Review: The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

Publication date: August 28th 2018
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 373

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.

The second in the "Girl Meets Duke" series, took me back to the characters I fell in love with in The Duchess Deal, then fleshed out Alex and The Bookshop Rake as they got their very own romance, and strengthened my love affair with Tessa Dare.

Dare manages to bottle lightning with these books, creating that pitch perfect blend of wit, characters you root for (even when they're being idiots), interesting plot, and steamy romance. It's like magic, and I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of the scenes with the children. Daisy's inventive daily death, combined with the truly brilliant eulogy's provided by Chase made for some of the funniest moments I've read recently.

If you like well written romance this is for you. If you like well written characters this is for you. If you just like a good book that you can disappear into for a few hours and emerge from with a smile on your face, then this is definitely for you.
It's fun, it's smart, and I am totally sold on this series. I can't wait for the third book later in the year.