{"id":322,"date":"2009-01-04T01:00:18","date_gmt":"2009-01-04T06:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/mojo\/?p=322"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:34:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:34:20","slug":"book-review-the-duchess-et-al","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/blog\/book-review-the-duchess-et-al\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Duchess et al"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CoverThe Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover: An Erotic Novel<\/em><\/a>
\nby Victoria Janssen
\nPublished by Spice<\/p>\n

Please note the title and study the cover a bit. Does that say \u201cromance novel\u201d to you? Me, neither.<\/p>\n

And yet, despite the absence of the word \u201cHarlequin\u201d anywhere on the cover, on the copyright page, on the \u201ccoming attractions\u201d back matter, apparently, Romancelandia thought this was a romance. I don\u2019t know why, unless Romancelandia simply has no history with pure erotica.<\/p>\n

There is a difference between romantic erotica and pure erotica (aka could-be-porn-if-that\u2019s-your-definition) and perhaps Ellora\u2019s Cave has just trained Romancelandia to read \u201cromance\u201d or \u201cromantic erotica\u201d where they see \u201cerotic novel\u201d or \u201cerotica.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how this could have been mistaken for a romance.<\/p>\n

Moving along. Jessica, over at Racy Romance Reviews, reviewed this<\/a> and while her review wasn\u2019t necessarily favorable, it was academic (\u2019cause she R 1) and in no way (I thought) insulting. She also admitted that she didn\u2019t have much experience with whatever \u201cpure\u201d erotica really is.<\/p>\n

I wanted to read this book, but balked at paying $11.30 for the ELECTRONIC book, so someone took pity on me and sent it to me, requesting that, if possible, I review it because that person was interested in my opinion (though heaven only knows WHY!).<\/p>\n

My opinion is that I can\u2019t finish this book.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

The nastiness that went on concerning a liveblogging \u201creview\u201d incident between Dear Author and Smart Bitches (NOT linking). I didn\u2019t read the transcript, so I am not speaking to whether the liveblogging was nasty or not, but the comments on the thread really, really disheartened me. It destroyed any enjoyment I might have gotten out of it and made me want to pick nits where there were no nits to pick.<\/p>\n

I read 40% of the book before I simply had to put it down, so I feel very cheated and I\u2019m going to address others\u2019 complaints of the book that apply to what I read and comment on those, then I\u2019ll pick the two very big nits I actually did have.<\/p>\n

COMPLAINTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Neuschwanstein1.  Nobody could figure out the setting, but thought it might be somewhere in 17th-18th Century France.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Okay, first, it\u2019s erotica. Have we established this fact? It doesn\u2019t need a setting. It\u2019s a fairy tale and the descriptions were such that I envisioned a Neuschwanstein-type castle.<\/p>\n

As long as the descriptions of the castle let you know these characters were amongst lush, and candles were the major source of light, and the clothes were voluminous and bulky, the exact place and time weren\u2019t important.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

2.  That the sexual situations were totally ridiculous.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, they sure were. It\u2019s erotica. Have I mentioned that? The \u201cplot\u201d of escaping the abusive-cum-murderous husband is a lot stronger than in most erotica I\u2019ve read, but still more flimsy than that of a romance novel. I suppose if one were reading it as if the plot were the strongest element, I could see how one would be tempted to want to call it \u201cromantic erotica\u201d and be disappointed in the result, but let\u2019s get real: erotica doesn\u2019t need an actual, fleshed-out (heh) plot.<\/div>\n

3.  That Camille\u2019s reasoning for escaping her abusive-cum-murderous husband RIGHT THEN was flimsy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, I thought that part was very well set up and the strongest point of the plot. Camille was on the last upswing of the abusive-husband cycle and she knew it. I\u2019ve volunteered at battered women\u2019s shelters. There comes a do-or-die point (literally) for the woman to run and she usually knows when that is. Whether she runs or not \u2026 well, that\u2019s up to her.<\/div>\n

4.  That there just happened to be brothels everywhere along the path they took on their escape route, doubling as inns.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, there sure were. It\u2019s erotica. Have I mentioned that?<\/div>\n

5.  There are eunuchs! In a place we think might be 17th-18th Century France. Eunuchs! What the fuck?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fuck, indeed and precisely. It\u2019s erotica. Have I mentioned that?<\/div>\n

STRENGTHS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think Jessica summed it up best when she said this:<\/p>\n

In some ways, despite the sexual sadism of the Duke, this book offers a very positive view of sex. Sex is the go-to coping strategy for most of life\u2019s problems: Need an heir? Feeling stressed? Husband trying to kill you? Lonely? Bored? Want to show someone you have power over them? Need a place to stay for free? Want to escape those thugs? Need a favor? Want to convince someone to ally with you? Want to thank someone? The answer is sex, sex, sex, sex, and more sex.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That was its strength and its purpose. Why? Because it\u2019s erotica. Have I mentioned that?<\/p>\n

Okay, so now that we\u2019ve got all that out of the way, here was my problem with what I read:<\/p>\n

NIT ONE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The cover. Come on. It\u2019s gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking all textured and ripe with hot redhead right there in the center of groping hands and a pearl necklace around her neck (make of that what you will).<\/p>\n

Except \u2026 Camille is described as having black hair with gray streaks.<\/p>\n

FAIL.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

NIT TWO<\/strong>, which is the genuine weakness of the book:<\/p>\n

The sexual logical inconsistencies. \u201cWhat?!?!\u201d you cry. \u201cYou just finished telling us it was erotica and don\u2019t get hung up on the ridiculousness of it. What could you possibly mean?\u201d Not that way, you silly goose.<\/p>\n

1.  Camille needs an heir or her husband will kill her. Her husband is shooting blanks. She summons the groom to attempt to impregnate her because any child of his could pass for her husband\u2019s. Okay, so far so good. Sounds like a plan. But immediately after finishing with the groom, she is summoned to her husband\u2019s wannabe de Sade dungeon.<\/p>\n

[Her husband] had to fuck her at least once, in case she had managed to become pregnant that afternoon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay. We know she doesn\u2019t want to, but we get the timing issue. But then he doesn\u2019t. And not only does she not worry about this, it doesn\u2019t even occur to her that she missed her chance to cover up her possible switcheroo.<\/p>\n

2.  Camille\u2019s been married to this dude for 20 years and has been exposed (as a spectator and submissive) to every sexual deviance possible because he\u2019s sick and twisted that way. And yet, this night, the relatively mild antics are \u2026 different? And now she\u2019s aroused by them? After 20 years of debauchery? Really? Just now? No, I don\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. She has eunuchs who are her bodyguards and, ostensibly, sexual servants. She has an ivory carving (dildo). In 20 years of exposure and being aroused (for the first time!) that night, she finally\u2014FINALLY!\u2014asks her eunuchs to pleasure her? No, I don\u2019t believe it.<\/li>\n
  2. In 20 years of exposure and forced sexual obeisance, she\u2019s never given head until this night? (That\u2019s the way I read it, anyway.) No, I don\u2019t believe it.
    \n

    In other circumstances, she might have enjoyed tasting so large a cock, but not in front of the duke.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    So \u2026 has she or has she not experienced pleasure before? Has she or has she not given head? The implication before this passage is that she had (by force), but at this moment thinks about how delicious it might be if her husband wasn\u2019t watching? Say what? No, I don\u2019t believe it.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n

  3. It\u2019s discussed that she was never unfaithful to her husband\u2014in 20 years!\u2014and just that day with the groom was the first time for seeking her pleasure elsewhere and the first time, in fact, that she\u2019d known pleasure at all. No, I don\u2019t believe it.<\/li>\n
  4. Once the entourage takes to the road, it\u2019s as if everything is a new experience for her, as in, she never knew X activity existed. She becomes lovers with her maid and the author makes a point of letting us know that she hasn\u2019t had a woman. Really? In 20 years of Duke Debauchery and forced sexual obeisance and his own propensity toward voyeurism and she\u2019s never done a woman? No, I don\u2019t believe it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I think I would have had a problem with Camille\u2019s contradictory sexual history anyway, but I don\u2019t think it would have made me simply put the book down and not want to pick it up again. The unpleasantness surrounding it combined with that simply destroyed any enjoyment I might have had.<\/p>\n

    Quite simply, it was a chore to read, which frustrated and disappointed me to no end because it was a book I wanted<\/em> to read and expected<\/em> to enjoy.<\/p>\n

    Since this was given to me, I\u2019d like to pass it along. First person to email me gets it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover: An Erotic Novel by Victoria Janssen Published by Spice Please note the title and study the cover a bit. Does that say \u201cromance novel\u201d to you? Me, neither. And yet, despite the absence of the word \u201cHarlequin\u201d anywhere on the cover, on the copyright page, on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[521,560,540],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-erotica","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18930,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions\/18930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}