A review by mj414
Joss and the Countess by S.M. LaViolette, Minerva Spencer

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.