I first ran across the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy maybe five or six years ago when I was looking for a steamy romance novel to read because I hadn’t read one in years. While browsing an online bookstore, I came across The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A. N. Roquelaure. It was listed under erotica and I thought it was great that there was a grown-up version of Sleeping Beauty and ordered it without hesitation. Either I really didn’t understand the meaning of erotica or the book’s description was very subdued and misleading because what I found myself reading was very S&M to my surprise.

Nevertheless, I read the entire first book, probably with my eyes wide open and my mouth agape. How can anyone think up this stuff? It was disgusting and I suspect highly offensive to some. I was shocked, but also fascinated. So much that when…