If you’re in the market for a riding crop it might be better if you buy it before the weekend.

EL James’s best-selling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey debuts in Bermuda on Friday.

The movie is about a love affair between a couple who enjoy riding crops and other toys as part of their kinky sex life. Anastasia Steele is a naive college student when she is seduced by Christian Grey, an older, wealthy man.

Some women might turn 50 shades of red when talking about the book, but not Gail Miller.

She enjoyed it and is going to the premiere with a group of friends.

“We’re calling it ‘A Date with Christian Grey’,” she said. “After the movie we will be going out to have dinner and recount the highlights of the movie.”

She started reading the book while on a trip with her girlfriends.

“Everyone was talking about it,” she said. “I downloaded it, read it and enjoyed it.”

She thought the basic appeal was the storyline.

“I speak for most women in that it is a dream come true when you meet a man who is gorgeous, sexually adventurous and a willing participant,” she said.

“I enjoyed it so much I am rereading it in advance of the movie.”

Friday’s showing is a special one to benefit the Bermuda Red Cross.

Beverley Morfitt will be one of the many women there.

“Usually, if I read a book, I don’t go to see the movie, because there is no way the movie can capture everything in the book,” she said. “But I am making an exception in this case. It was a fun book.”

Mrs Morfitt described Fifty Shades of Grey as a love story between consenting adults.

“It’s not for everyone,” she said. “You either love it or you hate it.”

She said some naysayers had claimed that the book, which is full of graphic sex scenes, would lead to moral decay.

“You can’t take what is happening in a book and assume it is happening everywhere,” she said.

The 58-year-old said her reading tastes usually follow what’s on bestseller lists, and 50 Shades of Grey certainly qualifies in that category.

Since its release in 2011, it has become one of the best-selling books of all time, with 100 million copies sold worldwide.

Sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed have also been popular with readers. The story of Fifty Shades of Grey is particularly incredible because it was a first novel for EL James, a pen name of British author Erika Marshall.

The novel was criticised by literary purists, who said it was badly written. Time Magazine voted the 53-year-old one of the world’s 100 most influential women in 2012.

The novels have had particularly good sales on e-readers, some say because people prefer the anonymity of downloading.

Mrs Morfitt said she read the book on her Kindle, but not because she was embarrassed to be seen with it.

“I told everyone I was reading it,” she said. “I never had to struggle to find other people reading it.”

Another woman, who did not want to be named, said the book really appealed to her because of the connection between Anastasia and Christian.

“The story is actually a love story more than just a raunchy read,” she said. “I was totally engrossed in the story, not for the explicitness of their encounters, but rather because of the budding love that unfolded page after page.

“The thought of a dream man who seemed to have everything — drop-dead good looks, power, enormous wealth and charm — enticing a seemingly average girl who never thought that she could contend with him was exciting.

“The book was very provocative but that was not what piqued my interest in it as a reader. Yes, the book makes you feel like a voyeur, peeking in on something that is forbidden, but it became emotional as well as sensual.

“I mean, who wouldn’t want to be Anastasia Steele? She was a lucky girl, minus the spankings! I wanted to see the happy ending.”

Another woman, who also did not want to be named, said that after reading Fifty Shades of Grey, she was considering buying a riding crop.

“It’s for a horse,” she said. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

You can buy riding crops from the event’s sponsors, lingerie store Eve’s Garden.

The movie premieres at 6.30pm at Speciality Cinema and Grill. A second showing begins at 9.30pm. A pre-party benefiting the Red Cross takes place in “Christian’s private office” — the first floor of Craig Appin House at 8 Wesley Street, Hamilton. Tickets for the movie and pre-party and nibbles are $50 per person and available by calling 236-8253 ext 233.