Tessa Dare

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.

Girl Meets Duke

The Governess Game

"he was captivated by the experience of watching her gazing at the sky." <3

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller 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.

mercy

i didn’t want it to end :( i love their little found family so much

Amelia 

These books are so much fun. Easy, quick reads filled with humour, passion and angst.

Annabella

Connor 

I love Tessa Dare, and I love found family, and I love a book that keeps my attention during a global pandemic, so we're rounding 4.5 up to 5 today, folks~

sophia n

just as compulsively readable as the first, but i think i ended up liking it a little less in comparison. still fun, but i had a hard time really getting to the point with both alex and chase where my like of them as characters tipped over into love. i enjoyed some of their deeper moments and was surprised at how much i enjoyed them with the two wards (who were just so fun to read, which surprised me because didn't i literally just say in the last review i hate kids? idk anyway) but i guess i just wanted a little more from both of them? but overall still fun to read.

Catarina Freitas

lindsey

wanted to love it but chase was too annoying and infuriating lol

Aditi

This was my first Tessa Dare book and I’m very sad to say it wasn’t for me. From the beginning I could tell the humor wouldn’t work for me but I can overlook that if the story delivers on the characters and the plot, which this did not. 

Alex was a really fun protagonist to follow. I haven’t read a ton of historical romance so this was my first time reading from the point of view of someone who doesn’t belong to the high class society. I liked seeing her friendship with the other two ladies and her relationship with the two young girls. Her backstory was really interesting and I wish we’d explored that more. 

Instead we get Chase, and so much of him. Nothing about him was attractive to me and this book spends so much time on his little sad story. Usually I love the single parent/guardian trope but his relationship with the girls felt very surface level. I really did not care for his character and I almost wish it was just about Alex and the two girls having adventures.

Jaclyn

Tessa Dare can do no wrong! Another absolutely fabulous installment! If was witty, hilarious and steamy! I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

Rebecca

Becky

I thought The Duchess Deal was one of my favourite Tessa Dare books but oh my goodness I just could not get enough of The Governess Game. It was so, so good and I couldn't stop smiling throughout. I was that person with a silly grin on her face because the book was so damn adorable and downright funny.

I admit I don't remember the whole of The Duchess Deal as much as I thought I did because when I started reading I'd totally forgotten about Alex's chance meeting in the bookshop. Once I got remembering everyone from the last book, though, as I was all kinds of happy. I loved Alex and her total misunderstanding in meeting Chase for the second time. Her swift put down of him and his behaviour was awesome and the names she gave his man cave was awesome. I adored Chase and Alex together from the very beginning. Especially when he chased her and offered her his coat when she was dripping wet and accepting a job offer as a governess.

I'm also not normally one for books with children in. Sometimes the kids are cute in books and sometimes they just feel like a plot device and don't get fully fledged personalities. That was definitely not the case when it came to Rosamund and Daisy. The daily funerals of Millicent were hilarious and I loved that they weren't sweet good little girls. They stole, they were dramatic, and they weren't afraid to talk back when necessary (or tip water out of a window when Chase needed to cool off with his womanising).

I admit a little bit more of the cute romance between Alex and Chase would have made me happy, we got plenty of good scenes with them together but I would always be happy for more. Especially as when they were together I felt like they bounced back and forth from being head over heels (and in denial) to acknowledging their love but denying themselves because it's not the done thing. I hate that back and forth in romance and the ending was then dragged out because of it. But I did adore the two of them and was happy for every page we got with them on it.

It was a fantastic read. I loved Alex and Chase and their book was amazing I cannot wait for what the next one will be. I feel a strong urge to reread everything Tessa Dare has ever written because her writing is just the best. I don't think she's ever really let me down.

Sahi K

This one was not as funny as the previous book, but it was okay. I liked the relationship between Alex and the girls more than the romance itself. A good one time read.

Grace O'Callaghan

*4.5 ⭐️

How I absolutely adored The Governess Game. Definitely more to my taste than the first book.

When Alexandra’s livelihood is swept from underneath her, she has no option but to take the position as governess to two wild orphan girls. She’s been tasked to turn them into proper young ladies when really what they need is love, and lots of it. But their guardian, Duke Chase Reynaud, is quite closed off from any feelings, more well known for his womanising ways than showing a great deal of affection. Alex is determined to open up Chase’s heart up to the girls, and possibly herself.

Alexandra was a phenomenal heroine. She can be clumsy and shy at times, but she’s incredibly smart and has a quiet strength about her. It’s a delight to see her blossom in confidence and overcome her fears. She’s also Filipino-American.

Our hero, Chase, was also great to read about. I can’t help but falling for the womaniser with a tortured past. He sometimes uses humour to deflect from more complicated feelings, but not in an as over the top way as the male lead in the first book. Perhaps that’s why I preferred him. He just seems more realistic and I could clearly see his motivations and understood him.

Together Chase and Alex are magnificent. I loved how they bantered back and forth with one another until it eventually grew into something more. They just have such good tension together and bring out the best in one another, you can’t help root for them.

I also enjoyed how much a found family was a part of the story. Daisy and Rosamond are quite morbid children, but all they need is some love and attention. I loved how they tied the story together.

The plot was engaging the whole way through in my opinion. Everything from the romance to Alex’s friends and the children was all well paced and intriguing. It was the perfect length in my opinion, I found the first book to be too short for my liking.

I’ve seen some complaints that it’s not the most historically accurate. I’m sure it’s quite annoying if you know the time period and it pulls you out of the story. For me I don’t know enough about the period to fully comment on the accuracy, but I can say that it was accurate enough that I wasn’t pulled out of the story. But if you’re a history lover, you probably have to suspend your disbelief for a bit to enjoy it.

Overall, I’m starting to really enjoy Tessa Dare. Perhaps I didn’t enjoy the first book as much as I was getting used to her style, but this one’s the favourite of the two. Once I’ve caught up with this series I’ll be sure to read some of her other work.

Alexis Rader

I listened to the audiobook of this one. This was absolutely wonderful. I enjoyed it even more than the first book, The Duchess Deal. Alexandra was a delight to read about and I enjoyed her story. I can't wait to keep reading the rest of Tessa Dare's books.

Francesca G

Anna Agarwal

Amanda J 

Typical premise but the characters were great; especailly the secondary ones of the wards

Sophie Elaina 

I recently read and loved 'The Duchess Deal' and was delighted when I got a hold of an e-arc of this from NetGalley. Thank you so much to the publisher! 

The book follows Alexandra, a single woman working to provide for herself while living in Victorian London. Until events unfold and she ends up being hired as a governess by the duke's heir, in the hopes of caring for and teaching the young wards that he is newly the guardian of. 

I feel as though the author did a great job in keeping the book very authentic to the time in which it is set, although there was a couple of things that I picked up on here and there, but it wasn't worrisome enough to pull me out of the story. The plot was continuously intriguing, and Tessa Dare's writing was once again extremely addictive. It's one of those books that makes you feel happy.

Even though it was a very enjoyable read, I also found it very predictable and a little underwhelming in some cases. I think that was because the plot was predictably structured, whereas most of the book is the build up to a slight problematic dip in the road and is inevitably resolved a little too half hazard way. Which did disappoint me, as I really enjoyed 'The Duchess Deal', that one seemed to have so much more depth. It's not that its bad in any way shape or form, but it just didn't wow me. 

The book as a whole was very well written, and a very quick easy read. Alexandra was an interesting and unique protagonist but something stopped me from loving her, I'm not sure whether it was the writing or something else entirely, but I found her a little boring. In addition, Chase was very similar to many other characters/love interests I've read about previously so that didn't help the story at all. I'm not going to lie, my favourite scenes most of the time, were the ones with Rosamund and Daisy. They were hilarious, unique and the most well developed characters in the whole book; they were the entire reason I kept reading. 

I also loved the scenes in which characters from the previous novel popped up, that was great! I just couldn't seem to connect to the main characters in this particular story. I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the dialogue. 

I will be picking up more of the author's work in the future, I just feel as though this one was sadly not for me.

For more reviews and bookish posts visit my website: https://www.sophieelaina.com/

Renee Delcourt

I really really really love Tessa Dare's writing. 

This book felt so real to me. I fell in love with Alex, Chase, Daisy, and Rosamund. I think every time I pick up one of Tessa Dare's books, I know I'm going to be transported and its such an experience. 

I adore that the girls aren't "proper" girls that they are fun and unique. They have very different interests that don't really fit into society for the 1800's and that is what makes them so special. Alex might end up being my favorite.

Paulina R.

This was such a fun read!
I prefer this book to the one before.
Sam, Daisy and the doll are the soul of this book.
I definitely recommend it especially in stressful times like these.

Lucy

Very cute regency romance sequel following Alexandra from Emma’s friendship group.

The Governess Game Girl Meets Duke

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