Beneath the self-assured and serious faces we wear, every human life is full of longing, guesswork, and confusion—a scramble to do the best we can and make everything up as we go along. In these wide-ranging essays, Jon Mooallem chronicles the beauty of our blundering and the inescapability of our imperfections.

Lucia Roa needs a miracle to keep her fledgling event planning business from going under. When she gets word about the opportunity of a lifetime to do a Valentine's Day party for an elite club in Washington D.C. she jumps at the chance. It's not until afterward, that she learns the party isn't for just any club, it's for the premier private BDSM club, Wicked.

Listen to the uber-hot, fun-in-the-sun, coming-of-age book that started it all! Ronnie, now a college freshman, has been babysitting for the Baumgartners so long, she's practically a member of the family. When Mrs. Baumgartner - who insists on calling her Veronica - invites Ronnie along on their yearly vacation, the nanny jumps at the chance.

As a high-class call girl in New York, Kara's had her share of generous, and sometimes odd, clients. But she's never had one like this before. From buying out an entire night to showering her with gifts, he's set up a night far beyond anything she's experienced before. But who is this mysterious man, whose name she doesn't even know? And what does he want from her?

I wasn't in the market for a man. I definitely wasn't looking for a man like Clay Nichols, with a dirty mind and a mouth to match. But then he walked into my life one night, and he was everything I wanted. He's also exactly what I can't have. Because there's a price tag on my head. I'm a wanted woman, and I owe debts that were never mine. The dangerous men I owe have threatened to hurt anyone in my life if I don't pay up. So I work off my debts by playing cards in an underground poker ring. One so risky I shouldn't get involved with a soul.

Zombies are real. And we made them. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines. When an airborne "zombie" plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia, and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

Harper McFadden established herself as an investigative journalist by being both compassionate and fearless. After tragedy strikes her family, she moves to the shores of Lake Tahoe to find some peace. But when mysterious software mogul Jacob Latimer enters her life, her thoughts turn from her own healing to an insatiable desire to get closer to him. No one knows what secrets lurk in the past of Jacob Latimer. He built his corporation from nothing, but rumors abound about his mysterious rise to power. Harper is the last person he should let into his life.

Emma has crushed on her boss, Will, since her first day working at his bar. His boyfriend, Paul, is gorgeous too. Her dirty fantasies feature both Will and Paul. A ménage with the two hottest men she's ever met. However, she'd never have the nerve to act on her forbidden desires. All her inhibitions fade away when she accidentally walks in on the two men, but nothing prepares her for Paul's wicked invitation.

April Bancroft never thought she would find love, and she certainly didn't think it would be in the form of Mads Durkheim - her boss and one of the world's biggest media moguls. It's totally unlike her, but she can't resist his charm, his looks, or the heat of his body when they touch. A part of her hopes that a business trip to Los Angeles might turn their relationship into something more than strictly professional - but high in the Hollywood Hills, she's introduced to a world that she could never even dream of.

A new adult erotic romance that’s filled with second chances, kinky sex, and raw emotions of two damaged people finding each other and learning that life is worth taking a chance.

Harper McFadden established herself as an investigative journalist by being both compassionate and fearless. After tragedy strikes her family, she moves to the shores of Lake Tahoe to find some peace. But when mysterious software mogul Jacob Latimer enters her life, her thoughts turn from her own healing to an insatiable desire to get closer to him. No one knows what secrets lurk in the past of Jacob Latimer. He built his corporation from nothing, but rumors abound about his mysterious rise to power. Harper is the last person he should let into his life.

Anna Rossi lives by one simple rule: Don't get attached, don't get hurt. But Alec Flynn doesn’t play by the rules... Anna never takes on a massage client without screening him first, but the paycheck offered by billionaire Maxim Stein is too good to turn down. Stein is the richest man she's ever laid her hands on, and despite the risks, she trusts that she can take care of herself. After all, she's handled difficult clients in the past.

When Regina's friends insist on setting her up a "Fantasy Fix" to help her get over her cheating ex, she dreams up some kinky out-of-this-world encounters that they could never possibly bring to life. But the next thing Regina knows, her friends have got her laced into a shiny black corset, tight leather pants, and a sexy pair of stilettos. It's time for some downtown vampire-fantasy fun...

Tiernan de Haas doesn’t care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she? Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of 18. She's sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado.

There are many rules a priest can't break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God. I've always been good at following rules. Until she came. Then I learned new rules.

Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1, edited by award-winning author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, delivers risky, romantic, heart-pounding thrills. Featuring a diverse range of characters, sexualities and scenarios, these 22 steamy stories revel in erotic adventure, from the sparks between strangers to the knowing caresses of longtime lovers. Women learn "The Ropes", get "Starstruck", and dine with "Two Doms for Dinner".

What do women really want? To be sensually seduced or pressed up against the wall for a quickie? To be tantalized by a peep show or the chance to join the mile high club? Acclaimed erotica writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel knows: They want it all. They want to be worshiped, ordered around, sent blindly into ecstasy, and made hot in front of a mirror. They want strangers bearing ice cubes on a hot day and to be the party favor passed around among guests.

If you’re looking for your next sexy listen, Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Book 6 is sure to heat things up. These 20 adventure-themed stories will take you around the globe as you meet characters eager to indulge their sensual sides. From competing on a reality show and getting “Inked on My Skin” by an extremely sexy tattoo artist to exploring a “Cabinet of Curiosities”, these characters say "yes" to their most daring desires.

Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 7 features the hottest erotic stories by popular authors such as Lucy Eden, Adriana Herrera, Erin McLellan, Angelina M. Lopez, Holley Trent, Sara Taylor Woods, and many others, edited by the award-winning Rachel Kramer Bussel.

What happens when you bring together 69 authors sharing their hottest orgasm stories? If you have top notch erotica editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, you get The Big Book of Orgasms! This climactic collection captures top erotica writers serving up steamy scenarios all focused on The Big O. Whether getting off from exhibitionism, voyeurism, or a very special pair of blue jeans, the characters in The Big Book of Orgasms explore all sorts of ways they can come.

What would you give - or give up - to fulfill your most cherished sex fantasy? In this Cleis Press collection, erotica editor Rachel Kramer Bussel brings us femme fatales and shy women, women on a mission and women opening up to new worlds of discovery: women who know what they want and are not afraid to beg for it! Let yourself go with these 20 tantalizing tales of tortuous longing and release.

Whether you're simply curious about submission or regularly revel in the delights of BDSM, these 69 erotic short stories about submissives will turn you on! From participating in a musical recital that takes a very kinky turn to making a grocery run while using sex toys to indulging in a risqué office encounter during working hours, these subs delight in obeying (or deliberately disobeying) their masters and mistresses in public and in private. They're rewarded and punished in the most wicked of ways that will leave you breathless.

Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3 delivers the kind of sexy stories you want most: daring, bold, and surprising tales of women who pursue their boundless passions anywhere and everywhere....

Featuring a diverse range of characters, sexualities and scenarios, these steamy stories revel in erotic adventure, from the sparks between strangers to the knowing caresses of longtime lovers. Gangbangs, threesomes, lesbian sex, domination fantasies, seduction, femdom and much more. Lucy James has gathered the hottest sexy stories for women, full of love, passion and lust. Many different stories will take your mind on an erotic journey and arouse your deepest desires. Your body and mind will tingle with delight and your toes will curl as you find that you lose yourself in every story.

In Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4, award-winning editor Rachel Kramer Bussel has gathered the hottest sexy stories starring outspoken women who daringly pursue love and lust. You'll hear about a single mom who goes back to college and gets some very hands-on education from her hot professor, an Amish woman tenderly revealing her most intimate desires, and a woman who crafts the man of her dreams.

What does it feel like to climax? Coming Soon: Women’s Orgasm Erotica offers wild and thrilling tales of female sexual pleasure that explore that question in a variety of wondrous ways. From a fetish that will appeal to any book lover and a waitress who’s seduced by her very attractive customers, to the thrill of artificial intelligence that knows exactly how to please a woman sexually, you’ll discover how delightful it is to come and come again. Listen about women who like to watch, and others who love to get naked and show it all off.

Each story is written to speak to your heart's hidden desires and will fill you with lustful sensations that will keep you going until the end.

Award-winning editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is back with another action-packed volume of orgasm erotica where anything can happen! With stories by Ruby Barrett, Alexa J. Day, Ella Dawson, Jodie Griffin, Katrina Jackson, Meka James, and many newcomers to the genre, this sexy book delivers the heat with every moment!

Submission takes many forms in this collection of 69 short stories, from straining in bondage to taking a spanking, being put on display, and beyond. By turns bratty and worshipful, these submissives will go to great lengths to fulfill their naughtiest fantasies and are rewarded splendidly by their masters and mistresses. A student returns to show his former teacher who's really in charge, a photo shoot becomes an opportunity for erotic games, and a man revels in his wife's past as a former dominatrix.

In Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 5, award-winning editor Rachel Kramer Bussel takes listeners on an outrageous journey into the world of female fantasy and desire. These sexy stories offer up wild, hot, and steamy tales from today’s top authors. You’ll be swept away by the sexiest business deal ever, break the rules in a future world where skin-on-skin contact is forbidden, and discover the art of getting off by phone sex.