I Have a Confession...

{I've been reading romance novels.}

It's true. It all started about this time last year when Morgan recommended I read 50 Shades of Gray. You can read my review here.

And then this fall Megan from The Book Asylum contacted me to work with her on a new blog design and I started connecting with other book bloggers. {isn't her new design fun?}

After meeting Natasha from Natasha Is a Book Junkie I realized that there is a whole world of book bloggers out there who aren't the least bit ashamed of reading romance. I spent weeks unconsciously soaking up racy reviews while redesigning Natasha's blog. She had a few book recommendations & I'm loving them!

I'm still treading lightly in the world of romance, and will never give up my love of novels, but it's been great to explore a new genre. And to be honest, between working fulltime and designing partime a book has to really grab my attention to beat out the TV or playing a game on my iPad at the end of the day.

Are you a reader? Let's be friends on Goodreads!

Fifty Shades of Grey - Series Review

Grab a glass of wine (or a mimosa if it's before noon) and sit down for a second. It's Book Club Friday, and I want to talk about Fifty Shades of Grey. Honestly, I finished it two months ago but haven't had the gumption to write about my review.

In my first post about Fifty, I admitted that at age 28 I had never read a romance novel. I thought they were cheesy, bad literature, and just bad form for a "true reader" like me.

it was cheesy & was poorly written.. but I loved it anyways

Despite the cliché phrases and predictable plot, I still found myself wrapped up in the story of Anna and Christian. By the second book, I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. Even her Inner Goddess started to grow on me {although the emails never did.}

I know that life is never this perfect and this story is extremely far-fetched, but I think that was one of the things I liked best about it. A little bit of reading escapism, something totally different than what I am accustomed to reading.

the s-e-x caught me off guard

In a good way. I thought it would be hard to read once I was warned about 'the red room of pain.' But it really wasn't that bad. The first novel really makes you think that The Contract is going to play a huge role in the story, which thankfully is not true. I don't think I'm ready to read a true bdsm novel, but I might be ready to add a little romance every now and then to my reading rotation. {Any Suggestions?}

Source: twitter.com via Mary on Pinterest

it was a full story

There were ups & downs, things that were unbelievable and things that totally grossed me out. I felt like I grew with Anna and went from loving to hating to loving Christian.

I always enjoy books that take give you a glimpse into the future at the end. I guess I'm a sucker for happy endings. James may have taken this one a little too far with the last chapter, but you can't blame her for wanting to 'tie things up' in the end.

Fifty Shades of Grey

I have a secret. I'm 28 years old and I just finished reading my first ever "adult" romance novel. When I redesigned Reading, Eating & Dreaming last month I asked Morgan what her favorite book was and without a moments hesitation she told me "Fifty Shades of Grey."

I hemmed and hawed about reading it because well, 'I just don't read stuff like that.' But late one night last week my husband looked over and asked, "Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey? Apparently it's the hottest book around right now." Chris likes to read the news on his iPhone before bed. He was reading a New York Times article that described Fifty Shades as "THE book everyone is talking about."

Photo from NY Times

So, I did it. I downloaded Fifty Shades of Grey & started reading. I was too embarrassed to put it into Goodreads, because I didn't want anyone to see that I was reading an "adult" book. But I'm telling you today because I just finished it & I need to read the next book to find out what happens.

As I told Clare the other day, just read it. But please don't expect me to discuss all the details with you. (Unless of course you have a bottle of wine - or two - with you.)

Have you ever read a romance novel?