50 Shades of . . .

Disclaimer:

Last week, I succumbed to all the hype and excitement and purchased the 50 Shades Trilogy. If you have not yet read any of these books and are planning to, or if you are easily offended, it may be most appropriate for you to 

STOP READING NOW! STOP READING NOW!

Unless of course, you generally do not enjoy discovering things on your own - or are a terrible listener/do not like to obey what people tell you. In that case, feel free to keep reading . . . but please do not say I didn't tell you. If you do, I may have to punish you ;) Consider yourself warned.

For the past month or so, I have been regularly hearing and reading Facebook and Pinterest comments about this amazing new series of books starring the one and only Mr. Grey.  I must admit, I was intrigued - I am in between novels right now, and frankly, wanted a nice, light, easy read.  

If someone had told me 6 months ago that I'd be reading books like these, I would have laughed. No way. No how. Never. They are scandalous! Yet, here I am - already on the second book (I admit with more than a bit of embarrassment).

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I suspect it was along the lines of Pride and Prejudice for the 21st century - with a strong and capable Elizabeth Bennet being wooed by the rich, handsome, and ever so swoon-worthy Mr. Darcy. Oh Mr. Darcy ...Um . . . yeah. Or maybe not. Unless Jane's editor removed a significant amount of text, I don't think this is what she had in mind. 

However, as I was mowing lawn and sweeping gopher turds off my cement patio today, I had a lot of time to think about what exactly it is that draws me to this book.  And I had a revelation:  in many ways, Mr. Grey IS Mr. Darcy - ok, maybe a kinky Mr. Darcy - but still!

Not following? Allow me to elaborate . . .

Both men are insanely handsome, incredibly rich, and desired by many women. They employ servants, are philanthropists, and are very mysterious. Both men are referred to Mr. (last name) by the majority of characters in the books. They each have been absolutely and completely bewitched by their objects of affection, to the point they are willing to adapt themselves in order to be better suited/accepted by their desired mates. These things are obvious.  Some other less obvious, but still very compelling similarities are as follows:

Mr. Darcy will do anything for you . . . Mr. Grey will do anything to you.

Mr. Darcy wears a tie to distinguish himself . . . Mr. Grey wears his tie so he can tie you up in it later.

Mr. Darcy prefers sitting in the parlour and listening to wonderful music . . . Mr. Grey prefers to listen to wonderful music while you are blindfolded and tied to the bed.

Mr. Darcy has a whip in his stable for the horses. Mr. Grey has a whip . . . for you.

Mr. Darcy occasionally will carry a cane on his walks . . . Mr. Grey has a cane  . . . for you.

Mr. Darcy can be a pain in the ass . . . Mr. Grey would love to be the pain in your ass. Yeah - I really DID just write that!!

Sigh. I need to get back to my book. 

Later's Baby.