Tag: Jane Charles

Desiring the Governess by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Desiring the Governess (To Love a Governess, #1)Desiring the Governess by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: To Love a Governess, #1

Release Date: February 22, 2022

Miss Althea Claywell has spent four years on the marriage mart and has only ever been attracted to one man, Major Ambrose, but he only danced with her twice and never asked to court her before leaving town. Althea assumed that her uncle/guardian would let her inherit her trust when she turns 25 and go quietly into spinsterhood, but when she overhears him speaking to his friend and learning that he means to marry her off to Mr. Smith who is old enough to be her grandfather, she panics and runs away.

Major Preston Ambrose left town last year after learning that his brother and his wife died in an accident, making Preston the new Viscount Melcombe and the guardian of 5 young girls. His cousin Alec Winters, the Earl of Harwich suggests that he marry, but the only woman he ever wanted is Althea and he was so nervous around her he was never able to ask to court her. Alec suggests having their uncle, Mr. Smith help by arranging a marriage with Althea’s uncle, who is his good friend. But when he sees Althea in the village near his estate, he knows something is wrong and a letter from his uncle confirms it – Althea misunderstood the marriage terms and bolted. He is still tongue-tied around her and too embarrassed to admit the marriage proposal was from him, so instead asks her to be his new governess, thinking that he will be able to spend time with her and court her and hopefully marry her.

Althea agrees to be his governess for one month, she was going to travel to her mother’s family in Scotland but knows that is the first place her uncle will look for her, so staying with Preston is perfect and she hopes that they can get to know each other better and see if what she felt in London was real. But their courtship is plagued with misunderstandings, miscommunications, and a heavy dose of inappropriate lust between a governess and her employer, with all this working against them, will they ever manage to clear the air and find their HEA?

This was a well-written story with two very likable characters and a great supporting cast. The story starts out well and the initial misunderstanding is well done and works perfectly, but as the story moves on, the misunderstanding and miscommunications begin to cause the story to drag and Preston’s inability to talk to her becomes unbelievable when he seems to lose all self-control when he sees her. Overall, I liked the idea of the story and the characters, it was a fun read and had some spicy love scenes, but I just wish the miscommunication/misunderstandings had been cleared up sooner. This is the first book in a new series and I am looking forward to the next installment.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher.

Lord Maxwell’s Quest by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Lord Maxwell's Quest (The Other Trents, #2)Lord Maxwell’s Quest by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Other Trents

Release Date: August 24, 2021

Lord Maxwell Trent and Miss Rosemary Fairview have known each other for ages and have been bickering for almost as long – they are both well-known antiquity hunters and have long been rivals in that field, but what neither knows is that they each have harbored a secret attraction to the other, but deny said attraction for various reasons, but primarily they both believe that they are not suited, Max believes Rosemary too reckless, and she believes he is too controlling. They are cordial and polite but go out of their way to avoid each other – a plan that has worked until now.

When a mutual friend invites them to find what may be one of Joan of Arc’s swords and return it to the rightful owner before their mutual nemesis – Rylan, a mercenary of sorts who works for Mr. Otto Fernsby, a reclusive collector who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, they will have to learn to work together or lose the sword to Fernsby. They reluctantly agree and set off, but almost immediately they realize Rylan is hot on their trail and isn’t content on waiting for them to find the sword before coming after them.

While dodging Ryland and searching for the sword, Rosemary and Max realize that there is a lot they don’t know about each other and find a new respect for one another, but even that knowledge isn’t enough to make either of them share their secret admiration. It isn’t until they find the sword and confront Fernsby that they finally admit their feelings, but by then, it might be too late for them to have a HEA.

This was a good read, with interesting characters and cameos from not only the “Other Trents”, but the Tenacious Trents too, as well as a nod to “The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies” series. The story was good, but I felt it dragged a bit in the middle, and Rosemary and Max’s constant bickering got tedious after a while. The mystery of the sword was OK, the love scenes were very mild, but the ending is what makes this book – it was a fantastic twist that leads to a nail-biter ending! This is the second book in the series, but they are definitely standalone titles.

*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.*