Pursuing the Governess by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Love of a Governess, #3

Release Date: April 26, 2022

Once upon a time Miss Regina Rutledge and Alec Winters, the Earl of Harwich fell madly in love and wanted to marry. But Regina’s father had betrothed her to a vile man and refused Alec’s suit. Determined to be together, they planned to elope when Alec returned from his cousin’s funeral. But fate had other plans for our lovers and Alec returns to London to find his love perished in a fire that also killed her father and the family butler. Heartbroken, Alec returns to his cousin’s estate and tries to figure out how to go on with Regina. IT takes him almost a year to realize that he will never love again but owes his title an heir. He decides it is time to move on and find a wife and he plans to make his cousin help him!

Nearly a year later, Regina has recovered from the fire that nearly killed her, but she might never recover from witnessing her father’s murder and hearing the awful things Mr. Vickery threatened to do to her. Bow Street runner Lord Matthias believes Vickery poses a danger to Regina and helps her “die”. She decides that with her scars and the scandal she will create if Vickery finds her, that Alec is better off without her and takes a position as governess, but when that doesn’t work out, she agrees to take the position being offered by Viscount Melcombe, Alec’s cousin and hopes she can avoid him. But fate once again intervenes and brings our lovers together again, but with so much betrayal, guilt, and pain between them, is HEA even possible and the even bigger question, will Lord Melcombe ever find a governess?

This was another well-written, emotion-packed story with a couple of unexpected twists that give this second-chance romance an unusual storyline. The book is fast-paced, emotional, a little angsty, a little heartbreaking, a little spicy, and filled with wonderful characters and hard-won HEA with a nice setup for the next book. This is the third book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title with no problems. I really enjoyed this story and would happily recommend it.