"My man's red-hot birthday surprise". True tales of studs whose carnally creative gifts blew their girlfriends' minds.(Love and lust: heart copy)

"Right before my birthday, I moved back to my hometown with my boyfriend, Jared. A lot of my family still lives nearby, and two of my cousins have the same birthday as I do, so we decided to have one big shindig. At the party, Jared gave me a gorgeous pair of chandelier earrings. After we got home and into bed, he asked me to close my eyes and I felt him put something heavy in my hands, and he said 'Now, here's your real gift.' I opened my eyes and saw that it was a copy of the Kama Sutra. Jared told me that all I had to do was point to any position and he would try it. I was sure to return the favor on his birthday."--Patti, 29

"Ever since I saw the Sex and the City episode with the love swing, I really wanted to try it out. My fiance, Ian, and I talked about getting one, but we were moving to a new place and completely forgot about it. A few months later, my birthday rolled around. When I woke up that day, Ian surprised me with a gift certificate to a spa, and he had even booked an afternoon appointment for me. Later that night, Ian gave me a cashmere robe, and just as I was oohing and ahhing over it, he said 'I have one more surprise for you.' He took my hand and led me to the basement. Then he flipped on the lights and there was the swing, which he had installed while I was at the spa. We stripped down and spent the rest of the night playing with our new toy."--Carly, 32

"My boyfriend, George, and I had plans to celebrate my birthday. But that morning, I got laid off from my job. It was the most upsetting thing that had ever happened to me, and I was in no mood to celebrate. I called George and said that I just wanted to be alone. He e-mailed me later and told me to meet him at his place that night so he could give me my present. When I arrived, he asked me to wait in the living room. After a moment, he put a blindfold on me and told me to relax. First he fed me a piece of cake; then he led me to the bedroom ...