Serving Him

by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor)

Who knew that BDSM would become the biggest trend in book publishing? Rachel Kramer Bussel did and has emerged as one of the top writers, editors and experts on the subject. Serving Him pays homage to those irresistible men who control their partners with a glance, a pair of handcuffs, or a firm smack on the bottom. As true tops, the bossy hunks in these stories understand that erotic BDSM is about exulting in power that is freely yielded. Rachel and her coterie of contributors cover the full range of the male dom's brand of sensual sadism, from spanking and bondage to public sex and power exchange.

Table of

Lucky Naughty Girls

What You Deserve Lori Selke

Coffee Break Kristina Wright

Chattel Errica Liekos

Under Direction Teresa Noelle Roberts

The Letter Tiffany Reisz

Run, Baby, Run Vida Bailey

Tackling Jessica Maxine Marsh

Safe, Sane and Consensual Ariel Graham

The Golden Ruler Giselle Renarde

I Always Do Kiki DeLovely

Pinky Kissa Starling

The Breaking Point Cole Riley

Shining in the Dark Bex vanKoot

Room #3 Emily Bingham

Duo J. Sinclaire

Breath Mollena Williams

Silver Fish in the Crystal Pool Gina Marie

The Secret of Time Travel Jacqueline Applebee

Bared Gray Miller

In His Control Jade Melisande

Paper Doll joy

Subbing Rachel Kramer Bussel

Genres: BDSM, Erotica, Anthologies, Short Stories, Menage, Romance, Audiobook

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2013

About the author

I'm the editor of the Best Women's Erotica of the Year series and over 70 anthologies including The Big Book of Orgasms and Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica. I've also written a wide range of erotica about everything from French fries to fishnets. I write about books, culture, sexuality and relationships, teach erotica writing workshops and consult with erotica authors and sex writers to help them advance their careers. I read a wide range of genres, from erotica to romance to mystery to memoir to graphic novels and anything that strikes my fancy. See my website for my newsletter with book giveaways and writing samples.

Reviews

[Arely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is described by one word only: HOT. There were some stories that didn't turn me on as much as others (which is to be expected -- no one gets turned on by exactly the same thing) and some stories that had me panting and craving. Rachel Kramer Bussel did an amazing job editing this and all of the authors did a fantastic job portraying BDSM scenes. Some scenes seemed more realistic to me than others, but then again, some people prefer those compared to others and vice versa. I had a few doubts about this book, mostly because anthologies aren't always my cup of tea, but I shouldn't have worried. Most stories were freaking fantastic and only very, very few had me raising my eyes because it didn't seem like my kind of thing.
A few of my favorite stories included: The Letter by Tiffany Reisz; Run, Baby, Run by Vida Bailey; and Subbing by Rachel Kramer Bussel.
Seriously, check this book out. It makes you see all of the different types of points of view in the BDSM life and makes you pant while doing it ;)

[S.P. Aruna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like short fantasy stories and this collection doesn't disappoint, particularly for those seeking provocative dominant male-submissive female couplings. The wielding and yielding of power is what it's all about! The different styles from different authors keeps you wondering anew over the next story.

[Jillyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serving Him: Sexy Stories of Submission is an erotica anthology in which each teasing little story features bottoms who are eager to serve and strong, male Doms who are happy to boss. Serving Him contains 22 stories that feature a variety of kinks and desires that will be sure to satisfy anyone's lustful hunger.

Rachel Kramer Bussel has a great skill for piecing together stories in an anthology that are radically different and yet all stick to a central theme. It's no wonder that so many people gobble these anthologies up, myself included. Though all of the stories follow the same general theme, they never grow boring or redundant.

For me personally, three stories stood out more than the others:

Coffee Break by Kristina Wright tells the tale of a no-nonsense Dom who coaxes his sub into trusting his instruction and into being a bit naughty in the bathroom of a coffee shop. A steamy note, an unlocked door, and delicious writing? Yes please. A double shot of that.

I Always Do by Kiki Delovely is a story that circles around a baby girl style relationship and perfectly narrates the needs, pride, and satisfaction that comes from pleasing your partner in a relationship. I rarely find well written stories on this topic, so this one definitely popped for me.

Pinky by Kissa Starling follows a sub who rebelliously changes her hair color without permission from her Dom and must face the punishments. This particular story contains surprise menage, which was very steamy in its writing and had an overall warm tone throughout.

Of course, I did enjoy some stories more than others. In some instances, that fact was due to a personal issue with the view point of the writing. But mostly, it just happened that those stories that I didn't like involved a kink that I don't have. You can't win 'em all.

Plus, look at that cover. I know that's not how you should judge a book, but it's pretty hard not to in this case.

To any fan of male Doms, BDSM, kinks, and general naughtiness- this collection is bound to have at least one story that makes it worth the read. If sex or BDSM and the various topics surrounding them bother you, this isn't for you.

I received this book from the editor, Rachel Kramer Bussel, in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serving Him definitely delivers in the sexy stories of submission. This collection of twenty-one maledom tidbits is smoking hawt! It's an erotic feast designed to satiate horny submissive females. The kinks involved span from light spanking to intense breathplay. Including orgasm control gives the book an added sharp edge.

Most of the stories in here are well written with explicit sex scenes. The erotic pairings with a male dominant and female submissive is particularly appealing. Several of the stories involve tantalizing threesomes. One of them involves a mouthwatering M/F/f. For kinisters who enjoy it all, this is a collection to read. There are five standout tales in this compilation.

Lovers of ageplay will enjoy In I Always Do by Kiki DeLovely and Subbing by Rachel Kramer Bussel. Both contain the taboo theme of Daddy and little girl. DeLovely and Bussel come at it from different perspectives. The differences show how a fetish can be catered to suit the couple involved. Both are smoldering hot in the way the relationships play out.

Ménage enthusiasts will enjoy Pinky by Kissa Starling and Duo by J. Sinclaire. These two authors describe in detail, sexual combinations guaranteed to wet the reader's panties. Showcasing two types of ménage combinations, it doesn't get much better than this. Both involve blindfolding and a surprise third party. While one is a masturbation fantasy come true, another is a sensitive loving with a deeper meaning. Pinky's underlying theme is beautiful and moving. Duo's plot is what many women dream about. Who doesn't feature a sexy client in their fantasizes? It is a dream come true when the sexy strange manifest in real life.

Lastly, for those who indulge in edgeplay, Breath is the one to read by Mollena Williams. This one captures this fetish perfectly. From the first gasping grey out to the final exhaustion after repeated play, the submissive's experience both mental and physical are spot on. It makes this reader yearn for another round of breathplay at the large hands of an intense Dom.

This seductive anthology is recommended for kinksters who love submitting to dominant males.
 

*provided by BDSM Book Reviews

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read more this review and more over at My Library Card

a free copy of this book was given to me by Rachel Kramer Bussel for an honest review


As always, I am very late on writing my review. I can't remember the exact deadline I had but I'm sure it's long gone by now. Anyway, I really liked this book a lot. I have many of Bussel's BDSM books that she's edited and this is one of my favorites. I mostly liked the stories in the middle of the book, that's always where the juicy stuff is. The little slices of life I glimpse in this book makes me wanna live the lifestyle. These books are always my escape from my real life into a fantastical one.

Most of the stories were okay, others were amazing, and only one didn't grab my attention. "Under Direction" was not doing it for me. I liked the story but the sub was annoying the hell outta me. I could have done without that one.

The other ones I really liked were:
Coffee Break - Kristina Wright
Chattel - Errica Liekos
The Letter - Tiffany Reisz
Tackling Jessica - Maxine Marsh
Safe, Sane, and Consensual - Ariel Graham
Pinky - Kissa Starling
Duo - J.Sinclare
Subbing - Rachel Kramer Bussel

I have to say "Tackling Jessica" and "Subbing" were my favorites. Those were the only stories I reread after I finished the book. I am looking forward to reading even more from Bussel and the erotic world of submission.

[Angelia Herrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serving Him pays homage to those sexy, submissive women who follow the path of their own desires while following another’s command. They bloom in the presence of irresistible men who can control with a glance, a pair of handcuffs or a firm smack on the bottom. Bestselling eroticist Rachel Kramer Bussel and her coterie of contributors cover the full give and take of sensual sadism, from spanking and bondage to public sex and pushing boundaries everywhere from the bedroom to the boardroom. Giselle Renarde’s “The Golden Ruler” is a story of raw need, expressing the insistent desire for a good hard spanking. A bossy barista serves a customer a lot more than just two pumps of vanilla in Kristina Wright’s “Coffee Break.” A gift opens up surprising new possibilities for pleasure in Teresa Noelle Roberts’s “Under Direction.” As Rachel herself points out, “There are plenty of surprises in store in this book, and whether you're a novice or a seasoned BDSM player, I hope you'll enjoy the exchanges to be found here—of dirty talk, power, roles, toys, games.”

Serving Him is an anthology or collection of short sexy stories that are a bit racy, while still being considered intelligent reads. This book is in a word Hot. It is full of exciting tales of sensual submission. If you enjoyed Shades of Gray then this book is for you. I think it’s one that most women would enjoy reading alone or with that someone special.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excerpt from my review on my personal blog, The Itinerant Librarian:

"The strength of this book lies in its diversity. The authors explore a broad spectrum of the erotic dance between the strong, seductive dominant male and the strong woman who thrives and blooms when she submits. The dance takes many forms in the twenty-two stories that the editor has carefully chosen for us."

Read the rest of the review and get the details by clicking on the link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co...

[Sam Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deliciously hot and well-written. Each and every offering is both erotic and beleivable. Rachel Kramer Bussel does an excellent job of pulling together stories that have a central theme, but go about serving that theme in quite diverse manners.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, some of the stories are HOT!!! Especially "Breath". A great collection of sexy kink stories!

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Hearts (stars?)

Short stories are tricky. They have to grab the reader's attention right away and they have a very short time to prove themselves worthy. They're short, after all. That could, however, work to their advantage, because the reader is more likely to finish a story if it's a quick read.

That isn't always true for me, though. I get all kinds of picky when reading, especially since I have a very long TBR list. If the story isn't grabbing me, I'll be grabbing the next story on the TBR list. Such is life for the books on my Kindle. It's a book eat book world.

When I started reading this collection of short stories - there's 23 stories! - I found that it was fun to skip around and read them out of order. If one story was kinda dragging for me, I skipped ahead and came back to it later (or not). Either way, I really liked the anthology, because if one story wasn't working, there were 22 others to choose from. Though, I will say that I enjoyed most of them, especially Coffee Break, which I will revisit in a minute.

The stories were perfect masturbation length. Did I say masturbation? TMI? Well, what'd you expect? These are short sexy stories. They should come with a masturbation warning. Or, better yet, there should be a game attached to the prologue and the rules should be that you need to reach orgasm before each story ends. The more orgasms you can get out of the anthology, the more you win. It's a win win. I just don't see a losing scenario here. And if you're reading this in a public place and can't wank along with the rest of us, then you're still enjoying some hotness and that's still a win.

Okay, so Coffee Break and why I loved it. Umm, coffee, duh! Okay, so that's a lie. Y'all know I don't drink coffee...except when I do...which is rare. If you read the blurb (you did, right?), then you know that all the stories in this anthology have a common theme - submission. To be more precise, the stories are about women submitting to the alpha males who know, just KNOW, how to push the right buttons to get the juices flowing. These men know their partners well, they earn their trust, and then they use their knowledge and this trust to bring their submissive partners to a new erotic high. I thought that Coffee Break totally epitomized this concept.

Without giving anything away, I will just say that Coffee Break spoke to my inner exhibitionist. It also showed the enormous amount of trust Meredith has in her dominant partner, as well as his knowledge of what makes her tick and his ability to deliver the experience she would have been too scared to engineer herself.

While Coffee Break was one of my favorites, the other stories were great too. I highly recommend this collection of stories to anyone who enjoys masturbating and stories of Dominance and submission.

Note: review copy was provided by the editor in return for an honest review.

[Rei Pardieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard about this anthology when the lovely Jade mentioned she’d been published in it on Twitter. Cleis Press were looking for reviewers so I applied and the book was sent to me straight away. I got it for free in exchange for this review. A brief warning: this review is very long with thoughts on each individual story.

There are a few reasons I wanted to have the Serving Him anthology. The first is that I really like Jade and wanted to be able to see her published erotica. The second reason is that I’d never had a book by Cleis Press before and I wanted one because I don’t want to just review for Xcite Books. The final, and perhaps most important, reason is that it seemed like an anthology made for me. As a female submissive I often yearn to read books and stories centred around my own situation and I hoped that this would help me with my longing.

To find out if it did, please read on!

Read my full review at my blog!

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provided by the author through the BDSM Group TPE BAR Read2Review.


Serving Him is an anthology of short stories centered on power exchange between female submissive and male dominant. The stories are mostly M/f with some menage, and a teeny tiny bit of F/f.

There are some familiar authors, but more who were new surprises. I would read more from any of these authors. even the weakest ofnthe stories was above average. These 22 stories are a sampler of treats that belong on your bedside table. Some stories are pure sex, and others more psychological. Teresa Noelle Robert's excellent 'Under Direction' turns things upside down when the submissive is put on top. Fans of Tiffany Reisz won't be disappointed by 'The Letter.' My personal favorite was Emily Bingham's Room #3, a consensual non-consent scenario with more than she expected. I have no complaints, and that's rare for me.

[Jenne Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m am not immune to the compelling and erotic world of submission, so when I was offered the chance to read this anthology of short stories built around that subject I jumped at the chance. I’ve read some of Rachel Kramers Brussel’s other anthologies and always enjoyed them so I had high exceptions as I began to read.

Over the coming week, I found myself regularly looking for and picking up this compelling book. I love shorts as they are easy to digest and like most people I have a busy life. So it’s always nice to escape into someone elses world, if only for an hour or so, which is all the time you need for many of these stories and some much less.

You an read the rest of my review here: http://tinyurl.com/nxshfrq

[Evita · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome collection of BDSM stories. They range in intensity as well as fetishes to different perspectives. There are stories in here to satiate just about any type of kinky enthusiast. All were very hot and some had me squirming more than others, thought I can truly say I enjoyed every single one as they each their own taste and feel. Some of the authors I recognized, but a few I didn't and I will definitely be looking at their backlist, that's a big reason I love reading anthologies because you get to see many different points of view.

This anthology is highly recommended for anyone looking for diversity in submission stories that are exciting and after you finish you can't help but start on the next one.

Book provided to me by editor in return for an honest review.

[Bonnie G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from the Librarything Early reviewers program in return for my review. That does not in any way effect content (as can be seen from giveaway books I read and reviewed in the past.)

Serving Him is a series of well written, smart, stories centered on safe, sane, consensual BDSM and power exchange. I often have issues with erotic short stories. Most are filled with graphic sex but dispense with any getting-to-know-you time. Just like in life, that leaves me feeling cheap and unfulfilled. But these stories all develop their heroines quickly and well so that I felt engaged with the central character. Did I like all the stories? No. Did I respect the craft of all the stories? I did. A solid choice for those interested in the genre.

[Kimberley Jaksina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!!! I have to say I enjoyed every last one of these stories. Yes, some more than others, Paper Doll and Subbing were my favorites. However, they were all good. I was surprised at how they all piqued my interest and keep me wanting to read more and more. Definitely a good read!!! Definitely a must read!!!

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a HOT collection of BDSM Stories...
FIVE STARS for: Safe, Sane & Consensual - Ariel Graham, Run, Baby, Run - Vida Bailey & The Letter by Tiffany Reisz.

[Avory Faucette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to confess that reading one of two new books from Cleis Press made me more nervous than the other. Even with my objective reviewer hat on, trying to simply give you, the lovely reader, a peek into the world of an erotica anthology, I felt a bit antsy about reading Serving Him: Sexy Stories of Submission. Stories of cis women submitting to cis men are more likely to trigger me or make me uncomfortable than other things. But, trusting editor Rachel Kramer Bussel from her previous work, I decided to hold her literary hand and soldier on into this volume for the sake of comparison to the anthology I cover in the second half of this post.

Fortunately, author Lori Selke started me off easy with a story narrated by an eager female submissive and starting with a sexy blindfolded handfeeding scene. I love reading erotica where the enthusiastic consent of the players is obvious, and the playful tone of this story calmed my nerves quite a bit. "Never apologize for laughing," the male dominant character says, "Even at me." Good man.

The rest of the book delivers on this first story's promise. I found almost all the stories scorchingly hot, and I particularly appreciated how much most of the stories connected the reader to the female submissive, offering an intimate look at these relationships and their motivations rather than a detached or cliched view of female submission. The women in these stories have a range of motivations from the girl who needs to run away and be caught to the girl asking her daddy to "play a game" to women who brazenly take what they need from their dominant partners. The dynamics also vary greatly, with female submission and desire being the only real constant among the narratives.

In my favorite story in this collection by Teresa Noelle Roberts, a dominant man challenges his girl's notion of what D/s roles mean when he encourages her to penetrate him with a Feeldoe. It's a gorgeously intimate take on a character's confusion and ultimate desire to please, neatly subverting assumptions with some really hot porn. I also loved, despite some problematic elements (namely unsafe sex and a disregard for lube) Maxine Marsh's story about a woman who "auditions" a potential partner through initiating a wrestling match. In the female character's words, "I know how much I need, how much I want. I need to find someone who's all right at this level. Someone who can bring me right to the edge. Someone who can love me while they're hurting me."

This review was originally published on the Sex Positive Activism blog and now appears at Queer & Now.

[LaGina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that this is by far my favorite collection from Rachel. With its wonderful stories that honor my sisters in submission it was a great read. It usually takes me a few days to get through all the stories but this one just spoke to me and I finished it in about 2 days(hey, a girl has to sleep ya know.). Thank you once again Rachel for such a good collection.

[Bernice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed most of these short stories! When I originally started this book I assumed that it would be a collection of generic, heteronormative, mainstream media kink scenes. Thankfully, I was incorrect. From CNC to blood play to primal prey to platonic love, each short story had me excited to read the next. Will certainly be reading this again during moments in which I could use some inspiration in my own life.

[Jana Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot, fun, & sexy stories.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some were good

This is a collection of stories by multiple authors, which is always hit and miss. However, I do enjoy being exposed to different things I wouldn't normally read.

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly solid collection! Maybe...half of the stories were hot and well written and super enjoyable to read? Which, honestly, is way more than most collections!

[C.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

~4.5~

[Lisa Levitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, sexy anthology.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating for "The Letter" by Tiffany Reisz.