
flows nicely.  It is simple in its design, but rich in detail.  
The characters seem realistic, although Dalia's life is fleshed 
out in a little more detail and thus she seems more complete than
Ryan.  One of the wrinkles that impressed me is how Dalia changes
between the beginning and the end of the story.  When it starts 
she is disparaging her coworkers for giving into their libidinous
desires.  When it ends she has given into the same sort of 
desire.  The fact that she doesn't just change on a whim, but 
goes through a period of uncertainty makes this seem more 
realistic.

I really enjoyed this story.  I was aroused (Very Arousing) and 
impressed by the writing (Very Well Written).  I have always 
found the older female-younger male fantasy an attractive one and
so am not completely surprised that I enjoyed this story.  On the
other hand I think I also enjoyed this story because the author 
has done a wonderful job putting it together.  I have given it an
Excellent.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 9.0 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 4/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 5/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Excellent

LINK(S): Good Samaritan

         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=487974409&fmt=raw [1/4]
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=487975823&fmt=raw [2/4]
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=487975857&fmt=raw [3/4]
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=487975878&fmt=raw [4/4]

         Ann Douglas FTP Archive

         - ftp://ftp.asstr.org/pub/Authors/Ann_Douglas/


Rogue Review No. 397 - June 20, 1999

TITLE: Christmas with the Andersons
AUTHOR: J. Boswell
LENGTH: 30,100 words
MAIN CHARACTER: ?
COMBINATION(S): Twosome (1 Female, 1 Male)
                Threesome (1 Female, 2 Males)
ORIENTATION(S): Heterosexual (Female, Male)
                Homosexual (Female)
RELATIONSHIP(S): Employer-Employee
                 Fellow Employees
                 Older Female-Younger Male
                 Student-Coach
KINK(S): --
SETTING(S): Home
            Office
            School
GENRE(S): --
CAUTION(S): 2 Semi-Consensual Scenes

SUMMARY: Bobby comes home after his first semester in college.  
He is horny and has a hard time keeping his eyes off Amanda and 
Laurie, respectively his sister and mother.  Bobby doesn't know 
it but both his parents are augmenting the sex they get from each
other by having sex with some of the people they work with.  
Bobby also knows nothing of his sister's extracurricular 
activities, which include taking showers with her basketball 
coach and sleeping with the father of two children that she baby-
sits.  Bobby remains horny until Christmas Eve when he finally 
screws his neighbor, and then her daughter.

COMMENTARY: The way I have described this story it may seem that 
Bobby is the main character.  Considering how much the focus 
shifts during the story I would be hard pressed to justify that 
statement.

I think that the author tries to do just a bit too much with this
story.  It starts off at a reasonable pace.  The focus seems to 
be Bobby, but then it shifts to Laurie.  Later, it shifts to 
Amanda.  The author also spends some time focusing on the 
activities of Robert, Sr.  Generally speaking, there is nothing 
wrong with shifting the focus among a group of characters.  I do 
however have a problem with the focus shifts in this story 
because there seems to be little rhyme or reason to them.  This 
story should have been broken down into a few shorter ones, or 
expanded to the point that it becomes clearer how the various 
episodes are interrelated.

I did find the story arousing, for the most part.  There are a 
couple scenes that made me cringe.  One involves Laurie being 
forced to do something she does not seem to want to do.  The 
other involves Bobby feeling up his sister after she passes out. 
Neither of these scenes last very long, but the fact that they 
are part of the story may deter some people from reading this it.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 8.0 (out of 10)

         - Arousal: 4/5
         - Editing: 5/5
         - Plot and Characters: 3/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Good

LINK(S): Christmas with the Andersons

         - http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/18224.txt [1/4]
         - http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/18225.txt [2/4]
         - http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/18226.txt [3/4]
         - http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/18227.txt [4/4]

         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=425131664&fmt=raw [1/4]
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=425131676&fmt=raw [2/4]
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=425131686&fmt=raw [3/4]
         - http://www.deja.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=425131697&fmt=raw [4/4]


RATINGS

Part 1.  OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS

SCORE = AROUSAL SCORE
        + [PLOT & CHARACTERS SCORE + EDITING SCORE]/2

AROUSAL SCORE

0  Not
1  Barely
2  A Little
3  Somewhat
4  Very
5  Extremely

PLOT & CHARACTERS SCORE

0  Nonexistent
1  One but not the other is present, and what is there is 
   definitely lacking
2  Has plot and characters, but either the plot is very poorly 
   conceived or all the characters are types and don't seem 
   realistic
3  The plot and characters have been crafted with some care, but 
   either the plot doesn't flow very well or seem to follow a 
   logical progression, or the some of the characters don't seem 
   realistic
4  The plot and characters have been crafted with some care, but 
   there is still a little something missing from the plot or in 
   the characters
5  Beautifully crafted plot and characters; the plot flows 
   smoothly and follows a logical progression and the characters 
   seem realistic

EDITING SCORE

0  If this story was edited then I'm the tooth fairy
1  This story may or may not have been edited, it is hard to tell
   considering all the spelling and grammatical errors I found 
2  This story may have been edited, but obviously needs more 
   editing
3  Several spelling or grammatical errors
4  A few spelling or grammatical errors
5  No spelling or grammatical errors


Part 2.  SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS

Not Good  = This was a waste of my time, don't bother reading it

Good      = This is a good attempt, but I don't recommend it

Very Good = If you have the time or like this variety of story 
            then I recommend this story, otherwise I would go 
            with something that I rate as Excellent or 
            Outstanding

Excellent = I recommend that you read this story, and I really 
            liked it, but it did not give me the same feeling 
            that an outstanding story does.

~~~

Note that there is not necessarily a direct correlation between 
the objective analysis and the subjective analysis.  On the other
hand the terms objective and subjective as I have used them are 
relative and not absolute terms.  In other words the objective 
analysis is more objective than the subjective one, and vice 
versa.  This new system may not work in the long run, but for the
moment I am going with it.

This still does not get to one of MichaelD38's criticisms, which 
is how much better is an Outstanding than an Excellent, and 
Excellent than a Very Good, etc.  To be perfectly honest I'm not 
sure myself.  All I know is that I like Outstanding stories 
better than Excellent ones, etc.  I have a hard time quantifying 
"like", or "love" for that matter.  I can tell you if I liked 
something better than something else.  I can tell you why I did. 
I can't put on a number on it however and say that I liked it 20%
more or twice as much.  That just does not work for me.

~~~

BTW you may have noticed that I have dropped Grudgingly Good from
my rating system.  That rating really represented a case where I 
did not like a story, but only because I was revolted or 
disgusted by the subject matter.  With the new system I'll just 
say under the Subjective Analysis that a story was Not Good.  The
Arousal score is somewhat subjective, so that score may suffer, 
but I think that I can recognize good writing even when it 
revolts me.

[June 20, 1999]