The Mister

E L James

Apr 2019 · Sourcebooks, Inc.

About this eBook

The #1 New York Times bestseller—a thrilling and seductive Cinderella love story from E L James, author of the phenomenal bestselling Fifty Shades Trilogy.

Clasping her plait at the base of her neck, I tug lightly, bringing her lips up to mine. "Alessia," I breathe, and kiss her again, softly, slowly. She stills in my arms, then brings her hands up to clutch my biceps, closing her eyes as she accepts me. I deepen the kiss, my tongue teasing her lips, and she opens her mouth. She tastes of warmth and grace and sweet seduction.

London, present day. Life has always been easy for Maxim Trevelyan, the "spare" to the earldom of Trevethick. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, he's never had to work, and he's rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his family's title, wealth, and estates, and the responsibility that entails. It's a role he's not prepared for and one he struggles to face.

But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman who's recently joined his staff. Reticent, beautiful, and musically gifted, she's an alluring mystery, possessing little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. As Maxim's longing for her deepens into a passion he's never experienced and dares not name, he's left to wonder just who is Alessia Demachi? And can he protect her from the malevolence that threatens her?

From the heart of London through wild, rural Cornwall to the bleak, forbidding beauty of the Albanian Balkans, The Mister combines the sensuality of a modern Regency romance with the danger, desire, and adventure of E L James's captivating storytelling, leaving the reader breathless to the very last page.

Ratings and reviews

E.L. James has done it again! That is, she has written a book to spice up everyone's sex life (including my own).This book has it all: Mystery, Erotica (though much lighter than 50 Shades)Suspense,Romance and Tragedy.

thrilling! I felt all of the emotions, tensions... I was on the edge of my seat often. I could've easily binged this book in a day if I didn't have a very busy life lol! so excited to start the Missus

Well done, Ms. James! So often I read a book after having previously read the author and it's almost as if the only difference is the title and character names. This book bears no resemblance to 50 Shades books, which I enjoyed for completely different reasons. This story is romantic, the characters complex, the sex scenes lovely and almost innocent in their content. I very much liked how strong Alessia was despite being raised in such a brutal and demeaning environment. Maximum was also wonderful. Strong and determined to claim the his love, while struggling with his loss and newfound responsibilities. You could have written him the easy way and made him arrogant, but instead you gave us someone who doesn't take himself too seriously, is kind, generous and the type of man we all wish we were loved by. The Mister surprised and delighted, made me laugh and ache for your characters. What a lovely surprise this book turned out to be!

About the author

E L James is an incurable romantic and a self-confessed fangirl. After twenty-five years of working in television, she decided to pursue a childhood dream and write stories that readers could take to their hearts. The result was the controversial and sensuous romance Fifty Shades of Grey and its two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. In 2015, she published the #1 bestseller Grey, the story of Fifty Shades of Grey from the perspective of Christian Grey, and in 2017, the chart-topping Darker, the second part of the Fifty Shades story from Christian’s point of view. She followed with the #1 New York Times bestseller The Mister in 2019. In 2021, she released the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and international bestseller Freed, the third novel in the As Told by Christian trilogy. In 2023, she released The Missus, an instant USA Today and international bestseller. Her books have been published in fifty languages and have sold more than 165 million copies worldwide.E L James has been recognized as one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People in the World and Publishers Weekly’s Person of the Year. Fifty Shades of Grey stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 133 consecutive weeks. Fifty Shades Freed won the Goodreads Choice Award (2012), and Fifty Shades of Grey was selected as one of the 100 Great Reads, as voted by readers, in PBS’s The Great American Read (2018). Darker was longlisted for the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award.She was a producer on each of the three Fifty Shades movies, which made more than a billion dollars at the box office. The third installment, Fifty Shades Freed, won the People’s Choice Award for Drama in 2018.E L James is blessed with two wonderful sons and lives with her husband, the novelist and screenwriter Niall Leonard, and their beloved dogs in the leafy suburbs of West London.