Title: A Piece of Cake: Recipes for Female Sexual Pleasure Author: Melinda Gallagher, M.A. & Emily Scarlet Kramer Publisher: Atria Books Publish Date: 2005 Pages: 288 Genres:: How-To Guide, Non-Fiction Reviewer: J. Henry

Rating:

Have your cake and have it pleasured, too! This is the emphasis of A Piece of Cake. The authors are not only the creators of CAKE, but are also members. Melinda Gallagher and Emily Kramer have studied human sexuality and have comprised a club for women by women about women to aid in giving the most relevant sexual advice. Yes, A Piece of Cake is another book out to squish the myths of female sexuality, but CAKE is growing and its members helped to write this book.

Divided into three sections—On Your Own, Let’s Get it On, and On the Road—the authors (and members) supply numerous amounts of fantasies and other ideas to get a woman riled up sexually with or without a partner. Is it wrong to fantasize about women even though I consider myself straight? Will my partner be open to dirty talk? Is it okay to have casual sex with strangers even though I promised myself that I would be cautious? And, what the heck is female ejaculation anyways? These are some of the questions tackled within this velvety-soft covered book.

Cake brings the reader into a club of women he or she may not have known about. And while it does tend to focus on more heterosexual fantasies and sexual encounters, the fact that it touches upon the arousal of homosexual experiences seem that much more interesting when knowing you’re not alone in thinking that having another woman fondle you while your boyfriend/husband watches is as sexy as it sounds. The art of masturbation is heavily referenced when informing women that it seems to be glossed over that women masturbate too while boys are often well informed of what technique to utilize. In fact, it seems that many tend to stumble upon what feels good because parents fear of getting into a deep conversation about what makes a girl feel all warm and tingly inside. One CAKE member had a mother with enough insight to purchase a vibrator for her so that she would become more in tune with what she likes and be able to guide her partner efficiently in the future.

Movies, books, sex recipes (like the enticingly explorative ‘Tiered Engagement Cake’ for you and a partner), and fantasies are all provided as great ingredients to build the satisfaction that one’s “cake” deserves. As many reference books there are for the female genitalia, just add cake onto the pile.

This is a great guide for women about arousal and touches on a lot of bases when it comes to insecurities and being confident in and with one’s body, even mock-angry letters to corporations about wanting more ‘realistic’ women in magazines and more female-enticing adult movies being placed on the market.

Afterwards, the reader can easily go to the CAKE website and apply to become a member. I’d encourage it because there seems to be such a safe haven when it comes to appreciating the female form and nurturing what turns us on.

The authors approach each topic from a knowledgeable end, but are not overbearing with technical jargon or overly colloquial. There is a great amount of candidness about being sexual and safe. Yes, one should be worried about STDs, but don’t let that stop you from reaching your sexual peak (so to speak). Things have changed from 30 years ago when Fear of Flying was considered over the top. With Cake in hand, I’m sure that a lot more women will be confident to spread their legs and enjoy what they can give themselves as well as allowing others to provide them with a better sense of what they can do to help their discovery.