HOT
★★★★
This is the first E.L. James novel that does not revolve around, or even feature, Mr. Grey and his erotic muse, Anastasia Steel. And it’s a good thing too, because The Mister is a much better book than all of the Fifty Shades titles combined. That’s not to say that it’s a classic or great work of erotic fiction, but it is a compelling page turner that is much more authentic than the Fifty Shades trilogy because James is writing about English nobility and London, which she does know a great deal about.
Maxim Trevelyan’s brother has just died and left him a Earledom, which he never had any idea he would inherit. He’s the spare (the heir and the spare), so he’d been living a life of excess in all things. But his cleaning woman, the simply beautiful Alessia, has captured his interest, and eventually his heart. Little does he know that this virgin is on the run from Albanian sex traffickers who she has escaped from, and, after he saves her from her pursuers, she is again tracked down by a fiancé her father had practically sold her to. Maxim and Alessia traverse Eastern Europe to make their love work, and it works as a novel. Honestly, kudos to E. L. James for creating a couple that is exponentially more interesting than Anastasia and Christian Grey, without a hint of BDSM. Published by Vintage, April 16, 2019