When A Duke Loves A Governess by Olivia Drake

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses, #3)When a Duke Loves a Governess by Olivia Drake
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Unlikely Duchesses #3
Publication Date: 7/27/21
Period: Regency, London
Number of Pages: 318

This book hits the ground running on the very first page and doesn’t stop until it crosses the finish line with a most satisfying HEA. Sandwiched in-between is a petulant 4-year-old, revengeful grandparents, a thief, a betrayer, and a murderer. OH! My!

Tessa James, orphan, hatmaker, and newly hired governess, has had a very hard life. She’s survived being base-born, losing her mother at six years old, living in a workhouse, and working ungodly long hours in a milliner’s shop. Now, she is absolutely determined to identify the aristocrat who sired her and then turned her mother out to fend for herself. When she does find him, she doesn’t want to berate him or punish him, she merely wants to ask him for a loan of enough money to start her own millinery shop. After all, he owes her at least that much in life. Her only clue to his identity is a necklace her mother gave her – a necklace with a coat of arms engraved on it. Tessa isn’t a dishonest person, but she knows she cannot find the person who has that crest while she’s working at the milliner’s shop because she only has one half day a week to search. Her solution is to talk the desperate Duke of Carlin into hiring her as a governess – and to manage that without a letter of reference or any experience. Can she con him into a position in his home? She’s sure she can deal with the wild-child Sophy because she’s spent her life caring for children in the workhouse. However, convincing the duke might be a challenge. You think???

Guy Whitby, the seventh Duke of Carlin, never wanted nor expected to be a duke. However, with a number of very unexpected deaths in the Whitby male line, here he is. He can manage the many estates and financial matters of the duchy, but there is one very small, very angry, very unhappy little girl that he isn’t sure he or anyone else can manage. That little termagant seems to run off a governess every other day. He loves his daughter and feels guilty over having left her to the devices of his former in-laws. However, he honestly felt Sophy would be better off if she was cared for by Annnabell’s parents. Annabell’s death in childbirth triggered Guy to outfit a ship and take off around the world cataloging the flora of the coastal regions – and he left the infant Sophy in the care of his in-laws for four years – until he inherited the title and had to return home. He’s a stranger to Sophy and she’s very much afraid of him. She’s also willful, stubborn, and is a master at pitching temper tantrums. Goodness does he ever need a solid, reliable governess for Sophy.

Guy and Tessa are wonderful characters and it was a real treat to watch them overcome their social differences and come to trust each other. That trust is sorely tested when Guy’s diaries of his travels are stolen and he thinks Tessa could surely be the thief. But, when Tessa’s life is at stake, the important things become very, very clear.

I can definitely recommend this read and I hope you will love these very likable and relatable characters as much as I did. The writing is excellent, the pacing is perfect, and the mystery might keep you guessing. I guessed the villain almost as soon as he graced the page, but I didn’t know why – so that was definitely enough to keep me intrigued. Happy reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The Marquess Method by Kathleen Ayers

On By TracyIn Book Publicity, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Marquess Method (The Beautiful Barringtons, #3)The Marquess Method by Kathleen Ayers

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Beautiful Barringtons, #3

Release Date: July 20, 2021

Desperate to win the affections of the Earl of Blythe, Lady Theodosia “Theo” Barrington, sister to the Duke of Averell, paints a very risque miniature of herself as a gift to the earl – but has second thoughts about giving it to him and tries to retrieve it before he can find it, but when she enters his study – it is nowhere to be found, but she is not alone, the Marquess of Haven, the last man Theo wants to see is there. A man she despises and the man she shared a passionate kiss with months ago, thinking he was Blythe.

Ambrose Collingwood, the Marquess of Haven is impoverished, thanks to his reckless, grieving late father, who gambled away his family’s fortune, which included his sister’s dowry. But Haven doesn’t place all the blame on his father, he also blames Leo Murphy (Theo’s illegitimate brother) the owner of the pleasure club Elysium for not cutting off his father, even after Haven met with him and asked him to turn his father away. Murphy was unapologetic and even told Haven to find an heiress to marry. So he did – Murphy’s own sister! But much to his surprise, he actually likes Theo and while he has had plenty of opportunities to ruin her, he has held back. However, fate seems to have deemed it time, because he was in the study waiting for Blythe when Theo stormed in and threw herself at him trying to find the box he had taken from the chair – she had her hands under his jacket when Lady Blythe, the earl’s mother walked in.

To avoid another scandal, Theo knows she must marry Haven, but fights it tooth and nail – even though she finds him attractive and amusing – not that she would EVER admit that to another living soul. But by the time they marry, she has resigned herself to a life with him, and after an amazing wedding night, she is feeling optimistic, that is until he says something incredibly insulting and causes a rift that he will have to do some spectacular groveling to win her back. In the meantime, Theo is a bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work that needs doing at his estate but is willing to give it her best. She immediately makes friends with his sister but is a bit wary of his uncle – who is a drunk, but who Haven feels obligated to. Haven admits he has fallen hard for Theo and will do whatever is necessary to win her back, he knows he has to tell her the truth, but will she understand and forgive him or will she be lost to him forever?

This was a well-written, well-paced, amazing story that held my attention from the first page until the very last word and left me wanting more! The book has likable characters, witty banter, steamyish love scenes, secrets, lies, a twist or two that keep things interesting, surprising revelations, and finally a sigh-worthy HEA. I did find Theo a little annoying at the beginning, but she won me over long before the end of the book and I ended up loving her, and Haven had me in his corner from the first scene. This is the 3rd book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title. I am happy to recommend this title, I have not read the two previous books, but I am hooked and will definitely be checking them out ASAP!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*