I received this book for free from Avon in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare
Series: Girl Meets Duke #2
Published by Avon on August 28th, 2018
Source: Avon
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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.
Tessa Dare is one of those romance authors who slowly wormed her way into my heart. When I first read her back in 2013? 14? I wasn’t really a fan but the Castles Ever After series completely endeared her work to me. The Governess Game follows Alexandra Mountbatten. Alexandra shows up at the Duke of Belvoir’s residence to offer her services as a timekeeper. Somehow she wounds up being the governess to Reynaud’s two wards instead.
TBH, I feel like a broken record because I say this about a lot of heroines in a lot of books but THERE IS NO AVOIDING IT. Alexandra Mountbatten is a great MC. I adore her. She is bookish, extremely smart and has peculiar interests (such as CLOCKS.) She is also extremely patient, kind and all around wonderful. I had to flip through a couple pages of the book to jog my memory and I was tempted to just re-read the book because she has such a great, distinct voice. So yeah, Alexandra Mountbatten is awesome.
Chase (aka Duke of Belvoir aka Reynaud aka seducer of women) on the other hand is a little rough around the edges. Certain happenings in his past have made him into a jaded person when it comes to love (and not just romantic love.) His hobbies include being sarcastic, witty and pushing people away. YAYA. But also, unsurprisingly, he is a little softie and has a heart of gold. Plus his wit really is the best, tbh.
This is usually the part of the review where I blather on about the romance but tbh, while the romance was great, what really sold me on this book were the family dynamics. I LOVED Daisy and Rosamund and I loved their character arcs. I loved their weirdness, how Rosamund was extremely defensive of her little sister and I loved watching Alexandra work HARD to take down the walls they had built. I mean really, Alexandra is a hero. She is dealing with three people who don’t have a lot of emotional skills and has to slowly draw them out of their shells.
Overall, The Governess Game is an extremely soft book. Which makes not much sense but there you have it. It is funny, sweet and swoony. I assume if you’re a Tessa Dare fan, you already have this on your tbr but for the rest of you who read romance but haven’t read her yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? The Governess Game is a perfect place to start!
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