mrs_mander_reads
Written on Mar 16, 2020
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
He’s been a bad, bad rake—and it takes a governess to teach him a lesson
The accidental governess
After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke’s heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried—and failed—to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart . . . without risking her own.
The infamous rake
Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education—in pleasure. That should prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling . . . and he’s in danger of falling, hard.
- ISBN10 0062851675
- ISBN13 9780062851673
- Publish Date 28 August 2018
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Avon Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English
- URL http://harpercollins.com.au/9780062851673
Reviews
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Sep 30, 2019
Anyways, I enjoyed this one. I did think Chase went "this woman makes me want to be better" a bit too quickly--I mean, Alex IS awesome and all, but c'mon, this is your first convo.
And I did think the last... chapter or so... was completely unnecessary. Just don't separate them if it's going to be that in three weeks he has "changed" and blah blah blah. Like, seriously. It would have been much better--and more satisfying--to see scenes of Chase announcing that he plan to marry her to various people and she just losing her shit lol
Solid historical romance, for sure!
Angie
Written on Jan 14, 2019
+Lady astronomer!
+Morbid little girls and doll funerals.
+Sexytimes at the library!
+Piracy as an educational tool!
NO!
-I can't love you because I'm a failure at love! Or whatever.
jamiereadthis
Written on Dec 19, 2018
EBookObsessed
Written on Oct 17, 2018
I found this on sale several months ago (and it is still currently only $1.99 at most retailers so don’t delay) and I was intrigued enough to check it out. I saw several glowing reviews so I invested my $1.99 and finally took the time to read it. It is everything everyone declared and more than worth the price.
Emma Gladstone was spunky and undeterred and the Duke of Ashbury is dark-witted and self-deprecating. He also fits into my favorite hero group of wounded heroes, in this case an actual war hero disfigured and scarred resulting from a rocket explosion.
Emma is a seamstress and arrives on the door of the Duke of Ashbury looking to be paid. She arrives wearing the wedding dress that she worked so hard on for his betrothed who backed out of the wedding since she was so disgusted by his scarring which covers the left side of his face and going down the left-side of his body. Emma asks for only the 2 pounds 3 shillings she is due for her work since she needs to pay her rent. Ashford needs a heir so his family estate doesn’t go to some dumbass cousin. He decides that he kind of likes the pretty, spitfire and if he needs a marriage of convenience, the poor seamstress will do quite well so he makes the fiery Emma an offer to become a Duchess. Emma was tossed out of her house at 16 because she fell for B.S. of a Squire’s son who used her and wouldn’t marry her, so Emma gives him the “not falling for that again,” takes her money and leaves.
But Ash has made up his mind and he wants Emma so he chases her down to the dress shop to convince Emma that his plan is sound. She only has to have sex with him until she becomes pregnant and then she can go live a life of comfort in his country estate and raise his son and heir. She won’t have to deal with Ash again. While she feels for Ash, what sways her is a young girl, much like herself who is used by a man, but this poor girl gets pregnant. If Emma can take her to the country with her, the girl can give birth quietly, give the baby to a couple to raise and return to her family with no one the wiser. So Emma agrees to marry Ash and give him a child and stick to his rules.
Emma quickly gets over Ash’s scars to see the man behind them, the one who fears rejection more than anything. His bride to be and all his friends have all abandoned the scarred monster who returned from the war. But that really isn’t the only reason Emma agrees, as a seamstress Emma knows bodies and even the mostly inexperienced Emma knows that Ash is a gorgeous man, and having him in her bed isn’t going to be the hardship he thinks it is.
They outlined the rules at the beginning of the marriage, which Ash defined so that Emma would at least have sex with him long enough to produce an heir, and so that he didn’t get too attached to her because, of course, he could never mean anything to her. Everything goes wrong with that as great sex and mutual respect turns into love. There are of course misunderstandings since both are feeling more than they are supposed to in this marriage of convenience but they are quickly worked through and don’t drag down the story.
Emma and Ash are wonderful characters and play well off each other’s humor. He is frustrated when he can’t get Emma to fear his wrath and leave him be the sulking monster that he is convinced she sees. Part of this, which made it hard to write a review since he didn’t have a name, is that when asked what Emma should call her new husband, he said “Duke” or “Ashbury,” which she refuses and his given name of George is also her father’s name so she refuses that as well. So to Ash’s consternation, she spends the story trying out different pet names for him from daring to pumpkin to lambkins to dumpling. He tries to get her to call him my stallion, but Emma turns to her friends for suggestions of names for her “new cat” when she runs out of names to try.
Emma fears acceptance of a former seamstress by the ton but gets invited to tea by the Lady across the way and finds friendship with three other young women who don’t fit the norm of London Society. The next book in the series, The Governess Game, just came out featuring one of the friends and the others will be featured in future stories. I didn’t debate long and I have picked up and started the second book.
This was very entertaining and a quick, light story if you are looking for something fun.
rakesandrogues
Written on Oct 10, 2018
I think that diversity is harder to find when it comes to historical romances, but I’m glad that things are finally shifting. Tessa Dare proves that there are ways to bring minority characters out, but yet still make the plots believable. (If we really want to talk historical accuracy, let’s talk about all the number of dukes running around in regency England….)
Rowena
Written on Aug 26, 2018
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Jul 8, 2018
Chase Reynaud, next in line to a dukedom, finds himself the guardian of two young girls. He has hired and lost an ungodly amount of governesses when Alexandra Mountbatten gives him a set down and he immediately hires hers. The events that unfold had me reading their story in just two sittings.
Daisy and Rosemonde, Chase's young wards, were positively delightful and enhanced the story on so many levels. Morbid, hurt, fearful and determined these young ladies gave Alex quite the ride. I fell in love with them right along with Alex. And Millicent, the poor doll of a thousand deaths. Oh my. A few scenes had me giggling aloud. Dare shared brilliant one-liners and referenced a few things that pushed this story over the top. I think this is my favorite Dare book.
Heated and filled with deliciously swoon-worthy moments, their romance felt genuine. Sure, Chase is a lunkhead, but Dare allows us to see the man beneath the aloof exterior. I loved how strong and independent Alex was. While the story was predictable, it left me giddy and delivered that book high I am forever chasing. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer