A buffet of writing styles centering around sex.
I enjoyed some more than others, but I prefer some authors over others. Don't we all?
What threw me the most is that there is little context and character development for each story. I know they are short stories, but I expected a bit more stand-alone quality. Overall, I appreciate what this group of authors created and recommend this collection to anyone looking for a variety of short stories focused on physical intimacy.

This was an interesting anthology of 24 stories about sex from an impressive list of Canadian authors. The premise that humans (authors) will redact their true intent when writing about sex because it could be read by partners, family and friends. Readers assuming that the actions of the characters are the proclivities of the author. And while they may, they may just be the embodiment of the characters themselves. The goal here was to allow authors to write about sex anonymously. I will mention that I do not typically read short stories. I prefer to read longer character and plot driven stories personally. I did enjoy reading this collection. The stories are not necessarily erotic in nature. Some barely touch on the sex. Others feature graphic and sometime humiliating outcomes. The stories cover love, and lust. Passion and need. Some stories focus on more traditional sex (human to human) so enter into the world of the supernatural and beyond. I would recommend this book for someone who wants to experience of the experiment and love interesting Canadian literature. And of course, sex! ;)

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

While I enjoyed this book, I recognize that there is a specific group of people who would enjoy or gain something from these stories. I appreciated the range and how different everything was - from something similar to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs but cocks, to horror, contemporary fiction, fantasy, thriller, etc. every story was very, very different. There were few stories I didn’t care for, but I understand the motive behind them. Overall, I highly recommend this book for the sexually free, the sexually curious, those who see sex as a vital form of expression. I look forward to hearing this anthology being discussed.

This book is like a glass of red wine or decadent chocolate melting sensuously on your tongue and delighting your senses. At times these short stories were thoughtful and deep. Others were blatant and overtly sexual. Either way, these stories were beautifully written and a delight to experience. I cannot recommend this artistic collaboration enough.

I’m really not sure how I felt about this one. I’ve been wanting to branch out to more international books and authors. Usually I love these types of books since I started reading them from Zane stories. So when I saw this one I thought why not this will be a great way to start reading other authors. But for some reason I really struggled with this book. From what I could tell each chapter was a different story which I’m used to. Some of the stories were a bit confusing on what was actually going on. I know they are short stories but I really felt like I dropped in a middle of a story and not in a good way. Some stories were just too much for me while the others were pretty good. I think my problem was how it was written. No matter I will try again on this author and others.

“Secret Sex: An Anthology” edited by Russell Smith

Thank you to NetGalley and Rare Machines for permitting me to read this work prior to its release. Though I didn’t care for all of the short stories in this anthology, a few were pretty good and touched on the complex emotions that accompany sexual desire, like longing and self-awareness. I’m a big fan of Anais Nina and some of the stories in this work had a similar vibe to “Delta of Venus”, in the way that the sex depicted is raw and real. This wasn’t a fave but I appreciate the work that went into writing and editing such a diverse work of desire and connection.

Secret Sex by Russell Smith is a refreshing book. I've enjoyed a few sex stories which are really interesting. However, some stories are maybe just lack of depth which may cause the story to be awkward.

This book was really interesting. However, I think I liked the book more in concept than what it actually turned out to be. I enjoyed some of the stories, thought some were funny or fun, and it was entertaining to think about who could have written them. But in the end, it was a bit of a mismatch of stories, which I guess is a risk with any short story collection. I still do really love the concept, though.

I’m not usually a reader of erotic fiction but I also appreciate how beautiful, sexy or simply poetic it can be.

And I also know a bad sex scene when I read it - and I read them a lot. But as Smith addresses in the introduction, many authors censor themselves through fear of judgement, fear of revealing their sexuality, fear of sharing their innermost desires, so through this book each writer isn’t attributed directly to their piece to allow complete freedom and there is something beautiful about that. But sex is natural, it’s fun and it’s a key part of a lot of relationships even ones with our own bodies - and we should definitely be able to talk and write about it without fear.

From subtle sexuality, to evocative and meaningful, to slapstick, graphic and intense, to fantasy, to even one just made out of pornhub titles, there is such a range of different moods, themes and styles - it is not just about sex, but the way we feel, think and talk about all the different incarnations of sex.

I enjoyed this short collection of stories. It covered the relatable awkward and sometimes messy moments of sex. I will definitely be adding this book to my TBR. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

I always pick up short story collections and always seem to be just a little bit let down by them but this one was definitely one of my favourites. With any collection there are a few that were duds to me but as they were all different authors it didn't have that same-y quality to each one that taints a lot of other collections. I knew of some of these authors but I really look forward to checking out the ones I hadn't heard about!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


The cover art and description threw me to this title. The stories and writing is as varied as the contributor list. There will be some stories you love and others you might hate. If you are familiar with the contributors other works, you might be able to figure out who wrote what. The styles and stories will leave you guessing. This was a quick read, some stories were steamy and others were a bit demure. I hope this is the first of a series of anthologies.

I was excited for this book because it was a really cool concept - what would writers write if their name wasn’t attached to it?

But, the execution fell flat for me. There were more stories that I disliked than ones I enjoyed. Due to it being an anthology, I knew the stories would be varied but I ended up bored and it took me a while to get through them all (even with some skimming by the end).

With the variety, I am sure anyone could find at least a couple stories they enjoyed which is definitely a plus. I did enjoy the diversity offered by the stories as well.

Thank you Dundurn Press for providing an early arc of this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was intrigued by this concept, and even looking to possible share some of the stories with my Gender and Women's Studies students. Unfortunatley, this anthology wasn't quitethe right thing, though some of the individual stories were certainly spicy and well-written! I think this needs more editing and curation.

This novel is interesting, however an editor needs to be utilized to ensure that grammar and punctuation. This novel has the potential to thrive.

A cool concept, and I appreciate the emphasis on consent in the piece I just read. It feels like a community effort.

This was an intriguing idea, with various authors submitting short stories anonymously. It is a very varied collection of stories, a few erotic, some dark, some funny, some poetic, etc.. But, in the end, none of the stories really grabbed me.

I honestly might just not be the right audience for this book and that’s why it fell flat for me, but I requested it from NetGalley because of how interesting the premise is. In this book authors anonymously write short stories with erotica. While the authors are all listed, you as the reader do not know which author wrote which short story.

My main issue with this book was how inconsistent the writing of these short stories are. I know that they are all different authors but all the different writing styles made this book feel clunky. There were honestly only a few short stories that I liked and the rest were hard and often very cringy to get through. Some of them also felt very unfinished in the way that it seemed more like a first draft and not a published short story. This all being said, if you think the premise sounds interesting this may be a book you want to pick up. It is decently short and a quick read.

This was a nice anthology of short stories. Some of the stories felt like they were plucked from the middle of a book with little context so at times they were difficult to follow. 3 earned stars for effort.

This is an interesting concept and I adored the first story. The others are ok. I’m about 50% through. I guess I thought there’d be more sex. So much plot development for short stories lol!

I was sure I’d rate this one 5/5 on my spice scale. lol

Thanks to NetGalley for a ARC.
Opinions are all my own.