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When She Was Good: Best Lesbian Erotica: Best Lesbian Erotica
When She Was Good journeys into the world of lesbian sex with uncommon, edgy stories that push lesbian lust and desire to new heights. Edited by best-selling author Tristan Taormino and selected and introduced by the dynamic Sister Spit performer Ali Liebegott, this latest edition of the best-selling lesbian erotica series in America is sensual, inventive, and breathtaking.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2014
14 people are currently reading
277 people want to read
About the author
Tristan Taormino
70 books569 followersTristan Taormino is an award-winning writer, sex educator, speaker, filmmaker, and radio host. She is the editor of 25 anthologies and author of seven books, including her latest, The Feminist Porn Book, 50 Shades of Kink: An Introduction to BDSM, The Secrets of Great G-Spot Orgasms and Female Ejaculation, The Ultimate Guide to Kink: BDSM, Role Play and the Erotic Edge and Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica, winner of a 2012 Lambda Literary Award. As the head of Smart Ass Productions, she has directed and produced twenty-four adult films. She is the producer and host of Sex Out Loud, a weekly radio show on the VoiceAmerica Network.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 5, 2025
3 stars. This anthology started off strong but the last few stories really made this end with a fizzle. Minus the duds at the end, there were still some highlights for me that I really enjoyed. ‘Paradise’ by Valerie Alexander, ‘When She Was Good’ by Betty Blue, ‘Chronic’ by Anna Watson, ‘Shine’ by Jacqueline Applebee, ’Sweet No More’ by Radclyffe, ‘Playing With Toys’ (my absolute favorite of the bunch) by D. Alexandria, and ‘Top Girl’ by Nan Rogue.
I have no good excuse as to why I was up early in the morning reading smut along with a cup of coffee but I have no regrets.
I have no good excuse as to why I was up early in the morning reading smut along with a cup of coffee but I have no regrets.
October 1, 2019
Damn good!
This was a collection of stories that though they are fiery hot, they are so much more than just erotica— but far-too-brief clips of uninhibited passionate sensuality poetry.
This was a collection of stories that though they are fiery hot, they are so much more than just erotica— but far-too-brief clips of uninhibited passionate sensuality poetry.
December 9, 2021
There were a few stories I liked by overall I wasn't into most of them.
February 19, 2015
NOTE: This review was rejected by Amazon.com, and I was referred to
their reviewers' guidelines. No reason was given for the rejection.
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Cleis Press introduced the Best Lesbian Erotica series in 1995, and a new volume has appeared every year since then. From time to time, Cleis has selected stories from the series to be republished, usually in themed anthologies. This one is a kind of best-of-the-best collection.
The title story, “When She Was Good” by Betty Blue, is about a dykey seducer. According to Sadie, the narrator: “Tib was a master of misdirection. While you were watching her left hand, the right was stealing your heart straight through your rib cage.” In a dramatic scene, Sadie meets Tib on a hot summer day while Tib is “playing” a naked blonde in a canyon outside the small western town where Sadie works as a waitress. Sadie is shocked but fascinated, and willing to learn more about Tib. The sex in this story is hot, but a clash of expectations leads to mutual disillusionment. Tib is revealed as a woman with two extremely different identities.
Identities or roles, imposed or self-chosen, seem to be one of the themes of this collection. In Peggy Munson’s “The Storm Chasers,” an Amish girl explores her desires before she must decide whether to make a commitment to the community in which she was raised. There are butches and femmes, mature women and teenage girls, and even a ghost and a family of vampires in these stories.
According to Tristan Taormino, first editor of the BLE series, a major theme in the book is transgression. As she explains in a foreword: “As queer people, we have already challenged one powerful norm by claiming our queerness. So when we tell stories of longing, desire, love, affection and sex, those stories are, by definition, outside of dominant mainstream culture. But the college kid, upper-crust society lady, pro-domme, bootblack boi, female cop, butch Daddy, grocery store clerk, and others who inhabit the twenty-two stories in this book go way past the point of queer lust and fucking.”
The contributors are a good mix of promising new writers in the field and skilled veterans, and the equal-opportunity approach of the editors of the Best Lesbian Erotica series is one of its hallmarks. The writers represented in this collection are (in alphabetical order): Valerie Alexander, D. Alexandria, Jacqueline Applebee, A. Lizbeth Babcock, L. Elise Bland, Betty Blue, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Chandra S. Clark, Isa Coffey, Shanna Germain, Alicia E. Goranson, Roxy Katt, D.L. King, Tamai Kobayashi, Missy Leach, Catherine Lundoff, Peggy Munson, Aimee Pearl, Radclyffe, Nan Rogue, Miel Rose, and Anna Watson. This book is a feast of compelling sexual fantasies.
their reviewers' guidelines. No reason was given for the rejection.
-------------------------------
Cleis Press introduced the Best Lesbian Erotica series in 1995, and a new volume has appeared every year since then. From time to time, Cleis has selected stories from the series to be republished, usually in themed anthologies. This one is a kind of best-of-the-best collection.
The title story, “When She Was Good” by Betty Blue, is about a dykey seducer. According to Sadie, the narrator: “Tib was a master of misdirection. While you were watching her left hand, the right was stealing your heart straight through your rib cage.” In a dramatic scene, Sadie meets Tib on a hot summer day while Tib is “playing” a naked blonde in a canyon outside the small western town where Sadie works as a waitress. Sadie is shocked but fascinated, and willing to learn more about Tib. The sex in this story is hot, but a clash of expectations leads to mutual disillusionment. Tib is revealed as a woman with two extremely different identities.
Identities or roles, imposed or self-chosen, seem to be one of the themes of this collection. In Peggy Munson’s “The Storm Chasers,” an Amish girl explores her desires before she must decide whether to make a commitment to the community in which she was raised. There are butches and femmes, mature women and teenage girls, and even a ghost and a family of vampires in these stories.
According to Tristan Taormino, first editor of the BLE series, a major theme in the book is transgression. As she explains in a foreword: “As queer people, we have already challenged one powerful norm by claiming our queerness. So when we tell stories of longing, desire, love, affection and sex, those stories are, by definition, outside of dominant mainstream culture. But the college kid, upper-crust society lady, pro-domme, bootblack boi, female cop, butch Daddy, grocery store clerk, and others who inhabit the twenty-two stories in this book go way past the point of queer lust and fucking.”
The contributors are a good mix of promising new writers in the field and skilled veterans, and the equal-opportunity approach of the editors of the Best Lesbian Erotica series is one of its hallmarks. The writers represented in this collection are (in alphabetical order): Valerie Alexander, D. Alexandria, Jacqueline Applebee, A. Lizbeth Babcock, L. Elise Bland, Betty Blue, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Chandra S. Clark, Isa Coffey, Shanna Germain, Alicia E. Goranson, Roxy Katt, D.L. King, Tamai Kobayashi, Missy Leach, Catherine Lundoff, Peggy Munson, Aimee Pearl, Radclyffe, Nan Rogue, Miel Rose, and Anna Watson. This book is a feast of compelling sexual fantasies.
July 1, 2015
A very interesting collection of lesbian erotica. Some stories are much more erotic than others. All the stories will make you think. Sometimes terms and uses of words involved are integral to different parts of the lesbian subculture. Examples include boi, he, Daddy in lesbian terms, and others. There are wide ranging tales that involve everything from the supernatural to BDSM. This is a wildly entertaining read.
April 21, 2015
Great mix. Loved it.
November 16, 2015
About what one would expect based on the title. The book did not disappoint.
August 4, 2017
Most of these stories were meh. So two stars overall
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews