by Jaimee Bell
2020
Jaimee Bell´s All the Dirty Little Things is a series of six short erotic episodes, all told from the perspective of a woman seeking to fulfill her innermost desires. Save for the bittersweet last entry, "Remembering Us"--set in a park late at night with a chance meeting with an old lover-- each entry in Bell´s collection explores the darker sides of sexuality. The fantasies here are rough.
For the most part, there are no names to the characters here: each erotic scene immediately thrusts the reader into the action, into the state of psychological and physical desire. Because every one of these tales is told from a first-person perspective of a submissive woman, there is an implication that the fantasies described in All the Dirty Little Things are contained within the same person.
Bell´s collection will especially appeal to readers who enjoy short erotica containing themes of Dominance/submission, such as the opening entries of "Alpha" and "On Your Leash". One of the more appealing sequences in the book is the two-part "Who I Am For You", about the complex, multifaceted dimensions of a D/s relationship. Here, Bell provides the most in-depth detail about her characters´ experiences, including how the power shifts when a third character, Viktor, joins them.
The stories here are short yet personal, and Bell is articulate in not only describing various sexual acts between her characters but also their heightened states of feeling and thought. I would be interested in reading more of her work, when she provides us with more description or "back story" on her characters´ lives, but All the Dirty Little Things is a alluring welcome into a detailed world of sensuality, submission, and power.