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He's on Top
He’s on Top pays homage to those irresistible men who control their partners with a glance, a tickling whip, or a measured 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. Contributors such as Amanda Earl, Mackenzie Cross, Alison Tyler, Mike Kimera, and others cover the full range of the male dom’s brand of sensual sadism, from spanking and bondage to public sex and power exchange.
177 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2007
18 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Kramer Bussel
251 books1,205 followersI'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.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 30, 2010
It is all too easy for the Dom in BDSM stories to have little more character than the paraphernalia they use to bind, beat, and arouse their subs. This misses out on two key questions: what is it about a man that persuades a woman to submit herself to him? what is it about the man that drives him to take and keep control?
Rachel Kramer Bussel's has collected stories from writers who get inside the Dom's head and heart, who understand that the relationship between Dom and Sub is complex and individual and based on mutual need.
Rachel's introduction "Tender Tops and Sensual Sadism* is a fine start for anyone who wants to understand more about what attracts people to this way of life
There are 17 stories in the book. My top 5 are:
"Incurable Romantic" by Lisabet Serai
"Confession" by Gwen Masters
"The Sun Is An Ordinary Star" by Shanna Germain
"Catherine When She Begs" by Jason Rubis
"Brianna's Fire" by Amanda Earl
If you'd like an example you can read my contribution "Christmas with Suzy and Mary" - about a Dom who has a relationship with a young woman a her, now pregnant, lover - at my story site here: my link text
Rachel Kramer Bussel's has collected stories from writers who get inside the Dom's head and heart, who understand that the relationship between Dom and Sub is complex and individual and based on mutual need.
Rachel's introduction "Tender Tops and Sensual Sadism* is a fine start for anyone who wants to understand more about what attracts people to this way of life
There are 17 stories in the book. My top 5 are:
"Incurable Romantic" by Lisabet Serai
"Confession" by Gwen Masters
"The Sun Is An Ordinary Star" by Shanna Germain
"Catherine When She Begs" by Jason Rubis
"Brianna's Fire" by Amanda Earl
If you'd like an example you can read my contribution "Christmas with Suzy and Mary" - about a Dom who has a relationship with a young woman a her, now pregnant, lover - at my story site here: my link text
January 11, 2011
I just finished this book and found it magnificent. It really exceeded my expectations with its stories encompassing tremendous variety, thoughtfulness, honesty, and complexity. My personal favorites included Gwen Masters's beautifully hot "Confession" and Shanna Germain's incredible "The Sun Is an Ordinary Star" as well as Donna George Storey's "Yes." All of the stories, whether they personally did it for me or not, impressed me with their not at all superficial (or superficially stereotypical) account of and insight into the Dom/sub relationship; in this way, besides being hot and erotic, I found it also simply interesting to read! In her introduction editor Rachel Kramer Bussel states that she aimed with He's on Top to go "into a place where the interaction between top and bottom could be treated with all the reverence and complexity it deserved." I can hardly imagine how she could have more exquisitely done so.
May 30, 2011
He's on Top edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
Release Date: March 19th, 2007
Publisher: Cleis
Page Count: 220
Source: Naked Reader Book Club via EdenFantasys for review
He’s on Top details the adventures of those irresistible men who control their partners with a glance, a tickling whip, or a measured smack on the bottom. As true tops, the bossy hunks in these stories understand that dominance is about exulting in power that is freely yielded.
Contributors such as Amanda Earl, Mackenzie Cross, Thomas S. Roche, and Mike Kimera cover the full range of the male dom’s brand of sensuality.
What Stephanie Thought: Do you know what exactly BDSM stands for? Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism. And to the average, non-suspecting reader, it sounds like a very brazen genre; frightening, even. But what most people don't understand until they read it themselves, is that it's not about cruelty, it's not about pain. It's about control, it's about trust, and it's about the sort of connection that makes hearts quiver. Before I read He's on Top, I wasn't the biggest fan of D/s because I get queasy about the hardcore stuff. But while reading this collection of stories, I realized that behind the torment, there's pleasure, there's a sensual, emotional recovery; that's when I discovered how dominance and submission truly works.
Each of the stories are exceptionally well written and thoughtfully crafted. It surprised me how even in an anthology of the same topic, no two stories were identical, or even similar in any way. I can tell all the featured authors are creative, but also sensual; many of the stories are definitely arousing, even if I don't care much for BDSM myself.
The concept of He's on Top is not the degradation of females. In fact, it's the complete opposite. For any woman to have the strength, and to have the power to be controlled, yet bring pleasure to the man in control is a respectable trait. To be able to stand up after being beaten, and still shine through, is the essence of sensual grace, and what really makes the fetish so appealing to both men and women.
I recommend Bussel's anthology full of captivating, unfathomed relationships between the tops and the bottoms to anyone who wants a little twist, an untraditional tangle, to their love stories. Because inherently, every story in these selections is a love story, but it takes a little more observation than usual, to really figure how it works out.
Stephanie Loves: "But most of all I remember that first impact. It was as if I'd jumped off a cliff and, instead of falling, had discovered I could fly." -- from Mike Kimera's "Christmas with Suzy and Mary".
Radical Rating: 9 hearts- One of my all-time favorites! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Release Date: March 19th, 2007
Publisher: Cleis
Page Count: 220
Source: Naked Reader Book Club via EdenFantasys for review
He’s on Top details the adventures of those irresistible men who control their partners with a glance, a tickling whip, or a measured smack on the bottom. As true tops, the bossy hunks in these stories understand that dominance is about exulting in power that is freely yielded.
Contributors such as Amanda Earl, Mackenzie Cross, Thomas S. Roche, and Mike Kimera cover the full range of the male dom’s brand of sensuality.
What Stephanie Thought: Do you know what exactly BDSM stands for? Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism. And to the average, non-suspecting reader, it sounds like a very brazen genre; frightening, even. But what most people don't understand until they read it themselves, is that it's not about cruelty, it's not about pain. It's about control, it's about trust, and it's about the sort of connection that makes hearts quiver. Before I read He's on Top, I wasn't the biggest fan of D/s because I get queasy about the hardcore stuff. But while reading this collection of stories, I realized that behind the torment, there's pleasure, there's a sensual, emotional recovery; that's when I discovered how dominance and submission truly works.
Each of the stories are exceptionally well written and thoughtfully crafted. It surprised me how even in an anthology of the same topic, no two stories were identical, or even similar in any way. I can tell all the featured authors are creative, but also sensual; many of the stories are definitely arousing, even if I don't care much for BDSM myself.
The concept of He's on Top is not the degradation of females. In fact, it's the complete opposite. For any woman to have the strength, and to have the power to be controlled, yet bring pleasure to the man in control is a respectable trait. To be able to stand up after being beaten, and still shine through, is the essence of sensual grace, and what really makes the fetish so appealing to both men and women.
I recommend Bussel's anthology full of captivating, unfathomed relationships between the tops and the bottoms to anyone who wants a little twist, an untraditional tangle, to their love stories. Because inherently, every story in these selections is a love story, but it takes a little more observation than usual, to really figure how it works out.
Stephanie Loves: "But most of all I remember that first impact. It was as if I'd jumped off a cliff and, instead of falling, had discovered I could fly." -- from Mike Kimera's "Christmas with Suzy and Mary".
Radical Rating: 9 hearts- One of my all-time favorites! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
July 31, 2011
I'm new to this genre but I really liked it. It is more than people getting tied up, whipped etc. There is a certain dynamic and respect. There is mutual partnership and closeness that in some really touched me. Very interesting and good!
May 9, 2012
Wow. Absolutely incredible stories! I couldn't put the book down!
July 19, 2012
A book of short stories. Much better and more realistic than Shades of Gray but it is erotica and not fit for reading by those who should not be reading pornography ;)
July 30, 2015
Some of these stories felt a bit abbreviated, a couple of them irked me because they told about the sex without showing it, and I would argue that in at least one story the man wasn't on top because he was very blatantly being topped from the bottom BUT overall this is my favourite collection I've read in recent memory.
Several of the stories had me in need of a cold shower and I thought the anthology did a fantastic job of exploring male dominance. It was especially awesome to see the diversity of relationships and some of the bazillion ways having 'him on top' can play out in people's lives.
I'll read this again.
Several of the stories had me in need of a cold shower and I thought the anthology did a fantastic job of exploring male dominance. It was especially awesome to see the diversity of relationships and some of the bazillion ways having 'him on top' can play out in people's lives.
I'll read this again.
January 24, 2018
When reading He’s on Top the reader must understand this book was written in 1997 between the movies “9/12 weeks” (1985) and Secretary (2002). During the dates BDSM was portrayed as very abusive to women. The book never mention aftercare of the submission required under extreme scene play. Some of the stories are borderline rape than submission
January 20, 2008
The stories at the begining were kind of slow for me.... the last few stories I really liked.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews