Fifty Shades Better
Am I the only one completely fed up with the hype surrounding the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy? Suddenly I am regularly getting pulled aside and with a scandalised whisper asked the inevitable question..."Have you read THAT book?" Like Fifty is some kind of naughty secret, even though half the world knows about it and Marks & Spencer's are rapidly running out of grey silk ties.Now, after months of the Fifty circus going on, it is about time that Ana Steele and Christian Grey are firmly shelved and we all look for some romance and erotica that will really knock your knickers off!
So I have compiled some books that have been split into what I feel are the key elements of the Fifty books, only they are FIFTY SHADES BETTER.
THE CO DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP
This is what struck me the most about these books, more then the BDSM or the similarity to Twilight, it is the unhealthy relationship between Ana and Christian. But, hey, we all love to read a co-dependent relationship in romance once in a while, but here are few which I think sticks out from the crowd:
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KINKY FUCKERY
The one good point about Fifty: the phrase kinky fuckery, I love it! The most obvious kink in the Fifty trilogy is the BDSM and judging by the books popularity it seems we live in a world where our no not-so-secret fantasy is to be tied up and fucked nine ways till Sunday. So here are a few BDSM recommendations that are guranteed to get you dusting off the handcuffs: |
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| Review Here! |
BIG BAD FUCKED UP ALPHA MALE
We all heard (repeatedly) how Christian was fifty shades of fucked up and we gals do seem to love a broody, damaged alpha male to sink our teeth into. We long for our love to be the one thing that will mend their broken hearts and minds, and here are some of our top angsty heroes, that get our body and heart melting:
We all heard (repeatedly) how Christian was fifty shades of fucked up and we gals do seem to love a broody, damaged alpha male to sink our teeth into. We long for our love to be the one thing that will mend their broken hearts and minds, and here are some of our top angsty heroes, that get our body and heart melting:
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| Review Here! |
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| Review Here! |
Those are our recommendations, what do you think?
17 comments:
I heard that Fifty Shades wasn't that good if you read erotica already. I haven't read it and I probably won't. Thank for recommendations. I always need more BDSM books. :)
I have no desire to read 50 Shades and am sick of the hype over it as well. No only is the fanfic an issue for me, but I have heard they are poorly written. Thanks for the recommendations. Love me some Zsadist.
I read the Fifty trilogy (after some reluctance due to all the hype) and was surprised. Generally, they were pretty good. The writing was not as atrocious as believed, though it could have been better. The general story line was good. The kinky fuckery was kinky but not any more so than any paranormal with an alpha. Generally, it was a decent and quick read.
I have to second what crystlsmith wrote. I definitely do not think it should have been labeled erotica.
I know right?! I am reading the Big Bad Wolf series right now by Heather Killough-Walden and it is way kinkier than Fifty.
I'm sick to death of hearing about these books! Seriously what is the freaking big deal and like Christina the fanfic issue is huge for me - plus from what I've gathered the whole point of the series is that the heroes preference of BDSM is viewed as wrong by the heroine and something that has to be changed...ick...it's his choice - if she's not into it then she would need to move on instead of trying to make him think he's the abberant one.
The number one reason I read the Fifty Shades trilogy was because people know that I am an avid romance book reader and they were shocked when I kept saying that I hadn't read it yet. So I finally did. You know what? I loved it. Truly loved it. The characters really stick.
Like you, I've read a ton of BDSM/Erotic books (and not shy about it) but I still just loved Fifty.
You have made some wonderful suggestions in your blog post. Another one I would add is Kallypso Masters' books. Loved them a lot and they are my next up for recommendations. Sylvia Day's Bared to You is almost identical to 50 Shades but her trilogy is not done yet.
Great post.
Yeah but since Ana figured out she liked it all it ended up being about was them being together in ways they could both accept. Really, people need to chill, like said above, should not be an "erotica" romance...
I'm reading the third book now, and I am just not into it! I think I'm burned out on Ana's "inner goddess" and how shocked she is that Christian loves her, and Christian's mommy issues, and the repetitive writing...Anyway, I've read three of your recommendations already, but I'll definitely check out the others!
I liked the trilogy as a whole. The first book was atrocious, IMO, but I really enjoyed the second and third books. Does it compare to some other amazing books I've read? Definitely not, and the more I hear about how big it becomes, the more irritated I get, because I wish other, better authors got the same recognition and more. But marketing is marketing and the word of mouth is powerful.
If you want a real dark, real fucked up, extremely kinky BDSM book with an awesome story that will leave you raw, pick up Joey W. Hill's "Ice Queen" and "Mirror Of My Soul". Fifty Shades is very "vanilla" compared to that!
Or if you just want the dark, tormented, alpha hero, and enjoys the mousy heroine turned into strong woman, the suggestion of kinkiness without the explicit descriptions, but with a phenomenal love story and substantial plot, definitely read "Gabriel's Inferno" and "Gabriel's Rapture" by Sylvain Reynard.
Awesome post!
LOL---I had to read this, cause I reacently did a post as well on my blog--if you wanna read it with my rec's, here is the link:
http://www.csmaxwell.blogspot.com/search/label/50%20Shades%20Better
the hype has killed me on Christian thing and I only read it when it was a fanfiction way over a year ago before it was ever thought of being published.
HAHA! I hear you and I"ve read it and seriously it isn't as great as everyone claims it is. I have read a similar book with some elements that are similar, and you can tell the difference on the greatness!
And I will totally check out those recommendations! I need some hot erotic romance loving! Hehehe! :)
Thank you. I'm so tired of the hype over those books. I actually am very skeptical to read them. I will definitely be reading "The Siren" soon. Thanks for the other books I need to read too.
Love J.R. Ward's books. Need to re-read them since I need my BDB fix.
-FranJessca
I love, loved the books, just one those things, I imagine that people who used to read romances before the phenomenon of Twilight felt exactly the same way you do now, (those books were average at best. How can so many, much better books don't get the same attention? In my case I can't answer quite easily, some books have something that can't be explained.
I loved the trilogy, and I can't explain why, I know it wasn't for the sex, I've read a lot hotter books than that, I still don't know why, but I know I did.
Every time someone tells me they're reading Fifty Shades I want to shake them. I wrote a post about why everyone should read Bared To You instead since they're already marketing it to Fifty Shades fans. I
I haven't read any of these book yet, but a few of them are already on my TBR.
you are not alone in this thinking. i'm so tired of all the hype about the trilogy and the upcoming movies. it's like twilight all over again but more adult. there's even a list on goodreads about fifty shades support group.
the others were right. it shouldn't have been labeled erotica. it would have marked so low in the erotica scale.
for reco, i'd go for cherise sinclair, kallypso masters, roni loren and sylvia day and a whole lot of others. let's not forget Vishous too.
Oh my! I'm so with ya sista!! Tired of the hype. I tried to read the first book, it was a DNF for me. It was terrible. I love your recs! I have some of those on my TBR list! Glad I'm not the only one :) Great post!
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