The Mister by E.L. James

The Mister
by E.L. James
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London, 2019. Life has been easy for Maxim Trevelyan. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, he’s never had to work and he’s rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his family’s noble title, wealth, and estates, and all the responsibility that entails. It’s a role he’s not prepared for and one that he struggles to face.

But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman who’s recently arrived in England, possessing little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. Reticent, beautiful, and musically gifted, she’s an alluring mystery, and Maxim’s longing for her deepens into a passion that he’s never experienced and dares not name. Just who is Alessia Demachi? Can Maxim protect her from the malevolence that threatens her? And what will she do when she learns that he’s been hiding secrets of his own?

From the heart of London through wild, rural Cornwall to the bleak, forbidding beauty of the Balkans, The Mister is a roller-coaster ride of danger and desire that leaves the reader breathless to the very last page.

This review is going to be really hard to write. The main reason being is because I actually didn’t think it was that bad. Will people crucify me for actually enjoying this?
Did it have problems? HELL YES. Was the writing the best? NOPE. But I did enjoy reading this and listening to it on audio. (speaking of audio, I LOVED the narrator’s voice for Maxim 😍)

So many people bashed this book before it came out, so I just knew that I would hate this like everyone else says that they do. If you enjoyed the FSOG series, then you might like this one too. I was one of those people who actually enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey when I read it.

I have seen some reviews talking about the misinterpretation of the Albanian culture in this novel. I can’t say anything about that because I’m not familiar with it enough to know.

So this review will be focused on the writing and romance aspect of the book.

What I can talk about is the writing, characters, and romance portions of this book. For the most part, I did enjoy the romance between Alessia and Maxim. They were awkward, from different places, but never hesitated to make me smile. Some of the moments between them were really cute!

Plot wise, typical romance novel tropes. Rich guys is a manwhore. Rich guys falls for a poor girl. Rich guy feels super manly about helping out a poor girl in her situation. There is nothing new here.

As for the writing, we all know that E.L. James isn’t the best writer and she isn’t going to win any writing awards. However, this was a bit rough, especially in the beginning. Once I got immersed in the story it didn’t really bother me as much, but still, I had to get that out there. I also, don’t understand why Maxim’s POV was in the first person while Alessia’s was in the third person. The switching back and forth was irksome for me.

I was under the impression that this was going to be a standalone. However, after finishing the book it seems like it was left open for more. Maybe the publisher wanted to see how good this one would do first? I don’t know. I just wouldn’t be surprised if this turned into another trilogy. Although, I don’t have it in me to read any more if there is more. 

Overall, it wasn’t perfect by any means. However, the romance was good and it held my attention. Like I said before, If you were one of the people who enjoyed FSOG, then give this one a try.

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