Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Countess’s Client (The Countess Trilogy #1) by Alison Richardson
Historical erotica short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Sep 09

I’m a complete sucker for historically-set erotic stories.  Which means I do a lot of impulse buying.  This first book in what is being dubbed as “The Countess Trilogy” was the type of story that started out good, got really intriguing, and fell totally flat by the ending.  I’m still not quite sure what to make of it, but I know enough to say it didn’t really work for me. 

Anna von Esslin is the daughter of a Prussian army general, a young widow, a countess, and incredibly horny.  However she’s well aware of the double-standard that women must endure when it comes to sex.  Men can whore around all they want, brag up a storm about it, and no one shuns them.  Oh no.  But if you’re a woman?  You have to be discreet.  Your very existence depends on it.  Which means hooking up with men who will not brag about the interlude (yeah, good luck with that) or men no one will believe if they do spill the beans.

She’s in Paris visiting with her cousin, and is very bored.  But she hits upon an idea.  Her cousin is a regular visitor to a brothel and all the girls there are sick to death of servicing an uncouth, boorish client.  Anna is so desperate, she agrees to take the man on.  Not realizing, of course, that the Scotsman, James, while being of lowly birth, is actually moving around quite freely in some of her social circles.  He thinks she’s a common whore, and she thinks he’s a mere mechanic.  When the truth comes out, it makes for some unpleasant surprises.

While I found the writing style very engaging in this book, and Anna’s attitude towards sex deliciously scandalous, I have a hard time reading about snobs.  Anna, her cousin, pretty much everyone in this story is a snob.  Certainly this is very historically accurate, but even so, it’s hard to give a damn about the main character when she’s such a selfish snobbish bitch.  James worked a lot better for me, but I tend to like guys with dirt under their nails, and I felt sorry for him getting roped in with this woman who ultimately sniffs haughtily at him and acts as if he doesn’t matter in the least.

I was very curious to see how it would all turn out, but the ending takes a bit of a bizarre turn, James takes an “unlikeable” turn and I felt like it didn’t truly end at all.  Nothing is resolved in the least, and I found it all really unsettling.  Also, I can’t seem to find any “clues” as to where this story is going to go.  Since this is a “trilogy,” are Anna and James going to be in the next two stories?  Or is the author going to move on to different characters?  Honestly, with the way the ending is set up, it could go either way.  As it is, the author doesn’t have a web site (Grrrr!), so I’ll have to wait and see in October when the author’s next Spice Briefs, An Impolite Seduction is released.

Grade: D+

Summary:

“The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom.”

So feels widowed young countess Anna von Esslin, who is denied her normal erotic pursuits while staying with relatives in Paris. Without her usual opportunities for pleasure, the countess resorts to visiting a local brothelbut not as a client. To get the satisfaction she craves, the countess must masquerade as one of the girls….

No excerpt found.