Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades Trilogy book 1) E L James

Anastasia Steele is getting ready to graduate from college when, on an interview for her best friend/roommate who is too sick to conduct the interview, she meets the enigmatic, beautiful, commanding and brilliant Christian Grey, CEO of Grey Enterprises and benefactor of her college. From the first, Christian is intrigued by the innocent Miss Steele and pursues her with a single mindedness that stuns not only Ana, but also Christian's staff, family and associates. He offers Ana a contract to become his submissive...a twist that Ana both can not accept and can't help but accept. The books have been called "Mommy Porn" and, yes, they are VERY graphic and erotic. I think that the reason they are getting so much press is because the sex focuses on BDSM, non traditional and taboo. The Fifty Shades of Grey books are, in my opinion, no more or less sensual, graphic or erotic than contemporary romances of today. Heck, the romances of the late 70s and early 80s, with their Alpha male "I will rape you into submission and you're going to fall in love with me in spite of me treating you like crap" focus should, in my view, be more taboo than consensual adults behaving in a manner that is less than traditional. That being said, these books are GRAPHIC in the details of sex. At one point, Christian tells Ana "I don't make love, I fuck...hard." Ana's initiation into sex is not the hearts and flowers "I love you" deflowering scenes of most romance novels. It's quick, hard and quite simply, brutal in a sense. Don't get me wrong, there is quite a bit of romance in these books. There's also a fascinating look into the psyche of Christian, is he a sadist? Is he just a Dominant? What has brought him to the place where he believes he has no heart? And what of Ana? What ticks inside of her that brings her to be so intrigued by the world Christian so desperately, and he is desperate, wants to introduce her to? Can Ana bring herself to give Christian what he needs, total submission even when he wants to discipline her? Or will the pain and fear be enough to send Ana running? I loved this book. I read it in 5 hours because I could not put it down. I had a love/hate relationship with Christian and I could empathize and sympathize with Ana. I did wish that Ms. James would have removed the "characters" of Ana's Subconscious and her "Inner Goddess". They just smacked a bit too much like Lizzy McGuire or Herman's Head and often would pull me from the story. Other than that, I recommend this book even if you're squicked out by the thought of BDSM. There's WAY more to the book than the sex and I took quite a bit from it. 5 out of 5 berries for this one. I can't wait to review Fifty Shades Darker.