Book Lovers Inc.
Romance Novel Reviews, Author Interviews, Commentary
Review: An Introduction to Pleasure by Jess Michaels
Format read: ebook
Series: Book #1 in the Mistress Matchmaker series
Release Date: 19 June 2012
Number of pages: 313 pages
Publisher: Samhain
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Samhain, Read an excerpt
An innocent lady’s education could be a gentleman’s wicked seduction.
Mistress Matchmaker, Book 1
Lysandra Keates is running out of options. Her father is dead, her mother is ill, and her efforts to find respectable employment have ended in failure. With her small savings bleeding away, she swallows her pride—and her terror—and turns to Vivien Manning, an infamous courtesan, to match her with a wealthy protector.
For years, Viscount Andrew Callis has lived a monastic existence at his country estate, hardening his body against the snobbish, lazy young man he once was, hardening his heart against grief over the deaths of his wife and infant son. When Vivien asks him to spend one month training a young woman in the ways of a mistress, his mind resists…but his body responds with an ache he thought long dead.
As Andrew begins his gentle tutelage, he finds himself falling under the spell of Lysandra’s innocent charms. And as they give in to the powerful hunger, the last thing Andrew ever expected, or wanted, forms between them. An emotional connection that could carry them well past the training period—if only Andrew can open his heart to the possibility of love.
Product Warnings: Includes training in all kinds of sexual positions and delights, as well as an emotional romance. May produce swooning.
As soon as I read the above blurb of this book I was hooked and couldn’t wait to read it. I mean it had one of my favourite tropes in historical erotica: the tortured sexy handsome hero educating the inexperienced young virgin in the pleasures of the flesh and the art of love, and An Introduction to Pleasure delivered wonderfully.
I really liked how Lysandra while being such a good, self-sacrificing young woman still had a backbone and a strong will. And Andrew was simply sexy. He was handsome and the whole tortured hero look worked for him. His internal struggles made me feel so sorry for him, his grief and more importantly his guilt were heartbreaking:
“I loved her,” he found himself admitting, perhaps for the first time to anyone but Rebecca herself. “I changed for her. When she died… I didn’t know what kind of man to be.”
“Enjoy the fact that when I look at you, it makes me mad with desire. When any man looks at you in this way, you could have anything you wish for. That will be the power you wield as a mistress.”
He opened her legs wider and looked at her pu**y. “Sometimes I wake up thinking I taste you on my tongue,” he said, stroking a finger along the slick entrance. “I dream of making you come over and over, until you beg for more, for less.”
and his acts. These two had some seriously scorching chemistry and I enjoyed how enthusiastic of a student Lysandra was and the way she unravelled Andrew through his passion and craving for her. The romance crept up on both the reader and Andrew as through their sexual exploits he started experiencing peace and contentment.
You have to be willing to suspend your disbelief regarding many details that showed plainly that An Introduction to Pleasure was not a historically accurate erotic historical romance (the characters were behaving in a too modern way, there were some plot elements which were quite far-fetched), but the story flew smoothly and a lot of interesting characters got introduced, whose story I can’t wait to discover.
Verdict: While An Introduction to Pleasure was not a historically very authentic historical erotica, the sheer steaminess and the engulfing flames of the attraction between the hero and heroine more than made up for it. Do not expect a historically accurate story and you’ll have a great time burning up the sheets with Andrew and Lysandra!
I give An Introduction to Pleasure 4 stars!
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| 5 Stars: Perfect! I Love It! | |||||||||
| 4 Stars: Awesome Book! | |||||||||
| 3 Stars: I Liked It! | |||||||||
| 2 Stars: Not bad, but maybe not for me. | |||||||||
| 1 Star: Didn't like it! Did Not Finish it. | |||||||||
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Woah, that third quote 🙂 lol I didn’t know this was historical erotica… I want this book 😀 Nice quotes! The guy seems really smitten.
Oh yeah Arianne, this is not simply a steamy historical romance, it is rather historical erotica with a romantic storyline, but definitely scorching hot erotica!
Hmmm…I don’t usually go for any sort of historical romance, but after that super hot review, I think I might have to give this one a try! Thanks!
You’re welcome Laura, I hope you’ll enjoy it! 😀
Always love your review! 😉
Love HR so much, and this really has a sexy cover 🙂
Lol if you find the cover sexy you should definitely read the novel as it is so hot you’ll burst into flames 😉
Enjoyed the blurb and the review. Not worried about historical authenticity as long as the story is good and this sounds like a hot and sexy read. Thanks for sharing.