The Mister

By: E. L. James

Narrated by: Dominic Thorburn, Jessica O'Hara-Baker

Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The number one New York Times best seller - a thrilling new romance from E L James, author of the phenomenal best-selling Fifty Shades Trilogy.  

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 listener breathless to the very last moment.

©2019 E L James (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The Mister follows a hot rich British nobleman...who falls for a mysterious woman with a troubled past. Honestly, Fifty Shades can step to the left.” (Cosmo.com)

"The Mister is over-the-top romantic, with...emotionally deep love scenes.... The book’s belief in the infinitely transformative power of love will hit the sweet spot for readers looking to be swept away." (Booklist)

"Packed with passion...a love story full of charm, music and soul-mates...a classic E L James combo of the sweet and erotic with the perfect ending for romantics. I think it’s her best by far!" (The Sun)

Good story but way too slow paced......

The Mister I am sure many reviews are going to tell you IT ISN’T LIKE FIFTY. That is completely TRUE!!!!!

Ducks, thank god for that. ;) Yes, I said it I am not a fan of the fifty books. I enjoyed the movies. MOVING ON.

This book is a little confusing because it is told in both First and Third character and that can be hard to get the hang of. When we are in First it is Maxim’s Point of View. When we are in Third it is in Alessia’s Point of View. Once you get used to that, if you can then it won’t be so jarring.
(I am not a fan of Third.)

The story as a whole is a good one, but it was a very slow paced book. I listen at a higher speed and even still I found my mind wondering a lot. But that wasn’t to say the story was bad because I actually enjoyed it. Especially the last 2 hours when things FINALLY started to speed up.

I will say I was hoping for a less meek/virginal heroine I kind of felt like that has been over-done but I do think Alessia comes into herself throughout the book and isn’t as timid as she was in the beginning.

The narration was awesome! Dominic’s voice was perfect for Maxim and if I am being honest if his voice wasn’t so smooth and awesome I would have stopped listening because the pace of the book is so slow.
Jessica is a new narrator for me I enjoyed her performance and will listen to her again.

I loved this story!!!!

I am a huge E L James fan. I loved Fifty Shades books and their movies with that being said I waited patiently for this book to be released and when I listened to it I didn't compare it to Fifty. I went into this book with an open mind and I do not think it is fair to judge an author on a prior series. I went into listening this book as a new and refreshing story. I have looked at some of the other reviews and I personally do not agree, but that is just my opinion. I have seen a lot of reviews in the past of books and I would of missed out on a great story if I didn't listen for myself and have an open mind. With all that being said I loved this story. I couldn't stop listening and when I had to, I was excited to pick it right back up where I left off.

The story itself in my opinion is Unique and not really like any other book I have listened to in a long while. I feel as the story progressed and they grew as individuals and I how Alessia found herself as the story progressed I admired. I feel that Alessia helped Maxim mourn a great loss and loved how quickly their relationship evolved. I feel that Maxim was the Knight and shinning amour that she deserved and needed. In the beginning of the book I feel there is a big build up to their feelings and it was well written. I believe that if you are in a situation where you are around someone for longs periods of time and they were only person you could fall in love with them quickly because all you are doing is getting to know that person so for me that was not far fetched. I am a person in real life that knows pretty quickly if I like someone and want to get to them more so I related to that. I feel that E L James had the relationship progress at a rate that was appropriate.

I personally will recommend this book to anyone who will listen.

The narrators that were picked were perfect.

In most stories I am not a fan of 1st person & 3rd person being in the same narration but in this case and because of the language barrier at first I feel it was needed. I also loved how when the piano was played by a character you got to hear the beautiful music like you were there. That was a nice added bonus. I personally love playing the piano and I was so appreciative that it was added to this audio.

Not all that see this are going to agree but after reading what has been posted I wanted you to know that I came at this book from a different perspective and I really enjoyed it and will listen again. You do not have to agree with my assessment.

It was a bit of a stretch for me.

It was a bit of a stretch for me! I know it's not Fifty Shades of Grey, but it's hard not to compare one book to another when it comes to the same author. It was a good love story. I just find it extremely hard to believe that a woman that was trying to escape an abusive family, betrothal and ended up in sex trafficking would fall in love with a man and all of it in the matter of weeks.

As far as the performance goes I love that they had both male and female reader.

Why?

I should of saved my credit. I love the Fifty series but this book... It was way too long for nothing to be written. I am an avid Audible listener and I have seen books half as long much better. The writing made me want to shake E.L. James. I prayed she would not be a one hit wonder but seems I was wrong.
Characters relationship could have been better developed. Also, going back and forward from 1st person to 3rd person was just weird.

Disappointed

I’m so very sorry to write this negative review but I can’t encourage anyone to spend their money on it. I adored 50 shades. Even though the sex in those books became boring after the first few times I really fell in love with Ana and Christian. James did a wonderful job of making me understand them and care about them. Not so much in The Mister. I couldn’t bring myself to connect to the characters or really care very much about the predicaments they found themselves in. I actually wanted to skip the last few chapters to get this book over with but I kept hoping for some kind of satisfaction before the end. It never materialized.

Unfortunately DNF!

This was just not there for me, I am so sad about the lack of story and plot development which left if unfinished. I couldn’t finish it.
The upside the narration was wonderful.

Horrible

This was the worst next book ever. It is hard to believe that this is the same person that wrote fifty shades of grey. Slow moving, I struggled to finish.

Bad Narration and Boring Audible Book

Sorry maybe I expected to much from this read because she wrote and produced a movie from the awesome book 50 Shades but this book “for me” was boring 😢. I just couldn’t get into it, the woman’s narration was just blah and didn’t have the pitch needed to go with this type of book.

Beyond bad and disappointing

I have real all the rest of E L James books and am at a loss what happened here.

Predictable, boring, cheesy, drawn out.....

The story is so boring and predictable I could have given you the entire story line by the 5th chapter.

The writing is so bad I had to go back and double check I didn’t get a book by someone with a similar name and just think it was E L James.

Not worth the time or money. Huge let down!

F

Dispose of 4/5ths of the repetitive drivel and the remainder might be the premise for a Hallmark movie. This was very disappointing. I had such high hopes.