The Mister: A Forbidden Billionaire Romance of Power, Passion, and Escape (Mister & Missus, 1) Paperback – April 16, 2019

I have read "The Mister" and "The Missus" three times each and love Maxim's and Alessia's beautiful love story. Reading these books brought me a lot of inner Joy.

I was interested to read something by this author that didn't have the word “grey” in it, either actual or implied.Result:. A good story, but horrendous editing. Almost every page dropped off the first letter of each word, or the word itself.Also, the point of view switched constantly, to the point that I would skim the section for several paragraphs, trying to figure out who was speaking or thinking, before seriously reading it.And, the thing I hate the most about almost any book is the failure to tie up loose ends. This book failed on that account miserably.I would have liked, after knowing that the primary characters suspected it, to know whether another character committed suicide, or not. A lot was made of this, but there was nothing further given to the reader.I also would have liked to know about the fates of the other trafficked women. And, the kidnappers. And what happened when Maxim had to tell his mom who he had married.I also would have liked more discussion about his position as the “spare” who unexpectedly inherits the title of Earl.I know that real life rarely tIes up loose ends, but in fiction you kind of expect it. In fiction, we like to see resolution. A problem is posited, then fleshed out, and then resolved.With this author, I DID expect lots and lots and lots of graphic sex. And, of course, that was the main item served up on the menu. But, honestly, it gets real tiresome after awhile.With FSOG, there was an actual resolvable premise and problem, and it was convincing. Over three books, the ratio of graphic sex to actual plot was OK. And, I grew to like the characters, if not love them. FSOG was a traditionally imagined love story. It was believable, and everything was resolved.I had the distinct impression that this new book was dashed off, maybe to fulfill contractual requirements,I did not identify with any of the characters, or develop any particular feelings for them. They were little better than cardboard cutouts.I gave the review four stars, but I really don’t know why. I think it is because I really WANTED to empathize with these people. I certainly did with Christian and Ana.But, unfortunately, I couldn’t make any connection with Maxim or Alessia. They were wooden.I really can’t recommend the book, unless there is a major rewrite.

Fabulous fabulous! I looooved everything about this story. It's beautifully told and very romantic in a not cheesy or corny way. I really liked both characters. There is just enough intrigue, danger, and suspense on top of a beautiful love story. I will probably read it again in the future and I look forward to reading the Missus to see how it all ends. I know they've both gone through it so far, goodness.E.L. did her thing on this one

2.75 - 3.0 StarsI actually liked the FSOG trilogy and will admit it’s one of the series that caused me to start reading romance novels. I was therefore excited to read a new book by this author. .The Mister has a lot of the same scenarios as FSOG. Maxim, like Christian, is an extremely wealthy and good looking hero who owns multiple properties and has a lot of employees who count on him. Alessia, like Anatasia, is a shy, naive virgin heroine who acts as though she’s a scared teenager. Maxim has a female best friend who becomes jealous and is apparently in love with him (we all remember Mrs. Robinson). Then there’s the fact that Alessia is kidnaped, not once but twice (Anatasia was taken by Jack). Maxim also plays the piano (like Christian), except in this story Alessia is the better piano player. There were just too many similarities to FSOG.The characters' inner dialogues were sometimes cheesy and silly, not to mention repetitive. I skimmed over pages at a time only stopping to read the actual conversations between the characters.The following portion of my review contains some spoilerish comments, so please stop reading here if you don’t want to see them.The whole thing with Caroline and her being jealous didn’t really add much to the story. If anything it made Maxim look weak for sleeping with her in the first place, and felt out of place and awkward. I get that the reason for the storyline about Alessia being trafficked was so that Maxim had reason to take her to another one of his properties. Once there, they were able to get to know each other and fall in love. However, the way that was resolved was unbelievable. Traffickers are a lot more ruthless and violent than they were portrayed here, and Maxim would not have been able to stop them without a lot of blood shed and dead bodies. Once Alessia is taken by the man who she was promised to by her father, Maxim seems to take forever to go after her. He waits until the next day for a flight instead of driving. He and his buddy visit a museum while waiting on an interpreter. He takes pictures and even stop for drinks on the way to get her. Really?! I would certainly hope that if my man was coming after me, I would be his top priority and he wouldn’t be stopping for a freaking drink or to take a picture to post to his Instagram page.There is no epilogue and the book just suddenly ends. Maxim and Alessia are having a conversation and that’s it. I guess it's a HFN since there is the potential for another book I suppose. Caroline could become manipulative and cause problems for the couple; the traffickers could be released from jail and come after them; and Anatoli, the man Alessia was betrothed to, made a big production of yelling that they haven’t heard the last from him. Also, there were still questions left as to why/how Kit died, so I guess there could be something about that too. If there is another book, sadly I won’t be reading it.

At first I was hesitant to read this book by E.L. James. I read her Fifty Shades series years ago. I wasn't impressed with the quality of her writings in those books. But, I am pleasantly surprised by The Mister. This story had a LOT of sex -as expected. That's what she apparently likes to include. These scenes were tastefully written- vs the kink in Fifty Shades books. But, the storyline flowed well as the romance bloomed between them. And now, it's time to read Book 2 in the series.

I loved Maxim and Alessia!! The book starts a little slow but the more I read the more I liked it. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. Maxim had just lost his brother and gained a title and an estate he never thought he'd have or wanted. Alexa is his new housekeeper and he's memorized by her. She escaped some very bad people and he needs to protect her. He just never expected to feel this way about anyone or fall in love.