Benjamin Franklin said, “read much but not many books.” That advice has some meaning for me as a picky reader, but as a writer, I need to keep current with the state of my genre. That means I have to read a variety of erotica, sometimes whether I want to or not.

I’m a different kind of reader by what I can tell of the stuff that sells today. I love language more than plot. I love psychology more than physicality—and this despite that my favorite subgenre is action/adventure. I have found this peculiar combination of literary form and genre action in only a few writers in my life, none of them erotica authors.

So, while I have many stories and novels I could review, I rarely do so. What do I usually have to say, after all, but “this is okay” or “this was uninspiring”?

There may be one exception to that. The work of Susanna Valent.

If you read lesbian erotica, you’ve probably already read something from her. She has a lot out there, and it’s been published over many years.

I won’t get lengthy here about any particular book; they’re very similar, really. My dad used to say an author writes the same book every time she writes. He meant a writer deals with the same themes that stirred her to become an author to begin with. Valent does that.  Over-and-over. And she does it in a very entertaining way.

I don’t wallow in Valent’s prose. It’s clear and simple, not beautiful, but her action is captivating and the sex is startling. Her psychology is vivid. She relies on the trappings of the BDSM subculture, but in her hands, the counterfeit becomes real. Her characters are always strong women engaged in power struggles—within as well as without. And the adventurer in you will enjoy the secret agents, pirates, and the modern captains. Yes, she does a lot with ships!

I’ve been revisiting the Amazons Quartet (available at Fictionwise), but my first book of hers was Pirate Queen (available at Ellora’s Cave). I suggest you pick up one of those and be amazed.