What do Fifty Shades of Grey and Austin Moms Blog have in common? Romance, love, sex, relationships, broken hearts, happy hearts, marriage, sex, family, compromise, children, sex, did I mention sex?, and one total sexy babe that I like to refer to as McHeavenly not to be mistaken with McDreamy or McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy. So the better question is what doesn’t Fifty Shades of Grey have in common with Austin Moms Blog, right? I mean I know {cough cough} that my love life is just as exciting and sexy as Christian and Ana’s. Isn’t yours?
Okay let’s be real here, the answer to that question is, NO! If it were we wouldn’t have time for Facebook, blogs, diapers, grocery stores, American Idol, or even some sappy romance erotic novel.
A girlfriend recommended the trilogy to me and that was the first time I had heard of the books. Then one random day my mom was talking about it. Not knowing anything about the book I just chalked it up to one of those books my mom was immersed in for her book club. LOL! It wasn’t until I overheard her talking about the book at a pageant committee party and a particular sex toy {too XXX to mention here} that was used in the book {I almost choked on my burrito, by the way} that I realized the book might be more interesting than I had given it credit for. Around this same time Fifty Shades blew up and was being talked about everywhere I looked… Facebook, friends, morning shows, etc.
So what is a stay at home mom to do? Go out and buy the damn book, of course! And that’s what I did.
So why is this trilogy so popular? I have a couple of ideas.
- Sex: You’d think I’d be bored by sex especially since I’m married and have a kid {we all know how he got here}. Let’s be real, I am; however, it’s SO much more interesting when you’re reading about someone else doing it. Truth be told, the sex component of the book was much more intriguing in book 1 compared to books 2 and 3, but sex is still an integral piece of the pie in Fifty Shades. I’m not sure whips and chains are my thing, but quite enthralling to read about nonetheless.
- Money: I’m sorry, but if you’re not kind of turned on by the fact that Christian Grey makes roughly $100,000 an hour than there’s something wrong with you. I’m not saying that in the real world we are all motivated by rich men, but come on! He’s filthy rich and it’s kind of hot. Christian demands his woman (Ana) wear nothing but Christian Louboutins, drive an Audi, requires waxing and spa services, a personal trainer, personal chef, personal driver, would be happier if she didn’t work at all, makes sure there’s 50k in her bank account at any given time, and introduces her to a personal shopper at Neiman Marcus where she can buy anything her little heart desires. Seriously? You’re lying if you say a life like that wouldn’t be a dream! My husband still doesn’t know how to say Louboutin let alone require boxes and boxes of them in my closet.
- Good looks: Yeah yeah yeah, looks aren’t everything, right? Ah hem, well Christian Grey is about as sexy as sexy gets. I only have my imagination to go off of here, but I’m thinking he’s pretty darn heavenly hence McHeavenly. So yeah the book is much more interesting to read considering he’s hot hot hot rather than a total troll. Sorry, but looks DO matter! It’s been rumored that Ian Somerhalder from Vampire Diaries is a fan favorite to play Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. Yep, he’ll do!!!!!
- Romance: Yes, there’s a TON of sex in this book, but there’s also an abundant amount of tender moments. I’m sure my husband does most of these things, but somehow in real life you don’t recognize them like you should. I found myself grinning ear to ear reading about Christian opening Ana’s car door, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, caring so much about her safety and well being, holding onto her waist in public, and honestly, I loved how domineering he was. I was telling Wesley about how attractive this dominance and possessiveness was in the book and he was like, “wait a minute, being dominating and possessive is cool with you now?” Um no, but in my book it was definitely sexy… real life not so much unless you make $100 k an hour and then it’s a maybe….kidding!
- An escape from reality: I think all fictional books give a dose of an escape from normal life, but I found myself totally immersed in this book. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Backyardigans could be on full blast and I could still dive right into my book not skipping a beat. Wesley would be watching basketball in the evening and I’d be reading, I could walk through the house and never put my book down, someone could ask me a question and I totally wouldn’t hear it. Nothing mattered for 3 weeks of my life except getting through this trilogy. Don’t worry folks, I still fed, bathed, played with, sang to, and read books to my tot, but also still managed to read roughly 100 pages a day of my book.
It’s been said that Fifty Shades of Grey is creating a mommy porn revolution. It’s also been said that this book can spice up the romance in your relationship. Eh maybe. Sure, the book is classified as “erotic”; however like I said above, after book 1 you virtually become numb to all the sex. I found myself almost wanting to skim past the sex parts so I could get to the juice of the story… the tale of Christian and Ana.
What do you think? Mommy porn? What is it about Fifty Shades of Grey that has made this book such a popular phenomenon?
Laters Baby!
Oh Allison, I read the first book and thought it was good but the characters really got on my nerves. I could only make it though half of the second because I could not stand both of the main characters. I seriously wanted to punch them in the face every time an eye-roll happened or she said ‘holy fuck’. I wanted to know what happened so I went online and read the spoilers. The sex was hot in the first book but my the time I threw it down it had begun to get monotonous. Basically I couldn’t handle to poor writing. But to each their own, right?
That’s so funny you say that, Tracy, because my sister is reading the first book and she can’t stand Christian! And she doesn’t understand how Ana could give it up so quickly if she’s a virgin. I found some typos in the book and found some of the words and phrasing to be redundant, but I still loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. Maybe I fell into the hype of the book, but I can’t wait for a movie to be made! Maybe you’ll like the movie better 😉
~Allison
the writing is bad but it’s a turn-your-brain-off kind of read that I like after long day at work! However, if you like this i have some recommendations that are awesome summer reads – Valley of the Dolls – published in 1966, and was one hell of a scandal back in the day. I coudln’t put it down. Also – if you like fiction, with a little twist of sci-fi and sex then Game of Thrones is awesome. It’s a long series that will take you a while to get through (awesome for avid readers). Lastly, Battle Royale is the book Hunger Games is based on. It’s just as gory as HG, and has some intense relationships to sink your teeth into (make sure you order the english version as it was originally published in Japanese). Lastly, Alli – i’d love for you to read The Feminine Mystique then blog about it. Some of the 1950’s issues have changed for women, however some have not. I want to hear your take on it vs. fictional character Ana.
You’re reading Fifty??? Just last week you weren’t… or were you? Do you still have a copy of Feminine Mystique? All of those sound like awesome suggestions! I keep thinking of getting Games of Thrones, but I’ve been watching it on HBO so I’m worried I will compare it to what I’ve seen. Typically I like to read a book first then see the movie.
~Allison
I absolutely LOVED the series. I do agree with Xaviera that the writing is not good, but that wasn’t the point…I liked escaping to that world while reading the books. I am going to check out some of her suggestions on reading except Game of Thrones….I am watching season 1 and am just not that into it. I thought I would be, but it is really irritating me.
I love Christian Grey though and cannot wait for the movie 😉 I think it is funny how so many women made such a big deal about the books being “soccer mom porn” and not being appropriate for “classy” women to read….pffft whatever…who doesn’t love a good love story with hot sex!?! My husband certainly liked me reading the books LOL as did I and I am still just as classy of a gal and my morals were not compromised in the process. I could go on and on….
i himmed and hawwed about this series then finally broke down and started reading a sample online i found myself wanting to read more and 5 days later i had read all three books! we r going througha stressful time in our lives (one is moving to Austin from FL) and this series really got me out of my own head! it relieved the stress of moving, being seperated from my husband and several other stressers.. I loved it!! and im not a reader AT ALL… but i found myself putting my lil one to bed and reading til 3am lol… and every other chance i could get!. about to start hunger games and hope it too will “get me out of my own head” for a lil bit. thanks for blogging about it! 😉
Hunger Games is one of my all time faves! You’ll be up late reading it too 🙂 I used to not be a reader either until a few years ago, and now it is my escape and stress reliever. Good luck with everything!!!
And now everyone knows that pageant committee meetings aren’t all about pageants….way to let the cat out of the bag Allison. Some of the comments are so how I felt…I too found myself skipping through the sex scenes after the first fifty of them and I also stayed up on school nights until 2:30 , not even realizing it was so late. I would love to have someone be mesmerized by me as Ana is by Christian…but the whips and XXX sex toys would not do. I can’t wait to see how they even begin to make this into a movie but after I read the last of the trilogy I can see a window of opportunity for a script. One thing you have to give the author credit for was the ability to get you to buy the second book and buy it quickly after finishing the first. After finishing the trilogy I read “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly…talk about purging your mind of the sex scenes from Grey. Fifty was pure fantasy for me and Lincoln was reality of a time past. Thanks for the blog.