9 Erotica Books That Should Be More Famous Than "Fifty Shades Of Grey"

These may not have inner goddesses but they do have layered protagonists and some hot, hot writing.

1. The Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz

Via amazon.com

This series follows Nora, a famous erotica author who's working on her most personal manuscript to date. Her British editor, Zach, won't let her publish it until she rewrites the novel to his strict liking, and this dynamic soon creates a sexual and dynamic relationship between them. The books has been met with sterling reviews and has established itself as more than just another erotica series.

Quote: “Rule #1: Hurt, but do not harm.”

2. The Master of the Shadowlands series by Cherise Sinclair

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Cherise Sinclair's BDSM series, like Fifty Shades, also involves a woman becoming sexually awakened as a sub, except she's ambitious and brilliant and isn't having submissive sex to get a guy to like her more. The best part? Sinclair has written a LOT of S&M erotica, so you'll have a lot to hold you over.

Quote: “It's hard for an educated woman to turn her head off. That's part of the joy of being a submissive. None of the decisions are yours. When you can't refuse anything and can't even move, those voices in your head go silent. All you can do, and all you are permitted to do, is feel.”

3. The Noire series by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

Via amazon.com

The new debut novel of an upcoming series, The Gentleman's Club follows Mademoiselle Noire, a sexually liberated and highly intelligent woman with whom Lord MacCaulay becomes obsessed. The book has been praised for its writing style and progressive heroine, who often questions gender norms and dated social conventions.

Quote: To sample the delights of a great many women is considered right and healthy for a man, yet the opposite is held true for those of our sex. Where we display undue interest in sexual matters, even within marriage, we are thought immoral. For myself, I can only conceive of such limitation with horror: a torture for which I have no taste.”

4. The Vampire Queen's Servant series by Joey W. Hill

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The plot revolves around Lady Elyssa, a 700-year-old vampire queen who has been feeling mysteriously weak as of late. She ends up with a macho servant named Jacob, who isn't used to being a submissive but slowly changes when he's with her. They end up having more in common than they realized and start to form a genuine bond. Basically, this book should be more famous than Fifty Shades of Grey AND Twilight.

Quote: “A man who doesn't test the mettle of his soul isn't much of a man...”

5. A Thread of Deepest Black by Finn Marlowe

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Finn Marlowe's debut novel deals with the S&M romance between Colton (a shape-shifter) and Killian (a werewolf), who are natural-born enemies and struggle to overcome this in the sexiest way possible. Perfect for erotica fans who want a little fantasy mixed into their BDSM intake.

Quote: “When the power of the shift rips the human body apart and transforms it into its new shape, there lives a second, less than a second, a mere shimmer of time when the mind is without a home, no body to call its own. Existence is painless in there, nothing but formlessness beyond understanding.”

6. The Songs of Corruption series by C.D. Reiss

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The heroine of Songs of Corruption is a smart, sexy, and super successful woman who is unexpectedly jilted by her fiancé. She then meets an Italian mobster named Antonio, a strikingly beautiful man with whom she has clear chemistry but wrestles with the fact that he's kind of ~dangerous~.

Quote: “I’ve seen women come. They forget to look beautiful. They forget who they are. I want to see you when you lose yourself and all you know is my name.”

7. "Ginny's Lesson" by Anna Bayes

Via amazon.com

In this short story, the protagonist, Melissa, who has a habit of pursuing toxic relationships, plans to have her usual comfort sex with Ginny, who is tired of being her passive backup and decides to spice things up a bit. Basically, the only real critiques about this is that it's too short, but luckily, Anna Bayes (who identifies as a bisexual submissive) has plenty more stories like this in her repertoire.

Quote: “The word 'teach' suddenly conveys a sense of menace that is foreign to me.”

8. Cirque de Minuit by Annabel Joseph

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Competitive gymnast Kelsey Martin falls for trapezist Theo Zamora, who is mourning the tragic death of his partner. They enter a dark and therapeutic relationship where they learn to trust each other in the midst of having an explosive BDSM-tinged bond.

Quote: “Dominance and submission? This thing we’re doing? I don’t know so good how to explain it. Only how to do it.”

9. The Crossfire series by Sylvia Day

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There's a lot of parallels to Fifty Shades here; mainly, a flawed heroine who falls for a perfect man named Gideon Cross. But the writing quality is notably better as far as plot and pacing go, and the series has amassed its own cult following.

Quote: “He was the kind of guy that made a woman want to rip his shirt open and watch the buttons scatter along with her inhibitions.”

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