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Between the covers book club

Hello, lovely ladies 🙂

What an exciting week it’s been! I’m stunned that Erika managed to keep that BIG a secret so close to her chest for so long. I think other authors with outstanding books from their series can take a leaf from her book. Love that we don’t have ages to wait before Grey graces our Kindles and shelves, but even a couple of weeks are too long for the Ladies of Grey, right? LOL! 

This last week also saw fresh allegations here on our blog screaming abuse and non-consent, and though I deeply feel for women from abusive relationships, I find it very hard to understand that people still feel that BDSM equals abuse. I may not want my other half to take a cane to my back, but it doesn’t change the fact that some people want (if not NEED) the pain, and within the context of a HAPPY, CONSENSUAL relationship, how is consent EVER an issue? You might not understand it, or want it for yourself, but you cannot discount other people’s needs like that. Further, to say FSOG is not romance, well, again I beg to differ. Christian is as genuinely romantic as they come, no games, no hidden agendas, he was almost innocent in they ways he tried to give Ana MORE. What could be more beautiful than that? 

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 Truth! But it certainly doesn’t ALWAYS come in a package you love or understand. Each to his own, peeps!

I also recently came across this little gem…

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Wow, talk about a cover-all read! LOL! 

BC

This week I read:

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Echo by E.K. Blair, book two in the Black Lotus series, was hard to read. Like Katherine, I got to a point where I felt she should simply end it and put herself out of the horrific misery that is her completely screwed-up life. You can’t fault the author’s ability to write drama, to find more and more shocking ways to mess with the already broken heroine’s (and I use that term loosely) world, but damn, at what point does drama become too much? I will certainly read book three when it comes out, but I don’t think I will ever love this heart-wrenching series.

Currently I’m reading:

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Temporary Bliss by B.J. Harvey, book one in the Bliss series, is hopefully what I need to get out from under the dark cloud remaining from reading Echo.

On my shelf I have:

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Temptation by Nicole Edwards, book two in the Club Destiny series. An oldie but hopefully as good as the first…

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That is it for the book club, girls. Let me know how you go with the Black Lotus series.

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LOL! I can relate!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Monique kiss

34 thoughts on “Between the covers book club”

  1. Katherine says:
    June 7, 2015 at 5:11 PM

    Hi Monique glad you agreed with me about Elizabeth, I just asked myself quite often whilst reading it why go on?!
    I’m really interested to know if Declan is still a candidate for book boyfriend after reading book 2??.

    Last week I read Redemption book 3 in the club series by Lauren Rowe, It was ok but not as good as the previous 2 books.
    I then read Say my Name by J Kenner I loved it as usual and have pre-ordered part 2 out on 24th June but like everyone else Grey is what I’m looking forward to most of all.

    Hopefully Erica will influence more authors to write from the male POV and maybe we’ll be surprised with a book from Jesse’s POV oh the possibilities could be endless 😀

    Have a great week everyone

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  2. Heather Blackburn says:
    June 8, 2015 at 12:47 AM

    Thank you for these weekly updates! Like you, I never understood people who hate FSOG so much, that they take to the internet every chance they get to whine and gripe about it. I always think it’s fine not to like it. Not one thing in this world is everyone’s cup of tea. What is troublesome is the relentless attacking of those of us who do. I have figured out that given the worldwide sales of the books and movie, I am in very good company. With that, I’m anxiously awaiting “Grey.” 🙂

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  3. Dawn Rutherford (@ukmissingusa) says:
    June 8, 2015 at 1:31 AM

    The hysteria around the ‘abuse’ in FSoG is maddening. This is a love story within the erotic romance genre, but the fact that it is fiction has been long lost as people wage battles against Christian with spite. It is as if he were a real life celebrity. Erica James shows us a complicated man who behaves in ways that generally outrage us. As we gain understanding of the trauma he endured and why he controls, we become empathic towards him. We see that he reveres Ana and has quality relationships with his family, his staff and his doctor — people who know him intimately and respect him. His behaviour is extreme, but it is Christian’s life story and he needs to emerge as a fully formed character with the right to behave in difficult ways; for his relationship to evolve in a nonconventional way; for both of them to struggle on the path towards full emotional healthiness together. Erica does not owe an apology for how her characters behave: the drama played out on the page provokes deep thought and indeed some consternation. This is why it has riveted 100 million readers in 30 countries.

    It is lazy to strip out the complex layers of the storyline, going straight to vilify Christian as an abuser. This is result of people reading only the first book and failing to contextualise the BDSM dynamic properly. In all reviews that I have read, the allusion to Christian’s complex ‘shades of grey’ personality is ignored. They see that he can only be 100% good or 100% bad. The commentators refuse to make the deeper analysis that requires reading all three books — their writing is almost always in haste — and thus he loses every time.

    The BDSM community feels agrieved that Christian had breakdowns in their prescribed protocols. A rule is never do ‘impact play’ –hitting– if stressed in any way. Our man used the whip when they were both agitated. It was a lapse of judgement — a breach of protocol, and earns Christian the label of abusive villain within their ranks. It is important to realise that the BDSM community knows it has been ‘outed’ by the FSoG books and movie, with all sorts of inaccurate interpretations of what ‘kinky people do’ as a result. They desperately seek acceptance by the general public and want Christian ‘perfect’ for their public relations ambitions. Perfect behaviour never sells a book and Erica never owed them it. Personally I think their viewpoint to be utterly shallow, which is sad as the BDSM crowd are highly educated and need not have been so knee-jerked in their response.

    Christian’s actions towards Ana are what men in the real world do when they hold great power and wealth, and where they are use to having their dominance and misbehaviour treated with deference. In the many reviews that I have read, the allusion of the complex ‘shades of grey’ in his personality is ignored: his overwhelming goodness of character that emerges over the three books is never acknowledged.

    Ana is Christian’s lover, never objectified by him. He is trying to forge this first romantic relationship in a world where he always gets his way in business and in his BDSM relationships. Sometimes his actions give off an abusive veneer. I have read, then re-read sections of books when this happens and he clears the non-abusive hurdle — just. Yes, he has ‘blips’ of bad behaviour (i.e. intrusiveness and trampling all over her life). His beating her was a massive failure– and it devastates him. He is ashamed when she was forced to ‘safeword’. An abusive man never admits doing anything wrong and always blames the woman. Christian doesn’t do this. He is in intensive psychotherapy with Dr Flynn who helps him process his mistakes towards healing his behaviour. This therapeutic relationship is a pivotal argument against the allegations of abuse. Dr Flynn could not have ethically stood by watching abusive behaviour towards Ana. During his session with Ana he states that he knows a great deal about her — clearly she has been a main topic of conversation during sessions with Christian. (We now await what Christian reveals to us about what he told Dr Flynn — my bet is his doctor has been a guiding force in the survival of the relationship).

    Ana is a strong woman who executes excellent ‘push back’ against Christian’s inappropriate behaviour — watching her do it fascinates us. She is shy and submissive looking, but she is fact holds the power in their relationship. Her love of Christian is fierce and she sees his goodness in the wreckage of his pain. She has to pick her battles well, and she sometimes lets him control her. It sometimes makes us cringe, but we do have an opaque understanding of how she transforms him: surely the new book will give further insight.

    Erica is about to give us the exciting opportunity to hear what Christian has to say for himself with the new ‘Grey’ book. I think he will charm the pants off us, and we’ll love and respect him even more.

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  4. Sharon says:
    June 8, 2015 at 6:30 AM

    What Dawn said. LOL! You go, girl!! Except that Christian charmed off my pants quite some time ago!!! Love the man…can’t wait for MORE!! I can’t really care too much what the critics say…I think the numbers speak for themselves. No arguments about what all of us will be reading come June 18th, I think. That weekend, Bookclub will be all shades of GREY!!
    In the meantime, toward the end of the Shadowlands series by Cherise Sinclair. Enjoying it more than I remembered. I think books 6 & 7 are my favorites so far, as those were the lifestyles I knew the least about. And shame that Club Shadowlands can’t exist in RL. The place would explode with all of that male testosterone in one building. All those dangerous Doms with hearts of gold!! And thanks to Crystal, I found there was another book written a couple of years back that I missed, so will be reading “If Only”, about a charming but very naughty submissive that has been a minor character in the last several books of the series. Her time to shine as not one, but TWO gorgeous Doms from the FBI have her in their sights….I think this one is gonna be fun! And Crystal, you may know there is a new book in the series called “Servicing the Target”, coming out in July, but is on preorder sale for $2.99. The website said the sale is only for 1 week, but I don’t know when the week began. I’ve snagged it…but Club Shadowlands will be closing its doors for a few days once Grey is out!!

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    • Monique Lain says:
      June 8, 2015 at 6:33 AM

      LOL! Oh we are fun! Love it! Loving the two Dom scenario also! What can be better that one hot Dom? Two, of course!! Thanks for the great share, Sharon!

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      • crystal says:
        June 9, 2015 at 4:55 AM

        Hi Ladies,
        Sharon I just love all the Doms in Shadowland with their thick, hard, long cocks and bodies build like a muscle man. HA HA HA. I just received in the mail today “If Only”. But I’m with you Shadowland Doms will go back on the shelf while I read “Grey”
        Is “Club Destiny” series anything like Shadowland.
        Love this group. Hope you have a great week.
        Crystal
        PS Sharon, I rereading “To Comand and Collar”. Liked it so much and I always miss things if I only it once.

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  5. crystal says:
    June 9, 2015 at 4:59 AM

    AND on the topic of the haters. Why on God’s green earth do people continue to read thing that are so distruping to them. And then bitch about it. How did they end up on our wonderful site. They had to be looking to find us so they just were looking for a fight. They can go FUCK off and leave us all along.
    Have a nice week,
    Just had to get that off my chest.

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    • Monique Lain says:
      June 9, 2015 at 5:33 AM

      LOL! Yes, it is odd, isn’t it? I completely agree. I cannot see myself trolling the net for stuff I hate, on the contrary, you look for the opposite, don’t you? I’ll never understand.

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  6. MAC says:
    June 9, 2015 at 7:54 AM

    You know my sweet ladies of grey… The grass is always “greyer” on the other side. Like many of you before I find it mesmerizing how people venture to the “greyer” side and then complain when they get there. I have to say that having Meander to travel through after FSOG did solidify my love for the characters just that much more. We were able to extend the life of that story through Monique and each other. I walked on the “greyer” side cause I chose it. Wanted to be with my ladies!!!
    Knowing the struggles and victories in FSOG leaves me shaking my head as to why people label it abusive. Its consensual. Its fictional. I can see how some doors to BDSM were opened that they wanted to stay closed but again that is a controlled environment… You join it. You choose it. I said before that we can never fix stupid ( as a nurse I do try to sedate it 😉 … ) abusive people constantly look for ” ways to blame everyone else for their sins” … Well there is NO abuse in that trilogy because there is remorse, empathy and growth in the characters. Christian is NOT a poster child for blame he is a hot, hot, hot alpha male who sets his limits and than opens the “Red Door” …

    I love that we have each other to talk to and strongly recommend the haters find something that speaks to them… Cause we may have to call Lord Jesse to do some ” trampling”. 3 2 1 zero baby…
    ❤

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    • Monique Lain says:
      June 9, 2015 at 8:00 AM

      Oh yes! Trampling is an excellent idea. But it is sad; that folks find it hard to see past their personal experience tinted glasses. We’ve had abuse sufferers here on the blog commenting that they can clearly distinguish the difference, and they LOVE GC as much as we do. If you’re hurting wouldn’t your free time serve you better if you do something uplifting for your broken spirit? Great comment, as always you spunky spitfire. Love it!!

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  7. Kathy Fornear says:
    June 11, 2015 at 10:36 AM

    Monique- I appreciate your comments in your first paragraph about readers having to wait forever for new installments in a book series. It’s ridiculous! That same author has another series that isn’t finished, I’ve been waiting 3 years for the 3rd book to be released and still there is no word when it will hit the bookshelves. Erica has class and must really love her readers to do what they’ve been asking for…Christian’s story. I can’t wait!!

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  8. crystal says:
    June 13, 2015 at 12:42 PM

    For those of you in the USA where do you buy your books. I live in a small town and of course my book store did not have Bang or any of Cherise Sinclair books. This yesterday I went to a very large town and went to Barns and Noble and they to didn’t have any of the books I was looking for. So I have ordered all my books form Amazon or Barnes and Noble web page.

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    • Monique Lain says:
      June 13, 2015 at 12:50 PM

      Oh Crystal! You have yet to feel the joy of Amazon “one-click-buy”! E readers are not expensive anymore, and e books are cheaper and NEVER sold out or unavailable. I thought I would find the transition from actual book to an electronic version hard but the benefits are too great! These days I don’t even bother with my iPad, I have and read all my books from the Kindle or iBooks app on my phone. ANY smart phone would afford you the same magnificent glory. I could never go back to actual books. You can even lend someone an e book!! All you have to do is have a divide of some sort, open a free Amazon account, load your credit card details and off you go! Too easy…. Well, that’s what I do but I guess Amazon mail order is your next obvious choice. Hope you have hair on your chest if you’re going to read Bang! 🙂

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      • Sharon says:
        June 13, 2015 at 9:56 PM

        Amen Monique. Crystal, once you go to e-books, you won’t want to go back. It keeps your reading private from curious kids, and Amazon one-click buying can save you soooo much money that you will easily pay for your reader. If you have a smart phone, laptop or iPad, easy to load the kindle app and you are up and running!
        Do it, girl. You know we would never steer you wrong!

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  9. crystal says:
    June 14, 2015 at 12:14 PM

    thank you girls for the info. Man I am a bit concerned about trying to read Bang. I’m a bit of a pansy when it comes to some stuff. It’s not scary is it?

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    • Monique Lain says:
      June 14, 2015 at 12:25 PM

      I wouldn’t call it scary, Crystal but her past is shocking, absolutely harrowing, and I don’t know about you but that sh*t stays withe me, it lingers in my brain and I REALLY don’t like that. Having said that, I’m pretty sensitive so it may not affect others the same. Have you read Torre’s Tight? Same level of trauma, so to speak….

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