Review: The Governess Game

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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.

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.

Genre: historical romance

Publication date: August 2018

Mature content: yes

Review: Tessa Dare writes fun and witty historical romances and even if I sometimes doubt their historical accuracy, I always have a great time with them. The Governess Game, though, was a bit of a disappointment. 

First, the way Alexandra seems to fall for Chase's charms, even knowing he's a rake of the worst kind, convinced as she is he's still bringing other women home, is unbelievable. And, frankly, it doesn't go very well in hand with how intelligent she supposedly is. As rakes go, Chase is not one of the most convincing either, it's almost as if the author wanted to make him so much of a rake he ended up a bit overdone. 

The second part of the book is focused a lot on Alexandra's search for the elusive comet, but even when she finally makes it, unfortunately that's not entirely convincing either. 

So this is a read-if-you-have-extra-time-on-your-hands kind of book, but I don't actively recommend it. There are much better books by this author out there.

Happy readings!

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