In Red Velvet and Absinthe, editor Mitzi Szereto has collected a mixed bag of "paranormal erotic romance." Many of the 15 short stories predictably feature the standard werewolf and vampire fare that has been so popular lately, and these are perfectly serviceable pieces, sure to please fans of the genre. The collection as a whole is eerie and atmospheric, but mixed in with the standard paranormal are tales so wonderfully strange and imaginative that they defy categorization. They are evocative and provocative and a whole host of other adjectives, all of them good.
Among the standouts are "Painted" by Anna Meadows and "Dolly" by Charlotte Stein. In the first, a young man becomes obsessed with an oil painting depicting a striking and sensual woman. His fantasies grow more and more vivid until art and life merge. Stein's "Dolly" tells the story of a young woman who crafts (literally, out of wax and straw) the perfect man and makes a mysterious discovery about her own existence.
Because these are all short stories, the details and characters tend to be vague, but that only adds to the feeling that we are dealing here with universal desires. Characters are confronted with, or create, their wildest dreams, and often they are just exactly good enough to be true. A word of warning though: when they say erotic, they mean it. These are not for the faint of heart. --Judie Evans, librarian