Shockingly, a string of classic novels such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Sherlock Holmes have been given a controversial Fifty Shades of Grey-style makeover to capitalise on the boom in sales of 'mummy porn'.
Literary purists will be horrified by British publishing house Total E-Bound's adaptation of the timeless tomes which will now include raunchy sex scenes, homosexuality and a string of X-rated expletives.
Readers of the re-worked Jane Eyre will witness in full, steamy detail how Jane finally gives herself to the rampant Mr Rochester.
Sherlock Holmes features the famous detective embarking on a sordid gay affair with his sidekick Dr Watson.
Northanger Abbey and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea have also been given a racy rewrite with Dracula, Treasure Island, Wuthering Heights, The Three Musketeers and the Phantom of the Opera set to be released too; each novel will retain the original author's plots and prose but be expanded with the insertion of 'missing' scenes featuring adult content such as straight, gay, lesbian and BDSM relationships.
Total-E-Bound, which sell its books worldwide, has drafted in some of its most popular writers to co-author the new e-book adaptations, with Sierra Cartwright, Sarah Masters, Amy Armstrong, Marie Sexton and Desiree Holt - at 76, the world's oldest erotic romance writer - to pen the adaptations.
Claire Siemaszkiewicz, founder of Total-E-Bound Publishing, which will launch their Clandestine Classics collection on July 30, said she felt the new collection was a major step forward for the genre.
Claire added:
"Whenever I read classics from authors like Jane Austen, I often think about the potential 'uncensored versions' that the original authors were unable - or unwilling - to include.
''After all, a lot of these stories are, at the heart, romances.
''With the launch of Clandestine Classics, readers will finally be able to read what the books could have been like if erotic romance had been acceptable in that day and age, redefining the boundaries and bringing the classics to a new generation of readers.
"As the first erotic romance publisher to bring out a line of re-imagined classics, we recognise it's a bold move that may have a polarising effect on readers.
''We're keeping the works as close to the original classics as possible.
''It's not our intention to rewrite or distort them but to create a whole new experience, enhancing the novels by adding deeper relationships, character development, and the 'missing' scenes for readers to enjoy."
Award-winning British born author Sierra Cartwright, who is penning the new version of Jane Eyre, said:
"Jane Eyre is a breathtakingly beautiful story which has withstood the test of time.
''Jane is multi-dimensional, brave, committed to her course of action, and Rochester is such an engaging enigma. The love story is captivating, real, rich, complex, and fraught with real conflict.
"There are so many joys of working on Jane Eyre to add erotic content. The biggest challenge it to be sure it's in fitting with Jane's character and that the additions don't change the beautiful flow of the story.
"I'm very excited by Total-E-Bound's vision for retelling the classics. The Clandestine Classics imprint is intriguing, giving a modern audience access to amazing stories they may have missed."
British novelist Sarah Masters, who is adapting the first Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet as a gay romance, said: "I'd often wondered what it would be like to see a relationship between Holmes and Watson that went beyond companions, so to have the opportunity to do so was very exciting."
Total E-Bound claim their versions, which use the original plots invigorated with the addition of adult scenes, tell the untold story of the books which the originals did not fully address.
In the 'scorching hot' new version of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy smoulder with unbridled passion in their erotic romance.
The Clandestine version of Sherlock Holmes contains the lines:
"I did not join in the rather ribald conversations regarding women, talking about their breasts and ***** as other men did, telling one and all I wished I had a buxom female to curl up to at night.
''It was a revelation, that time, learning perhaps what I should have been thinking about, what I should have wanted, and realising I wanted no part of it. Could not have any part of it. How could I explain that the softness of a woman did not appeal?
''That the swells on their chests were not something I wished to explore? That I preferred the flat planes belonging to a man, the smaller nipples that I longed to flick my tongue over? And their private parts. Those did not excite me either.''
In Northanger Abbey Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney are also involved in a steamy sex scene, which unfolds as follows:
''Henry leaned his head closer to her face and placed his lips on hers. They were firm and moist and the touch was utterly pleasant. He brushed his mouth lightly over hers in a back and forth motion, teasing her, until his tongue peeped out to trace the seam of her lips.
"Open your mouth for me, sweet Catherine," he urged. "Let me in."
''She did so and when his tongue swept inside it filled her with a sensation of pleasure that danced through her body.''
The erotic romance genre has experienced a dramatic revival in recent months, thanks to the rising popularity of e-readers and record-breaking success of "mummy porn" novel Fifty Shades of Grey.
According to experts, people are increasingly buying soft porn and erotic romance eBooks because the e-reader allows people to read erotic books without embarrassment of being "caught out".
This view is backed up the blossoming sales figures; the market for erotic romance fiction has increased by around a third in the last 12 months, with 50% of sales through e-books.
