Fifty Shades Freed Winner Chosen!

I want to thank everyone who stopped over to read the interview with EL and of course, who participated in the contest! Some of you did the extra entries and it made a big difference in the end. When you do the extra entries like that, your name is put in the drawing up to five times....so always do the extra entries!! 

I loved reading who you all thought could be Fifty! It was a lot of fun! Personally, I think Ryan Gosling could be Fifty and I LOVE this picture of him.

Now, for the winner. I used Random.org. It's only fair to use it instead of me just picking a winner myself. So the winner is.....




TAMMY!!!


Congratulations Tammy! Please email me at mysecretromanceblog@yahoo.com so I can get your book to you!


Thanks again to everyone who stopped by!

Fifty Shades Freed Interview!

When I woke up early one morning to an email asking if I wanted to be part of the Fifty Shades Freed Tour, I said to myself, HELL YES I DO!  I fell head over heals in love with Fifty the books, and thought this was too good to be true. I honestly thought this was a cruel joke someone was playing on me. Really, I did. I had never been asked to part of a blog tour before so I thought it was really cool. I filled out the Google form and waited......and waited......and waited.

This is how I felt. I swear this could pass as me too! What can I say? I'm an inpatient woman.

If you haven't heard of The Fifty Shades Trilogy....then you must be living in a bubble. That bubble needs to be popped asap so you can get cracking on reading these books! Fifty is so, so....bossy, delectable, addicting and deliciously so! Ana is a gem to read too, but seriously, it's allll about Fifty. Whenever I see an Audi now, I will forever associate it with this trilogy....and I'm ok with that. This story makes me all warm and tingly inside. :)

A few weeks later, I finally received the email I was hoping for. I was part of the Fifty Shades Freed tour! *SQUEE* I was beaming with joy! How cool to be apart of this awesome book tour? I'm not quite sure how I managed it in the first place, but I am so beyond happy and grateful that I could be part of the Fifty Shades Freed Tour.

     Fifty 1

Fifty 2

I figured since this was probably the one and only chance I had to talk books with the creator of our beloved Fifty, I had soooo many questions I wanted to ask her! Like who does she see as Fifty? My head was seriously swimming with questions. But my grandma's voice rang loudly through my head of her saying, "Taryn, it's not always what you want" or "Taryn, it's not always about you!" *sigh* Isn't that the truth. So then I thought it would fun if the fans of the Fifty Shades Trilogy were able to questions as well. And that's what I did.

 

Fifty 3

Oh, did I mention that I will be doing a giveaway today too besides the interview? Well, I am! Not only will there be an interview to day, but I will be giving away a Kindle copy of Fifty Shades Freed too. If you do not have a Kindle, have no fear! I can give away an ebook copy from The Writers Coffee Shop website (where the books are published from). All you have to do it leave a comment and fill out the Google form to entered in the drawing. The giveaway will go until Friday night and I will choose a winner using Random.org on Saturday.

Fifty 4

As you see, I've posted pictures of hunky men who could pass as Fifty. Well, I think who could pass as Fifty. All you have to do to be entered in the contest is leave a number to which man you think would pass as Fifty. If you don't like any that I posted that's ok! I won't be upset. :) You can always post a picture of one that you have in mind or a name. And if you haven't read the books yet, still post who you like.

Fifty 5

 

Ok...back to my train of  thought....So without further ado, please give EL a warm welcome and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. And don't forget to fill out the form and leave a comment to win Fifty Shades Freed! 

Hi Erica, 

Thank you for taking the time out to answer our questions. I really appreciate it and your fans do too. Thank you!
Thank you, Taryn for giving me some precious blog time. It’s much appreciated.

Will we be seeing Jose, Mia, and Ethan get their HEA? Maybe in a spin-off series or a long novella? -Amanda C.
You know I haven’t thought about this. I’d have to go away to a small dark room and lie down and think – but it’s an idea.



Coming from a media background myself, was it hard for you to take yourself and your passion for passion seriously when romance novels are, shall we say, NOT taken seriously as a genre in mainstream media? I worked in media sales selling airtime and ad-space for over ten years and yet with all my networking connections, never felt brave enough to bring up my "hobby" which was writing. In fact, I often took a ribbing when people (and not just men) saw whatever novel I wasreading--usually something by Catherine Coulter, Heather Graham or Karen Robards.

-Your fellow author, Kathryn Gayle 

I used to work in the center of London and take the tube into work everyday. It was a horrible commute and I used to pick up Catherine Coulter, Heather Graham and Karen Robards novels and devour them on the tube – but you’re right I didn’t talk about them – and I was one of those people that didn’t like naked torsos on the front cover of the book I was reading – as those books are such guilty pleasures (or so I thought at the time.) I used to fold the covers back and risk the person sitting next to me reading what I was reading… and that was embarrassing too. Anyway I digress – once I started writing I had no problem telling the people I work with that I did. I think you get to a certain age and you really don’t give a toss what people think – and it’s very liberating. So yes – I am constantly teased by my work colleagues about what I write – and I just brazen it out. :)



Okay this is going to sound crazy but do you ever get tired of writing? *gasp,* Yes, I asked. I know you are a new author, but sometimes we even get tired of what we love. If you do get tired, how do you pick yourself up and get back to it? Also, is there anything you collect? Like rare books? Or coins? Or anything like that? -Dawn S.

Yes I do. At the moment I have so much going on that I don’t have very much time to write but it makes me restless – I think I need a holiday after all these shenanigans, somewhere warm – and I’ll get on with the next thing.  I don’t really collect anything… I wish I could say young men but it’s not true… and my husband might get a bit grumpy with me.



Did you do any "kinky fuckery" research for the books? Like look into Dom/Sub clubs and such to research the toys, safe words, and the contract? Or even have to go to stores just to be familiar with
writing about spreader bars, and anal beads, and ben wa balls? -Alana

Yes. (Nuff said)



Are you planning on doing any other series similar to The Fifty Shades Trilogy? -Janna S.

I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see. Right now I want to lie down in a small dark room for a few days!



BDSM books aren't always my cup of tea, but I loved the way you incorporated it into your series. Fifty and Ana's love scenes were steamy, hot, and sexy. Will you continue to write stories with BDSM? -Anna

I have one BDSM idea… which is a bit more hardcore – similarish to Fifty… but different – but I am not sure if this is what I am going to write next.


So, I have to ask. Is there a real Fifty in your life? Please say YES! Well, maybe you shouldn't tell us....we may hunt you down to find him!

This always makes me giggle when people ask me. Fifty is kind of based on one person I know from my past – but really – he’s a fantasy guy… my fantasy guy that I felt brave enough to share with everyone.



Will Christian ever get his own POV book?

Maybe – if people want to read it… maybe after I’ve done something else.  Never say never eh?



What motivates you to write? Your inspirations? 

I just enjoy telling a story. I am the world’s worst joke teller (ask my husband)… so I have to make up for that somehow.  I like to take a one line simple idea – and daydream around it and see where will it go.  Fifty started with – what if you met someone who was into BDSM and you weren’t interested… what would you do?


I've heard talk that you are planning, or in the process of, writing another book series. I was told this time it be for the young adult genre. Is that true? If so, why did you decide to do YA and can you
please give us a little of what it's about? 

Well I think it’s YA – I am very confuzzled by all these genres – for me it’s just another story – and it’s a ghost story I originally wrote in 2009 which I am re-writing at the moment.  Basically it’s a story about grief – it’s a real barrel of laughs – let me tell you.


When I first starting reading the trilogy, I had no idea it was a Twilight Fanfic. I didn't find out until the middle of the second book and to be quite honest, I was shocked! I had no idea! If I really look
closely at it, I guess I can see similarities, but yet they are so completely different. What made you do a fanfic of Twilight? Was it just for fun? Did you ever expect them to become so popular? For the
record, and not just because I have you on my blog today, I'd chose Fifty over Edward and Jacob any day! I'm sure many ladies would too! 

Yes it was just for fun – and it became insanely popular and people started talking to me about publishing – and eventually I did. The reason I did it, is because in November 2008 I watched Twilight the film – and loved it – (I went to the cinema ten times to see it) and for Christmas I asked my husband for the books. On 27th December 2008 I sat down and read them in five solid days – and I just adored them. My work life was not very happy at the time so I escaped into these books and read them, and re-read them and re-read them (something I very rarely do with a book.) At the end of January – I sat down and wrote my first novel. And then I wrote another one – and in August 2009 I discovered Twilight fan fiction – which I thought was completely weird – I’d never heard of fan fiction before. I read a few fics – and thought – I want to have a go at this – so I did. I wrote my first one in 3 weeks… and then I started what became Fifty Shades –
and it was enormous fun to do.  And no I never expected the fics to be popular or the novels… but they are – which is great.



In Fifty Shades Freed, it feels more of an erotic romance with elements of bdsm. Is that what you were going for? 

Again – this is is this genre thing cropping up – I was just telling Christian and Ana’s story – and this is where it went.



For readers, we love when book covers match the story. Did you design the covers of the books yourself? I really love them. Simple, to the point and it matches your story! 

I wanted very simple covers that I would not be embarrassed to read on the tube.  So yes – they all had to be items that were worn. I was going to do wedding rings for the final book – but that kind of gave away what happened at the end – so I decided on the handcuffs.  Initially I wanted an undone black bowtie for the first book – but Amanda (my publisher) and I couldn’t find one that I liked on the sites we used – so Amanda found the silver tie – but not in the right format – when I found the one in portrait format I knew that’s what I wanted.  Jenn our designer did the design.  I wanted a mask for the second – which was much easier to find.



Why did you choose The Writer's Coffee Shop to publish your books? 

I think it was June 2010 I asked the Writers Coffee Shop if they would be interested in publishing and Amanda Hayward the CEO said yes immediately. I then got cold feet and didn’t think about it again.  Every month or so Amanda would get in touch… and hassle me.  Then in January 2011 a dear friend of mine published his story… and I thought ‘well if he can do it…’ so I called up Amanda and the rest is history.

Beer or wine-
White wine – Oyster Bay, Sauvignon Blanc

Ereader or paperback-
Paperback

Favorite sport-
Gymnastics

Favorite book-
Twilight

Favorite food-
Anything carbohydrate

Favorite thing to do in your down time-
(Smirks)

Favorite hero in a book-
Fitzwilliam Darcy

Fifty Shades Freed Blog Tour

 

The Fifty Shades Freed Blog Tour will begin on January 23rd and go until February 3rd. There will be lots of giveaways and interesting interviews to read!  So don't forget to check back! 

Here is a list of all the participating blogs:

January 23rd: PA Lupton – Review, Interview, Paperback giveaway

24th: Fiction Vixen – Review and giveaway  

http://www.fictionvixen.com/

25th: Bookish Temptations – Review and giveaway

http://bookishtemptations.com/

Ja čitam, a ti? – Review (In Bosnian and English)

http://jacitamati.blogspot.com/

26th: My Secret Romance – Interview  and giveaway

http://mysecretromancebooks.blogspot.com/

27th: Claire’s Book Corner – Review and giveaway

http://clairesbookcorner.blogspot.com/

28th: Under The Covers – Review, Character Interview and Giveaway

http://underthecoversbookblog.blogspot.com/

29th: The Book Pushers – Review and giveaway  

http://thebookpushers.com/

30th: Reading Lark – Review, Interview and giveaway

http://readinglark.blogspot.com/

31st My Life One Story At A Time – Review and giveaway

http://mylife-in-stories.blogspot.com/

ALPHA reader – Review and giveaway

http://alphareader.blogspot.com/

Feb 1st: SER’s Awesomeness – Review , Guest post and giveaway

http://samsawesomness.blogspot.com/

2nd:  Bonafide Reflections – Review and giveaway

http://www.bona-fide-reflections.com/

3rd: Endlessly Bookish – Review  and giveaway  

http://www.endlesslybookish.com

Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James

3.5 Stars
Amazon link- Fifty Shades Freed

Calm down ladies...before you go crazy on me and try to hunt me down to get this, I received this to review from the publisher.

I'll be spending my night with Fifty!

Update since finishing the book.

Oh Fifty! What happened to you? You are a changed, changed man and I don't I like it one bit! What happened to the domineering, authoritative, bossy, I don't-take-no-for-an-answer man we all fell in love with?

The book starts out with Ana and Christian on their honeymoon. They spend three weeks jetting across Europe and wrapped in each others arms every chance they get. It's so beautiful too, the love they have for each other. Christian is determined to give Ana the rainbows and butterflies she wants....and she gets it the entire book. Christian loves Ana probably more than life itself, yet she doubts it all the time. It's so romantic how much he loves her, truly. Only if all the woman in the world could be loved the way Fifty loves Ana. *swoon*

There isn't much that has changed since the last book. We left off with someone after Christian and Ana, so there is a slight suspense to this read. The time will come when we find out who it is and the reasoning behind it....We still have Fifty keeping secrets from Ana, ALL THE TIME! What kind of marriage is that? I understand he wants to protect her and give her the world, but it gets to be a bit of a nuisance when he's withholding from her constantly. Ana is still struggling with her insecurity. I will say she does better with it in the end. She manages to defy order after order Christian gives her, but I liked that she did. It made it fun and exciting. Ana becomes somewhat stubborn. She wants what she wants and that's it. While the romance is still hot and steamy...I wanted more. It just wasn't enough for me. I can say there are a few hot and erotic parts of this book that will forever be seared into my brain.....I am definitely ok with that! The problem I have is that I find it hard to believe, Christian, who needs to be so in control, can be ok without playing now. It was all he knew! Some who read this will say there is playing, but I would have to disagree with that. Having Ana's hands tied up for literally a minute or two and a slap here and there can't possibly satisfy Christian's needs. But maybe that's why this book is called, Fifty Shades Freed. Because he is freed from his past sexual needs? You'll have to read it to find out....

Ana grows a spine and stands up to Christian. About time woman! It was definitely called for too, especially for what he does. I LOVED that part! Christian finally reveals to Ana what happened with Mrs. Robinson when they first met. In the end, surprises and secrets await and they will leave the fans wanting more. Oh, and Ana calls red....

I was a little afraid to post a review for this book. There are some diehard Fifty fans out there, me being one of them. Please do not get discouraged with this review and rating. We all have different views. While I think it's only a three star read, you may think it's a five star read. Unfortunately, I felt that this book didn't reach it's peak like the others. Just when I got excited about something new and suspenseful happening, it was taken care of right then and there, over with. There were some parts felt very rushed to me. My only guess is that the author wasn't ready for all the hype that surrounded the first two books. So in an effort to give readers another story they were asking for, she put this book together in a haste, trying to make it better and over the top....and it just wasn't. Again, my opinion.

I believe readers will be very happy with this ending. I know I am. I wanted to give the book more than three stars because of the ending, but I didn't. I can't rate a book based on one certain part. My rating is based on the whole book itself and that's why for the three stars. I think the last 25% of the book was the absolute best for me....and probably most readers. You will be ecstatic when you read it!

I will always have a special place in my heart for The Fifty Shades Trilogy. I do love them very much. The second book will always be my favorite and I'm sure I will be rereading them for many years to come. Who knows, I may like the third book even more the second time I read it. 

Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James

5 Stars!
Amazon link- Fifty Shades Darker

"Erotic, sparkling and suspenseful, Fifty Shades Darker is the irresistibly addictive second part of the Fifty Shades trilogy."

If those aren't the most perfect words to describe Fifty Shades Darker, I don't know what are. How can this book be even better then the first book when I though the first one was awesome? This woman is amazing, truly. Most people who know me knows I can only read so much erotica; and I very rarely read BDSM. But this author has a way to make it so sensual and beautiful and passionate, that I find myself yearning for more. A lot of times when you think of an erotic romance book, you think of sex, especially when it's a BDSM book. Well, this book is so much more than that. Don't get me wrong, the sex scenes were hot, romantic and plentiful, but there is so much more to the story than sex. I wish more erotic romance authors wrote like E L James. James is definitely a favorite author of mine.

The sensuality of this book trickles over you slowly like molasses, sticking to you, tasting so dark and sweet, and knowing that you can never truly get enough.

I don't even know where to begin with this book. We see so many new sides of Christian and you can't help but love everyone of them. We see him try and change his ways for Ana, which I have to say is a drastic change for him and very emotional at that. My heart ached so much while reading this that at a few times I found tears in my eyes. We see him transform into this man who wants nothing but to love honor and cherish Ana with every waking bone in his body. My goodness how he loves Ana so much! It's such....a very beautiful love story. We see Christian bare is dark tortured soul to Ana many times making him even more appealing.

Not only do we see Christian change, we see Ana trying to be the person she thinks he needs, but truthfully Christian just wants her just the way she is. Ana is the air Christian breathes. She realizes Christian has certain needs that he will want met, but he would never ask her of them. So she steps up and takes them into her own hands, and well, she is there for him every step of the way. Finding a happy compromise for both partners is true love, which is what they have; true love. A relationship could never thrive if both aren't willing partners.

I can see myself reading these books many many times and probably never get sick of them. I LOVED the emails!! I LOVED the auction dinner....boy was that HOT! I LOVED the boat scene at the end! Well, I LOVED the whole book! I do look forward to the emails and I hope they are in the next book as well. They were hysterical! I wish this wasn't a trilogy. I wish there would be more books, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

Has anyone else noticed how many Audi's are on the road? I feel like they are everywhere I turn. ;)

The only problem I have with this book was that I found a lot of typos. It can be a bit of a nuisance after a while. I noticed them in the first book too, but not as much as this one.


Some of my favorite lines in this book:

"This is me, Ana. All of me...and I'm all yours. What do I have to do to make you realize that? To make you see that I want you any way I can get you. That I love you."

"There's a joy in my helplessness, joy in my surrender to him, and to know that he can lose himself in me the way he wants to. I can do this. He takes me to these dark places, places I didn't know existed, and together we fill them with blinding light. Oh yes...blazing, blinding light." -Anastasia Steele

"I don't know whether to worship at your feet or spank the living shit out of you."

"Anastasia." He answers immediately, his voice warm and caressing. How is it that this man can make me melt over the phone?
"Christian, Jack has asked me to get his lunch."
"Lazy bastard," Christian gripes.


Thank you, Amanda, for giving me this for my birthday! Honestly, how can it ever be topped?

5 Stars!
Amazon link- Fifty Shades of Grey

I've been thinking for a few days on how I wanted to write my review for this book. There are (still) so many emotions going through me after reading it so it makes it very difficult for me to put into words how I feel. There are few books that will render me utterly speechless, and this is one of them. Reading BDSM novels are normally not my thing. I tried it a few times and they were very unrealistic, the heroine is too at ease with it all considering it usually is her first time, very rough, and, honestly, they've all made me cringe. I would find myself tightening my body and holding my breathe while reading them. After that happened a few times, I decided the specific writing was not for me.

Clearly, I was wrong about that genre and I realized not all books are written like that. Oh, how I loved this book! Fifty Shades of Grey is the complete opposite of what I mentioned. It was beautiful, erotic, sensual, emotional, dark, compelling, realistic, seductive, and I found myself unable to put the book down.

Christian is a dark secretive man with a tortured soul who is ridiculously rich and a total alpha male. Ana is a young woman who has never had a sexual relationship before meeting Christian. I worried for Ana quite a few times in this book. I knew there was no way she was going to be able to have a no strings attached relationship and not get hurt in the end. If the only kind of loving making that Christian knows how to do is, well, "f*ck...hard," doesn't Ana realize that it will be the only kind of love making she knows how to do. How will she move on once they separate?

You won't find out the whole nature of why Christian is the way he is until you read the second book. Which reminds me. I was beyond ecstatic to find out this series is a continuation of the characters and they are the main focus in each book. Very awesome considering that doesn't happen often!



My heart ached so much when I read this line:

"Why don't you like to be touched?" Ana whispered, staring up into soft grey eyes.
"Because I'm fifty shades of fucked-up, Anastasia."


Bottom line- READ THIS BOOK! It is a great intro into the world of BDSM. I found myself surprisingly intrigued by it all even though it's not my thing. Not only does this author do an excellent job building her characters, she also does a fantastic job with the BSDM and how one comes to enjoy that kind of lifestyle. Well done, EL James!


Thank you Amanda for this wonderful book for my birthday. One of the best gifts ever! xoxo