Fifty Shades Darker
Fifty Shades #2
Author: E.L. James
Genre: Adult Erotic Romance
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1775 KB
Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House
    (September 13, 2011)
ASIN: B005N0PJJO

Daunted by the singular sexual tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. 


But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades. 


While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

After being sucked into the dark world of Christian Grey in the first book, I wasn’t sure if my emotions and heart could survive another part of his story.  Seriously, after the first book I was just drained of emotion and my head was spinning from the enigma of Christian Grey.  Sexual power, control, and wealth is the bubble of Christian.  He knows what satisfies him and he doesn’t like the word no being in the script. Or does he?

This part of the story picks up a few days after Ana has left him.  She is falling apart and going through some deep emotions after losing what she thought was love. Christian is also going through hell without his shining light in his dark world.  I personally felt crushed for Christian because he is struggling with so much and change is not an easy thing for him.  He loves his control and now that Ana has left, he feels all his control slipping away.

We also get to see a more playful and romantic side of Christian than what was presented in the first part of this series.  I agree with Ana and enjoy this side of Fifty so much more.  He has so much love to give, but he is not sure how to do it.  When they finally reunite, we get to see them both struggle with trying to make their relationship work without all of the kinky involved.  Christian starts to realize that real love doesn’t have to involve all of his previous quirks, but he does realize that he will always have it in the back of his mind scratching at the surface.  Ana wants to show him what love can be without the darkness and show him love with touch and support.

I must say that  the tamed down kinky in this book is just as hot as the previous book.  I will never look at an elevator, piano, pool table, wall or boathouse the same way again!  Oh and the things he could do with that pinkie finger of his was just moan worthy.  Although I must say, I am curious to know more about what he can do with a cat like he hinted at. *hmmm* Then my heart bled for Christian in the scene where he thinks Ana is going to leave him again due to his dark past.  Christian on his knees in that state of distress will haunt my dreams from now on.  I cried at the breakdown of his personality and felt all the control that is so him slip away.

Then when Elena — the woman who is a sore spot for Ana — gets her just desserts from not only Ana and Christian, but also gets an ear full from Christian’s Mother, I was secretly cheering “Go Grace!”  I was waiting for Grace to turn her over her knee and give her a true spanking that she deserved.

While the ending will be one readers will enjoy and swoon with, it does have a small section to reveal what is to come.  We still need to see the aftermath from Christian’s change of course in life and who is planning the destruction of his world.  I think I know who it is and I just know that the next and final book is going to put me over the edge! Dark, sensual, and oh so Fifty Shades of fucked up!

“Let me ask you something first. Do you want a regular vanilla relationship with no kinky fuckery at all?”
My mouth drops open. “Kinky fuckery?” I squeak.
“Kinky fuckery.”
“I can’t believe you said that.”
“Well, I did. Answer me,” he says calmly.
I flush. My inner goddess is down on bended knee with her hands clasped in supplication begging me.
“I like your kinky fuckery,” I whisper.”
–Ana and Christian

“I don’t know whether to worship at your feet or spank the living shit out of you.”
–Christian to Ana

Ode to Fifty
Darkened soul
That needs to take flight
Ana Steele enters
And now there is light
I introduced you
to my pain
in the red room
insight you will gain
Spank you and bind you
this I enjoy
red bottom from rulers
you are now my toy
On a pool table or a car
on a boat under the stars
In an elevator or shower
or bench with ropes and bars

the piano as well
wherever I choose
our control will slip
our sanity we will lose
Fifty shades of fucked up
this you will learn
a smack to the bottom
so sweet and so firm
so step into my world
what do you say
My name is Christian
Fifty Shades of Grey

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!

Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: E.L. James
Source: Personal Purchase
Genre: Adult Erotic Romance
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1290 KB
Print Length: 372 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1612130283
Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House
    (May 25, 2011)

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind – until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. 


The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her – but on his own terms. 


Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny. 


Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds? 

If you have been around the blogs lately, then you know about Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.  What you don’t know is how correct everyone is when they say you will be addicted to the story.  I desperately wanted to read this series after reading so many reviews on it but I never thought I would find the time to read it.  So this weekend I decided to dive into the world of Christian Grey and enjoy the ride.  Talk about an addictive book!  I was hooked after the first few chapters and could not put it down!  I had to keep reading and it became my new form of book crack in the form of Christian.  He will pull you in and keep you there with no safety net for when you fall over from the shock of his life style.

Now, first off everyone should realize that this story came about in a weird way.  It is based on fanfiction from the Twilight series.  That being said, you understand the addiction to the book if you were addicted to the Twilight books.  I will also tell you that this series is not at all tame like the Twilight books.  This is for the adult readers and should not be read by anyone under eighteen.  While there were a few things that reminded me of the Twilight series, I personally didn’t try to compare it to them and in fact found myself not even realizing this until after I read the story.  In Christians world, you will find darkness, BDSM, controlling behavior, wealth, and sexiness.  This is a man who will blow any other man you have read about out of the water.  Christian is an enigma that appears on the pages and you can’t help but want to dive into his life style and read about his fifty shades of ‘messed’ up.

Anastasia on the other hand, was not a character I really enjoyed.  While she did balance out with Christian considering she is the complete opposite of him, she was weak and at times whiny.  She needed to learn how to sit back for a bit and just let Christian be who he is and build up to peeling the layers back.  Ana liked to hurry things along, and in turn she came across as pushy sometimes towards Christian.  Personally this could just be because I found myself protective of Christian as I was reading the story.

Be prepared to read about the BDSM life style as well in this book.  If you are not a fan of that, then tread carefully into reading this book.  This is a huge plot point in the story and a dark layer of Christian that needs to be remembered.  If you are willing to dive into his world though and read the story, you will be entranced by him just like Ana was.

The ending just about did me in as well.  I cried and instantly had to buy the next book in the series.  I couldn’t believe it would end like that and made me want to scream in frustration and pain.  I just can’t believe Ana did what she did at the end and wanted her inner goddess to come through and slap the crap out of her! I also wish that the author would have taken the time to edit and fix the many typos that were throughout the book.  I don’t usually mention this flaw in a review, but it was a pretty big flaw in the book because it happened so much. That is the main reason this book didn’t get the full five star rating from me.

Be prepared for sexual tension and satisfaction, dark secrets and personalities, and emotionally draining to the reader when reading this book.  It is one ride that will keep shocking you and keeping you up late at night to finish it.

“Why don’t you like to be touched?”
“Because I’m fifty shades of fucked-up, Anastasia.”
–Christian and Anastasia

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Dead To You
Author: Lisa McMann
Source: Amazon Vine
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse
 (February 7, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-1442403888

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle… at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable…

I am a huge fan of author Lisa McMann after reading her Wake trilogy last year.  So when I heard about this book through other readers and noticed it was available through the Amazon Vine program, I jumped on the chance to read and review it early.  I did the fan girl squee and clicked accept on my Amazon page.  When it arrived, I dropped everything to read this book and even stayed up late just to finish it.

When we start with the first chapter, we are reading about Ethan being reunited with his family after being abducted nine years ago.  To say that it is an emotional reunion is an understatement.  You can feel the pain that the parents have gone through and have dealt with over the years.  They are so excited to have him home that they even accept him on looks alone without agreeing to do the DNA test that the social worker offers to them.  When you are reading the book, we are reading from Ethan’s point of view and the emotions that he is struggling with.  He doesn’t remember anything from his time before the abduction and he is desperate to remember anything.  He studies the family photos and tries to make something click in his brain so he has something real to remember instead of shared memories from family and friends.

When his younger brother Blake starts studying genetic traits in his science class at school, he starts to piece together some disturbing facts about Ethan.  Blake never truly believed that Ethan is the real Ethan.  Reading the story, you don’t really know what to think about this.  At some points you are like Blake and questioning Ethan’s true identity, but other times you are believing that it truly is Ethan. When it is revealed at the end of the book, you are shocked and frustrated with the close of the story.  It is left in a cliffhanger-like ending that makes you wish there were at least a few more chapters of closure. At this time, I do not know if the author is going to write a sequel to this book, but after the ending she has left the reader with, I hope she seriously thinks about writing it!  I would love to learn more about Ethan and his story that follows after the reveal at the  end of the book.

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!

* I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*