CAROL’S REVIEW: THE GOVERNESS GAME BY TESSA DARE

(UK cover)

(Girl Meets Duke, #2)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

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.

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When I pick up a Tessa Dare book, I have no expectations of it being historically accurate but I simply love her well-written, romantic, sexy and funny stories. 

This is the second book in her Girl Meets Duke series and, while I really enjoyed it, for me, it was not quite as good as The Duchess Deal.

Alex, the daughter of an American sea-captain and a Filipino Metiza, had an unconventional upbringing. Raised by her father, after her mother died, she spent 10 years on her father’s ship sailing the globe. When tragedy strikes and her father goes down with his ship in a storm, Alex travels to England where distant relatives are willing to pay for her schooling but want nothing to do with her and she finds herself all alone in the world. Even her schoolmates are cruel to her but she soon comes to realise that she has an advantage over them because…

I was indebted to no one, I answered to no one, and I needn’t meet anyone’s expectations of what a young lady should or shouldn’t be. My life was my own. I could follow any dream, if I was prepared to work hard for it

Alex is the sort of unorthodox heroine that Ms. Dare excels in writing. Smart, independent, stubborn, resilient and tenacious, she has been making a living setting clocks to Greenwich Mean Time in the homes of wealthy customers. She is also a budding astronomer with a plan to discover new comets and then sell them to aristocrats.

Being an orphan herself, Alex understands just what Rosamund and Daisy need and gradually gains their trust. I love how she finds unorthodox, imaginative and highly successful ways of teaching them.

“Piracy?” Rosamund sounded skeptical but intrigued. “

“These are your new lessons.” Alexandra wrote five topics on the board. “Log keeping. Plunder. Navigation. The Pirate’s Code.” She ended the list. “And needlework.”

“Needlework?” Daisy made a face. “Why would a pirate need serviettes?”

No, I don’t think piracy will find a place on the modern school curriculum!

Following the death of his cousin, Anthony, Chase is now the sole heir to his uncle’s Belvoir dukedom – a role he never wanted and believes himself unworthy of. He blames himself for what happened to Anthony and not only feels the pain of losing someone he cared about but is also burdened with feelings of guilt and self-loathing. Chase is so affected by what happened that he has built an impenetrable wall around himself and now lives by one rule – no emotional attachments. His belief that he will fail anyone he cares for and that he is unworthy of love runs deep. He has earned a reputation as a rake because his self-loathing has driven him into the arms of numerous women where, for a short time, he feels something other than worthless. His lovers are well aware that physical pleasure is all he offers. I did not quite buy into the ‘I’m not deserving of love’ scenario because his reasons were somewhat tenuous, but I was willing to overlook my reservations because Chase is charming, sexy, self-deprecating and wickedly funny, a combination that is hard to resist.

Despite his no emotional attachment rule, it is obvious that he loves his wards, Rosamund and Daisy, and actions often speak louder than any words…

“…you’re also a man who holds a little girl’s hand and eulogizes her doll every morning. A duke’s heir who builds cozy window seats and bookshelves by hand for his orphaned wards.”

Rosamund and Daisy were definitely one of the highlights of the book for me. They are bold, clever and resourceful and their antics are hilarious,  especially the eulogy scenes with poor Millicent, Daisy’s doll, succumbing to a series of horrible diseases, but there is also a serious side because it is Daisy’s way of coming to terms with the death and loss she has suffered in her short life. At heart, they are just young girls who are looking for love, a home and security and I like how Ms. Dare often combines both comedy with more serious issues.

The story is laced with Tessa Dare’s trademark humour and here are a few of my favourite moments.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an engagement this evening. The women of London can’t pleasure themselves, you know. I mean, they can pleasure themselves. But on occasion they generously let me have a go at it.” (Chase)

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Cold. That was the first decipherable sensation.

And after cold, wet.

A deluge of water had sloshed over them both. He slicked his hair back with both hands and looked up. He spied Rosamund and Daisy hanging over the window sash far above. Each girl held an empty bucket in her hands.

.”Ever so sorry!” Rosamund called down. “We needed to bail out the bilgewater.” “Too many rats,” Daisy added, hand cupped around her mouth. “There’s plague aboard.”  (Rosamund and Daisy repelling an unwelcome boarder!)

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“If you hurt her, in even the slightest way, I will eviscerate you.” “Understood.” “I mean it, Reynaud. In fact, gutting would be too good for you. I will subject you to my cat.”

“Your cat?” Chase laughed. “To mewl at me, I suppose.”

“Trust me. We’re not speaking of the average cat.”

Alexandra spoke up. “I can attest to this.”

“I’ll strip you bare, tie your hands behind your back, smear salmon on your manly bits, and lock the two of you in a wardrobe. Once he’s clawed your ballocks to shreds, I’ll crush whatever remains of you to a bloody, formless pulp.” (Ash threatens Chase with the “hellion cat”)

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As always, Ms. Dare assembles an interesting cast of secondary characters including…

• Alex’s friends – Lady Penelope Campion, an incurable romantic with a menagerie of wounded animals; Nicola Teague with her little caddy of hand tools and her baking skills; Emma, Duchess of Ashbury (The Duchess Deal), the most understanding of her friends

• Duke of Ashbury (Ash) (The Duchess Deal) who proves to be very protective of Alex and a real thorn in Chase’s side. Look out for the hilarious fight between these two!
• John Barrow, Chase’s half-brother, solicitor and trusted friend

Love them or hate them and I’m in the former camp, there is an added bonus of a charming Epilogue.

Penelope’s story, The Wallflower Wager,  is next in the series and I think Ms. Dare has already hinted at who her hero might be.

MY VERDICT: Endearing characters, a sensual, heart-warming romance, lively banter and laugh-out-loud moments make this a most enjoyable read. 

REVIEW RATING: 4/5 STARS

SENSUALITY RATING: WARM

 

Girl Meets Duke series so far (click on the book covers for more details):
 

**I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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REVIEW – THE DUCHESS DEAL BY TESSA DARE

(Girl Meets Duke, #1)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

When girl meets Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules… 

Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury’s to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne’er-do-wells by night. Now there’s a new item on the list. He needs an heir—which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter turned seamstress, appears in his library wearing a wedding gown, he decides on the spot that she’ll do.

His terms are simple:
– They will be husband and wife by night only.
– No lights, no kissing.
– No questions about his battle scars.
– Last, and most importantly… Once she’s pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again.

But Emma is no pushover. She has a few rules of her own:
– They will have dinner together every evening.
– With conversation.
– And unlimited teasing.
– Last, and most importantly… Once she’s seen the man beneath the scars, he can’t stop her from falling in love…

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Whenever I pick up a Tessa Dare book, I know that I’m going to be enchanted by a story rich in warmth, emotion and humour; one that is romantic, sexy and full of endearing characters. THE DUCHESS DEAL, the first book in her new Girl Meets Duke series, certainly didn’t disappoint

Ash is an ill-tempered, brooding, cynical man, convinced that no woman could ever want an embittered, scarred wretch like him; something he has every reason to believe to be true, as I discovered later in the story. However, beneath his gruff exterior lies an honourable and caring man which is evident in his genuine concern for those people who work on his estate and in his need to protect and care for Emma. I love the scene where Ash puts the fear of God into Emma’s father and I totally agree with Ash’s opinion of the sanctimonious vicar – “You crusty botch of nature. You poisonous bunch-backed toad.”

So often the hero’s father is cruel or abusive and it was a refreshing to know that Ash’s father was such a wise and loving father whom Ash wanted to emulate. My heart ached for Ash when he says he would not want to see his own son or want his son to see him because he fears he could never be like his own father.

Ash’s son could never admire him the way Ash had worshipped his own father. His father had been unfailingly wise, good-natured and patient. Not ill-tempered and bitter, as Ash had become.

I adore Emma for her courage and resilience. Despite being thrown out by her father for a youthful discretion with nothing but the clothes she stood up in, she walked all the way to London in the height of winter and succeeded in building a life for herself as a seamstress to society ladies. I also admire her genuine compassion for and desire to help her friend, Davina Palmer, because she doesn’t want another young woman to face the sort of rejection she had.

Emma hadn’t landed in Miss Palmer’s delicate situation, but she, too, had been punished for the simple crime of following her heart.  The memories still pained her – and the thought of watching the same cruel fate befall another young woman? It made her quake with anger at the injustice of it all.

Emma and Ash have such wonderful chemistry and their romance is funny, poignant, romantic and sexy. I love how Emma more than holds her own against Ash and even challenges his ‘house ’ rules with ones of her own. The banter between them sparkles and I love how Emma refuses to call him Ashbury or Duke and keeps coming up with pet names which Ash hates.

“If I choose to make a darling of you, there is nothing you can do about it.”
   “Of course, there’s something I can do about it. I can have you sent to an institution for the feebleminded and insane.”
She shrugged. “If you say so, cherub.”

Ash’s habit of cursing in Shakespearean quotes was priceless and this is my favourite, aimed at the ‘hellion cat’.

“Do you hear me? Get out. ‘Thou art a boil, a plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle.’ King Lear, Act Two.”

I love how Emma gradually captures Ash’s heart with her warmth, wit and passion. She sees beyond his scars to the person he truly is behind the gruff exterior – someone funny, patient and passionate. In Emma, Ash sees a woman who doesn’t shy away from his scars; a woman who ‘touched him, kissed him, made him feel human and wanted and whole’.

I love the ballroom scene towards the end of the book where Ash makes such a memorable entrance with the words:

 “Yes, I know,” he said impatiently, turning the scarred side of the face to the room. “Faulty rocket at Waterloo. You have precisely three seconds to move past it. One. Two. Right. Now where is my wife?”

Ash’s long-suffering servants are hilarious with their mad-cap plots to throw Emma and Ash together in the hope that they will fall in love.

There is a colourful cast of secondary characters including…

• Penelope, Nicola and Alexandra, the unusual trio of ladies who befriend Emma and Ash, and are, I’m sure, future heroines of this series.
• Khan, Ash’s devoted butler, who isn’t afraid to give him a good rollicking…
  “You’re going to lose her. And when you do, you are losing me too. I’ve served your family for thirty years. I’m due a pension, and I’m not enabling this self-pitying codswallop any further. I wish you all happiness living alone and growing old with your twenty cats.”

• Trevor, the young lad whom Ash meets on his nocturnal sorties around London
• Last, but not least, Emma’s cat, Breeches

The charming Epilogue is just a delicious topping on this delightful confection.

VERDICT: Tessa Dare continues to captivate me with her heart-warming stories, endearing characters and sparkling humour and I’m looking forward to reading the other books in this series. Highly recommended.

REVIEW RATING: 5/5 STARS

SENSUALITY RATING: HOT

 

Girl Meets Duke series so far (click on the book covers for more details):

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