E.L. James and the Fifty Shades of Grey Series

The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has seen unexpected success since the first book was published in May 2011. All three books in the trilogy are at the top (or at least near the top) of the best-seller charts on Amazon.

The British romantic suspense / erotica series is by first-time author E.L. James, and follows wealthy young Seattle-based entrepreneur Christian Grey as he woos shy and innocent English major Anastasia Steele. The Fifty Shades of Grey series comprises:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey
2. Fifty Shades Darker
3. Fifty Shades Freed.

The series has been garnering extremely positive reviews on sites such as Goodreads, and other fan sites. Fans have been recommending the books to their friends, and the books have become extremely popular by word-of-mouth. Many romance novel aficionados have heard of the series, and a large number have read the books.

Although James was a first-time author, she decided to forgo an agent, and have the book published through The Writer's Coffee Shop, a small and new independent publisher based out of Australia. (James herself is based in West London.) It appears that the books will now be reissued by Random House's Vintage. Not only has the series been a hit with readers, Hollywood appears to be getting in on the action. Apparently, the series has been making the rounds among television and movie producers. It has been compared to the Mickey Rourke/Kim Basinger movie, Nine 1/2 Weeks, and has garnered a lot of buzz.

There's been some controversy over the success of the trilogy as the books started out as fanfiction for the Twilight series. (It appeared as "Master of the Universe" on Fanfiction.net.) A number of critics and bloggers are criticizing James for the similarities between her books and Twilight, citing for example, similarities in characters, setting, and plot. Feelings obviously run pretty high on this topic, as I realized from responses to a blog post I had written some time back. Nonetheless, there's no denying that the trilogy has seen amazing success... So popular is the series that it's been featured on various mainstream talk shows, including with Dr Drew on CNN.

The Fifty Shades of Grey series follows the romance between Christian Grey, a successful entrepreneur in his late twenties and young English major Anastasia Steele. Christian's a self-made man who's accumulated millions, but who's calm demeanor hides a painful past, and some unusual preferences. Anastasia is just twenty-one, and when we first meet her, she's in her final year of University - bookish, innocent, naive, and completely unaware of how attractive she is.

Ana meets Christian when her room-mate arm twists her into interviewing Christian for the university newspaper. Ana is completely unprepared for the gorgeous, sexy and enigmatic Christian, and literally falls at his feet, before stumbling her way through the interview. Sparks fly between the two, and Christian decides to woo Ana, although he's quite sure that Ana would simply not understand or enjoy his darker desires and interest in BDSM.

The trilogy follows Ana as she graduates from University, starts a new job, and slowly falls for Christian, in spite of (or perhaps because of) his dark past. By turns funny, erotic, romantic, and sad, the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy is engrossing and utterly charming. I found myself completely engrossed in the books, and read all three just this past weekend.

The best parts of the books are the e-mail exchanges between Christian and Ana, filled with the kind of banter and innuendo that you only ever see between lovers. Christian and Ana are wonderful characters that grow through the three books, and you'll find yourself desperate to find out what happens to them.

If you are a romance novel fan, and are a bit put off by the BDSM elements, please don't close your mind to the books. The BDSM elements are mild. For those who have read J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, V's predilections are far darker than those in the Fifty Shades trilogy. Give the books a chance, and I know you'll find yourself falling in love with Christian and Ana, just as I did!