Fifty Shades of Grey - Book Review

I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining and that's one of the main reasons we read book.

I liked the characters: Ana is very independent and witty which was fun to read. I could easily relate to her struggles to reconcile her heart and her brain. I liked the way she talked about her inner goddess and her conscience like they were other people giving advise and opinions. And she had some very funny observations, like calling him “Fifty Shades of Screwed Up.”

I liked Christian Grey: He was flawed but trying to find a way to cope with his issues. He wasn't just buying companionship; He was developing compatible partners. He was very honest and forth coming with his needs and never tricked or coerced Ana into anything.

The sex was good too. Not just the vanilla sex but the BDSM too. I thought it was presented very fairly which is very unusual for most stories. It was lighter than I'd expected but accurately presented.

The plot was not very complex or deep but it wasn't that kind of story.

I've seen several reviews that disparage this book and I have to attribute that to envy. This book broke through to the main-stream and they, the disparagers, are just being petulant because E.L. succeeded and they didn't.

Well worth the read. I've already started the sequel, Fifty Shades Darker.

12 Steps to Hell - Book Review

This is NOT erotica with BDSM themes; It's torture porn: Extreme, non-consensual torture for the amusement of sadists. I did not enjoy this book and discourage others from reading it. It was disgusting.

Dale is seduced by Goddess Kimiko and her assistant Aiko into joining their household as a sex slave with the lure of endless sex at the feet of these two Asian beauties. He is promised that his twelve month ordeal  will be rewarded with marring Kimiko and becoming Man-of the-mansion. Instead, Dale is tricked into enduring more and more intense torture, as the 12 step program continues. And after enduring twelve months of extreme torture including: burning, starvation, body mutilation and becoming their human toilet, he is instead locked in permanent chastity and bondage. He is doomed to a life of never ending torture and suffering because that is what these two women truly enjoy.

I suspect that only Jeffery Dommer, and his criminally abusive friends, would have read this to the end and said they liked it. This book has nothing to do with Safe, Sane, and Consensual sex play and fails as extreme fantasy erotica. This is not edge play - This is non-consensual torture.

I strongly recommend this book be avoided. I disposed of the copy I read because there was no reason to keep it. Read the full review here.