First up on our tour of “Books Like Fifty Shades” is Bared to You by Sylvia Day. This book features Gideon Cross, a hero so rich and damaged he makes Christian Grey look like a well-adjusted kindergarten teacher. He literally says, “I’m not a stalker. I’m just very… focused.”
The heroine, Eva, actually talks back, which is refreshing. She also has her own trauma, so it’s like two beautifully broken mirrors smashing together in slow motion. If you loved the tension of “I shouldn’t want you, but my bank account begs to differ,” this is your next bender.
Another heavyweight champion in this ring is the Crossfire Series by J. Kenner. It’s basically the cousin who shows up to the family reunion with a private jet and a leather-bound journal. The hero, Damien Stark, is a former tennis pro turned tech mogul with subscriptions to every single “domination magazine” known to man.
Fifty shades of grey book - certifiedopm
The Steamy Spinoffs That Keep Showing Up
Then there’s the whole Sebastian York narrating audiobooks phenomenon. Seriously, this voice actor is the king of this genre. If you listen to Fifty Shades followed by This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas, you might actually need a cold shower. The hero, Jesse Ward, is a handsome builder who buys entire hotels just to seduce his love interest. Practical!
And here’s a surprising fact: many of these books were originally self-published on fan fiction sites like Wattpad. Fifty Shades started as Twilight fan fiction, and so did the After series by Anna Todd. That series features Hardin Scott, a British bad boy who takes “brooding” to Olympic levels. He’s got tattoos, he cries in the rain, and he owns exactly one hoodie. Very serious character development.
But maybe you want something even spicier? Enter the Priest series by Sierra Simone. Yes, it’s about a priest. Yes, it’s scandalous. The prose is actually shockingly beautiful, like if Emily Dickinson wrote about confessionals and handcuffs. It proves that the genre can be both literary and absolutely unhinged.
