An Introduction to Pleasure (Mistress Matchmaker) Paperback – June 4, 2013

Pros: I really enjoyed this story. It was emotional, steamy, and well paced. I found it to be quite a page turner. Its a story about a lonely grief stricken man that decides as a favor to a past acquaintance; to train a naive girl to be a skilled mistress so she can make a good future match. The girl is a young lady that carries a heavy burden of caring for her sickly mother on her own. Her past employer and her 'loving' relatives have all take advantage of her. Its a touching tale of two people coming together to heal each other. The whole 'teaching' aspect of it creates some HOT scenes. The author did such a good job of this without going over the top. The sex scenes are numerous and very steamy. If as reader you don't like numerous love scenes, don't read this story. I saw some reviews that said this was just dressed up smut. It's NOT smut BY ANY MEANS. Common sense tells you that this will be about sex by just reading the very obvious title. Not everyone likes that, and that is perfectly fine Just know before going into it... ; )Cons: There were only a couple things that bothered me. There was not near enough character descriptions...you get a vague sense of how they looked but not much else. How tall is Andrew compared to Lysandra? Does she come to his shoulder, chin, nose. How long is Andrews's hair...long, short...is it curly, wavy, or straight? We know it's blonde but thats it. What does his brother Sam look like? We never even get a description of him..Some might feel if I'm being overly picky here, but these little extra things help create a deeper picture of the characters. Some authors defiantly over do it with flowery descriptions, but a little extra would have been nice in this story. I also would would have like an epilogue...it sort of ended abruptly.Regardless, this a GREAT story, and I will defiantly be checking this author out again!Happy Reading!!

A Cinderella story in that she saves not only herself but the prince. A Pretty Woman experience. It is about a man who has been grieving for at least 3 years and meets a desperate woman who has no choice but to become a mistress. She is an innocent and was verbally maligned by a past employer. These lies spread and she could not get any work. That was why she needed to learn to be a courtesan. The training was at best erotic and sensual. The good news was love overcame all. This book is a work of art and I appreciated reading it.

Usually I am not a huge fan of the mistress turned wife trope. It isn’t that I have any issue with a man taking his mistress to wife, but rather that it is a frequent storyline in historical romance, though, and rarely have I felt as though it was carried out properly. I have read several (even a very similar one where a nobleman trained a young woman to become a courtesan) I am very pleased to say that this is by far the best one I’ve read and would even be included in my Top 10 list of HR books. There is such a danger when you write about sex that emotion gets lost amid all the fun. Jess Michaels does a superb job of using every sexual encounter between the characters as a developmental moment in their broader relationship, and this is something you feel when you read. So rather than reading tawdry porn-on-the-page, it was a turbulent emotional journey of two people learning each other and helping each other heal and grow. My only sticking point is that the HEA ending was incredibly lackluster for me. I would have loved an epilogue. Or just..... something a bit punchier. After being so emotionally exhausted I would have like a bit more compensation haha. Not fanfare declarations of love, but just something a little more. But where that is like 3 pages of ‘meh,’ the other 200 odd pages are excellent. Highly recommend reading it on a rainy day.

Reading is like breathing, it's a continuous process and I have never written a review on a book. The reason I haven't is because I've always believed there is some merit to be found in every story. That is what I believed, until this book.It's disquieting and disgusting, and I stopped reading it mid story. Mostly because there is no story,It lacked substance, the plot was unfocused and uninteresting and the relationship was borderline sick. It objectifies woman. Just don't waste your money.

This is the third book from Jess Michaels and I am hooked! I love the way she portrays how the sex between the main characters change as they become more serious with each other (even if they haven't admitted it to each other or themselves yet). I really felt for Lyssandra here, and I am impressed with the way Ms. Michaels conveys to the reader how these two people "get" each other--it's not just about the mind-boggling sex although that is of course an important factor in any romantic relationship. I love how her heroines are mature in their thinking and don't act like selfish, self-absorbed teenagers. The heroines are strong, without being stupidly impulsive or inept.My only gripe with this particular novel is I was really hoping for a great ending, and while of course I wanted the couple to have their HEA, I would have wanted a bit more work from Andrew to prove he deserves Lyssandra, to earn her forgiveness and prove to her she means more to him than what he'd shown so far. He got off a bit too lightly, I think, considering what happened during their stay in the country. The relationship seemed balanced until the end. It was a good book, and a thoroughly engaging and emotional read which is why I was a bit disappointed with the rushed, almost taken for granted kind of ending.

A quick read and an entirely predictable story absolutely typical of the genre of erotic romance - a straightforward tale of love blossoming between unlikely characters that is pasted together liberally with stock love scenes. I was absolutely fascinated by one of the end papers that had a long list of the titles of a planned new series that will be published at intervals of a few months reaching well into 2018. Not only is that prolific but it sort of says it all about quality control.

I really enjoyed this book, OK it is rather saucy but it is a good read all the same. Lysandra Keates has fallen on hard times with a sick mother to look after and therefore turns to her best friend Vivien Manning and asks her to find her a protector who she can be a mistress to. Vivien does this in the form of Andrew Callis, who has cut himself of from any attachments after the death of his wife and baby son. He eventually agrees not to being Lysandra's protector but as her trainer in the arts of being a mistress. As the story unfolds love blossoms and thankfully a happy ending.

Easy book to read and story was romantically interesting, albeit "perfect ending", which i expect was not the norm in the 1800's.It does seem to be romantising prostitution.Lots of sex and intimate references, so if this type of storyline isn't for you - you may have to skip a lot of the book.Two more books, from the reviews, plots seem to follow a similar theme

Jess Michaels takes you into the world of Mistress and Courtesans of the Gentry. This was such a page turner, great story line, and well written. We meet Lysandra who seeks out the notorious Mistress' s help in to ding a protector. Unfortunate circumstances have left her with no other alternative. Mistress Vivien asks a friend to take the untutored Lysandra under his wing and to teach her all she needs to know to become a good Mistress. Andrew agrees to one month, but along the way, he not only helps her, but she helps him to learn to live life again, something he thought he didn't deserve after the death of his wife....I thoroughly enjoyed this book and went on to read the next two books also.

I thought that this was a well written, easy reading Mills & Boon type book but with a fair amount of sex. Both of the main characters Lysandra and Andrew were likable and the story was hot. He is teaching her how to be a courtesan but is also having to face up to his own demons. It has a proper beginning, middle and ending. Some of the situations and conversations towards the end stretched the imagination a little but I didn't mind and took it for what it was - a pleasant make believe romance.

What a beautiful story - romantic and steamy with well developed characters and beautifully written. I couldn't stop reading. I will go straight to the 2nd book in the series.

I loved this introduction into the mistress' world. We go back into history where things were more discreet than they are today but the feelings and actions are still the same. I loved the storyline and was really rooting for these two to end up being happy together. The sex din't override the story and the writing was lovely and easy to follow.

It's semi porn with a lame story and overt sexual descriptions that take away completely from the charm of a historic romance. There is absolutely no anticipatory breathlessness while reading this one. Writing and characters are below par average.

This was a book that was easy reading, but it had a quality to it.The characters had depth and were likeable, you soon had a interest with th story line that led you to keep page turning.I got this as a freebie and will look into more of this series. A bonus with this book in a series t=it doesn't leave you on a annoying cliff hanger.I would recommend

Wow!!! Escapism at its best brilliant start to a series, I hope the others are just as enjoyable.........

I found this an okay read. A bit too erotic for my taste but the story was a nice romantic tale although not very believable. Nobel man marrying his mistress??? Makes for a good fairy tale, well told by the author but very far fetched.

I'm becoming addicted to historical romantic erotic stories, and this didn't disappoint. Again, couldn't put it down. read within 2 days. Quickly followed by the purchase of the 2nd in the series. recommended read. You'll love it too.

Wow...certainly learnt me a thing or two. Quite explicit sex scenes between the two main characters, enjoyed the romance between Andrew and the virginal lysandra who had run out of options. Quite predictable in its happy ending ..a steamy good read.

good book but have read it before.