Into the Green by Rachel Bo
In the not too distant future, the rainforest, and possibly the Earth are dying. Tawny and her old lover Kani are called to the shrinking area to find out why. A being Tawny calls Forrest Green has come between them in the past, although Tawny has only made love to him in her dreams. It is up to Tawny, Kani, and Forrest, who is also known as the Green Man, to renew the Earth in a ceremony called the Joining, if they dare.

El Trauco by Bonnie Hamre
Isabel takes time after a business trip to visit her aunt in her mother’s hometown in Chile. She is taken with a carving of a troll. The troll’s eyes seem to follow her. She is haunted by erotic dreams of the legendary and ugly troll. El Trauco seduces young girls and leaves them pregnant, so that the evil brujas can steal the children for their spells. El Trauco seduced her aunt, and now he seems to want Isabel. Is Isabel enough to save him from the witches or must she raise and protect her son on her own?

This is an interesting collection of erotic novellas. Mythical creatures tie them together; an incubus in the first story, the Green Man in the second, and a troll in the third. I enjoyed Shiloh Walker’s story the most, the reincarnation and redemption theme with the Irish background was very good. Ms. Bo’s story was good, but the combination of a futuristic world and the ancient Green Man legend just didn’t flow as well as the first story, relying more on the erotic aspects of the tale. The fairy tale of the maiden (not) and the troll of the third novella was well written in true beauty and the beast fashion, though it really could have been longer. The fact that I wanted more made me realize how good a story it really was. This collection, though not overly long for three novellas is well worth reading and I enjoyed it.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Maura Frankman
August 26, 2005