History Literature / TheMissus

* ArtisticLicense: Regarding the correct use of a Platform/PlayStation4. There's a scene where Alessia is trying to use a [=PS4=] and is told she's holding the "console" upside down; it can be assumed this was an editing error and the author actually meant "controller", given that a [=PS4=] console should be set down on a flat surface and it's the controller that is held in the player's hands.

* ArtisticLicense: Regarding the correct use of a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4. There's a scene where Alessia is trying to use a [=PS4=] and is told she's holding the "console" upside down; it can be assumed this was an editing error and the author actually meant "controller", given that a [=PS4=] console should be set down on a flat surface and it's the controller that is held in the player's hands.

** Maxim dislikes Alessia's father's paternalistic attitude towards women and him referring to Alessia as "[his] problem now"; he feels their views on women are polar opposites and that his father-in-law "needs dragging into the twenty-first century". While Maxim [[HypocriteHasAPoint makes good points about Alessia's dad's misogyny]], his own treatment of women is questionable; up until he met Alessia a mere two months ago, he treated most women in his life as nothing but sex objects / potential conquests - the exceptions being his sister and his mother, the latter of whom he views as a manipulative gold-digger (not without reason, admittedly) - and has trouble trusting and connecting with women beyond sex. He still has nude photos of his former hook-ups in his bedroom when he marries Alessia, had sex with his grieving sister-in-law days after his brother's funeral, and didn't warn Alessia about any of this. While Maxim isn't cruel and overtly controlling with Alessia, he does have a tendency to infantilise her and not consider her feelings (though he does try to improve this).

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Maxim always thought of Kit as being the more responsible than him, worthier of being Earl of Trevethick and that he was too good for Caroline, but loses a lot of respect for his late older brother after learning what a crappy husband he was to his sister-in-law]].

* ArtisticLicense: Regarding the correct use of a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4. There's a scene where Alessia is trying to use a [=PS4=] and is told she's holding the "console" upside down; it can be assumed this was an editing error and the author actually meant "controller", given that a [=PS4=] console should be set down on a flat surface and it's the controller that is held in the player' hands.
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Maxim and Alessia fret over whether they can have a second wedding in the UK as they already got legally married in Albania, wondering if it would be considered bigamy or invalidate the original wedding. This is redundant as it's perfectly legal (and not terribly uncommon) for couples who have already legally married (i.e. signed a marriage certificate) to have another ceremony if they want; while they wouldn't sign and submit another marriage certificate, they can still exchange vows and have the marriage blessed etc. even if they're already technically hitched in the eyes of the law. It's common for couples to do this if they couldn't have a bigger wedding at the time due to financial, logistical and/or time constraints, they're renewing their vows for a special anniversary and so on. Overall, from a legal standpoint it shouldn't be a big deal. It would only be considered bigamy if one of them was trying to marry a third person while they were still legally married to each other.
* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: On their wedding night, Maxim reaches for a condom only for Alessia to stop him and say they don't need one because she's started the contraceptive pill. However, as she only started the pill around three days prior, it wouldn't be all that effective in preventing pregnancy yet (it takes around a month of taking the pill consistently for it to work). It's understandable Alessia may not know this given she's portrayed as quite naive, though you'd think her doctor (whom she saw to get the prescription) would've explained this to her.

** [[spoiler:Maxim learns his mother cheated on her then-husband and that he and Kit were maternal half-brothers rather than full brothers as he'd always believed, which is the reason Maxim didn't inherit the same genetic condition Kit suffered from]].

* ShoutOut: When Maryann is trying to reassure her future sister-in-law about Maxim's promiscuous past, she tells Alessia "Reformed rakes make the best husbands", which is a line from the first ''[[Literature/TheBridgertonSeries Bridgerton]]'' book, ''The Viscount and Me''.

** Maxim dislikes Alessia's father's paternalistic attitude towards women and him referring to Alessia as "[his] problem now"; he feels their views on women are polar opposites and that his father-in-law "needs dragging into the twenty-first century". While Maxim [[HypocriteHasAPoint does make good points about Alessia's dad's misogyny]], his own treatment of women is questionable; up until he met Alessia a mere two months ago, he tended to treat most women in his life as nothing but sex objects / potential conquests - the exceptions being his sister and his mother, the latter of whom he views as a manipulative gold-digger (not without reason, admittedly) - and has trouble trusting and connecting with women beyond sex. He still has nude photos of his former hook-ups in his bedroom when he marries Alessia and had sex with his grieving sister-in-law days after his brother's funeral, and didn't warn Alessia about any of this. While Maxim isn't cruel and overtly controlling with Alessia, he does have a tendency to infantalise her and not consider her feelings (though he does try to improve this). 
** Rowena. She looks down her nose at Alessia and makes it crystal clear she doesn't think she'll ever be a good countess because of her background (working-class, foreign, former cleaner), no matter how much she tries to fit in (such as getting a nice wardrobe and taking etiquette lessons). Rowena herself engages in behaviour many would consider trashy and ill-fitting of a countess (far worse than Alessia), such as her regular use of crass language, her lack of interest in being countess besides the privileged lifestyle, her spending money on luxuries beyond her already generous allowance [[spoiler:and cheating on her then-husband and passing off the resulting baby as his]]. Rowena also calls Maxim to scream and swear at him for being "rude" to her and not showing her more respect, saying he's more likely to get what he wants from her if he's more polite without a shred of irony.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: On their wedding night, Maxim reaches for a condom only for Alessia to stop him and say they don't need one because she's started the contraceptive pill. However, as she only started the pill around three days prior, it wouldn't be all that effective in preventing pregnancy yet (it takes around a month of taking the pill consistently for it to work). It's understandable Alessia may not know this given she's portrayed as quite naive, though you'd think her doctor (whom she saw to get the prescription) would've explained this to her.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: Maxim's mother Rowena spends much of the book criticising and looking down on her new daughter-in-law Alessia because in Rowena's mind, Alessia is 'beneath' her son for being a poor immigrant who once worked as Maxim's cleaner. [[spoiler:In the end she [[SubvertedTrope finally comes around]], realising that Alessia truly cares for Maxim and is a good influence on him; she apologises for her poor treatment of her and makes it clear she now accepts her as part of her family]].

* TamerAndChaster: While ''The Missus'' [[DownplayedTrope does still have sexual content]] (it's erotica after all), there are fewer sex scenes and they generally aren't as explicit compared to ''The Mister'' (and especially ''Fifty Shades of Grey''), with much of the sexual stuff being more suggestive or relying on innuendo rather than detailed descriptions of sex acts.

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_049.jpg]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Maxim and Alessia fret over whether they can have a second wedding in the UK as they already got legally married in Albania, wondering if it would be considered bigamy or invalidate the original wedding. This is redundant as it's perfectly legal (and not terribly uncommon) for couples who have already legally married (i.e. signed a marriage certificate) to have another ceremony if they want; while they wouldn't sign and submit another marriage certificate, they can still exchange vows and have the marriage blessed etc. even if they're already technically hitched in the eyes of the law. It common for couples to do this if they couldn't have a bigger wedding at the time due to financial, logistical and/or time constraints, they're renewing their vows for a special anniversary and so on. Overall, from a legal standpoint it shouldn't be a big deal. It would only be considered bigamy if one of them was trying to marry a third person while they were still legally married to each other.

* BusCrash: It's revealed that Dante and Yili, the Human Traffickers who had been [[PutOnAPrisonBus carted off to jail]] in the previous book for trying to recapture Alessia, were KilledOffscreen in prison.

* BusCrash: It's revealed that Dante and Yili, the Human Traffickers who had been [[PutAPrisonBus carted off to jail]] in the previous book for trying to recapture Alessia, were KilledOffscreen in prison.

* InsecureLoveInterest: Alessia is deeply insecure about whether Maxim truly loves her or if she's enough for him, especially after realising the extent of his playboy behaviour, which he was still cheerfully indulging in up until he began dating her about a month or two ago. She is uncomfortable around and/or suspicious of his ex-lovers (of which there are many) and even gets upset by the thought of her and Maxim SleepingSingle after someone merely makes a hypothetical joke about it. Anatoli, her ex-fiance, also plants seeds of doubt in her mind regarding her marriage right before her wedding, saying Alessia will never be able to fit into Maxim's world and that his family and peers will never accept someone like her marrying an earl. It's worsened by the fact Maxim's mother, sister and sister-in-law (the latter of whom is also another ex-lover) do look down on Alessia and make her feel like an outsider, despite Maxim defending her.