Reviews

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette, Minerva Spencer

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bonnieg's review against another edition

5.0

My second book from S.M Violette (who also writes as Minerva Spencer) and I loved it even more than the first. LaViolette gives us romantic beautiful stories that bring home the ways the powerful create and reinforce a system where gender and social class leave those not in the elite at the mercy of those who are part of the ruling class. I particularly loved how LaViolette made clear that this power dynamic lives outside of economic success, that money helps navigate the system but never allows one to ascend to power. Those structural barriers get lost much of the time when inequality is discussed. I also loved the clear discussion of how choosing to cede power (in this case in sexual play) is 100% different from having power seized. Rape and sexual submission are diametrically opposed to one another, and LaViolette does a wonderful job of illustrating that fact. I love a book that is both sexy and substantial, arousing and affirming, prurient and pedagogically sound, erotic and economically correct - stop me before I alliterate again! This one is quite likely to make my 2024 romance best-of list.

One quibble -- the audio narrator, Ella Lynch, has a lovely voice until she tries to do an American accent (the FMC is supposed to be from NYC.) In addition to falling in and out of the accent, the accent itself is terrible. It is like she thinks Americans speak like Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday (she gets that accent wrong too, but it sure sounds like that is what she is going for.) We don't. None of us do. It is sometimes painful and always grating to listen to.

caitieparker's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

adrienne_adrimano's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

A believable class-difference romance that was still unique from the 1st installment in the series. I think the author has done a great job of balancing romance amid the challenges of having worked in a brothel and leaving that life behind for love with someone "respectable".

kade89's review against another edition

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4.0

First a massive content warning for rape and incest and medical incarceration and murder and suicide. Also, the main characters have sexual activity with other characters, which I know a lot of readers don’t love. This book gets dark.

I don’t normally enjoy miscommunication or meddling, and this book has both. A lot of both. But I kind of loved it. Things got very messy and complex before this couple got their HEA.

Whereas the last book I read didn’t have enough plot, this book had A LOT of plot. This book really stood in stark contrast with my last book in many ways. It was effortless to read it all the way through. Joss and Alicia were lovely characters and I enjoyed the secondary characters and found family too.

mj414's review against another edition

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3.0

Joss and the Countess is a story about a groom and his employer, a countess, who enter a sexual relationship. In addition to the class difference, the countess is 11 years older, twice married, barren, and extremely wealthy. Joss is a taciturn, large and broody man and former male sex worker from a working class family.

Why I didn't love this book:

Spoiler

I initially liked that Alicia was a sex-positive woman who hired her groom for the specific purpose of accompanying her to her assignations. As the book continued on, I respected Alicia less and less because despite seeming to have control of her body and her life, she is quite weak in every other aspect in her life. She let everything happen to her in life as if she were a brainless pawn. She had no backbone, no spunk, and no inclination to change things for herself and others despite wanting to. She went through some tough sh*t, no doubt about it. But I can't respect a character who just wrings her hand and cries when she has resources to change things.