Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey was recommended to me on Amazon. It took me a full year before I finally gave in and bought Fifty Shades. And this happened because I was taking part in a radio show discussing the books because of one of my recent releases.

It took me 30 hours to read all three books. It was compelling with Ana, her Inner Goddess, and Christian Grey. I personally have always found the books great escapism from daily pressures.

The book is incredibly polarizing and the vitriol directed at its fans can get exhausting. But in my reading life,… show more.

I can’t deny this is where my love of tortured heroes began. I wasn’t a big romance reader at the time, but curiosity got the best of me. I waited until I had a weekend to myself, then proceeded to download my first ever e-book. I didn’t expect to like it—I didn’t even expect to finish it, but two days later, I’d read the entire series and was ready to start it again. Christian Grey is my OG and, in many ways, inspired my Darian. 

Not specifically for the content, but E.L. James was brave enough to spark controversy which brought a lot of adults back to the world of reading. But I read it due to all the publicity and opinion surrounding the storyline. Having not read romance previously, I found the book more boundary-breaking than I’d expected, and I began to question the trust needed between a couple practicing such a lifestyle. Although I don’t write BDSM romance, it was the relationships between couples that became one of the reasons why I began to write in the genre.