Rescue me? Hell yes!

Kallypso Masters and the Rescue Me series!!


I have been reading a lot.  AGAIN.  As always.  Because it's what I do.  I have been reading the Rescue Me Series, by Kallypso Masters.  Awesome series.  I have really been enjoying it.  This series is NOT a stand alone.  You have to start with Masters at Arms and work your way from there.  Without it, you miss very important information with regards to all of the developing characters.  So in that respect it is NOT your typical romance novel.  It's emotional, often time a little heart wrenching (I know it made my heart hurt a few times and yea, I shed a tear or two or 10)  All of the characters are very well developed, and you get a firm sense of who each person is before their actual story comes up.  It's usually one of my biggest gripes.  Characters not having a firm background, or worse, inconsistencies in their backgrounds.  There is none of that here.  I'm also not one of those reviewers who reviews the book, tells you all about the book and leaves nothing to spare.  IF you read a review of the book, why do you need to read the fucking book?  My way, read the fucking book!  It's a good book.   If you read the authors blog page you would know she obviously gives a crap about what she puts out and her readers mean a great deal to her.  Kallypso Masters wants to give her readers a good read.  And that is very important in my mind.   It's well written, thought provoking, the characters are likable, believable and definitely lovable.  I'm really glad I picked up this series.

Makeup Allergies and sensitivities!! 


Have you ever worn a mascara and just about pulled out all of your eyelashes because it irritated you so bloody much?  For the better part of two years I have been suffering from some kind of sensitivity/allergy to almost all mascaras and eyeliners.  Which really sucks because I love my makeup.  I really love my eye makeup.  So, after having nearly yanking out all of my poor little eyelashes I went out and bought & different types of mascara and a couple of eyeliners.  So far, I have had a great deal of luck on my very first try.

I have been using both of these products for almost a week now and I have had NO problems.  No itchy eyes, no watery eyes, no red eyes and most importantly, NO PULLING OUT EYELASHES.    So for right now, if anyone out there in cyberland is having some kind or weird freak out sensitivity with their eye make up, try these and see if they work.  Stay tuned...I'll update you and the other 6 mascaras lol.

Advice columns? Or just the opinions of the over educated and over inflated?

So I got off work from my "real" job today early.  Went to my fave taco place, got me some tacos and picked up a local periodical that used to be fun to read but now has mostly pot advertisements in it.

 As I am munching down on my #2 combo plate (two shredded beef tacos with beans and rice) I am reading the advice column in the rag mag.  Now I don't know about you but my advice usually differs from that given in advice columns.  Number one, I am not politically correct.  I am not going to sugar coat my opinion (that you are asking for may I remind you) so that you might feel better about yourself.  Number two, I do not have a PhD or any other over inflated degree.  Actually, I am glad for that because if I did have a degree and was dispensing so called "professional" advice, in some states I could probably get into trouble over it lol.  What I am by legal trade is a hairdresser.  Which means I fall somewhere in the neighborhood of PhD Psychiatrist and bartender.  Which means I know all your deepest darkest secrets and what your true hair color is.  I know who you are cheating on, who your husband is cheating with and whether or not your kids are on drugs.  And I am pretty much sworn to secrecy because I want to keep your business.  And let's face it, someone has to cover those gray roots, right?

Ok.  Reading the advice column in today's rag mag.  Someone wrote in to say they were engaged to their soul mate.  But the so called soul mate, aka bitch, packed up and left without so much as a reason.  Very low class if you ask me.  I think if you share time with someone, then they should have the benefit of a proper "fuck off".  Even if it is just to say "hey, I don't love you it's not working out for me, so I"m out".  So natch, the one left behind is feeling rather dispondant.  Well I would too.  For about 5 minutes.  So the leave-ee is not able to eat, not able to sleep, having a hard time working.  No. Bueno.

The columnist drones on about all this psychobabble bullshit.  Love yourself. Be kind to yourself.  You are in mourning.  You are in withdrawal.  .....blah blah blah.

Are you fucking kidding me???

Here is the real version.

Dude, I realize the person you called a "soul mate" split, with no explanation to you whatsoever.  That should be your first clue.  Soul mates don't treat you that way.  it's obvious that you loved her more than she loved you.  Nothing wrong with that.  But it really is better to find out now than later that she was as uncaring as she was.  And let's face it.  She didn't care about you.  That has nothing to do with you and everything to do with her.  She did you a favor by bailing.  This way, you can start your search for someone new, who genuinely cares about you.  Someone who values you, the way you live your life, your morals and values.  YOU.   So don't lose one more minute of sleep over her.  Because I am sure she isn't losing a bit of sleep over you.  Go with some friends to your fave food place, order your fave meal.  Have some laughs and good times.  Stay up late and watch movies with those friends.  And when all is said and done, have a great nights sleep.  Because in the end, you deserve better than her.  And who knows, maybe she knew that and that's why she split.  People around you love you and don't want to see you hurting.  So don't waste another minute and don't wake up another day and give that bitch any more power in your life.  Life's too short and you deserve all the laughter and smiles you can get.

Now that's how it should have gone.

The Hunger Games, Uh, I mean Battle Royale, um, I mean Lord of the Flies.....

Alrighty then. After hearing all the hoopla about how great The Hunger Games was I decided to sit down and watch it. I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I was NOT impressed. If this is what everyone is saying is the big blockbuster of the year then I'm not sure they have any taste. Lord of the Flies was a much better movie than this one. Both the 1963 and the 1990 versions. But lets go back to 1996, when a Japanese author Koushun Takami wrote a book called (translated) Battle Royale. Its a story about 42 (21 boys and 21 girls) who are taken to a deserted island and told they must fight to the death. If more than "survivor" lives, then everyone dies. There can be only one victor. Apparently their totalitarian government is bored and using this as a punishment for their rowdy youth. They are 7th, 8th and 9th graders. Basically kids. Sound familiar??? Apparently Suzanne Collins claims to have never heard of the book, or movie (which came out in 2000) until AFTER her book was turned in. Ok, I suppose it is conceivable that two people can come up with the same story concept. However considering how much alike they are, I'm kinda doubting it. But whatever. Battle Royale is a far better movie IMHO. Its raw and gritty and lacks the flash of the latters Hollywood glitz and glam. As I sat watching the 2012 version, I couldn't help thinking I have seen this before. While being a wee bit Third Reich-ish, and a blatant rip off of Battle Royale with a touch of Lord of the Flies, let's toss in a little 1984, a smattering of Blade Runner, a bit of Harry Potter since that one chick for some reason kept reminding me of Imelda Stauntons Character "Dolores Umbridge" and lets finish off with just a pinch of RuPauls Drag Race, shall we? Suffice it to say, I am glad I did not waste money on this piece of crap.

I have no idea.................

I have no idea who this beautiful soul is, lol but the minute I saw him I fell head over heels.  And though no one reads any of my crap my odds of finding out who he is is next to nil.  But I wanted to throw it out there anyway.  Who ever you are.  Beautiful man lol.

Ok so I skipped a few...........and then some.

I've read about a few books since I last posted.  I've been dealing with allergies, taxes, cleaning and organizing and getting my business in order so I can start promoting again.  IF that bothers you well eat me lol.  No one is really reading this shit anyway.  So I'll keep my reviews short, if I can remember what the hell I read to begin with.

First up is Maya Banks, the Sweet Series.  I loved this series from the get go.  Iti's like taking a peek into peoples lives.  This is Cole's book...and who knew Cole had such a sexy, sinful, naughty side to him!  Don't waste your time with the Fifty Shades Series, read this one instead. 

Cole finally hooks up with his former college sweetheart Ren, only to learn she belongs to another.  Literally lol.  And Cole being Cole will do whatever he has to to win her back.  And he fucking better. 

This is my fave one of the series.  The thought of being in a poly amorous relationship with two men just gives me the tingles from head to toe.  And why shouldn't it?  Two men to take care of me, make me feel safe and loved and cater to my every sexual need??  The mere idea alone could make me pass out lol.

Tiger by Laurann Dohrner.

I got into this series on a whim.  I was looking at ebooks and found her book Brawn....ok actually I found the cover of the book lol.  The dude on the cover was a complete stud, even if he didn't have a head.  I read the trail, downloaded the book (it was the 5th in the New Species Series) and I was off and running.  I loved the characters.  They are a group of people who were created by a pharmaceutical company and had their DNA combined with Feline, Canine or Primate DNA.  So they are people, with a twist, lol.  I liked the simplicity and the ferocity of the characters and how the author chose to write the characters.  How the characters are rescued and freed from their torturous captors and then how they learn to live as free people.  A lot of the dialogue had me laughing.  The characters simplicity in understanding and speech made them all very endearing to me. I think my fave book in the series is Valient....but alas I have read them all to date.  It's a fun read.....different that the Lora Leigh Series and much more light hearted I think.

Lori Foster, A Pefect Storm

Again, another series I got into merely by chance.  I was at the store, needed something to read......voila, involved in another series lol.

This is Arizona Storms Story.  She survived being kidnapped, sold into slavery by trafficers and nearly killed when thrown off a bridge.   Enter hot guy on the cover who's name escapes me for the moment lol.  Does it really matter anyway?  In the story, the guy is a typical alpha male dominant.  The guy I love to love but in reality would have no idea what to do with because he would probably drive me utterly insane!  But if its the guy on the cover?  Sanity is highly overrated anyway.


Read the book, don't read the book, it's entirely up to you.  I enjoyed it and I look forward to the next one.  If I sit here and tell you about it, you won't really have a reason to read it now will you?

Lover Reborn, JR Ward

In this 10th official installment in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (not counting the novellas Father Mine or Story of Son) We find Tohrment a shell of the former brother he once was.  After the death of his Shellan, Wellesandra (Wellsie) and their as yet unborn son, Tohr is trying to exist, trying to live.....trying.  But as a bonded male, losing your mate is akin to losing your life, so, why continue?

Tohr is pulled back and returned to the Brotherhood by the Angel Lassiter, a guttermouth, hard partying Maury Povich watching Angel as it were.  But Tohr hasn't really moved on.  He's stuck and full of revenge over the death of his mate.

Enter No'One.  She is the biological mother of Xhexania.  No'One and Tohr had a past.  After She was raped and held captive by an unknown sympath,  Tohr and Darius nurse her to health and see her through her pregnancy.  To which she then commits suicide and leaves Tohr to bury her in the end and to find a home for the orphaned Xhex.  Reunited again by a miracle of the Scribe Virgin, these two damaged and severely fucked up people take a comfort of sorts with each other.  Over time growing fond of each other, but not really letting go of their pasts and letting the other one in all the way.  Which is the problem.  If they don't they will never be able to save themselves.

I wait all year for the next installment of this series.  On pins and needles, kneeling on glass.  This is one storyline I wish the characters were real.  However I am glad they are not due to some of the untold horrors the characters all suffer.  It is hard not to fall in love with the characters though.  They become a part of you, and you find yourself hoping for their happiness.

JR Ward doesn't know how many books in this series she will write.  She has been noted with saying something along the lines of she will just keep writing them until she doesn't.  All of the characters are colorful and very complex.  Each with his own environment.  And all of them and brilliantly interwoven into a bigger picture of war, peace, love, accomplishment etc.

It didn't take me long to read this book.  Though it has many chapters, they are short and the book is a pretty easy read.  This story flowed very well, unlike all the hard edged flashbacks and forwards that John Matthew's book had previously.  I loved Tohr, I hated him, I felt bad for him, I wanted to scream and yell at him and at one point I wanted to punch him.  And he would have taken it.  Because he is a male of worth.  Which is a rare find today, even in the human world.  Which is why I have probably fallen head over heels in love with the males in this series.  They are my new bar, my new standard....and nothing less will do.

There is a huge twist at the end.  I'm not giving it away.  I'm kind of surprised I didn't see it coming but all I can say is HOLY SHITE!  I was totally spun.

If you haven't read the books, buy them.  Like now.  Read them.  Immediately.  And I hope you enjoy them and fall in love with them like I have.

Until next spring my Brothers, when we finally get to read Qhuinn & Blay's  story. .......  I have a feeling I know a bit about how that one is going to go and I am already excited as all hell to read it!!!

Taking a Shot by Jaci Burton

In this third installment of the Play by Play series, we are reintroduced to the Riley Clan.  This is sister Jenna's story of her hot romance with hockey stud Tyler "Ty" Anderson.  I found this series sort of by accident.  I was in between series and needed something to read.  The first book, The Perfect Play, has a pic of the very sumptuous Jed Hill on the cover which was the only reason I bought the book lol.  Yes, I admit it lol.  Who could resist??  Now in defense of myself, I rarely by a book strictly for the cover, but it has been known to happen.  Three times.  Broken, by Maya Banks, Perfect Play and Dark Taste of Rapture by Gena Showalter...(haven't read it yet though).  Annnnnnnnnyway....Taking a Shot, very nice cover indeed, no complaints there.


What can I say about this book? It was an ok read....not overly exciting.  It's mostly Jenna lamenting about why she will never date a jock (her family owns a sports bar, her brothers and cousin play professional sports, she is surrounded by it 24/7).   Now, to some extent I can relate to this.  I had brothers who played, family who coached, friends who played, some of who went pro.  Do you hear me pissing and moaning??  No.  I can still sit behind home plate and call every pitch that comes over.  Once it's in your blood, it never really leaves and I still love a good ball game.


So Jenna runs and runs and runs from the very studly Ty.  Who seems like he has demons galore to fight, but in reality he just took his parents divorce extremely hard.  Which is why he doesn't do relationships or love.  I say get over it.


But like protons and neutrons they gravitate to each other and Jenna is somehow under the impression that if she just goes ahead and does Ty, she will get him out of her system.  Yea.  We all know how that turns out lol.    


All in all, a rather uneventful book.  But, considering it followed the Fifty Shades Series, I've had enough drama for a while.  Sometimes, no drama is just nice.  And plus....I like the Rileys.  Like I always say, don't ever take my word for it.  Read it yourself and develop your own opinion.  While you are still allowed to have one.




And they really should list the models on the covers.  Sometimes it really is all about them.

Fifty Shades Freed, E.L. James

Alright, so I have finally finished the Fifty Shades series.  Took a little longer than expected because I do actually have to work for a living.

In this installment we find the young Master Christian still being an insufferable ass.  As I was reading through the entire series, one strain of thought kept coming to my mind:  "If Christian acted like that toward me, I would have kicked his ass and kicked him to the curb".  Yes, I understand he is horribly messed up, but these days, who isn't?  Suffering and abusive childhood, as many people do and have, does NOT give you the right to act like a megalomaniacle prick.

Now the entire story is a bit Twilighty, as it was meant to be originally.  If I remember correctly it came off a sight called Twilighted.net.  I am still a member of that sight.  E.L. James fashioned the character Christian after the Stephanie Meyer character Edward Cullen.....but in looks, I think that is as far as it goes.  Christian is actually more realistically fashioned after Richard Gere's character Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman.  Right down to the job and the sex on the piano.  Both Christian and Edward buy companies and break them apart and sell them bit by bit and make a very prosperous living doing it.  It also has a flare of 9 1/2 Weeks.  The character John being the powerful  dom to Elizabeth's simple and fun but not really a sub. 

Now I have been reading reviews online and trying as best I can to keep up with the information on this series.  This is really the first time in a book I think that the BDSM lifestyle has gone mainstream.  Frankly I have no idea how it made the NY Times Best Seller list, other than the fact that all the "mommies" on the east coast have gone "Twilight Mad" over it.  Which brings me to this question:  What the hell are these people reading on the east coast that makes them think this series is the shit???  Are they serious?  These people need to visit a bookstore more frequently then.  The story line is simple:  Controlling, seriously fucked up young man falls for educated, simple young gal.  Then tries to control her whole entire world.  But while doing this, he finds his salvation lies with her and he begins to heal.  All three books are filled with constant conflict; him castigating her, her fighting and complying.  It actually made me anxious a few times while reading it lol.  I don't have this kind of drama in my real life I sure as shit don't want to read about lol.  If Anastasia were my friend I would have told her to dump the asshole lol.  And there were many times in the storyline I thought if I were involved with Christian, I would have given him the big fat finger and fuck you to boot.  Despite his first 4 years being neglected by his birth mother, Christian spent most of his life in a loving productive home.  At some point I would think the character would realise, at a much younger age, that how he chooses to live his life is up to him. 

Of course we cannot forget the character Elena.  This part of the story line is very tricky.  Christian falls into Elena's grasp at the age of 15.  Christian is on a very negative and destructive streak.  While working for Elena doing yard work, to earn money for a secret drinking problem, Elena slaps Christian, kisses him passionately, then slaps him again.  Turned on, confused, UNDERAGE.  How does one deal with this subject matter??  On the one hand, I grew up the only girl and an all boy household.  At 15, none of my brothers would have minded the affections of an older woman.  I'm not sure many 15 year old boys would.  It does happen, and probably more frequently than we know of.  Does it make it appropriate?  Certainly not.  So how does one reconcile this plot line, other than to say, despite that fact that for a while, it did help Christian focus his life?  You can't.  But you can say underage, and it's a huge gray area.

Now despite Christians overbearing control issues, Anastasia....well this ditz can't seem to get her act together.  I didn't get the idea when Christian would ask her to do something he felt it was overkill, even though she did.  But even when there was a threat of danger, this dumb broad blew off Christians warnings.  Hell at one point, I wanted to hunt her down and beat the crap out of her.  She knows Christian is seriously messed up yet consciously or maybe not consciously, she baits him time and time again.  Then she wanders around the book wondering "is he mad at me?"  Yes he's fucking mad at you you twit".  Her serious bout with low self esteem had me wanting to gouge my eyes out.

Now yes, the big hub bub about the book series is its BDSM theme.  I read a lot of books with this theme.  This is BDSM light.  It's really not a big deal in this book.  It's handled with relative respect I think within the confines of the story, but it is NOT the most colorful I have ever read.  I would call it, as I did in my previous synopsis, An Introduction to BDSM.  Small "scenes" are played out...there is a demonstration of what not to do, (Christian spanking Ana with a belt, and despite her pain and intolerance, she accepts it and doesn't safeword) and a demonstration of what is appropriate (Christian stimulating Ana and denying her orgasm to the point of pain so she finally safewords and stops Christians punishment, an action he took to far as a dom, to her inexperienced submission)

Now, Joyce Lamb of USA Today, wrote a ridiculous article about the books and I have serious doubt she even read them....thoroughly at least.

http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2012-03-15/fifty-shades-of-grey-who-knew-women-like-erotica/648743/1

So I intend to pick her review apart bit by bit here.  Her first faux pas is stating that the books BDSM plays a big role in the books.  It doesn't.  Not really.  BDSM ( Bondage, Domination/submission, Sadism, Masochism) is a part of the books, but mental instability and the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) plays and even bigger role, constant throughout the entire series.

Next, Joyce Lamb states:  "I have noticed, though, that the hubbub about Fifty Shades of Grey has highlighted some frustrating misconceptions about romance novels, erotica and readers of romance novels and erotica. Fact: Fifty Shades of Grey is not a romance novel. The ending is not happy.

I will answer this first.   Joyce, Joyce, Joyce.....what to do, what to do.  I am not in the publishing industry, though seeing articles like this I may rethink that.  I'm just an avid book reader.  I have a day job, friends, enjoy going out from time to time etc.  Fifty Shades is neither really romance or erotica.  It falls in the the abyss of the in between.  Now, the publishing industry equates erotica as something that "pleasurable turns one on".  Frankly, the constant bickering in the series was a huge TURN OFF for me, lol.  Second, if Joyce has actually read the books, she would in fact know the ending is a happy one.  So much so it can bring warm fuzzies to even Christians cold heart.



"The No. 1 rule in romance novels: A happy ending is a must, even when a book is only the first in a trilogy that probably does have a happy ending."

"Also, the "hero" of Fifty Shades of Grey does something at the end that is not redeemable by romance novel standards".


**SPOILER ALERT**

Now, if she is solely speaking about the first book...she's wrong again.  It wasn't Christian that did something that was irredeemable, it was Ana.  She consented to allow Christian to spank her with a belt on her butt.  She was curious and wanted to see how dark it could be.   Christian gave her instructions for safewording, but she didn't use them.  The first rule in D/s is the sub has all the power.  If a safeword is used, all action ceases and the sub is immediately cared for.  However, Ana acted as if Christian knew she was in unsafe mode When he didn't, and acted like he beat her when that is in fact NOT what happened.  IN fact when Christian found out how she felt he was devastated.  It was Ana, not Christian.  So in what amounts to her humiliation and bruised ego, she decides to bail on Christian, and he decides to let her go.  Ana is an idiot.

The books are NOT MEANT TO BE READ AS STAND ALONES!!! They are meant to be as one complete story....so she's not right.

Now for my next answer.  What is Joyce talking about?  **SPOILER ALERT**

Near the end of the book, Ana tells Christian she is pregnant.  Needless to say IF YOU HAD ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK, you knew he would come fifty shades of unglued.  So he flips out  on Ana, and storms out of the house.  He meant to go to Dr. Flynn, who isn't available, and ends up seeing the bitch troll Elena.  Again.  It's not sexual, even though he does confess later that Elena made a pass at him, which made him realize how much he did in fact love Ana.  Granted, it was a total dick move on his part.  Yes, they talked briefly about kids, decided they were too young, needed to spend time getting to know each other better before they embarked on that endeavour.  But as we all know shit happens.  Irredeemable??  HARDLY.

In JR Wards book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Lover Eternal, Rhage brings Mary, the object of his affections back to his bed.  He loves her, has said as much, but yet still leaves her to go "level himself out" by fucking some other broad in a bar.   A fact that is brought to light upon his return, in front of Mary, by the character Phury.  Talk about a slap in the face!  When I read that I was devastated for her character.  Had it been me, I would have been done with him.  Stone cold, never talked to him again, never seen him again, over and out fuck you I'm outta here don't try and find me ever...gone.  THAT is irredeemable.  However, Mary took it, and all worked out in the end.


 "I won't spoil the story for the three people who haven't read it yet, but bottom line: Not a romance novel, not a romance hero. And that's not because of his BDSM tendencies -- you'll see why if you keep reading. "


Ok for the three people who havent read it.  Don't worry about it.  It's an ok read....Not worth the 10$ ebook price, thats for sure.  It IS a romance novel, Christian IS a romance hero.  And Joyce has obviously never spent time in the romance/erotica section of a bookstore to even remotely know what she's talking about.

I could go on, but suffice to say, read the answers given by Raelene, she is in the industry and she knows what she's talking about it.

Is Fifty Shades a good read?  It's hard to say.  It's not on my list of top 10.  I found it parochial, frustrating, banal and repetitive to the nth degree.  However, I did embrace the characters and I did want then to overcome and succeed.  Despite my earlier prognostication of wanting them to destroy themselves, lol, I did want them to have their HEA in the end.  I do think this book is better geared for a 20 something audience (I am 45).  Would I read it again?  Probably not, which I why I bought the ebook. Delete.  Nuff said.  When it comes to BDSM or D/s or Menage, my preferred authors are Joey W. Hill and Maya Banks.  You can even throw Lora Leigh in this category as well as Jaci Burton.  And I'm always looking for other authors to read as well.

In the end, what I look for in a book is something that is so far out of my own reality that it takes me to place of complete unfamiliarity and entertainment.  I may be 45, but I am still a girl and I still love a good fairy tale.  With whips and chains or not lol.

Fifty Shades Darker, E.L. James

In this installment we essentially begin with Christian topping...from the bottom.  A deeply disturbed young man, immensely successful, intelligent, handsome and manipulative.  He is essentially, as Dr. Flynn puts it......."an adolescent".  I agree with the assessment.

With Christians petulant behavior, it appears as though he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.  Which would explain why his is as successful as he is.  But the story is out of balance..  We find Christian making amazing life altering changes, while his Ana makes surprising few.  I wasn't convinced that Christian was as much "healing" as he was just trying to win his end game.

Ana on the other hand has begun to depersonalize Christian in this installment, constantly referring to him as "Fifty".  Some could argue that this is a term of endearment, but to me it's like complimenting someone about how good they look for their age.  Ana's insecurity in herself frankly made me want to bash my skull in against a brick wall.  I can understand insecurity, we all have them, but for Christ's sake it made me wonder who was more "Fifty shades of fucked up"....her or Christian?

The nearly plot constant arguing between the two characters, Christian and Ana nearly drove me insane.  I don't even have this kind of drama in my real life!  To read about it....??  I found it exhausting.  Had I been dating either one of them, I would have kicked them to the curb and told them to chill the fuck out and stop creating all this damn drama!

I am amazed at how inappropriately people seem to act around Christian.  A shrewd businessman, very direct with his personal staff, yet his so called "friends" in the book, namely Elena, act amazingly out of bounds and he does nothing? Jose is drunk and makes a pass at Ana in book one, and Christian is ready to flog the man.   Again I understand Elena is a trusted friend, so to speak, but not even me and my friends act like that around each other.  I'm also fascinated at the dynamic that Christian feels he CAN have friends, but Ana cannot.  Because Christian is that insecure....juvenile.....controlling......manipulative.

And then there is the poor, very messed up and sad Leila.  I did like the way Ana was handling that scene.  I would have actually liked to have seen that go further.  Enter intervention with Christian.  As Leila's former Dom, it is his responsibility to care for her.  A good Dom does not neglect a sub, or if said Dom sees another sub in distress it is their responsibility to come to aid.  A sub is NOT to fall to neglect.  Period.  I felt that this whole part of the story is what opened everything up.  Christian and Leila's "relationship" has very distinct and clear cut boundaries and each knew how to act within those parameters.  Outside of those boundaries, I almost feel as though Christian is faring better than Ana.

I have been doing a little re-reading on this book series and it's base of origins.  I keep hearing that this is supposed to be "all the rage" on the east coast and with the soccer moms....not to mention the BDSM tone of the books.  Frankly, I'm trying to figure out what the hell these people are reading if this gets them fired up.  As I said in an earlier synopsis, this is pretty tame reading actually.  The author obviously fumbles her way through the BDSM portion and the sex scenes are marginal as I felt as though the author was holding back.  I have read other authors, namely Joey W. Hill and Maya Banks who also write similar stories.  Their books are no holds barred and farrrrrr more racy than this.  Anne Rice's Beauty series also leaves this in the dust.  Or maybe I am just hardcore lol.  This is more like beginner BDSM to me.
Joey W. Hill's Knights of the Boardroom Series?  Now that will leave you with a pair of wet panties.

Despite my.........negativity, I do like the books.  Sort of.  The characters are frustratingly endearing, even though you want to hit them lol.  As I said in my first synopsis, I was kinda hoping the main characters would annihilate each other.  In a way, I hope they still do.  I really get tired of everyone getting a "happily ever after".  Just once, I want the book to end fucked up.  I want to be disturbed.  When I finish a book, I want to sit on my sofa with my mouth hanging open, saying "damn".  I want the book to haunt me.  I'm not sure that is going to happen with this series.  I'm starting to like the characters, lol.  But you neeeeeever know.  And I can always hope lol.  Cuz, I'm twisted like that lol.

Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James

It's raining today, which for some reason I find apropos as I sit mulling over this book.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.  I must first preface this by saying, I did not know of this book until a day or so ago.  Since then I have read a few reviews for it and tried to bring myself to knowledge of it, as well as it's rank on the NY Times Best Seller List.  While this book does have BDSM undertones, more appropriately Domination and submission (D/s) it is tactfully done and by far tame by my standards.  I am by far more drawn to what I consider to be the calignosity that surrounds it.

At the start of reading this book I almost immediately get the same disturbing  undercurrent as I did when I began reading The Story of O.  There is a definite prevailing darkness to the characters which I feel draws one into the book.  Christian Grey, the enigmatic, multi cajillionaire and profoundly fucked up male protagonist.  We know there is a dark monster lurking somewhere within.  Like being in  dark cave, no light to speak of, only your hands and the cave walls to find you way and the strange slithery sounds you hear in the darkness.  You know it's there, yet it terrifies you to look to closely.

Then there is the lovely Anastasia Steele.  The carefree and fun loving female protagonist.  A bubbly and buoyant, take-no-shit-from-anyone personality who you cannot help but fall for and admire.

Christian and Anastasia meet when she literally falls for him, lol.  She stumbles into his office practically landing on her face.  Though it was Ana who literally fell, it was Christian who took the proverbial fall....Like Lucifer being cast from the heavens.  The book does a great job in giving the reader, or perhaps voyeur, ever so brief glimpses into the man.....like the monsters who linger in the dark of a really good horror movie.  A flash here, a glint there, a scream, a slither, a thud.

Christian, a Dom (Dominant IE: Sexual Dominant) has qualities that while reading, rouse my own dark monster, which is now slithering around my head, looking for its own way out.  I have much in common with this character.  He is controlling, bossy, short and direct to the point of being cold and detached.  He is by all means, direct.  He says what he means and means what he says.  When he spouts a directive, he expects it followed without question.  An attitude often looked up as powerful in a business situation, but in a relationship?  Oddly enough, I understand him.  Christian has constructed his environment deliberately.  He is, as the book says, "an island".  In his carefully constructed world he can move around, safely and securely.  He is at the top of his food chain...or so he appears.

Anastasia, or Icarus as she often refers to herself.  Ana comes from a fairly well adjusted not to screwed up childhood.  She is loved, cared for, has close friends.  She is not involved in the D/s culture, though Christian would like her to be.  While reading this I am reminded, you cannot make someone something they aren't.  But Ana, like most women, wants to please Christian, so she tries.  Again I am reminded of my own past, trying to make someone happy at the expense of myself.  If Ana were in front of me I would shake her by her shoulders and scream RUN!!!.......and by the grace of the Gods don't look back.  You somehow know when you meet that one person, the chemistry and electricity between the two of you is so unbelievably powerful that it can in fact be your ultimate downfall....destroy you utterly.

Christian seems young.....mid twenties?  But his persona is much older.  Is he 25 or 35?  It's a little confusing to me timeline wise because we know Ana is roughly early/mid 20's.  I am confused because Christian was taken into submissive servitude at the very young age of 15 by what appears to be a much older Domme.  I believe the book said he was in servitude to her for six years, which means he came out of it at approximately 21.  But he tells Ana when she asks him it was "years ago".  If he's mid 20's then "years ago" this does not make.  Now the fact that it involves and underage boy does give me the heebs a bit.  Do I justify it by saying 15 year old boys are different that 15 year old girls?  I dunno.  I have no way to rationalize it other than to say at 15 I know what and who I was doing.  Right or wrong.

The whole while I am reading this book I am thinking this is a dangerous relationship.  Ana called Christian the "ultimate consumer".  While I think she meant his penchant for purchasing, it has a dual meaning to it because I see him consuming her.  She has entered his carefully constructed world and literally up ended it and the man and like a drowning man grasping as a rescuer, will he inadvertently drown her in the process?

It has cross elements of Twilight.......Christian tells Ana he is no good for her, AKA Edward the dick dumping Bella in the woods.  I hated that prick for doing it.  Still pisses me off.  Too busy thinking about himself to see to the needs of another.  It also has tones of 9 1/2 Weeks...The very cryptic John meets the very carefree Elizabeth.....and tries to turn her into something she isn't.  The scene where he tries to make her crawl across the floor to him, while throwing money at her still boils my blood.  Had it been be me I would have stood, laughed in his face, given him the finger and big fat fuck you and walked out the door.  But then again, I am not a sub.  I don't think.  Anyway.......

The tone of the story is Christian wanting Ana to change so she fits in the box he has so carefully constructed.  It's all about him.....The gift of the computer is so she can research HIS world.  The blackberry is so HE can get ahold of her.  The car is so HE can control her world.  Sure he says it's for her safety, which I do understand, but c'mon, I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday.  He is a wealthy cajillionaire and she is a college student.  An enticement into his world.  To her credit, Ana does fight him all the way.  She retains her sense of self, even as she feels herself getting lost in him.  And in a world where Christian holds all the strings......she will very well be Icarus flying too close to the sun.

The book does have it's lighter moments as well.  Ana's inner Goddess is annoying and hilarious.  The proverbial angel on the shoulder.  But is she devil or angel?  Maybe a bit of both, lol.  The emails Anastasia and Christian exchange are priceless breath of fresh air.  They are fun, formal, flirty, sexy.....a joy to actually read and a perfect break in the story's intense plot.  E.L. James did a great job creating these.  It gives the reader what I feel is a true glimpse into the soul's of each character.  The lightheartedness and playfulness is almost childlike and each characters need for the other to love them is clearly evident.  It's an easier way for them to communicate with out the constant buzz of intense chemistry between them.  Here they can truly be open and honest with each other.

But my own darkness has a need for something disturbing, as with the Story of O.  There was no happy ending for her as O asked her Master for permission to commit suicide (in an alternate ending) and permission was in fact granted.  Where will Fifty Shades lead?  I have only started the second book, but there in one thing I have to say about it.  I haven't stopped reading since I started, with the exception of writing this.  Will Christian and Ana have an HEA?  A part of me is hoping they do.......

But disturbingly my dark side hopes they completely and totally annihilate each other.

I haven't put the story down.  I haven't cleaned, I haven't done laundry and I haven't really left my house.  My trash is still sitting on the porch, waiting to go to the can.  I did shower, I did brush my teeth and I did eat.

I'd say that's a pretty fucking good book.  Wouldn't you?