Rayven Delauro
I downloaded the three books via a torrent site, and the only reason it is popular is because of the media... there have been "romance" books out for years, and even more explicit ones, like Scruples" but the story is too.... perfect, this guy is good looking, has a company, rich, flys a helecopter... the guy is like a frigging Ken doll spinoff of 'the perfect man'
It seems to me that it's safe to say 50 Shades just like the series it came from in that it's wish fulfillment. And like Twilight, I believe that's the only reason it gained enough speed for the media to notice. Ah, hadn't heard of that one. I stay out of the "love story novel" scene. I like my imagination better than the imaginations of many published female authors in that department.
What's disgustingly funny is that I would appreciate his character if he were only flawed and the culprit in a crime/psych thriller. That's where his archetype belongs, IMHO. I find serial killers and psychopaths fascinating, and his character is arguably a psychopathic sexual sadist. But done like this, it robs them of every iota of intrigue they might have held, because then, they're not really psychopaths.