Review: Fifty Shames of Earl Grey by Andrew Shaffer

Book Title/Author: Fifty Shades of Earl Grey by Fanny Merkin (aka Andrew Shaffer)
Publisher/Year Published: July 31st 2012 by Da Capo Press
Where I got it: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

A shrewd, laugh–out–loud parody of E. L. James' bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey series:

Young, arrogant, tycoon Earl Grey seduces the naïve coed Anna Steal with his overpowering good looks and staggering amounts of money, but will she be able to get past his fifty shames, including shopping at Walmart on Saturdays, bondage with handcuffs, and his love of BDSM (Bards, Dragons, Sorcery, and Magick)? Or will his dark secrets and constant smirking drive her over the edge?

I have never read Fifty Shades of Grey*. I've heard a lot about it and realized quite quickly through some snippets that Fifty Shades was not a book for me. That said, I am sort of obsessed with the phenomenon that is Fifty Shades and have read a few reviews, followed a lot of romance community's opinion and listened to one hilarious podcast. Knowing how much I enjoyed the tongue in cheek podcast, I knew 50 Shames of Earl Grey was right up my alley. It did not disappoint. In fact, it did the opposite.

This book is a parody and boy does it do a good job at it. There were quite a few instances of me being afraid of disturbing the peace with my laughter. Like the TSA was going to come take me off the airplane sort of thing. It does a great job of parodying not just the ridiculous story lines of Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight but also how they're horridly written. It takes a really smart written book to be able to ironically write badly.

I knew enough about the general gist of the source material to highly enjoy this book. You don't have to have read either of the sources to enjoy it, though I would suspect people who had would pick up more of the subtle parody. I did however knock a star off because it did start to drag a bit toward the middle to the end of the book. This may be a limitation on the source material, but I was getting a bit bored a little over halfway through.

Overall, this book was a really fun read. If you are looking for a light read that mocks current pop culture as well as "those" popular books, give this a try. There are some sexy-times, but they usually culminate in being only a few lines or doves coming out the hooha. You know, the normal stuff.

PS: Kudos on the awesome cover. The first 80 times I looked at this cover I didn't notice the 'special' gesture our tea drinker is making. Love it!

*Sidenote: Seriously, every time I spell 'grey' or 'gray' I think, "Which way am I supposed to spell it again?" And I work in a job where 'greyscale' is a word I type all the time.

Review: The Harlot by Saskia Walker

Book Title/Author: The Harlot by Saskia Walker
Publisher/Year Published:May 2011 by Harlequin Spice
Where I got it: The library as an eBook
Rating: 2/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

It is a Dark Era, one when a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins…

Forced to watch her mother burned at the stake and separated from her siblings in the aftermath, Jessie Taskill is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. Until one night when she's accused by a rival, and Jessie finds herself behind prison walls with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.

In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. But toying with Gregor’s lust for her is enjoyable, and she agrees to be his pawn while secretly intending to use him just as he is using her.

The Harlot, an erotic romance centered around sex and a revenge scheme, to me was just okay. The first few chapters are rather jarring and you are pretty much thrown into sex. Seriously, one moment you are reading a story about a slightly raucous bar scene and then bare asses are up in the air! I am not jittery about the eroticism of this book (nor bare asses in the air in context I guess ha), but for the first 100 pages or so it was a book of erotic encounters held together with a loose narrative. It wasn't until really half the book was over that we saw any forward plot movement with the revenge thing.

The sex was pretty steamy, and other adjectives for erotic that I can't think of right now. Although from a story telling perspective, some of it was completely unnecessary and somewhat random. I haven't read too many erotic romances, and the ones I have were dismal, so I don't have much to go by if this is the norm or just so for this book.

The story could have been better if the characters were more developed outside of the sex or how the sex affected them. I know this is erotic romance, but I still expect more than what this gave me. It was like they had one other character trait outside of being horny (Jessie: witch; Gregor: revenge-driven).

That said though, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't purple prosey or entirely lacking a plot. And a lot of the sensual scenes made sense in the context of the plot. And you know, I finished the book. That says a lot right there. Toward the end I skimmed a bit, but I honest to goodness finished the book. So many times these days I have been giving myself an out of the DNF for books I just couldn't stand. But I read this one, which means something.

Overall, it was okay. Readable, steamy, but okay.