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Message-ID: <37985asstr$1030043404@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Peaches and Cream  <peachescreamreviews@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} {REVIEW} Peaches and Cream Reviews: #21
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 15:10:04 -0400
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Hi! We're Peaches & Cream. We're just two ordinary Joes who like
reading and romance. Recently, there was a Summer Solstice Romance
Festival on ASSM, and it caught our attention. We started discussing
the stories and our reviews were born. Our format is simple: one of us
starts the review, the other chimes in, and then the starter finishes
it off. Because this is all about romance, we'll be scoring with 0-5
kisses. We're changing our format to include more than one story per
issue. There is a website devoted to the festival where you can find
all the stories we will review. 

http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Rui_Favorites/www/RomFest

***

Peaches & Cream Reviews: #21

There is no remedy for love but to love more.
- Thoreau -

Stories to be reviewed:

Picnic 01 and Picnic 02 by Uther Pendragon
POV by Qsilver
Red Revenge by Frances LaGatta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Picnic 01 by Uther Pendragon
(MF rom)
http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/Year2002/36969

And

Picnic 02 by Uther Pendragon
(MF rom preg)
http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/Year2002/36901

***

Cream:

Twin "Picnic" stories -- in the "Picnic I" newly married Manny and Ed,
visiting at her parents' weekend retreat, hike off into the woods for
a little picnic lunch and some picnic sex.  In "Picnic II" the
parents, Karen and Jerry, take advantage of the "children's absence"
to have a little lunchtime sex of their own, and they remember fondly
a very important picnic in their past.

My favorite of the many neat little parallels to these two stories
might be that the newlyweds are a little squeamish about having sex in
earshot of the parents just as the parents are reluctant to make love
when the newlyweds might overhear. I also like the way parents and
kids try to avoid thinking too much about the other. Each story is
fine alone, but together the feast is more than the sum of the
picnics. 

I do think it's important to read Picnic I first; it makes Picnic II
more enjoyable.  On the other hand, I think if Picnic II had come
first, Picnic I would have been better if it hadn't been quite so much
what we would expected from having read "Picnic II."  In any event, I
liked both stories very much for the calm goodness of the characters,
the action, and the writing. 

Picnic I gets 4.5 kisses
Picnic II gets 4.75 kisses.

***

Peaches:

The thing that sticks out in my mind when reading these two stories is
the blanket. It's almost an heirloom. It certainly has been through a
lot and it's very special. I might have liked a little more of the
blanket's history brought out in Picnic 1 just to accentuate how
special it truly is. It symbolizes the passing of the gauntlet--so to
speak.

I agree with you, Cream, that these two stories aren't dependent on
one another, but reading them together certainly adds strength to
each.

The squirrel in Picnic 1 seems to force nature on us. I'm not sure I
needed that much nature. And the remembering in Picnic 2 as the couple
is about to have sex makes the dialogue seem a little odd. But both
stories are nicely written with a sweetness to the lovemaking.

A combined 3.75 kisses 


***

Cream:

>Karen smiled at him.  "That blanket."

>That blanket had supported a good many family picnics over the years.  
>He'd wanted to save it for special occasions; but Karen had put it down 
>on the floor for Manny to roll on, and -- later -- to learn to crawl on.

>"It's lasted all these years," he said.  "Where is it now?"

>"Probably at the spring by now.  I gave it to Ed to carry."

>"That blanket's special."  

Yes, the blanket is interesting and important. I wonder what will
happen to it in Picnic III.  Funny, though--I don't really have a good
picture of it. Of that exact blanket. Maybe that says something about
the way that I read.  I couldn't tell you if there's a design or if
it's plain or what color it is or whether it's made of wool or cotton
or something else or whether it's scratchy or soft or something in
between.  Maybe the author told us all these things or maybe he's
relying on our experience with blankets.  Maybe he expects blankets we
have known to fill in the blank.  Regardless, the blanket is utterly
real.  I think the same can be said for these stories--they seem real.
They are special that way.

***

Peaches: Combined 3.75 kisses
Cream: Picnic I: 4.5 kisses
            Picnic II: 4.75 kisses
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POV by Qsilver
(MF, Rom, ml, humor)
http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/Year2002/36967

***

Peaches:

It's very difficult to get in the minds of all those within earshot of
a particularly sexy scene, but this story does it very cleverly. The
same scene is told from several points of view, and the reader is left
with the task of deciding whose viewpoint is being told. It's not a
difficult task, but a creative one.

I especially liked the fourth POV. Very vivid and hot! With
descriptions like:

>She was soft and sweaty in the summer heat, and the fan swinging lazily 
>overhead was powerless to cool her ardor... I half knelt between her thighs, 
>sliding into her steamy sex, and then relaxed atop her...

I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving away too much.
But this was fun, light-hearted, and a delight to read.

4 kisses

***

Cream:

I liked it, too. Very much! Once I figured out what was going on, it
was sort of like a kid's game--you put the arrow on a different part
of the same picture and pull the string and the toy tells you about
the clitoris or the cock or the beard or the belly button.  Didn't you
have a toy like that when you were a kid? What is slightly
disappointing about the final story is that the pieces don't quite
seem to come together--they're all just pieces. Yes there is overlap
and interlock, just not quite enough. Hm, maybe that means something.
Insert a missing POV or two and this story becomes mind-blowing.

4 kisses

***

Peaches:

A See-N-Say for adults? What a marvelous idea! I'm surprised those who
create porn paraphernalia haven't thought of it already.

***

Peaches: 4 kisses
Cream: 4 kisses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Red Revenge" by Frances LaGatta
(Rom, BDSM, D/s, MF)
http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/Year2002/36902

***

Cream:

Set in the summer of 1777, Red Revenge is the story of Katherine, a
young Quaker maiden, whose fate is in the hands of a handsome Delaware
Indian warrior.  You see, Katherine's cousin Matt murdered several
Indians including the warrior's bride.  The Indian took care of Matt,
and now it seems he's going to take care of Katherine.

>He removed his knife from his sheath and he traced the sharp tip 
>of the blade over her hairline with unmistakable intent glittering in 
>his vengeful eyes.  Her heart hammered in her chest like a snared 
>rabbit and she strained, panic pulling her wrists and ankles tighter 
>against her bounds. Dear Lord. They shot Matt dead before this man 
>had sliced his scalp from his skull.  Was she to suffer through this hideous 
>agony while still alive?  She nearly fainted with fright again and he slapped her awake.

The tone and telling give me a pretty good feel for those times.
There's plenty of sex, some genuine suspense, and a fairly satisfying
conclusion, which might be a little more complex than it seems to be
at first glance. 

4.5 kisses

***

Peaches:

I think this is what romance novel followers would call a
bodice-ripper. It's sex spurned on by revenge but somewhere during the
act, it becomes the best thing that could ever happen. The "rape
fantasy" so many women claim to have. It works on that level. The
savagery is warranted because of the "eye for an eye" mentality. The
sex is hot but depends on the fantasy that being taken against your
will is fabulous.

The plot isn't original, but the story is told as well as most in this
genre.

3.5 kisses

***

Cream:

I'm not sure I completely agree that the heat of the sex depends on
the fantasy that being taken against your will is fabulous.  From
certain readers' perspectives, the sex could be hot even if the victim
hated it. Regardless, here the story works hard to establish a "real"
relationship between the characters, as real as could be expected
under the circumstances.  It is a story about the nature of revenge
and what makes a real man as much as it is a story about rape, though
clearly it is a story about rape.

***

Peaches: 3.5 kisses
Cream: 4.5 kisses

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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