#DFRAT Guest Blog: Meet Becky, Newly Converted Smutaholic

Posted June 9, 2012 by Holly in Features, Promotions | 7 Comments

Hi, my name is Becky and I’m a smutaholic. I didn’t start out this way. In fact, up until two months ago, I’d never read a romance novel before. I was always a mystery or horror kind of girl. Then, I paid attention to the Today Show one morning, and remembered some of my co-workers talking about the same books. You know the ones, the dreaded 50 Shades of Grey series. I decided I was going to see what all the fuss about.

Enter Amazon’s “purchase with one click” button (also lovingly referred to as my financial downfall button) and I had all 3 books on my Kindle. And, I’m not ashamed to admit that I read all 3 books in 3 days. I was able to get past the horrible writing and even some of the stalker tendencies. But then again, I had nothing to compare this genre to. All I knew was that the so-called sex scenes weren’t nearly as hot as I anticipated. I wouldn’t say I liked them, but I didn’t necessarily not like them, either.

So, I did what everyone does in this situation…I told Twitter that I read them. And Holly, the lovely Holly, laughed at me, and then admitted to reading them, too. She lovingly started me down the smut path…complete with evil laughter, or recommendations, as she would call it. (H: muwahahahah)

I discovered Maya Banks, and went through the Sweet series in a week, and then I discovered the Colter series. I also decided that I want to move to Colorado and be with a large, hot guy who wears cowboy boots and a Stetson, but that’s a whole different post.  I found Lauren Dane and Jaci Burton, and I love them both! I also really, really, really love Burton’s covers for the Play-by-Play series, seriously, they are drool worthy.

What I learned was, those 50 Shades books flat out sucked. I now realize that romance novels can have actual plots, character development, and hot sex scenes. I’m also amazed that I love the idea of a series of books and have re-read several of them, more than once. I can tell that these authors truly love to write and are invested in the reader’s reactions to the story. Although I still get irritated that no one in these books ever has to pee when they first wake up, they just start having sex. If that were me, I would wet the bed. And what about morning breath? I guess that doesn’t happen in smutland, but with as many shower scenes as I’ve read, someone could brush their teeth! I also learned that the term “erotica” makes me giggle like a 13-year-old girl. So, it is obvious that I’m mature enough to read these books.

The only plus side to reading 50 Shades is that my 17-year-old daughter swiped them from my library and has been reading them. This has led to some good discussions about what is appropriate behavior and how to see red flags in relationships. Its also given us something to laugh at. And no, I don’t think that these books are the most appropriate for teenagers, they don’t come with an NC-17 rating, and I figure if I can get good conversation material out of them, then I got my monies worth.

Now, who has some good recommendations for me to read?


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7 responses to “#DFRAT Guest Blog: Meet Becky, Newly Converted Smutaholic

  1. I discovered romance when I discovered erotic romance and that was in Feb. 2003 (yup, I even remember the month). That’s also the time in which I discovered ebooks. I’ve been a “convert” to both romance and ebooks ever since.

    If you like BDSM, I strongly recommend Joey W. Hill. If you like paranormal smut, I recommend Sherri L. King, Sahara Kelly, Judy Mays, Allyson James (who is also known as Jennifer Ashley, among other pen names) and Emma Holly. If you like historical smut, I recommend Robin Schone. For BDSM fantasy you may also want to try Cheyenne McCray’s Wonderland series, which you can still find in electronic formats at Ellora’s Cave, or in print under her pen name Jamie Holland. There is a LOT of good erotic romance out there, and it is not a new genre by any stretch of the imagination. This is basically why many of us long standing fans of the genre are baffled at how something as mediocre as 50 shades gained such notoriety.

  2. Any of Megan Hart’s books published by Spice. Jeffe Kennedy’s Sapphire. Lorelei James Rough Rider Series, Sarah McCarty’s Hell’s Eight series, Sylvia Day’s Bared to You (very much like the Grey series but better written and more character depth), Anne Calhoun’s What She Needs, Jodie Griffin’s Forbidden Fantasies, Tymber Dalton’s The Reluctant Dom.

  3. I echo a lot of what the others have recommended and will add a couple:
    Lorelei James-Rough Rider and Black Top series
    Shannon McKenna
    Jaci Burton
    Mari Carr
    Enjoy!

  4. If you are looking for BDSM, I would also add Cherise Sinclair’s Shadowlands series, and Joely Sue Burkhart’s Connagher series. For general all around cowboy smuttiness, you can’t get anything better than Lorelei James’ Rough Rider series – OMG, those McKay boys are hot.

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