She’s making her living as a clock setter – someone who goes to people’s homes and makes sure their clocks are on Greenwich Mean Time. We met Alex in The Duchess Dare (book one of the series), as one of the heroine’s friends, and I remember liking her pragmatism, which extends into this book. He’s charming, and you know his character arc within about seven paragraphs of meeting him. He’s busy building a room in his house that’s entirely for sexual pleasure – he even invents a Murphy bed and hangs a mirror in a non-traditional location. When we meet Chase, he’s exactly what you’d expect of a debauched rake. The Governess Game ticked all these boxes for me, and more.

Y’all, I have no idea how titles really work and what the difference in fashions are between Regency and Victorian, but I do know if I trust the characters and if the dialogue makes me laugh out loud and if I feel content at the end of the read. However, I know I am in the minority of reviewers of historical romance. Do I believe the happily ever after? Did I enjoy my time with these people? Yes and yes? Fabulous. I care more about the characters and how real they feel as humans. Thus, I want you to know that I’m writing as someone who doesn’t really care about period accuracy or reality. *Waves hand wildly* I’m over here in that last group and delighted to be here. Dare has crafted and not give a hoot or a holler about the above elements. Some will haaaaaate that the dialogue and characterizations aren’t appropriate for the Regency era (and they’ll be right), some will roll their eyes at the children as being contrived plot devices (they’re not far off), some will be frustrated by the anachronistic pop culture references, and some will absolutely not care and get wrapped up in the story Ms.

I’ve called this book Contemporary in Corsets to a few colleagues, and I’ve been around Romancelandia long enough to know exactly how some readers are going to react to it. Well, we all know what happens, don’t we? Alex has a financial plan for her life and has little interest in deviating from it. Chase is a duke’s heir, but is desperately trying to avoid both attachments and responsibility as long as he can.

This is convenient because Chase Reynaud needs a governess for his two nieces, who have driven off all acceptable candidates with their various antics. In The Governess Game, Tessa Dare’s newest installment in her Girl Meets Duke series, Alexandra Mountbatten needs a job.

The governess game tessa dare