Book Review: Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

Fifty Shades Darker by EL James, is the second book in the Fifty Shades series.  This book is an erotica romance that touches on the BDSM lifestyle.  I finished this book in August of 2014, so I apologize if this review seems not that great.

Fifty Shades Darker picks up where Fifty Shades of Grey left off when Anastasia Steele leaves Christian Grey.  But the two lovers can't avoid each other and end up back with a each other.  Wanting a career, Anastasia feels daunted by Christian's need to control everything in her life.  But she feels frustrated with the secrets that he's keeping from her.

So I have to be honest, I didn't like this book, nor the first one.  I don't have an issue with the BDSM lifestyle that the author has wrote about, but I do have issue with her lack of development that she seems to have with the characters.  This book opened up a lot of issues that never seemed to get resolved or have a conclusion to.  I felt that the characters were so polar opposites that I couldn't relate them.  Ana is a weak person that doesn't have a back bone, and Christian is a manipulative dominate.  I felt that Christian's disregard of Ana's opinion on things was a huge turn off.  One thing that irritated me in the first book and it followed through to this book, and that was the constant mention of Ana's inner goddess.  I seriously wanted that inner goddess to get hit by a bus or something.   There were a lot of issues with this book, but one of the major ones for me have been was Christian's relationship with Elena (who was commonly referred as Mrs. Robinson), their relationship turned intimate and was a BDSM relationship right from the beginning when Christian was 15 and Elena was much older.  Ana is clearly uncomfortable with this but Christian disregards her voice on this matter.  This was something that could have been discussed and it just never happened.  And in the end, Ana can't live without Christian so she says yes to marriage even though they've known each other for a short amount of time and they have a ton of issues.  I have to be honest, if Christian wasn't rich or good looking, any normal girl would probably run the other way.

In the end, I didn't like this book.  If it had stayed as a fan fiction that I could have read for free, I would probably enjoy it.  But it is mediocre at best.  It really didn't deserve the hype and I think it gave a false image to the BDSM culture.  If you're interested in reading books like that, and that are done properly, I suggest reading something by Jaid Black.  She knows what she's writing about.  I personally feel that I'm being too generous with a 2 out of 5 stars rating, but I think I gave it an extra star because of it's origin.  I've read a lot of fan fiction over the years, some have been horrible, some decent, and others spectacular!  I have to honestly say that this one would have been in between decent and spectacular, but as a novel, and a series, I just don't get the hype.  I really don't.

Rating: 

2 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Secrets VOL. 3

Secrets VOL. 3

This book is an anthology with four short stories from four different authors.  This book and the series that it is a part of is in the erotica genre.  The four authors of this book are Angela Knight, Ann Jacobs, B.J. McCall, Jeanie Cesarini.  I've read books from both Angela Knight and Jeanie Cesarini but I have never heard the other two before.  The one thing that I love about anthologies is that you get a chance to read pieces from different authors that you may never think to read.

'The Spy Who Loved Me' by Jeanie Cesarini is about two FBI agents Paige Ellison and Christopher Sharp sent in a undercover mission to infiltrate Lewis Goddar's compound because he is guilty of murder by making snuff porn films.  The two lead characters have a past and attraction and Cesarini did a really good job of making the reader aware of the history between the two without making the story too long or wordy.  She gave both characters enough description and direction that you really got into the story.

'Love Undercover' by B.J. McCall  is about Police lieutenant Amanda Forbes is in a sting at a strip club to catch a robber.  She is partnered with Detective Wes Cooper who will be the bouncer while she dances.  There is an attraction between the two but if they act on it they could both lose their jobs or their promotions.  This story was pretty well written but the love, but the ending was really rushed.  And the action that could have happened in the story never happened, instead it ended with the two driving to Las Vegas to get married.

' Blood and Kisses' by Angela Knight is a futuristic story plot with a supernatural twist.  A lot of stories that I have read by Knight are vampire based and this one is no exception.  The story starts off where human mercenary Beryl St. Cloud is in need of help.  She's being hunted by ruthless vampire Tagliar who was paid to assassinate her.  She goes to 300 year old Jim Decker for protection.  Because she doesn't have any money she agrees to be his mistress for a year to pay her debt.  During their time they slowly start to fall in love with each other but because Beryl had been hurt and betrayed she tries to stop herself.  Even though this this story is short like the others.  Knight writes a really descriptive plot and follows through with the actions the the story involved.

'The Barbarian' by Ann Jacobs is set in the medieval times and is about Lady Brianna and Giles deVere.  He is the barbarian who is promised Lady Brianna's land.  She refuses to except him but he forces her to be with him.  This story wasn't easy to get through.  Mainly because a lot of it I thought wasn't very believable.

Out of the four stories I like, 'The Spy Who Loved Me' the best.  I liked the plot and the fact that the two main characters had a history and Jeanie Cesarini was able to write in the past without over weighing the 80 page story too much.  The romantic scenes were descriptive but I think it was the least vulgar out of the four.

The one story that I had the hardest time trying to get though though was 'The Barbarian' by Ann Jacobs.  Nothing made sense in this story.  Supposedly Lady Brianna refuses to fall in love with him and give her body.  He kills a lot of her people that she had known since she was a child and in the story that doesn't seem to carry over through the plot.  Also the book hints that Giles deVere was in the holy lands and supposedly brought back customs for pleasing women but for that time frame it doesn't make any sense to me at all.  In the end once this story was finished I felt like the author make the female character very weak and a push over and also glorified rape.  The other three stories I felt the authors made the females very strong and a little independent.

For the most part I did enjoy the short stories.  They were quick reads and easy to follow along for the most part.  There is very descriptive sex scenes and depending on the author different levels of vulgarity in the language.  The Secrets series is all about erotica and the stories are never more than 100 pages long (most of them a lot less between 60 to 80 pages).  Now like I said if you do not like reading anything with any hit of sex this is not the book for you.  Because the stories are so short, sex happens with in the first 15 pages of the story.  But if you're interested in reading erotica and also by authors that you have never heard of before give this book a shot.

Rating:
3.5 out of 5

On Deck:
Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty
Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Bubbles A Broad by Sarah Strohmeyer
Grand Avenue by Joy Fielding