OK. So, I read this.
It was on Kobo during a sale weekend and I was curious. I've never read 50 Shares and don't intend to. I saw a little of the writing and couldn't look past it. I went into this well aware of who JJ was, so I had some inkling about what I was getting into.
And you know what?
It wasn't half bad.
I mean, it's not for people who breathe a sigh of relief when the romance dims to black... This doesn't dim to black. And, not all of it is romance... in fact, much of it isn't. But there's enough. I find I'm offended by little, so I can often "get away with" satisfying my curiosity.
It's a quick read (all of about 6 hours, for this slow reader). And it's a bit fun thinking "Oh, that's a bit naughty" (like the playing around in the back of the cinema... you hear about people doing this, but I've never been one for taking that sort of risk in a public space! A bit fun "watching" someone actually go there...).
So, read the blurb and you'll see that the story starts with Honey dating an abusive man, so you know what you're getting in for if you choose to pick it up. Mostly we don't see the male-female violence, but we do see some of the sexual violence (which isn't so much violent -- on the pages, anyway -- as humiliating... which can be just as bad). Then along comes the doctor in shining armour... actually, you meet him on page 1. Marc is the typical everything-you-want-in-a-main-man type... he's buff, well endowed, and, while his temper can simmer, he knows how to control himself. You want sexual tension? Try letting pleasing the lady you fancy in the back of a cinema then remembering the potential fallback of letting her (your emergency patient) give you a hand-job in return... OK. So the first bit probably shouldn't have happened either, but... ah well...
Overall, the writing is engaging. Honey's ex-adult entertainer support group buddies are lovely.
It gets a bit repetitive at times... There were a few (only a few, mind you... but, it's also a short book) times when I thought "Yes, yes, I know this already"... but, perhaps the authors were expecting me to have put the book down to engage in other activities between those passages? I don't know...
Perhaps because this type of book is outside of my usual reading, I was easily drawn into its world of too-much-money New York. It was easy to root for Honey's safe escape from Drew, and it was easy to worry for her when things looked dangerous. An FBI investigation she and Marc were involved in at the end was very much just a plot tool... it could easily have been delved into -- if this was a crime drama and not a romance/erotica... is it erotica? I haven't read much of that. I found this to be just a cheeky romance... it simply didn't fade out.
I tell you, though... if you want another layer to your dislike of the 1% (assuming you have one), this book might just lather one on for you. Drew is a 1%-er. The things he says about middle-incomers, and what he wastes his (make believe, when you really get into it) money on is ludicrous... and, gosh, it can make one down the other end of the spectrum a bit grumpy!
So, yeah... I'm giving it 4 stars. It's not going to change the world or anything, but I feel the book achieves what it sets out to do. It entertains, and even manages to get a few social messages in there.