An Introduction to Pleasure

Mistress Matchmaker Series, Book 1

By: Jess Michaels

Narrated by: Carmen Rose

Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Lysandra Keates is running out of options. Her father is dead, her mother is ill, and her efforts to find respectable employment have ended in failure. With her small savings bleeding away, she swallows her pride - and her terror - and turns to Vivien Manning, an infamous courtesan, to match her with a wealthy protector. For years, Viscount Andrew Callis has lived a monastic existence at his country estate, hardening his body against the snobbish, lazy young man he once was, hardening his heart against grief over the deaths of his wife and infant son.

When Vivien asks him to spend one month training a young woman in the ways of a mistress, his mind resists . . . but his body responds with an ache he thought long dead. As Andrew begins his gentle tutelage, he finds himself falling under the spell of Lysandra's innocent charms. And as they give in to the powerful hunger, the last thing Andrew ever expected, or wanted, forms between them. An emotional connection that could carry them well past the training period - if only Andrew can open his heart to the possibility of love.

©2012 Jess Michaels (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"To whomever loves 19th century historical romance this is sure to become a series that you will want to read." ( Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews)

Boring and predictable

Just so predictable. No depth. Not sexy. Not romantic. Narrator was okay but story was so blah.

Steamy is an Understatement

This was my first Jess Michaels listen. Read the reviews which said the steam level was high, but that is an understatement. The story was interesting although fairly unbelievable. Carmen Rose did a fabulous job narrating very steamy scenes without making them obscene.

Loved this book

What did you love best about An Introduction to Pleasure?

It is truly a love story. Oh there's a lot of juicy sex but the story is there. I really felt sorry for the decision Lysandra had to make but it turned out for the best. Andrew and Lysandra made a good couple.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the way the story developed. This could have been considered an audio porn story, but it was so much more. What happened to these two characters prior to their meeting made it interesting. Also, I enjoyed finding out why Andrew didn't want to get close to another woman.

What about Carmen Rose’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed it.

Excellent

A good narrator is important to any audible book & this one was great!! Jess Micheals writes wonderful stories that are more then just erotic. They are interesting & the plot is intriguing.

This book is NOT rated G.

This was a great story, but you must like lots and lots of hot and steamy sex in your books. The story line was good, I would have liked there to have been a little more story to this book though. It was definitely less story in between the tutelage of being a mistress. I liked the characters very much. It was a hot and steamy romance for sure.

if you like this book you would like Her Husbands Harlot, Mayhem in Mayfair series by Grace Calloway all three of those books were very good.

I thought the narrator did a excellent job.

Erotic romance

This was a mildly erotic regency romance. The character are typical- destitute girl from a lower rank falls for emotionally crippled guy from highest rank. The narration is pretty good. Okay for an Escape selection.

Hot regency romance

I loved this book. It’s so nice to actually have a hot steamy regency romance with a great story.

A BEAUTIFUL ROMANTIC REGENCY LOVE STORY

This was a very sexy listen but it had so much more going for it - passion, anguish, torment, class differences, secrets, trust and decisions as two needy hearts find each other when the tormented Hero is overcoming his past while the desperate Heroine is looking to her future but they both have to live for the now.

Their sizzling chemistry was off the charts as the sex very quickly developed but it was the unfolding tender romance and caring that was beautiful to witness. I didn't want to stop listening, I didn't want it to end, with very likeable H/H that were meant for each other, wished there was an Epilogue, and went straight to download books 2 and 3.

Worth a credit? I don't know if it was 'historically correct' and I didn't care as this entertaining listen is just what I love in the genre and YES a creditworthy hot listen.

introduction to a great series.

Okay, yes, an entire book written about becoming a mistress in regency London doesn't exactly sound inspiring. But the writing is excellent, the characters seem real and the sex is scorching hot. Add the talented Carmen Rose's performance and you strike a rich vein of gold in a sea of historical romances all too much a like. There is not a single Ton ball in the tale yet title rank and class are the surrounding influences to the theme.

I believe this is well worth my credit. I've just listened to it for a second time and still find it pleasing.

very, very sensual w/ romantic undertones

This historical erotic romance was great. This was my first from this author, but it, likely, won’t be my last. The story came to sensual life with the words of this author and the great narrator. There was a perfect balance between the two. There was a lot of sex, once they got started, which wasn’t long into the story. But the sex was not gratuitous. If it bothers you, you should know that the explicitness was in both the description of the sexual encounters, somewhat, and in using the terms f**k and pu**y (not puffy!) but nothing else. Again, it was more sensual than purely erotic. And, because of the romantic undertones, it came across with warmth and not sexual rawness alone. During one sexual encounter there was a small bit of control play. Another aspect of this story that I liked was that the mystery in Andrew’s life was revealed slowly and in the right way and time. It easily held my interest and spurred me to continue listening. In fact, I didn’t want to stop listening. Finally, I liked that this story is a telling of how a couple comes together and grows and how a woman, Lysandra, grows too, not a weak, whiny woman. And the story is just the right length, no extra or frivolous parts for length and not substance.

In historical novels, the historical accuracy doesn’t matter to me much, so I can’t really address that aspect beyond stating that nothing seemed glaringly out of time to me. Also, as was common then—as well as now, unfortunately—the story included class warfare and issues of power and sexism where the woman, albeit at the hand of another powerful man, wins. Still, I love it.

The only reason I don’t give this book a 5 is that it will not stay with me long past the end of this story. After all, it is a HEA romance that was obviously that from the beginning. It also didn’t provide some kind of new or interesting insight to me. So, on my scale, it didn’t make it to a 5. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it.