CY@CY Says Welcome to my dreamscape. Where a Lim is also a Ling.
EL James’s Fifty Shades of Grey was such a huge success that writing erotica became the in thing and we saw a slew of Fifty Shades imitators hoping to cash in.
Historical biographer Lisa Hilton‘s literary agent also advised her to make a foray into erotica and the result is Maestra, a much-hyped romp through Europe’s billionaire playgrounds billed in its blurb as “the most shocking thriller of the year”. Maestra, published under the author’s pen name of LS Hilton, is the first book in a trilogy consisting of Maestra (2016), Domina (2017) and Ultima (2018).
I never got around to reading Fifty Shades of Grey as it is not my cup of tea. So I cannot give a comparison between Fifty Shades of Grey and Maestra. I was attracted by Maestra because of the accolades heaped on it. New York Post even commented that Maestra makes Fifty Shades look like the Bible. Critics generally agree that Maestra easily outclasses Fifty Shades.
Maestra by LS Hilton
Maestra sweeps the reader into a world of international intrigue, led by a razor-sharp femme fatale. Young and stunningly beautiful, Judith Rashleigh is a junior art expert at a prestigious London auction house where she is often mistreated by her bosses. To augment her income, she becomes a hostess at a night club working night shifts.
After discovering her boss at the auction house is scheming to sell a forged art piece, she’s sacked. Meanwhile she has become a favourite of a wealthy businessman at the night club and accepts a trip to the south of France with him. When her wealthy benefactor is involved in a fatal accident, she uses this unforeseen moment of freedom to reinvent herself. She sets off on a wild and deadly romp across Europe in her quest to establish a name for herself. She is scheming, manipulative, and brash—and all on a grandiose scale.
Maestra is definitely not the book for you if you’re looking for serious crime fiction—this book is unapologetically opulent and over the top. It’s brimming wild schemes, explicit affairs, glamorous locations and murders. And I must warn you that this story really is explicit. If you’re averse to explicit sex scenes, stay away from this book.