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The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover (2008)

by Victoria Janssen(Favorite Author)

3.33 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0373605269 (ISBN13: 9780373605262)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Spice

review 1: My goodness, not only all of the above characters "doin it" but a plethora of assorted side characters getting rogered, almost non-stop.It was the title that attracted me, it is an OK story with lots of f*****.Camille is married to an awful Duke. She is in her 40's and has not gotten pregnant yet to supply the heir. She takes to her bed the Groomsman as his colouring resembles the Dukes and she hopefully can ghet pregnant by him. He of course falls head over heels for her.Her Maid is a "right goer" she'll do anything on legs (and does) but she is quite fun and very loyal to her Mistress.They have to run away for a short time and embark on several sexual adventures.Light-hearted with a touch of evil (her hubby is abusive). But ends well.
review 2: Victoria Janss... moreen's novel, THE DUCHESS, HER MAID, THE GROOM, AND THEIR LOVER, is an unusual read. This one doesn’t fit easily into genre classification, which will be problematic for some readers. To my mind the novel is closer to a comedy of manners than anything else. It satirises the society it is set in, as well as our own society and our genre expectations. It is erotic, but with a literary edge. It is also a historical fantasy, but the fantasy angle is not immediately apparent. The story also defies genre expectations by giving us a much older heroine who is borne to a high place, and her lover who is a lowly groom half her age. It is Henri, the groom, who is doe-eyed and falling in love here, and we feel for him the way we might feel for the maid-heroine who falls in love with the powerful Lord-hero in a traditional historical romance. He is also the Eliza Doolittle of the story. The author plays with this reversal throughout. Camille even refers to her increasing desire for erotic encounters as being akin to a man’s midlife crisis. It is Camille who has to be tough and make decisions that are ruled by the head more than the heart. Every erotic scenario you can imagine is portrayed here -- this is a big book! With a colourful cast and the sense of never being quite sure what was going to happen next, it kept me wondering. The campy sense of humour and comedy of manners angle also made it an intellectually entertaining read. I particularly enjoyed Henri's grounded sense of humour as he reflects on the crazy things that happen around him. As the story unfolds the fantasy world comes more richly to life. The characters and the eroticism also become more emotionally deep and complicated as they progress along their journey. I recommend THE DUCHESS, but with the proviso that you don’t go into it expecting genre conventions to be observed. In fact I’m willing to bet that this novel will feature on reading lists in years to come because it defies convention and plays with our expectations in such a tongue-in-cheek way. less

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