"Do You Know It’s Erotica? "

The Demon Next Door

Kate Austin

Cobblestone Press, eBook, 69 pages, copyright 2009


“Do you know it’s erotica?”

That’s what the author asked me when I chose this title from among her many books after wining a romance blog drawing.

“No but that’s not a problem. I've read erotica before,” I said.

Now here’s the problem. I’ve only read about six female erotica stories in my life and I didn’t ‘get them’. Maybe that’s because they were all paranormal stories. The problem was the heroes. One was about a werewolf, one a vampire, one a beast (it seemed like a big dog), one was a jaguar, one was a shape-shifter, and one was a demon – but not just any demon, this demon was one of the mean nasty demons and in fact the leader of the mean nasty demons.

From reading all this erotica, one message comes through very clearly: if you are female and you want great sex, don’t choose a male human. It would seem that almost any non-human creature is better than a man.

I must say that of all the erotica I’ve read, “The Demon Next Door” is the best. In fact I’d give it my highest rating of five stars.


The hero, Ali, was once the king of the really mean nasty demons, but he has since left the demon life and is trying to learn how to be a human. He lives on an almost abandoned cul-de-sac in a failed housing development on the edge of a forest. The other house belongs to the heroine.

Now both heroine and hero are hiding out and never have anyone over to their houses. Ali, who has a perfect body as shown in the cover art, has his demon brothers trying to track him down so they can torture him forever. The heroine is into very casual sex with many one night stands. Given that some man might get attached to her, she keeps her home address hidden from everyone.

I think the story setup is ideal for the characters involved. What makes the story so good however is the writing style. Kate Austin’s voice is fresh, new, surprising, exciting, strange, and great fun to read. If there were no erotic passages, it would still be a great story. Everything is in this story that you’d want in an serious romance. There's great motivation, the goals are very clear, and both the hero and heroine experience tremendous personal growth and are different people by the time the story is over. Also sex becomes elevated to an abiding love with the couple caring deeply for each other.

I don’t know how this story could be written any better. Nevertheless, I still don’t understand this erotic passion for non-human lovers! At least, Ali is a ‘human-in-the-making’ with a perfect male body. (The cover art is very accurate with Ali, the roses, and the night setting.)

If you are comfortable with erotica, “The Demon Next Door’, is a great read.

Five Star Erotic Reading Enjoyment!


Vince