Beware bored aristocrats, the story didn't go where I expected or end as I expected. Was interesting read but I don't think I'd reread
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Brief, excellently written historical erotica. Highly recommended if any of those qualifiers push your buttons.

Our heroine, Anna von Esslin, is a countess who declares, in the first lines of the novella: "The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom -- of that there can be no question, and I cannot imagine that there is a woman alive who honestly aspires to the unhealthy ideal of true feminine chastity. The appearance of virtue, however, is a very useful thing."

That should give you a sense of the overall tone, which is witty and smart and decidedly amoral.

So this little novella charts one of Anna's ingenious plots to safely indulge her erotic appetite, and how she makes a misstep that causes a scandal. It's the first of a trilogy about Anna von Esslin, and while this installment doesn't give us a happy ending, by the end of the trilogy she's happily paired off.

It involves Anna taking a turn at the local brothel with a particularly well-endowed 'client' & readers should beware of some triggering elements, as the client is not particularly concerned with Anna's well being. Anna, of course, doesn't mind that at all.
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