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86 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mistress by Mistake by Maggie Robinson, April 28, 2010
This review is from: Mistress By Mistake (Paperback)
Thirty year old Charlotte Fallon has a lonely but content life in her small village of Little Hyssop. She has her own cottage and some stray cats and spends her time tatting lace. Her sister Deborah on the other hand lives a very different life. Deborah is a courtesan, recently set up as the mistress of Sir Michael Xavier Bayard on Jane street, where the mistresses are affectionately called "The Janes." Bay gets called away to his ill grandmother's side before they can officially consummate their arrangement. While he is gone, Deborah gets a marriage offer, and can't resist. She also can't resist stealing a ruby necklace that had once belonged to Bay's beloved grandmother. Bay had previously loaned the necklace to Deborah, as a gift for her to wear until he could come back to town.
Deborah begs Charlotte to come to Jane Street to relay the news of her engagement to Bay. Charlotte, not having a lot of backbone when it comes to her sister reluctantly agrees. Later that night, after imbibing in way too much alcohol, Charlotte falls into a deep sleep. Bay happens to arrive home that night to see who he thinks is Deborah in his bed - both sisters happen to have dark long hair and quite a buxom chest.
As Bay enjoys himself that night, Charlotte awakes the next morning startled to realize her x-rated dream actually happened. Bay is shocked to see Charlotte instead of his mistress and once he realizes his necklace is gone, he assumes the sisters planned this scheme together. He decides to keep Charlotte at his house until the necklace is found - and by keep, I mean tied naked to the bed. Charlotte is mortified to be kept on Jane street - although not a virgin, she has had very limited sexual experiences. She may relent to him in bed, but that doesn't stop her from trying to escape, and cause bodily harm to her captor. As these two fight, bicker, and make dirty love, their feelings start to take a turn. Just when things get really steamy, Bay's ex-wife shows up, not so well in the head, and not so happy to see him with another woman.
I very much enjoyed Mistress by Mistake, even though it took a couple of chapters to fall in love with the hero and heroine. I honestly was a bit shocked at Bay's behavior at first. He is very upset his grandmother's necklace is gone, along with his mistress. But tying up Charlotte and doing sexual things to her - when I wasn't a hundred percent sure she approved, made me feel a bit squirmy. But that feeling quickly leaves as the very feisty Charlotte soon admits she can't get enough of Bay. Charlotte is a heroine that cracks me up as she never stops fighting being held captive. She tries to runaway with some of his artwork, only to be sadly dragged back to his place, which then has Bay even more incensed that she tries to steal from him too. Then she tries to whack him on the head with a candlestick and plans a slow poisonous death for him among other things. Bay looks at this supposedly prim and proper woman, who wears a stocking cap, and wonders what in the world possesses him to keep her. Maggie Robinson does a nice job mixing humor into this romance story and I found myself laughing throughout their story.
Their romance is very steamy and surprised me by its erotic nature. It is very naughty for a historical romance and I loved their lustful relationship. Bay's ex-wife comes on the scene and makes for a pretty good villain. She kind of gives Bay a dose of his own medicine and it makes for a nice twist.
There are also lovely supporting characters. The other "Janes" bond together, since they are usually left to their own devices during the day. They develop a sisterly camaraderie and they help each other with their man troubles. The next two books in this series feature two more courtesans and I can't wait to get their stories!
Mistress by Mistake has a hero and heroine that start out very feisty and build up to a very sweet and touching romance. A really fun, steamy story to read. I definitely recommend.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stand out debut!, May 4, 2010
"Gorgeous prose, a wonderful love story, and scorching heat makes Mistress By Mistake a stand out debut."
How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Seriously, it's the perfect beginning for my review of Maggie Robinson's Mistress By Mistake, the first book in her Courtesan Court series.
The truth is I really wasn't going to read the ARC when Maggie sent it to me. I planned to give it away on the blog because that's what I do to most of the books I receive. I opened it to the first page just to get a small taste of her writing. I knew the story had something to do with courtesans all living on some special street--Jane Street--and I'm not particularly fond of courtesan stories.
I read the first page and I was hooked! Hooked I tell you. I discovered that the heroine, Charlotte Fallon, a spinster who lives in a cottage with several cats, is not in fact a courtesan. That honor goes to her rather self-involved sister, who in a certain light could be her twin. Do you see where I'm going?
When the hero, Sir Michael Bayard, is finally able to join his new mistress, he discovers--belatedly--that he has bedded the wrong sister. Or has he? Well in the end we know he hasn't but I do digress.
So anyway, the problem is Michael has a contract with Charlotte's sister who he discovers has absconded with the family jewels. No pun intended there, she stole a ruby necklace. He wants the necklace back or Charlotte must fulfill the contract. Now of course he's not serious about holding her to the contract but it's the threat he makes to make her stay.
I loved Bay (Michael's nickname). To me he was the perfect balance of brooding alpha male and sensitive lover. He acknowledges his growing feelings for Charlotte earlier than I expected. And he doesn't do a lot of vacillating about whether to marry her. That was so refreshing.
I also loved Charlotte. And I don't usually love the heroines in the books I read. I'm just satisfied if they don't aggravate me or if I don't actively dislike them. Charlotte is fiery and passionate and prissy and proper at the same time. Despite her widowed status, she discovers her passionate side with Bay .
Excerpt
The exquisite tug and tinge on her most private place went beyond anything she had ever felt. His lips, his teeth, his fingers worked in wicked concert. The man was a fiend. A talented one who knew precisely how to unlock the prim Charlotte from her prison and set her free. Too free. She would drown and disappear in her freedom, swept away by the forces she'd never imagined.
The waves came hard, one after another until she lost her voice completely. How had she lived for thirty years not knowing such a thing was possible and so necessary. Two days with Bay had completely ruined her for her cottage and cats.
End of Excerpt
The loves scenes are scorching hot and the two of them together, both in and out of bed, are combustible.
I did experience some very angsty moments while reading this book. Bay's sort of ex-wife (there's a story behind this) is a pain in the neck. She is willing to do anything--and I mean anything--to get Bay back. Her methods are ruthless to the extreme. Things got so bad, I even emailed Maggie during one of the tenser moments, and threatened to commit 'hari-kari' if a certain situation didn't resolve the way I wanted it to. But I did love the heart in my throat feeling as I flung obscenities at the book--a very interactive experience.
All in all, whether my heart was being wrung dry, or I was smiling, or I was fanning myself silly (because the book is HOT), every word in Mistress By Mistake (because boy does Maggie's prose sing) kept me completely enthralled until the very end. I look forward, more than ever to becoming better acquainted with Jane's friends, some of the other ladies on Jane Street as Maggie continues her Courtesan Court books.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't Hit Me The Right Way, June 2, 2010
This review is from: Mistress By Mistake (Paperback)
This book really didn't hit any of my enjoyment buttons. I bought it because one of my friends raved about it. Unfortunately for both of us it didn't hit me the same way it hit her.
The book opens with Charlotte talking to her sister, Deborah, in a house on Jane street owned by Sir Michael Xavier Bayard. Michael recently set up Deborah in the house as his mistress, but before he can consummate the relationship he's called away because of a death in the family. While he's gone Deborah decides she's getting married and wants Charlotte to talk to Michael in person and explain it to him.
***Begin Spoilers***
I really don't understand why Deborah wanted someone there to explain things in person. That made no sense. What was even more illogical was the fact that Charlotte agreed to it. I was surprised that when Charlotte found out that Deborah stole the necklace she wasn't more angry with her. Her sister set her up to take the brunt of Michael's anger! Even if Deborah didn't know that Michael would be crazy enough to keep Charlotte prisoner she still knew he'd be out for blood.
I felt bad about Michael's past with his ex-wife-but-not-really-because-she-was-already-married. She wasn't the nicest person though. Even before she went psycho she toyed with Michael's affections and kept him dangling after her. I wish Michael would have had enough strength to break it off with her completely further in the past.
Nothing was really made of the fact that Michael was raped twice in this book. It disturbed me badly, but it really didn't seem have much impact on Michael or Charlotte. That really surprised me. How could it not even have bothered them a little? Also, there were some uncomfortable moments for me in regard to the consent aspect of Charlotte and Michael's sexual relationship. It kind of creeped me out at first. Also, Charlotte never seemed bother by one aspect that really bothered me: He wanted her sister but now he'll sleep with Charlotte because she's there, but he only wanted both of them because they look like his ex-wife.
***End SPOILERS***
Also, was this book Erotica? It didn't say so anywhere in the description, but it seemed to center around sex rather than the relationship. I thought it was supposed to be a Romance, but after reading it I think my assumption was wrong.
To me the sex wasn't really sexy. There was a lot of page time spent on it but it seemed kind of mechanical and forced.
I did think the writing style was pretty nice though. I also really enjoyed the time spent on the friendships between the women of Jane street.
I'm undecided on trying another by this author. Like I said, the style of writing was nice, but I'm just not sure if I'd be setting myself up for failure by trying again.
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