Home
/
Fiction
/
Darker
Darker
Mar 19, 2025 10:14 AM

Author:E L James

Darker

**Pre-order FREED, 'Fifty Shades Freed' as told by Christian**

E L James revisits the world of Fifty Shades with a deeper and darker take on the love story that has enthralled millions of readers around the globe.

Their scorching, sensual affair ended in heartbreak and recrimination, but Christian Grey cannot get Anastasia Steele out of his mind, or his blood. Determined to win her back, he tries to suppress his darkest desires and his need for complete control, and to love Ana on her own terms.

But the horrors of his childhood still haunt him, and Ana's scheming boss, Jack Hyde, clearly wants her for himself. Can Christian's confidant and therapist, Dr. Flynn, help him face down his demons? Or will the possessiveness of Elena, his seducer, and the deranged devotion of Leila, his former submissive, drag Christian down into the past?

And if Christian does win Ana back, can a man so dark and damaged ever hope to keep her?

Reviews

FROM THE NO. 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR DEBBIE MACOMBER a Christmas novel about first impressions and second chances.

—— from the publisher's description

The perfect feel good romance story for the festive period

—— Mojomums Blog

What a sparkling, fun romance! Merry and Bright is the ideal gift for your romantic friends and family – if you can bear to give it away!

—— My Weekly

A delightful festive novel

—— Frost Magazine

Written with a lovely light touch which gets right into the heart of family life and shows the true spirit of Christmas

—— Jaffa Reads Too blog

Merry and Bright lived up to all expectations, […] a charming, festive read that I think should be on everyone’s Christmas reading list this year

—— Shaz’s Book Blog

The ideal book to cosy up with […] it is a novel that will put a smile on your face and warm your heart over the Christmas period

—— Hair Past a Freckle Blog

To say that Merry and Bright is a fantastic read is something of an understatement. […] I simply adored this book and I would recommend it to anybody

—— Ginger Book Geek Blog

Evocative and affecting

—— Rabeea Saleem , BookRiot

A story that intrigues and surprises

—— Kate Eberlen , bestselling author of Miss You

A thoroughly indulgent escape from those chilly winter nights, The Place We Met is guaranteed to transport you to a wonderland of hidden secrets, shocking pasts and surprising romance. I devoured this smart, enthralling story of two women whose fates are entwined in the most incredible way. Isabelle Broom is the queen of heartfelt fiction. She just gets better and better

—— Victoria Fox , author of The Silent Fountain

I experienced sheer joy in reading The Place We Met . . . I was swept away in the romance, the emotions and the gorgeousness of the writing

—— Linda's Book Bag

Praise for Isabelle Broom

—— -

We loved it!

—— Closer

Warning: you will shed tears and end up booking a trip!

—— Prima

Prepare for tears and laughter

—— Fabulous

Unashamedly romantic

—— Sunday Express

Brilliantly evocative

—— Paige Toon

Brilliant, warm and beautifully judged - I raced through it

—— Cathy Kelly

A lovely, absorbing novel, full of beauty and mystery

—— Kate Eberlen

So evocative you can practically smell the paella and sangria

—— Closer

More than a book about sport it is a book about a young man struggling to find his groove in the rough and tumble of fairly unforgiving, male society.

—— Liam Heylin , Irish Examiner

In A Natural, Raisin delves into the life of a lower league English football team – a subject never covered before, as far as I know, in literary fiction. Perhaps it doesn’t sound an immediately appealing prospect. But he makes it wholly absorbing.

—— Theo Tait , London Review of Books

[A] gripping, well-written and moving story, which should interest anyone curious about enclosed worlds and hidden lives… Raisin captures both the sweat and the glory of football. He has mastered the register of manager-speak, with its urgently shouted clichés, and the earnest banter on fans’ messaging boards.

—— Sameer Rahim , Prospect

A Natural makes a conceptual leap that most old-style football fiction laboured to achieve: in the end its characters are as important as the milieu that tethers them and what emerges is an exceptionally good novel, which just happens to take place on a football pitch.

—— DJ Taylor , Guardian

Raisin provides an authentic portrayal of life in the lower divisions both on and off the pitch. The fine details are present in the pre-match nerves in the changing rooms, the neatly laid out kit and the smell of Deep Heat, but it is the unchecked laddishness, the fake camaraderie and the close scrutiny from supporters on social media that Raisin wants us to feel… This is a rare novel about the challenge of being a gay professional footballer and hopefully it will go some way to help changing perceptions in a sport that has still got a very long way to go.

—— Ian Aspinall , Late Tackle

Ross Raisin’s book about a gay footballer, demands about 200 pages of patience, but you won’t regret it. In the vertiginous second half of this rich, wise study of masculinity, Raisin demonstrates with extraordinary sensitivity how difficult it can be to attain E.M. Forster’s dictum, “Only connect!”

—— Claire Lowdon , Times Literary Supplement

The virtue of devastatingly simple storytelling was also felt in Ross Raisin’s A Natural…one of my favourite novels of the year, about a gay footballer hiding an affair with the groundsman at his struggling lower-league team.

—— Anthony Cummins , Daily Telegraph

A deeply moving portrait of fear and acceptance.

—— John Boyne , Irish Independent

This seems like one of those books designed to fold straightaway into contemporary liberal conversation.

—— The Skinny

Cause for jubilation . . . This proves her to be the reigning queen of British chick lit . . . insightful, funny and poignant

—— Daily Mail

Praise for Marian Keyes

—— -

Gloriously funny

—— The Sunday Times

Funny but poignant

—— Marie Claire

A total triumph

—— Daily Mail

Not only is it a great story with funny, loveable characters, it made me laugh out loud

—— Stylist

A beautifully written modern love story from Britain's best contemporary female author

—— Sun on Sunday

Wonderfully written and completely engrossing, with exquisitely drawn characters in a brilliantly plotted narrative. It will make you think long after you finish the final page

—— Daily Mail

A tender, funny and hopeful look at love, grief and life. Bumper box of tissues required

—— Stylist

A beautiful read

—— Hello

Funny, heart-warming and extremely wise

—— Prima

A deeply satisfying book full of big emotions

—— Good Housekeeping

A laugh-out-loud, rollicking good read and a very touching love story

—— Sunday Independent

Moyes is the queen of the classy weepy

—— Elle

A delight

—— The Daily Mirror

A sparkling novel of hope and sacrifice’

—— Glasgow Herald

Magical, heart-warming and time-bending story.

—— Mslexia
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved