The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover- Victoria Janssen

The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover
Victoria Janssen
Harlequin Spice, Dec 2008, $13.95
ISBN: 9780373605262

Their marriage was arranged by their parents as a political deal. However, Duchess Camille fears her cheating violent husband Michel plans to dump her for failing to provide him with an heir and a spare. With no place to go if he throws her out or worse if she stays based on the bruises his cruelty could one day kill her, Camille plans to ask Henri the stable hand to make her pregnant.

However Michel goes berserk so Camille flees for her life. Henri, her maid Sylvie and her two eunuchs Arno and Kaspar accompany her to the only potential haven the home of Camille's first love Maxime. She knows if Michel or his thugs catch her she will be raped be-fore being killed and her friends tortured and murdered. Hiding in brothels, they trek towards Maxime’s home while enjoying the fruits of their respites.

This erotic historical romance is a fun entertaining tale that in some ways will remind readers of the Fielding classic The History of Tom Jones with its bawdy underpinning to a strong cat and mouse story line. The cast is a delight especially the title characters and those they meet in the brothels while the audience will desire for the mean odious villain to be converted with a not sharp knife to a eunuch. Victoria Jansen provides sub-genre fans with a tour of houses of ill repute providing haven to the harried runaways.

Harriet Klausner